Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 50

The mighty God, even the Lord - Even “Yahweh,” for this is the original word. The Septuagint and Vulgate render this “The God of gods, the Lord.” DeWette renders it, “God, God Jehovah, speaks.” Prof. Alexander, “The Almighty, God, Jehovah, speaks;” and remarks that the word “mighty” is not an adjective agreeing with the next word (“the mighty God”), but a substantive in apposition with it. The idea is, that he who speaks is the true God, the Supreme Ruler of the universe. It is “that” God who has a right to call the world to judgment, and who has power to execute his will.

Has spoken - Or rather, “speaks.” That is, the psalmist represents him as now speaking, and as calling the world to judgment.

And called the earth - Addressed all the inhabitants of the world, all dwellers on the earth.

From the rising of the sun to the going down of it - From the place where the sun seems to rise, to the place where it seems to set; that is, all the world. Compare the notes at (Isaiah 59:19). See also (Malachi 1:11); (Psalms 113:3). The call is made to all the earth, to all the human race.

The scene is imaginary as represented by the psalmist, but it is founded on a true representation of what will occur—of the universal judgment, when all nations shall be summoned to appear before the final Judge. See (Matthew 25:32); (Revelation 20:11–14).

Out of Zion - The place where God was worshipped, and where he dwelt. Compare the notes at Isaiah 2:3.

The perfection of beauty - See the notes at Psalms 48:2.

God has shined - Has shined forth, or has caused light and splendor to appear. Compare Deuteronomy 33:2; Psalms 80:2; Psalms 94:1 (see the margin).

The meaning here is that the great principles that are to determine the destiny of mankind in the final judgment are those that proceed from Zion; or, those that are taught in the religion of Zion; they are those that are inculcated through the church of God. God has there made known his law; he has stated the principles on which he governs, and on which he will judge the world.

Our God shall come - That is, he will come to judgment. This language is derived from the supposition that God “will” judge the world, and it shows that this doctrine was understood and believed by the Hebrews. The New Testament has stated the fact that this will be done by the coming of his Son Jesus Christ to gather the nations before him, and to pronounce the final sentence on mankind (Matthew 25:31; Acts 17:31; Acts 10:42; John 5:22).

And shall not keep silence - That is, he will come forth and “express” his judgment on the conduct of mankind. See the notes at (Psalms 28:1). He “seems” now to be silent. No voice is heard. No sentence is pronounced. But this will not always be the case. The time is coming when he will manifest himself, and will no longer be silent as to the conduct and character of people, but will pronounce a sentence, fixing their destiny according to their character.

A fire shall devour before him - Compare the notes at (2 Thessalonians 1:8); notes at (Hebrews 10:27). The “language” here is undoubtedly taken from the representation of God as he manifested himself at Mount Sinai. Thus, in (Exodus 19:16, 18), it is said, And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud; and Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.

And it shall be very tempestuous round about him - The word used here - שׂער śa‛ar - means properly to shudder; to shiver; and then it is employed to denote the commotion and raging of a tempest. The allusion is doubtless to the descent on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:16), and to the storm accompanied by thunder and lightning which beat upon the mountain when God descended on it to give his law. The whole is designed to represent God as clothed with appropriate majesty when judgment is to be pronounced upon the world.

He shall call to the heavens from above - He will call on all the universe; he will summon all worlds. The meaning here is not that he will gather those who are in heaven to be judged, but that he will call on the inhabitants of all worlds to be his witnesses, to bear their attestation to the justice of his sentence. See Psalm 50:6. The phrase “from above” does not, of course, refer to the heavens as being above God, but to the heavens as they appear to human beings to be above themselves.

And to the earth - To all the inhabitants of the earth; “to the whole universe.” He makes this universal appeal with the confident assurance that his final sentence will be approved, that the universe will see and admit that it is just. See Revelation 15:3; Revelation 19:1–3. There can be no doubt that the universe, as such, will approve the ultimate sentence that will be pronounced on mankind.

That he may judge his people - This means that all these arrangements—this coming with fire and tempest, and this universal appeal—will be preparatory to judging his people, ensuring the judgment is conducted with due solemnity and propriety.

The idea is that an event so momentous should be conducted in a way suited to produce an appropriate impression. It should be conducted so that there would be a universal conviction of the justice and impartiality of the sentence.

The reference here is particularly to his professed “people”—that is, to determine whether they were truly his. This is the main subject of the psalm, though the “language” is derived from the solemnities appropriate to the universal judgment.

Gather my saints together to me - This is an address to the messengers employed for assembling those who are to be judged. Similar language is used by the Saviour (Matthew 24:31): And he (the Son of Man) shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. The idea is, that God will bring them, or assemble them together. All this is language derived from the notion of a universal judgment, as if the scattered people of God were thus gathered together by special messengers sent out for this purpose.

The word saints here refers to those who are truly his people. The object - the purpose - of the judgment is to assemble in heaven those who are sincerely his friends; or, as the Saviour expresses it (Matthew 24:31), his elect. Yet in order to this, or in order to determine who are his true people, there will be a larger gathering - an assembling of all the dwellers on the earth.

Those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice - (Exodus 24:6–7). . The idea here is, that they are the professed people of God; that they have entered into a solemn covenant-relation to him, or have bound themselves in the most solemn manner to be his; that they have done this in connection with the sacrifices which accompany their worship; that they have brought their sacrifices or bloody offerings as a pledge that they mean to be his, and will be his. Over these solemn sacrifices made to him, they have bound themselves to be the Lord’s; and the purpose of the judgment now is, to determine whether this was sincere, and whether they have been faithful to their vows. As applied to professed believers under the Christian system, the idea here presented would be, that the vow to be the Lord’s has been made over the body and blood of the Redeemer once offered as a sacrifice, and that by partaking of the memorials of that sacrifice they have entered into a solemn covenant to be his.

Nothing more solemn can be conceived than a covenant or pledge entered into in such a manner. And yet, nothing is more painfully certain than that the process of a judgment will be necessary to determine in what cases it is genuine. For the mere outward act, no matter how solemn, does not of necessity decide the question whether he who performs it will enter into heaven.