Psalm 50 Introduction

Structure and Formatting

Psalm 50 is like a wisdom psalm in that it describes the difference between how righteous people and wicked people live and the difference between what happens to them. But it is a particular type of psalm that depicts God assembling and addressing the Israelites, commending those who are faithfully obeying his covenant but warning those who are acting wickedly. See the discussion of the types of psalms in the introduction to the book of Psalms. 1. God powerfully summons the Israelites (1–6) 2. God addresses faithful Israelites (7–15) 3. God addresses wicked Israelites (16–22) 4. God reassures faithful Israelites (23)

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Psalm

Who was Asaph?

Asaph was an Israelite man from the tribe of Levi who was an important singer and musician during the reigns of David and Solomon. He played instruments and led people to sing songs to worship Yahweh. In addition to leading music, he also wrote songs. A dozen of the psalms are attributed to him. Psalm 50 is the psalm by Asaph that comes earliest in the book of Psalms.

What was a “thank offering” (verses 14, 23), and why does God encourage the Israelites to make this offering?

A thank offering was one type of fellowship offering, as [Leviticus 7:12–15](../lev/07/12.md) describes. A worshiper would sacrifice an animal from his flock, and together with other food that he would bring, this would provide a celebration meal for his family and friends. At this meal, the worshiper would describe publicly how God had helped him when he was in trouble. When God encourages the Israelites to make this offering, he is effectively encouraging them to pray to him for help when they are in trouble, as verse 15 describes, so that he can rescue them and they can honor him in this way. The Israelites were already offering all of the sacrifices that the law of Moses required, but God wanted them to go beyond what was required and live in a relationship of active devotion to him. He wanted them to experience his help and offer sacrifices freely in gratitude.

Translation Issues in This Psalm

Repeated phrases

For poetic effect, Asaph repeats some key terms in this psalm. He says in verse 3 that God “is not silent,” showing that the situation in verse 21, where God says “I was silent,” no longer holds. In verse 8, God tells the Israelite people, “I do not accuse you regarding your sacrifices,” but in verse 21, God tells a representative wicked person, “I will accuse you” of moral wrongdoing. To help your readers appreciate these connections, we recommend that in your translation, you translate the verbs that the ULT represents as “be silent” and “accuse” the same way in both of their occurrences.