Psalms 50
God, the judge, calls the earth to gather and discern his people, declaring that he does not need their sacrifices, for all creation belongs to him. Instead, he desires the sacrifice of praise and for them to honor their vows. God rebukes the sinner who speaks of his justices but lives a life of malice and deceit, warning them that he will reprove and set himself against them if they do not change. Those who forget God will be taken away, but the sacrifice of praise will honor him and reveal salvation.
A Psalm of Asaph. The God of gods, the Lord has spoken, and he has called the earth, from the rising of the sun even to its settingfrom Zion, the brilliance of his beautyGod will arrive manifestly. Our God also will not keep silence. A fire will flare up in his sight, and a mighty tempest will surround himHe will call to heaven from above, and to the earth, to discern his peopleGather his holy ones to him, you who order his covenant above sacrificesAnd the heavens will announce his justice. For God is the judgeListen, my people, and I will speak. Listen, Israel, and I will testify for you. I am God, your GodI will not reprove you for your sacrifices. Moreover, your holocausts are ever in my sightI will not accept calves from your house, nor he-goats from your flocksFor all the wild beasts of the forest are mine: the cattle on the hills and the oxenI know all the flying things of the air, and the beauty of the field is with meIf I should be hungry, I would not tell you: for the whole world is mine, and all its plentitudeShall I gnaw on the flesh of bulls? Or would I drink the blood of goatsOffer to God the sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Most HighAnd call upon me in the day of tribulation. I will rescue you, and you will honor meBut to the sinner, God has said: Why do you discourse on my justices, and take up my covenant through your mouthTruly, you have hated discipline, and you have cast my sermons behind youIf you saw a thief, you ran with him, and you have placed your portion with adulterersYour mouth has abounded with malice, and your tongue has concocted deceitsSitting, you spoke against your brother, and you set up a scandal against your mother’s sonThese things you have done, and I was silent. You thought, unjustly, that I ought to be like you. But I will reprove you, and I will set myself against your faceUnderstand these things, you who forget God; lest at any time, he might quickly take you away, and there would be no one to rescue youThe sacrifice of praise will honor me. And in that place is the journey by which I will reveal to him the salvation of God
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