Psalm 50:5
WEB
“Gather my saints together to me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
BSB
“Gather to Me My saints, who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
KJV
Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
Matthew Henry
Hebrew interlinear
H622
v — gather, receive, take away, remove
Derivation: a primitive root;
to gather for any purpose; hence, to receive, take away, i.e. remove (destroy, leave behind, put up, restore, etc.)
KJV: assemble, bring, consume, destroy, felch, gather (in, together, up again), × generally, get (him), lose, put all together, receive, recover (another from leprosy), (be) rereward, × surely, take (away, into, up), × utterly, withdraw.
vb — gather
אָסַף 209 vb. gather, remove
Qal
1. gather, collect
2. gather an individual into company of others
3. bring up the rear of
4. gather and take away, remove, withdraw
Niph.
1. assemble, be gathered, reflex.
2. pass. of Qal 2
3. Pass. of Qal 4; be taken away, removed, perish
Pi.
1. gather harvest
2. take in, receive into
3. as subst. rearguard, rearward
Pu. be gathered, of men
Hithp. gather themselves
H2623
a — kind, pious
Derivation: from 2616;
properly, kind, i.e. (religiously) pious (a saint)
KJV: godly (man), good, holy (one), merciful, saint, (un-) godly.
adj.m — kind
חָסִיד adj.m. kind, pious (so, as denoting active practice of חֶסֶד, kindness, Thes MV De and most, cf. קָצִיר, פָּקִיד etc.; > Hup on ψ 4:4 RVm who expl. as passive reception of י׳’s חֶסֶד, cf. שָׂכִיר, אָסִיר etc.; its used as attribute of God Je 3:12 ψ 145:17, and the context ψ 12:1 Mi 7:2 etc., favour active sense)—
1. kind
2. pious, godly
H3772
v — cut, destroy, consume, covenant
Derivation: a primitive root;
to cut (off, down or asunder); by implication, to destroy or consume; specifically, to covenant (i.e. make an alliance or bargain, originally by cutting flesh and passing between the pieces)
KJV: be chewed, be con-(feder-) ate, covenant, cut (down, off), destroy, fail, feller, be freed, hew (down), make a league (covenant), × lose, perish, × utterly, × want.
vb — cut off
כָּרַת 291 vb. cut off, cut down
Qal
1. cut off
2. cut down
3. hew, timber
4. cut, or make a covenant
Niph.
1. be cut off
2. be cut down
3. be chewed between the teeth
4. be cut off, in a more general sense fail
Pual
1. be cut off
2. be cut down
Hiph.
1. cut off, flattering lips
2. cut off, destroy the life of
3. cut down, destroy, cities
4. take away
5. permit to perish
H1285
n-f — compact
Derivation: from 1262 (in the sense of cutting [like 1254]);
a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh)
KJV: confederacy, (con-) feder(-ate), covenant, league.
n.f — covenant
בְּרִית 285 n.f. covenant
I. between men.
1. treaty, alliance, league
2. constitution, ordinance, between monarch and subjects
3. agreement, pledge
4. alliance of friendship between David and Jonathan
5. alliance of marriage
II. between God and man.
1. alliance of friendship
2. covenant, as a divine constitution or ordinance with signs or pledges
III. Phrases.
1. covenant making
2. covenant keeping
3. covenant violation
H5921
prep — above, over, upon, against
Derivation: properly, the same as 5920 used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following);
above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
KJV: above, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, × as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, × both and, by (reason of), × had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of, (from) (off), (up-) on, over, than, through(-out), to, touching, × with.
forasmuch as
כִּי עַל כֵּן forasmuch as
subst — above
עַל, עָ֑ל
I. subst. height
II. As prep. upon, and hence on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against
1. Upon, of the substratum upon which an object in any way rests, or on which an action is performed
a. —
(a). of clothing, etc., which any one wears
(b). With verbs of covering or protecting, even though the cover or veil be not over or above the thing covered, but around or before it
b. Of what rests heavily upon a person, or is a burden to him
c. Of a duty, payment, care, etc., imposed upon a person, or devolving on him
d. על is used idiom. to give pathos to the expression of an emotion, by emphasizing the person who is its subject, and who, as it were, feels it acting upon him
e. חָיָה עַל to live upon (as upon a foundation or support)
f. Of the ground or basis, on which a thing is done
2. It expresses excess
3. It denotes elevation or pre-eminence
4. It expresses addition
5. It expresses the idea of being extended, or suspended over anything, without however being in contact with it, above, over
6. From the sense of inclining or impending over, על comes to denote contiguity or proximity, Engl. by (or sts. on)
7. In connection with verbs of motion (actual or fig.)
8. By writers of the silver age, על is sts. used with the force of a dative
9. With other particles:
III. As conj.
a. עַל אֲשֶׁר because that
b. עַל כִּי similar in meaning, but less frequent
c. עַל alone:
(a). because
(b). notwithstanding that, although
IV. Compounds:
1. with כְּ (rare and late)
a. as concerning, as upon
b. the like of their deeds is the like of (that which) he will repay
2. מֵעַל from upon, from over, from by
H2077
n-m — slaughter, flesh, sacrifice
Derivation: from 2076;
properly, a slaughter, i.e. the flesh of an animal; by implication, a sacrifice (the victim or the act)
KJV: offer(-ing), sacrifice.
n.m — sacrifice
זֶ֫בַח 162 n.m. sacrifice
I. general name for all sacrifices eaten at feasts
1. of the God of Israel
2. of other deities
II. there are several kinds which are gradually distinguished
1. the covenant sacrifice, between Jacob and Laban
2. the passover
3. annual sacrifice
4. thank offering
5. in ritual of H & P
6. the slaughter of hostile nations
7. the verb used
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Verses 1–6
Psalms 50:1–6
It is probable that Asaph was not only the chief musician, who was to put a tune to this psalm, but that he was himself the penman of it; for we read that in Hezekiah's time they praised God in the words of David and of Asaph the seer, Ch2 29:30. Here is,
I. The court called, in the name of the King of kings (Psa 50:2): The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken - El, Elohim, Jehovah, the God of infinite power justice and mercy, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. God is the Judge, the Son of God came for judgement into the world, and the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of judgment. All the earth is called to attend, not only because the controversy God had with his people Israel for their hypocrisy and ingratitude might safely be referred to any man of reason (nay, let the house of Israel itself judge between God and his vineyard, Isa 5:3), but because all the children of men are concerned to know the right way of worshipping God, in spirit and in truth, because when the kingdom of the Messiah should be set up all should be instructed in the evangelical worship, and invited to join in it (see Mal 1:11, Act 10:34), and because in the day of final judgment all nations shall be gathered together to receive their doom, and every man shall give an account of himself unto God.
II. The judgment set, and the Judge taking his seat. As, when God gave the law to Israel in the wilderness, it is said, He came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir, and shone forth from Mount Paran, and came with ten thousands of his saints, and then from his right hand went a fiery law (Deu 33:2), so, with allusion to that, when God comes to reprove them for their hypocrisy, and to send forth his gospel to supersede the legal institutions, it is said here, 1. That he shall shine out of Zion, as then from the top of Sinai, Psa 50:2. Because in Zion his oracle was now fixed, thence his judgments upon that provoking people denounced, and thence the orders issued for the execution of them (Joe 2:1): Blow you the trumpet in Zion. Sometimes there are more than ordinary appearances of God's presence and power working with and by his word and ordinances, for the convincing of men's consciences and the reforming and refining of his church; and then God, who always dwells in Zion, may be said to shine out of Zion. Moreover, he may be said to shine out of Zion because the gospel, which set up spiritual worship, was to go forth from Mount Zion (Isa 2:3, Mic 4:2), and the preachers of it were to begin at Jerusalem (Luk 24:47), and Christians are said to come unto Mount Zion, to receive their instructions, Heb 12:22, Heb 12:28. Zion is here called the perfection of beauty, because it was the holy hill; and holiness is indeed the perfection of beauty. 2. That he shall come, and not keep silence, shall no longer seem to wink at the sins of men, as he had done (Psa 50:21), but shall show his displeasure at them, and shall also cause that mystery to be published to the world by his holy apostles which had long lain hid, that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs (Eph 3:5, Eph 3:6) and that the partition-wall of the ceremonial law should be taken down; this shall now no longer be concealed. In the great day our God shall come and shall not keep silence, but shall make those to hear his judgment that would not hearken to his law. 3. That his appearance should be very majestic and terrible: A fire shall devour before him. The fire of his judgments shall make way for the rebukes of his word, in order to the awakening of the hypocritical nation of the Jews, that the sinners in Zion, being afraid of that devouring fire (Isa 33:14), might be startled out of their sins. When his gospel kingdom was to be set up Christ came to send fire on the earth, Luk 12:49. The Spirit was given in cloven tongues as of fire, introduced by a rushing mighty wind, which was very tempestuous, Act 2:2, Act 2:3. And in the last judgment Christ shall come in flaming fire, Th2 1:8. See Dan 7:9; Heb 10:27. 4. That as on Mount Sinai he came with ten thousands of his saints, so he shall now call to the heavens from above, to take notice of this solemn process (Psa 50:4), as Moses often called heaven and earth to witness against Israel (Deu 4:26, Deu 31:28, Deu 32:1), and God by his prophets, Isa 1:2; Mic 6:2. The equity of the judgment of the great day will be attested and applauded by heaven and earth, by saints and angels, even all the holy myriads.
III. The parties summoned (Psa 50:5): Gather my saints together unto me. This may be understood either, 1. Of saints indeed: "Let them be gathered to God through Christ; let the few pious Israelites be set by themselves;" for to them the following denunciations of wrath do not belong; rebukes to hypocrites ought not to be terrors to the upright. When God will reject the services of those that only offered sacrifice, resting in the outside of the performance, he will graciously accept those who, in sacrificing, make a covenant with him, and so attend to and answer the end of the institution of sacrifices. The design of the preaching of the gospel, and the setting up of Christ's kingdom, was to gather together in one the children of God, Joh 11:52. And at the second coming of Jesus Christ all his saints shall be gathered together unto him (Th2 2:1) to be assessors with him in the judgment; for the saints shall judge the world, Co1 6:2. Now it is here given as a character of the saints that they have made a covenant with God by sacrifice. Note, (1.) Those only shall be gathered to God as his saints who have, in sincerity, covenanted with him, who have taken him to be their God and given up themselves to him to be his people, and thus have joined themselves unto the Lord. (2.) It is only by sacrifice, by Christ the great sacrifice (from whom all the legal sacrifices derived what value they had), that we poor sinners can covenant with God so as to be accepted of him. There must be an atonement made for the breach of the first covenant before we can be admitted again into covenant. Or, 2. It may be understood of saints in profession, such as the people of Israel were, who are called a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, Exo 19:6. They were, as a body politic, taken into covenant with God, the covenant of peculiarity; and it was done with great solemnity, by sacrifice, Exo 24:8. "Let them come and hear what God has to say to them; let them receive the reproofs God sends them now by his prophets, and the gospel he will, in due time, send them by his Son, which shall supersede the ceremonial law. If these be slighted, let them expect to hear from God another way, and to be judged by that word which they will not be ruled by."
IV. The issue of this solemn trial foretold (Psa 50:6): The heavens shall declare his righteousness, those heavens that were called to be witnesses to the trial (Psa 50:4); the people in heaven shall say, Hallelujah. True and righteous are his judgments, Rev 19:1, Rev 19:2. The righteousness of God in all the rebukes of his word and providence, in the establishment of his gospel (which brings in an everlasting righteousness, and in which the righteousness of God is revealed), and especially in the judgment of the great day, is what the heavens will declare; that is, 1. It will be universally known, and proclaimed to all the world. As the heavens declare the glory, the wisdom and power, of God the Creator (Psa 19:1), so they shall no less openly declare the glory, the justice and righteousness, of God the Judge; and so loudly do they proclaim both that there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard, as it follows there, Psa 50:3. 2. It will be incontestably owned and proved; who can deny what the heavens declare? Even sinners' own consciences will subscribe to it, and hell as well as heaven will be forced to acknowledge the righteousness of God. The reason given is, for God is Judge himself, and therefore, (1.) He will be just; for it is impossible he should do any wrong to any of his creatures, he never did, nor ever will. When men are employed to judge for him they may do unjustly; but, when he is Judge himself, there can be no injustice done. Is God unrighteous, who takes vengeance? The apostle, for this reason, startles at the thought of it; God forbid! for then how shall God judge the world? Rom 3:5, Rom 3:6. These decisions will be perfectly just, for against them there will lie no exception, and from them there will lie no appeal. (2.) He will be justified; God is Judge, and therefore he will not only execute justice, but he will oblige all to own it; for he will be clear when he judges, Psa 51:4.
Cross-references: 2Chr 29:30 · Ps 50:2 · Isa 5:3 · Mal 1:11 · Acts 10:34 · Deut 33:2 · Joel 2:1 · Isa 2:3 · Mic 4:2 · Luke 24:47 · Heb 12:22 · Heb 12:28 · Ps 50:21 · Eph 3:5 · Eph 3:6 · Isa 33:14 · Luke 12:49 · Acts 2:2 · Acts 2:3 · 2Thess 1:8 · Dan 7:9 · Heb 10:27 · Ps 50:4 · Deut 4:26 · Deut 31:28 · Deut 32:1 · Isa 1:2 · Mic 6:2 · Ps 50:5 · John 11:52 · 2Thess 2:1 · 1Cor 6:2 · Exod 19:6 · Exod 24:8 · Ps 50:6 · Rev 19:1 · Rev 19:2 · Ps 19:1 · Ps 50:3 · Rom 3:5 · Rom 3:6 · Ps 51:4