Psalms 50

The mighty God, the LORD, has spoken. He has called the earth to come, from the place where the sun rises to the place where it sets.

1The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.

NoteThe King James "The mighty God, even the LORD" translates a stack of three Hebrew names for God piled up in a row (El, Elohim, YHWH) a heavy, formal opening of the kind used to announce a ruler. "LORD" printed in small capitals stands throughout the King James for the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew letters usually written YHWH, which Jewish readers did not pronounce aloud. "Called the earth" is the language of a court summons: the whole world is being ordered to appear.

2Out of Zion, the city that is perfect in beauty, God has shone out like a light.

2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.

NoteZion was originally the fortified hill David captured in Jerusalem, and the name came to stand for the temple hill and for Jerusalem itself. "The perfection of beauty" was a stock phrase of praise for the city. "Hath shined" pictures God appearing as a blaze of light breaking out from that place.

3Our God is coming, and he will not stay silent. A fire burns everything ahead of him, and a violent storm rages all around him.

3Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.

NoteFire going ahead and storm wrapped around were the standard images for God arriving in person, as in the descriptions of Mount Sinai. They are the fixed furniture of such scenes, not a description of weather.

4He calls to the sky above and to the earth below, so that he can judge his people.

4He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.

NoteCalling the heavens and the earth is a legal move. In ancient treaties and in Israel's law, sky and land were named as the standing witnesses who would testify if the agreement was broken; summoning them signals that a formal trial is opening.

5He says, "Gather my faithful people to me, the ones who made an agreement with me by offering a sacrifice."

5Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

Note"Saints" in the King James does not mean spiritual heroes. The Hebrew word describes those bound to God by loyal, committed love, his own faithful people. "Made a covenant by sacrifice" refers to the way binding agreements were sealed: an animal was killed and its blood used in the ceremony, so the agreement itself was said to be cut or made "by sacrifice."

6And the sky announces that he is right and just, because God himself is the judge. Selah.

6And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.

Note"Righteousness" here is a courtroom word: it means God gives a correct verdict, not merely that he is morally good. "Selah" appears throughout the Psalms and its meaning is genuinely unknown; it is usually taken as a direction for the musicians or a marked pause, and is left untranslated.

7"Listen, my people, and I will speak. Israel, I will give evidence against you. I am God, your God.

7Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.

Note"Testify against thee" continues the trial scene begun in verse 4: God speaks as the witness giving evidence, and later in the psalm as the judge.

8I am not blaming you for your sacrifices. Your burnt offerings are always there in front of me.

8I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.

NoteA burnt offering was an animal burned whole on the altar so that none of it was eaten by the worshiper, the most complete and costly kind of gift. "Continually before me" refers to the sacrifices offered morning and evening, day after day.

9But I will not take a young bull from your barn, or male goats from your pens.

9I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds.

NoteA bullock is a young bull, the most expensive animal a worshiper could bring; male goats were among the regular offerings. The point of the verse turns on their value: these were the best a household had.

10Every animal in the forest already belongs to me, and so does the cattle on a thousand hills.

10For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

11I know every bird in the mountains, and every creature moving in the fields is mine.

11I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.

12If I were hungry, I would not tell you, because the world and everything in it is mine.

12If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

13Do I eat the meat of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?

13Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?

NoteSurrounding peoples commonly pictured their gods as literally fed by the sacrifices set before them, and temple ritual was described as providing the god's meal. The question here is aimed at that idea. Blood in particular was never drunk in Israel; it was poured out, because blood was held to belong to God alone.

14Bring God an offering to thank him, and do what you promised the Most High you would do.

14Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:

Note"Thanksgiving" translates a specific offering, the thank offering, brought when a prayer had been answered; most of the meat was eaten in a shared meal of celebration. A "vow" was a promise to give God something specific if he acted, paying the vow meant handing over what had been promised.

15And call to me on the day when trouble comes. I will rescue you, and you will give me honor."

15And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

16But to the person who does wrong, God says, "What right do you have to recite my laws, or to speak about my covenant at all?

16But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?

Note"The wicked" translates a Hebrew word that in legal settings means the guilty party in a case. "Statutes" are the written laws; "take my covenant in thy mouth" refers to reciting the terms of the agreement aloud, as was done at public gatherings.

17You hate being taught, and you throw my words away behind your back.

17Seeing thou hatest instruction, and casteth my words behind thee.

NoteThrowing words behind your back was a common idiom for contemptuous dismissal, putting something out of sight because you have no intention of dealing with it.

18When you saw a thief, you went along with him, and you have joined in with people who commit adultery.

18When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.

NoteTheft, adultery, and lying about a neighbor are the three offenses named next in the psalm, in the same order they appear in the Ten Commandments. "Consentedst with him" means more than approval: it means taking the thief's side and sharing in what he did.

19You let your mouth run loose with evil, and your tongue puts lies together.

19Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.

20You sit and talk against your brother. You spread lies about your own mother's son.

20Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son.

Note"Thine own mother's son" is stronger than "brother." In a society where a man might have children by more than one wife, a brother by the same mother was the closest possible kin, the last person one would expect to be attacked.

21You did all this while I kept silent, so you thought I was exactly like you. But now I will correct you and lay out your deeds in order right in front of your eyes.

21These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.

Note"Set them in order before thine eyes" is the language of a formal indictment: the charges are arranged in sequence and laid out where the accused must look at them.

22Now think hard about this, you who forget God, or I will tear you apart, and no one will be there to save you.

22Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.

Note"Tear you in pieces" is the image of a lion killing its prey; the phrase "none to deliver" regularly follows it in Hebrew, describing prey no shepherd can rescue.

23Whoever brings an offering of praise gives me honor. And to the person who orders his life the right way, I will show the saving power of God."

23Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.

Note"Conversation" in 1611 English meant a person's whole way of life and conduct, not talking. The Hebrew of this second line is difficult and has been read in more than one way, either "the one who sets his way straight" or "the one who marks out a way," and translators divide over which.