Psalm 50: When God Calls Us to Account

Core Theme: For when your conscience is heavy, burdened by sin and longing to be made clean

Background

Asaph, one of the chief musicians in David’s day, wrote Psalm 50. The Bible does not name the occasion. It reads like a courtroom scene, with God summoning heaven and earth as witnesses and calling His own people to account.

What makes it unusual is who is speaking. In most psalms we hear a person praying to God. Here we hear God speaking to His people, and what He says goes straight to the conscience.

Psalm 50 (KJV)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

21 These 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.

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

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

The heart of it

Conviction can be hard to bear, and Psalm 50 shows us where it comes from. It does not begin with us feeling guilty. It begins with God speaking, and He speaks to His own people, not to strangers.

What He says might surprise us. He is not unhappy that they are bringing sacrifices. His concern is the heart behind them. It is possible to go through the motions of worship while the heart stays far away. “…This people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me” (Isaiah 29:13).

And yet the psalm is full of mercy. God tells them what He wants, thanksgiving and trust, and He gives them a way back: call on Him, and He will deliver. Even His warning is a kindness, because He gives it before the judgment falls.

Walking through it

Verses 1–6: “The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.”

The psalm opens like a summons. God calls the whole earth from sunrise to sunset, and the heavens declare His righteousness because He Himself is the judge (verse 6). Notice the tone of verse 3: He “shall not keep silence.” That is a sobering word for anyone who has been hoping the matter would quietly go away. But verse 5 shows whom He is gathering: “my saints,” those who have made a covenant with Him by sacrifice. This is a family matter, and the Judge is also their God.

Verses 7–13: “Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.”

God begins by reminding them who He is. Then He says something striking: He is not rebuking them for their sacrifices. But He does not need them. Every beast of the forest and the cattle on a thousand hills are already His, and He would not tell them if He were hungry. The sacrifices were never meant to feed God. They pointed to something greater, because “it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). What truly takes sin away is the sacrifice of Christ: “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).

Verses 14–15: “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:”

Here is what God does want: thanksgiving, faithfulness to our word, and a heart that calls on Him. And verse 15 is the invitation inside the warning: “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” The Lord is not looking for a performance. He is looking for a people who will depend on Him. “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” (Hebrews 13:15).

Verses 16–21: “But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?”

Now the tone changes. God addresses those who recite His statutes while living in open sin: joining with thieves, keeping company with adulterers, and using their tongues for deceit and slander. Their words and their lives do not match. And look at what they have concluded from God’s patience: “I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself.” They mistook His waiting for approval. “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” (Ecclesiastes 8:11). But He will “reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.” Nothing stays hidden forever.

Verses 22–23: “Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.”

God gives a final warning, and it is meant to wake people up before it is too late. Then He closes with a promise: “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.” “Conversation” in the KJV means manner of life, so this is a life set in the right direction. It is not a way to earn God’s favor but the fruit of a heart that has turned to Him. “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27). And the “salvation of God” He promises to show is His deliverance, the same deliverance offered in verse 15.

Carrying this forward

If the Lord has already turned you from empty religion or hidden sin to an honest walk with Him, remember how it felt to have the truth laid out before your eyes, and thank Him that He spoke before it was too late. It is easy to slip back into going through the motions, and to let our words drift away from our lives. Keep your heart close to Him, and let your worship be thanks that is real.

If you feel conviction right now, take it as God speaking, because that is exactly what it is. He is not trying to crush you. He says, “Now consider this,” so that you will turn. Do not harden your heart, and do not mistake His patience for approval. He has already told you what to do: “…The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Psalm 51:17). Bring Him the truth about yourself, and hear His invitation: “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me” (Psalm 50:15).