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Selected Verse: Psalms 50:7 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ps 50:7	Strong Concordance	Hear [08085], O my people [05971], and I will speak [01696]; O Israel [03478], and I will testify [05749] against thee: I am God [0430], even thy God [0430].
	King James	Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
I will testify--that is, for failure to worship aught. thy God--and so, by covenant as well as creation, entitled to a pure worship.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

I will testify--that is, for failure to worship aught.

thy God--and so, by covenant as well as creation, entitled to a pure worship.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Hear, O my people, and I will speak - God himself is now introduced as speaking, and as stating the principles on which the judgment will proceed. The previous verses are introductory, or are designed to bring the scene of the judgment before the mind. The solemn scene now opens, and God himself speaks, especially as rebuking the disposition to rely on the mere forms of religion, while its spirituality and its power are denied. The purpose of the whole is, by asking how these things will appear in the judgment, to imply the vanity of "mere" forms of religion now. The particular address is made to the "people" of God, or to "Israel," because the purpose of the psalmist was to rebuke the prevailing tendency to rely on outward forms. O Israel, and I will testify against thee - In the judgment. In view of those scenes, and as "at" that time, I will "now" bear this solemn testimony against the views which you entertain on the subject of religion, and the practices which prevail in your worship. I am God, even thy God - I am the true God, and therefore I have a right to speak; I am "thy" God - the God who has been the Protector of thy people - acknowledged as the God of the nation - and therefore I claim the right to declare the great principles which pertain to true worship, and which constitute true religion.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
Exposition of the sacrificial Tra for the good of those whose holiness consists in outward works. The forms strengthened by ah, in Psa 50:7, describe God's earnest desire to have Israel for willing hearers as being quite as strong as His desire to speak and to bear witness. העיד בּ, obtestari aliquem, to come forward as witness, either solemnly assuring, or, as here and in the Psalm of Asaph, Psa 81:9, earnestly warning and punishing (cf. Arab. šahida with b, to bear witness against any one). On the Dagesh forte conjunctive in בּך, vid., Ges. ֗20, 2, a. He who is speaking has a right thus to stand face to face with Israel, for he is Elohim, the God of Israel - by which designation reference is made to the words אנכי יהוה אלהיך (Exo 20:2), with which begins the Law as given from Sinai, and which here take the Elohimic form (whereas in Psa 81:11 they remain unaltered) and are inverted in accordance with the context. As Psa 50:8 states, it is not the material sacrifices, which Israel continually, without cessation, offers, that are the object of the censuring testimony. ועולתיך, even if it has Mugrash, as in Baer, is not on this account, according to the interpretation given by the accentuation, equivalent to ועל־עולותיך (cf. on the other hand Psa 38:18); it is a simple assertory substantival clause: thy burnt-offerings are, without intermission, continually before Me. God will not dispute about sacrifices in their outward characteristics; for - so Psa 50:9 go on to say-He does not need sacrifices for the sake of receiving from Israel what He does not otherwise possess. His is every wild beast (חיתו, as in the Asaph Psa 79:2) of the forest, His the cattle בּהררי אלף, upon the mountains of a thousand, i.e., upon the thousand (and myriad) mountains (similar to מתי מספּר or מתי מעט), or: where they live by thousands (a similar combination to נבל עשׂור). Both explanations of the genitive are unsupported by any perfectly analogous instance so far as language is concerned; the former, however, is to be preferred on account of the singular, which is better suited to it. He knows every bird that makes its home on the mountains; ידע, as usually, of a knowledge which masters a subject, compasses it and makes it its own. Whatever moves about the fields if with Him, i.e., is within the range of His knowledge (cf. Job 27:11; Psa 10:13), and therefore of His power; זיז (here and in the Asaph Psa 80:14) from זאזא = זעזע, to move to and fro, like טיט from טיטע, to swept out, cf. κινώπετον, κνώδαλον, from κινεῖν. But just as little as God requires sacrifices in order thereby to enrich Himself, is there any need on His part that might be satisfied by sacrifices, Psa 50:12. If God should hunger, He would not stand in need of man's help in order to satisfy Himself; but He is never hungry, for He is the Being raised above all carnal wants. Just on this account, what God requires is not by any means the outward worship of sacrifice, but a spiritual offering, the worship of the heart, Psa 50:14. Instead of the שׁלמים, and more particularly זבח תּודה, Lev 7:11-15, and שׁלמי נדר, Lev 7:16 (under the generic idea of which are also included, strictly speaking, vowed thank-offerings), God desires the thanksgiving of the heart and the performance of that which has been vowed in respect of our moral relationship to Himself and to men; and instead of the עולה in its manifold forms of devotion, the prayer of the heart, which shall not remain unanswered, so that in the round of this λογικὴ λατρεία everything proceeds from and ends in εὐχαριστία. It is not the sacrifices offered in a becoming spirit that are contrasted with those offered without the heart (as, e.g., Sir. 32 [35]:1-9), but the outward sacrifice appears on the whole to be rejected in comparison with the spiritual sacrifice. This entire turning away from the outward form of the legal ceremonial is, in the Old Testament, already a predictive turning towards that worship of God in spirit and in truth which the new covenant makes alone of avail, after the forms of the Law have served as swaddling clothes to the New Testament life which was coming into being in the old covenant. This "becoming" begins even in the Tra itself, especially in Deuteronomy. Our Psalm, like the Chokma (Pro 21:3), and prophecy in the succeeding age (cf. Hos 6:6; Mic 6:6-8; Isa 1:11-15, and other passages), stands upon the standpoint of this concluding book of the Tra, which traces back all the requirements of the Law to the fundamental command of love.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

Exposition of the sacrificial Tra for the good of those whose holiness consists in outward works. The forms strengthened by ah, in Psa 50:7, describe God's earnest desire to have Israel for willing hearers as being quite as strong as His desire to speak and to bear witness. העיד בּ, obtestari aliquem, to come forward as witness, either solemnly assuring, or, as here and in the Psalm of Asaph, Psa 81:9, earnestly warning and punishing (cf. Arab. šahida with b, to bear witness against any one). On the Dagesh forte conjunctive in בּך, vid., Ges. ֗20, 2, a. He who is speaking has a right thus to stand face to face with Israel, for he is Elohim, the God of Israel - by which designation reference is made to the words אנכי יהוה אלהיך (Exo 20:2), with which begins the Law as given from Sinai, and which here take the Elohimic form (whereas in Psa 81:11 they remain unaltered) and are inverted in accordance with the context. As Psa 50:8 states, it is not the material sacrifices, which Israel continually, without cessation, offers, that are the object of the censuring testimony. ועולתיך, even if it has Mugrash, as in Baer, is not on this account, according to the interpretation given by the accentuation, equivalent to ועל־עולותיך (cf. on the other hand Psa 38:18); it is a simple assertory substantival clause: thy burnt-offerings are, without intermission, continually before Me. God will not dispute about sacrifices in their outward characteristics; for - so Psa 50:9 go on to say-He does not need sacrifices for the sake of receiving from Israel what He does not otherwise possess. His is every wild beast (חיתו, as in the Asaph Psa 79:2) of the forest, His the cattle בּהררי אלף, upon the mountains of a thousand, i.e., upon the thousand (and myriad) mountains (similar to מתי מספּר or מתי מעט), or: where they live by thousands (a similar combination to נבל עשׂור). Both explanations of the genitive are unsupported by any perfectly analogous instance so far as language is concerned; the former, however, is to be preferred on account of the singular, which is better suited to it. He knows every bird that makes its home on the mountains; ידע, as usually, of a knowledge which masters a subject, compasses it and makes it its own. Whatever moves about the fields if with Him, i.e., is within the range of His knowledge (cf. Job 27:11; Psa 10:13), and therefore of His power; זיז (here and in the Asaph Psa 80:14) from זאזא = זעזע, to move to and fro, like טיט from טיטע, to swept out, cf. κινώπετον, κνώδαλον, from κινεῖν. But just as little as God requires sacrifices in order thereby to enrich Himself, is there any need on His part that might be satisfied by sacrifices, Psa 50:12. If God should hunger, He would not stand in need of man's help in order to satisfy Himself; but He is never hungry, for He is the Being raised above all carnal wants. Just on this account, what God requires is not by any means the outward worship of sacrifice, but a spiritual offering, the worship of the heart, Psa 50:14. Instead of the שׁלמים, and more particularly זבח תּודה, Lev 7:11-15, and שׁלמי נדר, Lev 7:16 (under the generic idea of which are also included, strictly speaking, vowed thank-offerings), God desires the thanksgiving of the heart and the performance of that which has been vowed in respect of our moral relationship to Himself and to men; and instead of the עולה in its manifold forms of devotion, the prayer of the heart, which shall not remain unanswered, so that in the round of this λογικὴ λατρεία everything proceeds from and ends in εὐχαριστία. It is not the sacrifices offered in a becoming spirit that are contrasted with those offered without the heart (as, e.g., Sir. 32 [35]:1-9), but the outward sacrifice appears on the whole to be rejected in comparison with the spiritual sacrifice. This entire turning away from the outward form of the legal ceremonial is, in the Old Testament, already a predictive turning towards that worship of God in spirit and in truth which the new covenant makes alone of avail, after the forms of the Law have served as swaddling clothes to the New Testament life which was coming into being in the old covenant. This "becoming" begins even in the Tra itself, especially in Deuteronomy. Our Psalm, like the Chokma (Pro 21:3), and prophecy in the succeeding age (cf. Hos 6:6; Mic 6:6-8; Isa 1:11-15, and other passages), stands upon the standpoint of this concluding book of the Tra, which traces back all the requirements of the Law to the fundamental command of love.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Hear - Having brought in God, as coming to judgment, he now gives an account of the process and sentence of the judge. Testify - I will declare my charge against thee. Thy God - Not only in general, but in a special manner, by that solemn covenant made at Sinai; whereby I avouched thee to be my peculiar people, and thou didst avouch me to be thy God.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Hear, O my people - As they were now amply informed concerning the nature and certainty of the general judgment, and were still in a state of probation, Asaph proceeds to show them the danger to which they were exposed, and the necessity of repentance and amendment, that when that great day should arrive, they might be found among those who had made a covenant with God by sacrifice. And he shows them that the sacrifice with which God would be well pleased was quite different from the bullocks, he-goats, etc., which they were in the habit of offering. In short, he shows here that God has intended to abrogate those sacrifices, as being no longer of any service: for when the people began to trust in them, without looking to the thing signified, it was time to put them away. When the people began to pay Divine honors to the brazen serpent, though it was originally an ordinance of God's appointment for the healing of the Israelites, it was ordered to be taken away; called nehushtan, a bit of brass; and broken to pieces. The sacrifices under the Jewish law were of God's appointment; but now that the people began to put their trust in them, God despised them.

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¹¹ To what [04100] purpose is the multitude [07230] of your sacrifices [02077] unto me? saith [0559] the LORD [03068]: I am full [07646] of the burnt offerings [05930] of rams [0352], and the fat [02459] of fed beasts [04806]; and I delight [02654] not in the blood [01818] of bullocks [06499], or of lambs [03532], or of he goats [06260].
¹² When ye come [0935] to appear [07200] before [06440] me, who hath required [01245] this at your hand [03027], to tread [07429] my courts [02691]?
¹³ Bring [0935] no more [03254] vain [07723] oblations [04503]; incense [07004] is an abomination [08441] unto me; the new moons [02320] and sabbaths [07676], the calling [07121] of assemblies [04744], I cannot away with [03201]; it is iniquity [0205], even the solemn meeting [06116].
¹⁴ Your new moons [02320] and your appointed feasts [04150] my soul [05315] hateth [08130]: they are a trouble [02960] unto me; I am weary [03811] to bear [05375] them.
¹⁵ And when ye spread forth [06566] your hands [03709], I will hide [05956] mine eyes [05869] from you: yea, when ye make many [07235] prayers [08605], I will not hear [08085]: your hands [03027] are full [04390] of blood [01818].

⁶ Wherewith shall I come before [06923] the LORD [03068], and bow [03721] myself before the high [04791] God [0430]? shall I come before [06923] him with burnt offerings [05930], with calves [05695] of a year [08141] old [01121]?
⁷ Will the LORD [03068] be pleased [07521] with thousands [0505] of rams [0352], or with ten thousands [07233] of rivers [05158] of oil [08081]? shall I give [05414] my firstborn [01060] for my transgression [06588], the fruit [06529] of my body [0990] for the sin [02403] of my soul [05315]?
⁸ He hath shewed [05046] thee, O man [0120], what is good [02896]; and what doth the LORD [03068] require [01875] of thee, but to do [06213] justly [04941], and to love [0160] mercy [02617], and to walk [03212] humbly [06800] with thy God [0430]?

⁶ For I desired [02654] mercy [02617], and not sacrifice [02077]; and the knowledge [01847] of God [0430] more than burnt offerings [05930].

³ To do [06213] justice [06666] and judgment [04941] is more acceptable [0977] to the LORD [03068] than sacrifice [02077].

¹⁶ But if the sacrifice [02077] of his offering [07133] be a vow [05088], or a voluntary offering [05071], it shall be eaten [0398] the same day [03117] that he offereth [07126] his sacrifice [02077]: and on the morrow [04283] also the remainder [03498] of it shall be eaten [0398]:

¹¹ And this is the law [08451] of the sacrifice [02077] of peace offerings [08002], which he shall offer [07126] unto the LORD [03068].
¹² If he offer [07126] it for a thanksgiving [08426], then he shall offer [07126] with the sacrifice [02077] of thanksgiving [08426] unleavened [04682] cakes [02471] mingled [01101] with oil [08081], and unleavened [04682] wafers [07550] anointed [04886] with oil [08081], and cakes [02471] mingled [01101] with oil [08081], of fine flour [05560], fried [07246].
¹³ Besides the cakes [02471], he shall offer [07126] for his offering [07133] leavened [02557] bread [03899] with the sacrifice [02077] of thanksgiving [08426] of his peace offerings [08002].
¹⁴ And of it he shall offer [07126] one [0259] out of the whole oblation [07133] for an heave offering [08641] unto the LORD [03068], and it shall be the priest's [03548] that sprinkleth [02236] the blood [01818] of the peace offerings [08002].
¹⁵ And the flesh [01320] of the sacrifice [02077] of his peace offerings [08002] for thanksgiving [08426] shall be eaten [0398] the same day [03117] that it is offered [07133]; he shall not leave [03240] any of it until the morning [01242].

¹⁴ Offer [02076] unto God [0430] thanksgiving [08426]; and pay [07999] thy vows [05088] unto the most High [05945]:

¹² If I were hungry [07456], I would not tell [0559] thee: for the world [08398] is mine, and the fulness [04393] thereof.

¹⁴ Return [07725], we beseech thee, O God [0430] of hosts [06635]: look down [05027] from heaven [08064], and behold [07200], and visit [06485] this vine [01612];

¹³ Wherefore doth the wicked [07563] contemn [05006] God [0430]? he hath said [0559] in his heart [03820], Thou wilt not require [01875] it.

¹¹ I will teach [03384] you by the hand [03027] of God [0410]: that which is with the Almighty [07706] will I not conceal [03582].

² The dead bodies [05038] of thy servants [05650] have they given [05414] to be meat [03978] unto the fowls [05775] of the heaven [08064], the flesh [01320] of thy saints [02623] unto the beasts [02416] of the earth [0776].

⁹ I will take [03947] no bullock [06499] out of thy house [01004], nor he goats [06260] out of thy folds [04356].

¹⁸ For I will declare [05046] mine iniquity [05771]; I will be sorry [01672] for my sin [02403].

⁸ I will not reprove [03198] thee for thy sacrifices [02077] or thy burnt offerings [05930], to have been continually [08548] before me.

¹¹ But my people [05971] would not hearken [08085] to my voice [06963]; and Israel [03478] would [014] none of me.

² I am the LORD [03068] thy God [0430], which have brought [03318] thee out of the land [0776] of Egypt [04714], out of the house [01004] of bondage [05650].

⁹ There shall no strange [02114] god [0410] be in thee; neither shalt thou worship [07812] any strange [05236] god [0410].

⁷ Hear [08085], O my people [05971], and I will speak [01696]; O Israel [03478], and I will testify [05749] against thee: I am God [0430], even thy God [0430].