Psalm 50 announces the day of God's judgment upon His earthly people.
Verses 1 and 2 give the subject of the psalm, and verses 3 to 6 are the introduction; in verses 7 to 21, 22 and 23, God speaks.
Long has He been silent as to any audible voice from heaven. There has been none since the day that Saul of Tarsus was arrested in his guilty course near Damascus (Acts 9:3-63And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. (Acts 9:3‑6)).
In grace He has been occupied during these nineteen centuries past, in bringing unworthy sinners to know their lost condition, and to trust in the Lord Jesus. Presently He will begin His strange work, His unwonted act (Isaiah 28:2121For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. (Isaiah 28:21)) of judgment. Fire (verse 3) is a symbol of unsparing judgment.
Heaven and earth are called to witness the judgment of Israel, and the Jewish remnant (verse 5) are gathered to Him, those who have believed His Word, with whose circumstances and feelings, Books 1 and 2 of the Psalms are chiefly occupied. The remnant will have already seen Christ, owned Him as whom they pierced (Zechariah 12:1010And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. (Zechariah 12:10)), who gave Himself a sacrifice for them on the cross. These are looked upon as having made a covenant with God by (or over) sacrifice. The covenant is the new one of Jeremiah 31: 31-34.
It is not here, in Psalm 50, a question of sacrifices offered under the Mosaic system, but of a state; God will have righteousness. Wickedness He will no longer tolerate. And withal, how like Him, as His Word reveals Him to faith,
"Call upon Me in the day of trouble; will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me" (Verse 15).
What measureless grace to His poor, weak, failing people this is! Striking also is the last verse of the psalm,
"Whoso offereth praise (or thanksgiving) glorifieth Me; and to Him that ordereth his way will I show the salvation of God" (new translation).
What a portion is that of the child of God! May we individually seek to know it better, practically!