Read Psalm 50 at Bible Gateway.
Psalm 50 has another interesting structure that shines a spotlight on truth desperately needed by God’s people in our day.
Introduction) Psa 50:1-6, Out of Zion God will shine forth/ He comes, and does not keep silent:
1a) Psa 50:7-15, I will speak/ I am God/ I will not rebuke you/ Offer to God thanksgiving:
1) Psa 50:7a, “Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you; {n}
2) Psa 50:7b, I am God, your God;
3) Psa 50:8-13, I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices/ Do I consume bulls + goats?:
1a) Psa 50:8-9, I will not rebuke you for sacrifices + burnt offerings/before Me/ I will not take your bull + goats;
central axis) Psa 50:10-12, For every beast of the forest is Mine/ if I were hungry, I would not tell you/ for the world is Mine, and all its fullness;
2a) Psa 50:13, Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?;
4) Psa 50:14-15, Offer to God thanksgiving/Call upon Me + I will deliver you/ You shall glorify Me:
1a) Psa 50:14a, Offer to God thanksgiving + pay your vows to the Most High;
1b) Psa 50:14b, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
2b) Psa 50:15a, I will deliver you;
2a) Psa 50:15b, And you shall glorify Me;”
central axis) Psa 50:16-20, The wicked speak of His covenant while they cast His words behind them:
Psa 50:16, But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to declare My statutes, Or take My covenant in your mouth;
Psa 50:17, Seeing you hate instruction and cast My words behind you?;
Psa 50:18, When you saw a thief, you consented with him, and have been a partaker with adulterers;
Psa 50:19, You give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit;
Psa 50:20, You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son;”
2a) Psa 50:21-23, I kept silent/ I am not like you/ I will rebuke you/ he who offers praise glorifies Me:
1) Psa 50:21a, “These things you have done, and I kept silent;”
2) Psa 50:21b, “You thought that I was altogether like you;” {n}
3) Psa 50:21c, “But I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes;”
4) Psa 50:22-23, “Let those who forget God consider: he who offers praise glorifies Me/ He who conducts himself aright I will show My salvation.” {p}
We are Zion, first of all – His people, His body, the dwelling place of His presence and His Spirit. Out of His people He will shine forth, which is why He will begin His judgment with His own household.
The A pair contrasts His people with the wicked. Of His people, His own household, He has something to testify against them. He does not rebuke His people for relying on the sin sacrifice according to His own commandment. But, people of God, the sin sacrifice is not the end goal. It is not for His sake, in other words, but for ours.
The central axis: Here is the surprising thing. The wicked are defined as those who declare His statutes and take His covenant in their mouth. They talk the talk. However, they hate instruction, and have cast His words behind them. The steal, they lust, they commit adultery (any intimacy outside of the marriage covenant). They transgress His commandments, in other words. The Hebrew for “Torah” is simply, “teaching, instruction.” The five books of Moses are His words The most common phrase in Torah is, “And the Lord spoke …” The modern church has despised His instruction and cast His words behind them. They ignore the first five books of Scripture, which is the foundation upon which the whole is built, simply because His instruction, and obedience to it, is not the agent of salvation. The sin sacrifice – Yeshua haMashiach – is the agent of salvation.
However, beloved, if we received instruction, and paid heed to His words – if we grew up into a mature man, and embraced sanctification (holiness) as well justification (salvation) – Zion would be truly perfected in beauty, and shine forth the glorious presence of the righteous God.
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