Chapter 481 of 1163

PSALM 50

This psalm describes a courtroom scene. God is judge, witness and jury, and He brings an indictment against two kinds of “religious sinners.”

Insincere worshipers (1–15). He calls the court to order, not with the rap of a gavel but with the revelation of His glory (vv. 1–3). He indicts His people who offer sacrifices insincerely—their worship is just empty routine—and hope to “earn” God’s blessing. God does not need the things we give Him (Acts 17:24–25), but we need to give Him spiritual sacrifices of thanksgiving, praise, and obedience (vv. 14–15, 23).

Hypocritical worshipers (16–22). Here the issue is not sacrifices but the covenant they made with God. They profess one thing and practice another (Titus 1:16); they are guilty of theft, adultery, deceit, and slander. They thought that God’s silence meant escape from punishment, but they were wrong (Eccles. 8:11).

Judgment begins with God’s people, not with the lost world (1 Pet. 4:17). Heed the warning of verse 22 and accept the admonition of verse 23.

“For to worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.”

William Temple

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