Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
Psalm 50:2
*not of prayer or praise;
*it is a psalm of reproof and admonition,
in singing which we are to teach and admonish one another.
--In the foregoing psalm, after a general demand of attention, God by his prophet deals with the children of this world, to convince them of their sin and folly in setting their hearts upon the wealth of this world;
--In this psalm, after a like preface, he deals with those that were, in profession, the church’s children, to convince them of their sin and folly in placing their religion in ritual services, while they neglected practical godliness; and this is as sure a way to ruin as the other.
The righteousness of God in all the rebukes of his word and especially in the judgment of the great day, is what the heavens will declare;
The reason given is, for God is Judge himself, and therefore,
(1) He will be just;... These decisions will be perfectly just and from them there will lie no appeal.
(2) He will be justified; God is Judge.
They thought God was mightily beholden to them for the many sacrifices they had brought to his altar, and that they had made him very much their debtor by them but God here shows them the contrary...
(1) That he did not need their sacrifices. What occasion had he for their bullocks and goats who has the command of all the beasts of the forest, and the cattle upon a thousand hills has an incontestable propriety in them and dominion over them?
(2) That he could not be benefited by their sacrifices. Their goodness, of this kind, could not possibly extend to him.
1. We must make a penitent acknowledgment of our sins
2. We must give God thanks for his mercies to us: Offer to God thanksgiving
3. In the day of distress we must address ourselves to God by faithful and fervent prayer:
Call upon me in the day of trouble."
MatthewHenry