Ps. 50:16-23 – The Judge’s Warning To Those Who Forget God

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 8 Oct. 2023

Introduction

• Read my translation of the whole of Psalm 50:
  {A Psalm by Asaph.} Yahweh, the God of gods spoke, and He called the earth from the rising of the sun to its going-down. Out of Zion – the perfection of beauty – God became dazzling. Let our God come in and not keep quiet! Fire will consume things in front of His face, and all around Him it will be extremely volatile. He will call to the heavens above as well as to the earth, in order to judge His people. “Gather to Him His godly ones who ratify His covenant on the basis of sacrifice.” And the heavens will communicate His righteousness because it is God Himself who is judging! SELAH “Please listen, my people Israel, and let me speak to you, and let me testify with you. I am God, your God. It’s not over your sacrifices that I am reproving you – for your whole-burnt-offerings are before me continuously. I will not take from your house a bullock or goats from your pens, because every wild animal belongs to me, the cattle on the hills and the oxen. I know every bird of the heavens; the animal in the field is already in my company. If I were hungry, I would not tell it to you, because the world and what fills it belong to me! Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice to God a thanks-offering, and make good on your vows to the Most High. Also, call out to me during a time of crisis. I will rescue you, then you glorify me!” But to the sinner, God said, “What business do you have recounting my statutes or taking up my covenant upon your mouth, when you yourself have hated discipline and cast my words behind you? When you saw a thief, then you ran with him, and you shared your inheritance with adulterers. You have commissioned your mouth with evil, and you have attached your tongue to deceit. Sitting in judgment, you spoke against your brother; indeed, against the son of your mother you deposited blame. You did these things, and I kept quiet. You reckoned that I was lawless like yourself. I will bring justice to bear on you, and I will arrange it before your eyes! Please understand this, you who forget God; otherwise I will rip you to shreds and there will be no escape. He who sacrifices a thanks-offering honors me, and there is the way. I will cause him to see into the salvation of God.

• In the first section of this Psalm, God is introduced as the awesome judge of all, and in the middle part of the psalm, we saw God’s corrective admonition to His own people. Now in the third and final part of the psalm, we see God turning His attention to the wicked and arraigning them for their crimes and giving them a stern warning.

vs.16-17 The audience is “the wicked”

• This is addressed to persons who are mingling with God’s people, going to church, and mouthing the same religious words that the faithful are mouthing, but whose life is characterized by the pursuit of what is wrong – characterized by sin against God’s laws – particularly the second table of the law. This is spoken to those who secretly hate God and are His enemies.

• God says, “Why are you rattling off the 10 commandments to other people like it makes any difference to you?” What business do you have showing up at church and reading the responsive readings and reciting the creeds and saying Amen when you have no relationship with me and you recoil at the idea of me holding you accountable for anything? “You are an authority to yourself; stop pretending that God means anything. Don’t use my word to manipulate other people when You don’t follow my word yourself.”

• This is a problem addressed many times throughout the Bible. In a religiously-oriented community like the ancient nation of Israel, there are always people who want to be considered a part of the community and to experience its benefits without actually being believers themselves. We read in the Gospels of many run-ins Jesus had with religious people who wouldn’t believe in Him.

  • The same is true of modern Christianized nations like ours – and even of smaller communities like Christian schools, non-profits, and churches.

  • I grew up going to Christian schools, but through most of those years, I could count on one hand the number of kids who were a positive influence on my faith.

  • I was just reading an article about Mark Driscoll, how he started a very successful church organization at Mars Hill but destroyed it by his sin, and then, rather than submit to church discipline, he just ran away to another state and started, with even less accountability, another big church organization that naive people are still flocking to, and it is making shipwreck of the faith of many.

  • In the parable of the Wheat and the Weeds (Matt. 13:24ff), Jesus said that He is going to leave things the way they are for now – so there will always be hypocrites and posers in churches and Christian organizations, but when Jesus returns to judge, He promises to separate those weeds out and burn them.

• This was a theme throughout Isaiah’s prophecies too:

  • Isaiah 1:11-20 “‘To what purpose of mine is the multitude of your sacrifices?’ says Yahweh, ‘I have had-my-fill of whole-burnt-offerings of rams and the fat of feed-lot-animals; and in blood of bulls and lambs and goats I do not delight... Do not continue to bring vain grain-offerings… 18 Please move and let us reason,’ says Yahweh, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, like snow they will be whitened, Though bloody, like crimson, like wool they will become. If you are willing and you listen, you will eat the good of the land, but if you refuse and you disobey, you will be consumed by the sword...’” (NAW, cf. 41:8 )

  • Isaiah 29:12-13 “Because this people drew near with its mouth and with its lips they honored me, yet its heart was far away from me, and their fear of me has been commandments taught by men, therefore… the wisdom of its wisemen will perish...” (NAW)

• The next 4 verses identify 4 particular sins committed by these wicked persons. Let’s look at each of these sins in turn and consider whether any of this wickedness lurks in our own hearts.

v.17 CHARGE#1: Abandoned Accountability to God

• “...you have hated discipline/instruction and cast my words behind you”

• God’s Word is clear that only those who listen to Him and obey Him are His blessed people. Those who don’t listen but reject His words will be punished.

  • Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise [בזו] wisdom and instruction... 22 ...fools hate knowledge… 30 They would have none of my counsel And despised [נאצו] my every rebuke… 12:1 Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, But he who hates correction [תוכחת] is stupid.” (NKJV)

  • This plays out during the time of the Judges: Nehemiah 9:26-27 "...they were disobedient And rebelled against You, Cast Your law behind their backs And killed Your prophets, who [bore testimony with] them … Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies, Who oppressed them...” (NKJV)

  • It happened again in the early days of the northern kingdom of Israel: 1 Kings 14:9-10 the Israelite prophet Ahijah sent this message from God to King Jeroboam, “...you have done more evil than all who were before you, for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back— therefore behold! I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam…” (NKJV)

  • And again in the middle of the southern kingdom of Judah: Isaiah 5:24 “Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble, and flame withers the dry grass, their root will be like rottenness, and their flower will go up like dust, for they have rejected [מאס] the law of Yahweh of Hosts, and the word of the Holy One of Israel they have despised [נאצ].” (NAW)

  • Jesus spoke of it during the time of the Gospels too, John 3:18, 20 “...he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God… For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, … 10:27-28 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life...” (NKJV)

  • And the apostles prophesied of it happening in the end times 2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables…. before God and the Lord Jesus Christ... judge the living and the dead...” (NKJV)

• There is a problem if you sing God’s praises when He blesses you with temporal things, then you complain against God – and deny that He is your God – when He brings hardship into your life. (Augustine) The call in this Psalm is to do the opposite, to listen to the word of God (v.7), to walk in covenant with Him (v.5), call upon Him in hardships (v.15), and be saved and honor Him.

v.18 CHARGE #2: Associated With Thieves & Adulterers

• There has been debate for the last thousand years or more over the two verbs in this verse:

  • The first verb in the original consonantal Hebrew text was traditionally interpreted “run with/join in” for hundreds of years until the Masorite scribes added vowel pointings that changed the meaning to “be pleased,”

  • And the Masorite Hebrew text doesn’t actually have a verb in the second half, but all the ancient versions have a verb like “put/shared.”

  • Nevertheless the meaning of the verse is quite clear no matter which textual tradition you follow: The wicked who are falling under divine judgment have associated themselves with stealing and adultery, flagrantly breaking at least 20% of the 10 Commandments right there.

  • Not only have they fallen into these sins, the desire to do these sins has come out of their own hearts. No sooner do they see a thief than they want to partner in thievery – and the same with adultery. They commit these sins because they want to.

• I should note that this is different from the kind of associating with sinners that Jesus did. Jesus hung out with thieving tax collectors and chatted with strange women, but it was not because He wanted to participate in their sin; it was because He wanted to call them out of bondage to these sins into the freedom of faith in Him and eternal life. We can do the same.

• But when thieves¹ can get away with stealing, they share the loot among themselves, and when adulterers can get away with their sexual sin, it might seem fun and profitable, but the Bible is clear on God’s judgment against these two violations of the 10 Commandments:

  • 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “...have y'all not known that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the immoral nor idol worshipers, nor adulterers, nor gays nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards nor abusive speakers nor graspers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (NAW)

  • Revelation 21:8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (NKJV, cf. Psalm 1)

• But you might say, “I’ve never stolen or committed adultery!” Well, are you ever “pleased” to watch other people steal or commit adultery in movies? Where is your heart?

  • 1 Peter 4:3-5 “...the time of life which has gone by is enough for y'all to have accomplished the will of the nations, having proceeded into immoralities, lusts, alcohol-binges, orgies, parties and illicit idolatries – in regard to which they are alienated, uttering hurtful epithets when y'all do not run together into the same flood of dissolute behavior. Those guys will render an account to the One who is preparing to judge the living and the dead” (NAW)

  • Ephesians 4:28 “The one who is stealing, let him no longer steal; but rather let him labor at what is good, working with his own hands in order that he might have something to donate to the one who has a need.” (NAW, cf. Eph. 5:3, 1 Pet. 4:15)

• “Sharing your inheritance with adulterers,” could be referring to children born outside the support that Biblical marriage provides – the consequences of this sin impacts a family for generations.

• In contrast with sharing an inheritance with adulterers, David, in Psalm 16:5-6 says, “Yahweh is the allotment [מְנָת] of my inheritance ...” (NAW) When the Lord is your inheritance, you get eternal life!

v. 19 CHARGE #3: Adopted Loose Speech

• Speaking “evil” and telling lies to “deceive” others are not merely things they slip up and do on occasion, they have dedicated their mouths to evil speech, purposefully speaking evil and not restraining it in any way. Furthermore, the Hebrew verb that connects the “tongue” with “deceit” in the second half of v.19 is the verb used of forming binding alliances (and it is also the word used to describe Joab “attaching” his hidden sword to his thigh). They are permanently stuck to lies.

• Of course, what comes out of the mouth reveals what is going on in the heart. (Mark 7:21-23 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” ~NKJV) Their speech reveals “dedication” to “deception” and “evil” in the core of their being.

• Once again, the Bible is clear on God’s judgment against this kind of sin:

  • Psalm 5:6 “You will destroy speakers of falsehood; a man of bloodshed and deceit² Yahweh will abhor.” (NAW)

  • Revelation 21:8 "...all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (NKJV)

• In the New Testament, Christians are warned that these sorts of sins will continue to be a problem in the world:

  • Romans 1:28-32 “...as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” (NKJV, cf. Rom. 16:17-18)

• And the apostles clearly teach Christians how to fight against these sins of the tongue: Stop your mouth and fill your mind with the Bible:

  • Ephesians 5:3-6 “But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks... Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” (NKJV)

  • 2 Timothy 3:13-15 “...evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of… [in] the Holy Scriptures…” (NKJV)

  • 1 Peter 2:1-2 “Therefore after you have displaced all wickedness and deceptiveness and hypocrisies and rivalries and all trash-talks, like newborn babies y'all must start cultivating desire for the non-deceptive milk of the word, in order that y'all might be caused to grow in salvation by means of it” (NAW)

v. 20 CHARGE #4: Accused Brothers Wrongfully

• In the Psalmist’s culture, the act of “sitting down” indicated that you were executing the office of a judge.³ (The prosecutor would stand to make accusations while the judge sat.) This gives us a clue that some injustice is going on. Judges should be impartial, but here the judge is the one spouting off the accusations! This brother is not going to get a fair trial.

• Blameshifting is as old as Adam (who told God, “It was that woman you gave me!” in Genesis 3), and it is ubiquitous among sinners with guilty consciences. It’s curious how often people blame others for the very things they themselves have done wrong, from the little child who complains to mama that his brother hit him back, to the drive-by atheist who angrily accuses street-preachers of being hateful and intolerant. The “pot calling the kettle black” happens in our work environments and in our marriages too.

• Now, of course, there is a place for confronting a brother or sister over real sin, and Jesus taught us how to do that justly and lovingly in Matthew 18, but apart from that, normally we should be protecting our brothers and sisters out of love for them, not browbeating them with accusations or rigging justice so that they get punished for what we have done wrong.

• Once again, the law is clear on this point:

  • Exodus 20:16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (NKJV)

  • Leviticus 19:15-18 “Y'all may not do what is unfair in the justice-system. You may not tilt the cases of the needy, and you may not inflate the cases of the great; it is with righteousness that you must judge your fellow-man. You may not advance a rumor among your people. You may not stand against the blood of your neighbor; I am Yahweh. You may not hate your brother in your heart; you must earnestly make [things] right with your fellow-man and not raise up sin on account of him. You may not be vengeful and you may not begrudge the children of your people, rather you must bear love toward your neighbor as to yourself. I am Yahweh.” (NAW)

  • Psalm 101:5 “Whoever secretly slanders⁴ his neighbor, Him I will destroy; The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, Him I will not endure.” (NKJV, cf. Ps. 31:18)

• And, once again, the New Testament warns us that this sin will be prevalent in the last days, and that Jesus will judge it in the end:

  • Matthew 10:21 “...brother will deliver brother over to death, and a father will do the same to his child, and children will rise up against parents and put them to death...” (NAW)

  • Romans 1:18ff “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness… 29 filled with... maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters... untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful…” (NKJV, cf. 2 Cor. 12:20)

• And the Bible tells us what to do instead of blameshifting:

  • Ephesians 4:32 “...be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” (KJV, cf. Heb. 12:12-14, Gal. 5:13-14)

  • Romans 12:10 “Be kindly affection[ate] one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another… 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.” (KJV)

  • Colossians 3:12-14 “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” (NKJV)

vs.21 God’s Responses

• Now, after laying out the four violations of Abandoning accountability, Associating with thieves and adulterers, Adopting loose speech, and Accusing brothers wrongfully, God points out that His gracious patience, which had kept Him quiet (in vs. 3 and 21) so that He did not judge the wicked for a while, and which should have been used as a time to repent of these sins and get right with God, instead was reckoned by the wicked “as though God were as lawless as they were,” not considering sin to be a problem.

  • (All the ancient Greek, Latin, and Aramaic versions actually use the word “lawless” to describe how the wicked thought of God.)

  • God was just talking through His hat, so to speak, when He gave the 10 Commandments; He didn’t really expect strict adherence to them.

  • “Not so,” says God, “I was just delaying my prosecution. I am no longer going to be silent about sin; I am coming to judge it; I am now here to confront you with the evidence of your sin and to punish you for it.”

• David mentioned this phenomenon of wicked people interpreting God’s silence as permissiveness earlier in Psalm 10:4-11 “A wicked man according to the stuck-up-ness of his nose will never be a seeker; all his schemes assume there is no God... It is a curse that fills His mouth – also deceit and oppression; under his tongue are trouble and iniquity. He sits in ambush by the subdivisions. In the hiding-places he murders an innocent man... He said in his heart, ‘God forgot! He has hidden His face; He never saw a thing!’” (NAW)

• But the fact that God hasn’t punished you for your sin is not because He didn’t see it, and it’s not because He winks at wickedness like a corrupt politician; it is because He is patient about saving sinners.

  • 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (NKJV)

  • Isaiah 57:11 “And whom did you dread and fear that you became deceptive and did not remember me? You did not lay it upon your heart. Was it not I myself who held peace – and that for an eternity, yet you do not fear me!” (NAW, cf. 42:14)

  • The Apostle Paul explained in Acts 17:30-31 “… [The] times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained...” (NKJV)

• So if you have Abandoned accountability to God, Associated with thieves and adulterers, Adopted loose speech, or Accused brothers wrongfully, don’t take the silence of God and the continuance of the “good life” as license to keep doing those wrong things. Take advantage of the time you have now to get right with God, receive forgiveness from Jesus and turn away from sin before it’s too late!

  • Isaiah 55:6-7 “Seek Yahweh while He is to be found, call Him while He is to be near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and a man of iniquity his thoughts, and let him turn to Yahweh and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will be great to pardon.” (NAW)

  • Romans 2:4 “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (NKJV)

  • Revelation 2:16 Jesus says, “Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.” (NKJV)

vs.22 God’s Admonition & Warning

• This seems to be an allusion to Psalm 7:2, where David complained to God that the wicked man would “tear my soul apart like a lion rips, and there will be no deliverer.” (NAW) When Jesus comes back, the tables will be turned, and it will be the wicked who is ripped to shreds by the almighty God, and nobody’s going to say, “Hey God, don’t hurt my friend. Hey, I mean it now. If you don’t stop punishing him, I’ll beat you up!” Jesus will just laugh and say something like, “Go ahead, make my day!”

• This action of “tearing in pieces” is used throughout the Bible to describe how wild animals eat their prey. They tear off bites just big enough to swallow. It’s a gruesome image, but God uses it of Himself throughout the Scriptures in:

  • Job 10:7 “Although You know that I am not wicked, And there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?” (NKJV)

  • Isaiah 43:13 “Also from today, I am He. There is not one who can deliver from my hand. I act and who can make it turn back?” (NAW)

  • Hosea 5:14 “For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue.” (NKJV)

• Once again, the audience is “those who forget God.” When Jesus cried from the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” He was in anguish over the loss of relationship. Jesus takes it no less seriously now when people forget Him!

• And what is the command to these wicked people who act like God doesn’t even exist? God says, “Understand that I am not going to put up with your sin indefinitely; either get right with me now and repent, or suffer the consequences when I tear into you on Judgment Day. You have acted so offensively against me for so long that I’m not going to have any pity on you then. I won’t feel bad at all about ripping you to shreds; it will be perfectly just.”

vs.23 Conclusion & Application

• But it is not too late yet. Even now, God “shows” the “way” out of judgment and “into salvation,” and it is through turning to “glorify” Him and “give thanks” to Him, acknowledging who God is and acknowledging that sin needs to be atoned for God’s way. To the one who does that, the Hebrew text literally says, “I will cause him to see into the salvation of God.” What a beautiful picture of God’s grace for sinners!⁵

• There has been a debate for perhaps two thousand years over how to translate the word in the middle of verse 23.

  • The Hebrew word som can mean “he set in place” as in “he prepares/orders the way,” but it looks almost identical to the word shom, which means “there” as in “there is the way.”

  • Modern English and Jewish versions follow the former understanding – many of them adding an extra word “aright/rightly” which is not in any Bible manuscript⁶.

  • On the other hand, the Bibles used since the time of Christ by Latin, Aramaic, and Greek Christians all read “there is the way.”

  • I favor the older Christian tradition which emphasizes that God has a way of salvation for sin­ners rather than the more modern and Jewish tradition which emphasizes doing things right.

• This last verse is very much like vs.14-15: whoever gives heed to God’s word and offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving and calls on God to save – whether you from among His believing people or from among the wicked – you will be saved and God will be honored!

  • “[T]here is nothing with which we are more frequently chargeable than forgetfulness of the benefits of the Lord. Scarcely one out of a thousand attracts our notice; and if it does, it is only slightly, and, as it were, in passing. And, secondly, we [seldom] assign that importance to the duty of praise which it deserves. We are apt to neglect it as something trivial, and altogether commonplace; whereas it constitutes the chief exercise of godliness, in which God would have us to be engaged during the whole of our life… the whole of spiritual worship is comprehended... in the exercise of praise, or flows from it.” ~J. Calvin, 1554 AD

  • “Thanksgiving is good, but thanks-living is better.” ~Matthew Henry, 1714 AD

• The last few words of this psalm in Hebrew read literally, “...I will cause him to see into Yeshua Elohim,” and we see a very literal fulfillment of that in the Gospels:

  • Luke 2:25-32 “...there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law,  he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: ‘Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation  Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples...’” (NKJV)

  • 1 John 1:1-3 “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we stared at, what our hands handled, concerning the word of the life – and the life was manifested and we have seen and are testifying and proclaiming to you the eternal life which was with the father and was manifested to us – What we have seen and heard, we are proclaiming also to you, that you also may be having fellowship with us. Moreover the fellowship which is ours is with the father and with his son, Jesus Christ.” (NAW)

• This salvation from all our sins through Jesus Christ is for all who call upon the name of the Lord and desire give glory, thanks, and praise to God for it.

Psalm 50:16-23 – Side-by side comparison of versions^A