Psalm 50

Background

First Psalm with “A psalm of Asaph” in the title. The others are Psalms 73-83 in Book III. Many commentators believes this Psalm was written by Asaph. Asaph was a musician in David’s time (1 Ch 15:17-19, Nehemiah 12:46)

Exposition

1. Every seventh year, during the Feast of Tabernacles, the priests were obligated to read the law to the people and explain its meaning (Deut 31:9-11), this psalm may have been written for such an occasion.
2. Theme: God is The Judge for our life (v4). Consistent godly living that should result from true spiritual worship.
3. God confronts two offenders: the formalist, to whom worship is a ritual to follow (v7-15) and the hypocrite, to whom worship is a disguise to cover sin (v16-21).
4. The Holy Judge (v1-6)
   1. God is the Judge of this world. He called heavens and earth to witness the proceedings (v4)
   2. Judgement will begin in the household of God (1 Peter 4:17), the godly ones (v5)
5. The Heartless Worshipers (v7-15)
   1. This group of worshipers where formalist, they made sacrifices to the Lord outwardly, but inwardly they have no relationship with the Lord.
   2. God does not desire our sacrifices, what He desires is a relationship with Him, thanksgiving from their hearts (v14) and honor Him in our daily life (v15).
6. The Hypocritical Sinners (v16-21)
   1. God is addressing to the wicked (v16)
   2. The wicked speak God’s law, but disobey them. (17-20)
   3. This group of people apparently knows God’s law, they recite God’s words (v16), however they hated God’s instruction. Recently, the owner of a popular fast food chain, Chick-fil-a voiced his supports on biblical marriage, and the gay communicated reacted with protests. I just read an interview of a woman paster for a church, she said she believes God is love and God love everyone, including homosexual couple, and thus she believe God endorses gay marriages. She does not see anything wrong with people having a homosexual lifestyle.
7. The Honest Worshiper (v22-23)
   1. God is calling true worshipers, believers that give thanks from their hearts, honor God with their live, submit to God’s will.
   2. V22: [Consider this]: God is giving the hypocritical sinners a opportunity to repent before God’s final judgement
   3. V23: This is the remedy for the legalist.