Psalm 50: God Calls the Earth to Judgment
God summons heaven and earth as witnesses to judge His covenant people.
Psalm 50 opens with God speaking and calling the earth 'from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof' to gather His saints for judgment. He declares that every beast of the forest and the cattle on a thousand hills already belong to Him, so animal sacrifice alone cannot satisfy Him, unlike the wealth warning of Psalms 49.
A Psalm of Asaph. The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from where the sun rises to where it sets.
From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.
Our God approaches and will not be silent! Consuming fire precedes Him, and a tempest rages around Him.
He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that He may judge His people:
“Gather to Me My saints, who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge. Selah
“Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God.
I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, and your burnt offerings are ever before Me.
I have no need for a bull from your stall or goats from your pens,
for every beast of the forest is Mine— the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are Mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
To the wicked, however, God says, “What right have you to recite My statutes and to bear My covenant on your lips?
For you hate My instruction and cast My words behind you.
When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers.
You unleash your mouth for evil and unharness your tongue for deceit.
You sit and malign your brother; you slander your own mother’s son.
You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.
Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:
He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me, and to him who rights his way, I will show the salvation of God.”