Reflections on Psalm 50 —

Just because God does not discipline sin immediately doesn’t mean He does not care. He is a Righteous Judge and we ought to regularly see ourselves as defendants in His court.

The Glory of God is the wonderful truth that the Most High God lowers Himself to graciously involve Himself with the sons of men (Psalm 138:5-6). But in Psalm 50, we see a different view of this glory–a more frightening and startling realization that God is also a Judge who does wink at sin, not even for His People. This is the first psalm of Asaph the seer, and it is a stark reminder to the People of God of their accountability to the God who calls them.

God the Judge Calls His Court

If there is any doubt whether God is a Judge or not, Asaph’s opening lines dispel that doubt. “God Himself is a Judge” (Psalm 50:6b).  God the Mighty One seeks to convene His court, and He summons the heavens and earth (Psalm 50:1,4) as His jury. There is no resisting this summons. The spiritual host of heaven gathers in anticipation, and the nations of the world will see how the God of Heaven deals with His beloved saints.

God commands His attendants to gather His People (Psalm 50:5). These are clearly those who believe in God for they are called “godly ones” and they have covenanted with God by sacrifice. There are no pagans in this group. If there is any doubt whether God would judge His own people, this line dispels that doubt. God has assembled His People to judge them (Psalm 50:4). 

God Himself comes in marvelous light, radiated forth from His beloved dwelling place, Zion (Psalm 50:2). Fire blazes all around Him tempestuously (Psalm 50:3). His appearance is intimidating even for the spiritual beings who come into His presence on a regular basis. Yet the psalmist welcomes this appearance and the words of the Lord (Psalm 50:3). We get the impression he has waited for this moment for quite some time, wondering what God was thinking as he assessed the condition and lifestyle of His People. He knows that whatever God has to say will be hard to hear, but ultimately for good. His verdict will be issued in righteousness.

God the Judge approaches His bench, takes His seat, and picks up His mighty gavel. The courtroom is hushed. The only sound is the voice of the heavenly beings declaring, “The Lord is righteous” (Psalm 50:6a). 

We wonder who is on trial, who will be the prosecution and defendant. It becomes clear immediately. God speaks and reveals His intent: “Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you; I am God, your God” (Psalm 50:7). God’s chosen people are the defendants in this court session. God will serve double-duty as both the Judge and the prosecution. He has the facts stored up, knows the deeds of every man and knows the thoughts and intent of every man. He has more than enough evidence to make His case.

When does this summons occur?  I believe it is in the present day, not the last day, for God in His verdict gives His People the opportunity to correct their ways (Psalm 50:23), an opportunity they would not have in the last day. So Psalm 50 is a view into God’s heavenly realm in which He routinely summons court sessions and renders verdicts on the sons of men, including His own People.

Asaph’s job gets much easier in verses 7 through 23, for all he has to do is copy what the Lord says. Except for a short interlude in verse 16, all of the words are God’s. This is the most we hear from God in any of the psalms. So we get the distinction of hearing from God directly. What a marvelous, mysterious blessing to be taught directly from the God Most High!

God takes the witness stand. It is a teachable moment with all of heaven and earth witnessing and His People finally fixing their full attention upon Him. God has two contentions against His People. He begins with a voice of authority, “Hear, O My People, and I will speak” (Psalm 50:7).

First Contention: Who Needs Whom?

God’s first contention is that His People have an over-inflated sense of value.

His People have been faithful to carry out their rituals of sacrifice. Their rams, goats, and cattle have been offered regularly without fail. The method and execution of these sacred offerings has been carried out to perfection. God has no problem with the way they carried out their service (Psalm 50:8). Yet, He is not pleased with them. Why would this be?  It seems in their zeal to carry out their required service, God’s People had grown proud of their devotion while their awe of God’s splendor had grown dim. It is as if they thought, “What great people we are, sacrificing our bulls and goats for God!  How grateful He must be to have such faithful people!”  It is like the man who says to himself, “I am a big deal” as he takes a selfie while standing by the Grand Canyon. His estimation of himself seems misguided when compared to the mammoth wonder of creation behind him.

Christians can often drift into thinking that God needs their faithfulness, as if He were somehow dependent on them to accomplish His work. We think the church won’t be built without our money, or the world won’t be reached without our calls to missions, or God won’t be praised enough without us raising our voices in public and advertising His goodness on social media. These are all good things, all necessary forms of service, but let us not pat ourselves on the back. I once heard a Christian call all believers to “make God glorious.” Yes, we need to glorify God in all we do, but let us not presume He needs us to make that happen. He is fully able and equipped to make His name glorious without our help. He can make praise for Himself out of the mouths of babes (Matthew 21:16).

To His self-absorbed children who prided themselves in their faithful sacrifice of a bull here and a goat there, God reminds them that He isn’t really interested in bulls and goats, for He owns every animal of the forest, every cow in the field, every bird of the mountain, and everything that moves in the field (Psalm 50:10-11). God does not need man’s sacrifice, and if He ever did need anything (which is never), He would not need to ask man for help because He owns everything (Psalm 50:12). God is self-sufficient. He does whatever He pleases. In his service for God, man must realize what the sacrifice is for. There is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22), and man desperately needs forgiveness. The sacrifice is for atonement, not to demonstrate one’s own righteousness. We sacrifice, not because God needs us, but because we need Him. God’s gentle correction is to “offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving” (Psalm 50:14). God has made a way of atonement for sin, and it is in gratitude for this gracious provision that man should offer sacrifices.

God’s People often think they can save (justify or validate) themselves by their good discipline and faithfulness to their religious service. That is not God’s way. He has made His People to cling to Him, utterly dependent on Him for their salvation. If God’s People want to please God, they will learn to be dependent on Him. God says their dependence on Him honors Him, for it is what they were made to do: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me” (Psalm 50:15).

Second Contention: Testimony Against the Wicked

God the Prosecutor now proceeds to His second contention. It is a harder point, unmasking the hypocritical lifestyle His People are living. 

Asaph the psalmist notes that this second contention is spoken to “the wicked” (Psalm 50:16). This surprises us, because we thought God’s People were on trial, not godless pagans. But that is exactly God’s point. His People, by their duplicity and hypocrisy, are not the holy ones He has called them to be. Quite the opposite. In God’s opinion, they are “wicked.” This is a strong word, but as we shall see, the People of God match that description. They have faithfully kept to their religious sacrifices, are quick to speak the name of God in prayer on the Sabbath, but in between the offering services their lives are very much a contradiction of the faith they profess. 

God despises this kind of hypocrisy in His People. To Him, it is a privilege to have the Law. It is right for His People to count themselves blessed to be responsible for it. But it is one thing to have the Law; it is another thing to obey it, and the People of God were not doing that in their daily lives. He is aghast at their flippant dismissal of His words in their daily lives, and He is not going to let them persist in this hypocrisy any longer. He has been patient, but now His patience is wearing thin.

God has four exhibits of evidence that support His second contention. He begins laying them out one by one.

Casting My Words Behind You – The first evidence of hypocrisy is that His People are treating God’s Word with contempt. They “hate discipline” and cast His words behind them (Psalm 50:17). They fit the description of “wicked” in Psalm 1. Whereas the righteous are the ones who delight in God’s Law (Psalm 1:2-3,6), the wicked are “not so” (Psalm 1:4,6). This is like the Christian who faithfully attends church activities but barely opens God’s Word on his own. He believes himself righteous, but his standard of measure is biased because it’s his own! Studying the Word is important because it exposes sin (Romans 7:7, Hebrews 4:12). When we read it, we look for contradictions between our confessed belief and our lifestyle, habits, and behaviors and identify actionable changes we need to apply (James 1:22-25). By applying these practices, the man of God can be approved unto God as a workman who needs not be ashamed (2 Timothy 2:15).

Befriending the World – The second evidence of hypocrisy is secret approval of sin. The People of God were well aware that stealing and adultery are sinful. But when it was advantageous to their ego, they close a blind eye and entertain thieves and adulterers (Psalm 50:18). These are like the believers in James’ letter who befriend the world (James 4:1-3). They listen to the lusts of their heart rather than deny them. They are envious of wealth and when they see an opportunity to profit for themselves, even if it’s through shady and underhanded means, they quietly approve of it. They are married men who lust for what they cannot legally or morally have, entertaining fantasies of illicit pleasure with other women. They are flattered by the side looks from the wives of others, and are skilled at flirting while putting on an appearance of innocent kindness. They continue secretly carrying out these illicit practices not knowing that by such actions they are acting in hostility to God (James 4:4).

Careless Words – The third evidence of hypocrisy is unbridled use of the tongue. God’s People have “let your mouth loose in evil” (Psalm 50:19a). God carefully chooses His words, and will always do what He says (Numbers 23:19, Psalm 12:6, Jeremiah 1:12). Man, on the other hand, says whatever comes to mind without second thought whether he means it. “Where there are many words, transgression is unavoidable” (Proverbs 10:19). When we do not filter the thoughts of our heart, our words take on the corrupt and deceptive nature of our heart, often carrying a shroud of deceit (Psalm 50:19b). This is what led David to appeal to God to “set a guard…over my mouth” (Psalm 141:3). Jesus said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders…” (Matthew 15:19). We may not even realize the words we are saying are deceptive. However our hearts are masters at cloaking selfish gain while making our words sound innocent to the unsuspecting listener.

Contempt and Slander – The fourth evidence of hypocrisy also involves the tongue, only this time, it is more vicious and less conspicuous. “You sit and speak against your brother” (Psalm 50:20). The People of God are far too adept at slandering their brothers and leaders. Slander proceeds from a heart of malice (Colossians 3:8). When a believer harbors hatred for a brother deep within his heart, that hatred naturally produces slanderous comments. The People of God must recognize slander for what it is and repent of it by addressing the deeper issue of malice within the heart.

Misunderstanding and Misconception

One of the greatest misunderstandings of man is that he always thinks God is like himself. This kind of thinking leads him to hold many misconceptions about God’s opinion of himself. Man would like to believe God is always pleased with him. The evidence he sees appears to confirm this belief. He thinks to himself, I may have sinned, but God did not smite me; in fact, my business is prospering, my kids are well-adjusted, and my life is enjoyable. 

Just because God has not spoken yet doesn’t mean He is pleased. We should not interpret His silence as meaning He does not care what we do. Referring to the condemning evidence against His People, God says, “These things you have done and I kept silence; You thought I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes” (Psalm 50:21). It is foolish to assume your moral status before the Lord based on immediate and physical circumstances. Rare is the occasion that God reproves immediately. He is patient and long-suffering, allowing time for repentance. The godly man uses God’s Word and the Spirit’s conviction upon his soul as his basis for determining his status.

Solemn Warning

God the Prosecutor concludes His testimony with a solemn warning. Those who “forget” God, casting His words behind them, treating them with contempt by their casual lifestyle choices, can expect some trouble down the road. God’s punishment for such hypocrisy in His People is destructive–”I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver” (Psalm 50:22). This sounds harsh, but sometimes, utter destruction is the best and only remedy for a hard heart. To avoid such disaster, God’s People must heed the warning and repent. Cry out to God to become like the tax collector in prayer, the one who can barely lift his eyes to heaven because he knew the magnitude of his sin (Luke 18:13-14).

God repeats His advice given in Psalm 50:14-15, reiterating the importance of maintaining a grateful heart, and calling a man who wishes to repent to “order his way aright.” Only by adopting and embodying a heart of contrition can a man experience the salvation of God (Psalm 50:23).

Prayer

O Father, Most High God and Righteous Judge, I come to You in solemn gratitude. You are kind and merciful. I know that my heart is full of sin, desperately sick and deceptive. I cannot trust it. Expose the hypocrisy in my life–the ways I use my mouth for personal gain, my secret love of illicit pleasure, and the evil way I slander my own brothers and treat my leaders with contempt. Break my heart in mercy, and occupy my heart and mind that I may live consistently with my professed belief in You. It is in Your grace I stand. I love You. Amen.