Psalm 50

Psalm 50 is the 50th psalm from the Book of Psalms in the Bible. Its beginning in the English King James Version (KJV) is "The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof." In the Greek Septuagint version of the bible, and in the Latin Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 49 in a slightly different numbering system. The beginning in Latin is "Deus deorum, Dominus, locutus est / et vocavit terram a solis ortu usque ad occasum."[1] The psalm is a prophetic imagining of God's judgment on the Israelites.

For the "Miserere" psalm, Septuagint numbering 50, see Psalm 51.
Psalm 50
"The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken"
A Latin phrase from Psalm 50 in the coat of arms of Spain
Other name
  • Psalm 49
  • "Deus deorum"
LanguageHebrew (original)

The psalm is a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Anglican and Protestant liturgies. It has been set to music completely and in single verses. The phrase "A solis ortu usque ad occasum" is part of a Spanish coat of arms.

Composition

The psalm has been variously dated to either the 8th century BC, the time of the prophets Hosea and Micah, or to a time after the Babylonian captivity. The latter date is supported by the reference to "gathering" in vs. 5, but is problematic because vs. 2 describes Zion (another name for Jerusalem) as "the perfection of beauty," even though Jerusalem was destroyed in 587 BC.[2]

Text

The psalm can be divided into an introduction (vss. 1-6), two separate orations in which God testifies against the Jews (vvs. 7-15 and 16-21), and a conclusion.[3] The imagery of the introduction evokes the revelation of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, where God's appearance was accompanied by thunder and lightning.[4] God summons the heavens and the earth to act as witnesses, and the rest of the psalm takes the form of a legal proceeding, with God acting as both plaintiff and judge.[5] The same metaphor of a divine tribunal occurs in chapter 1 of the Book of Isaiah and chapter 6 of the Book of Micah.[4]

In God's first oration, he tells the people that he is not satisfied with material sacrifices alone, since he does not require food or drink.[4] Rather, he desires his people to worship him with thanksgiving and sincere prayer.[6] Verse 13, "Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?" may be an allusion to the goddess Anat, since in one fragmentary text Anat eats the flesh and drinks the blood of her brother Baal, who sometimes appears as a bull.[7]

God's second oration is warning against hypocrisy.[4] Though the hypocrites often recite God's commandments, they inwardly hate them and make no effort to live by them, and God will surely bring them to judgment.[6]

The psalm closes with a final warning against iniquity and a promise that God will bless the righteous and make them "drink deeply of the salvation of God."[8] This last is an appearance of the common Biblical theme of the "Messianic banquet," which also occurs in Psalm 23, Psalm 16, and Luke 14, among other places.[9]

Uses

Judaism

Psalm 50 is recited on the fourth day of Sukkot.[10]

Musical settings

In a Scottish Psalter of 1650, Psalm 50 was paraphrased rhymed in English as "The mighty God, the Lord, Hath spoken unto all".[11] The 1863 hymn "For the Beauty of the Earth" by Folliott Sandford Pierpoint isues verse 14.[12]

Heinrich Schütz set Psalm 50 in a rhymed version in the Becker Psalter, as "Gott unser Herr, mächtig durchs Wort", SWV 147. The last verse is used in German in the opening chorus of Bach's cantata Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, BWV 17, composed in 1726.

In Literature

In the novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, the castaway randomly opens the Bible to a verse which was Psalm 50:15. "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."—Psalm 50:15. This becomes an important part of the narrative. Some even call Psalm 50 the 'Robinson Crusoe' Psalm for that reason. [13]

Notes
  1. Parallel Latin/English Psalter / Psalmus 49 (50) Archived 7 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine medievalist.net
  2. Kirkpatrick 277
  3. Rhodes 84
  4. Kirkpatrick 276
  5. Dahood 306; Rhodes 84
  6. Rhodes 85
  7. Dahood 308
  8. Dahood 305
  9. Dahood 311
  10. The Artscroll Tehillim page 329
  11. The mighty God, the Lord, Hath spoken unto all hymnary.org
  12. For the Beauty of the Earth hymnary.org
  13. https://archive.spurgeon.org/sermons/1876.php

Bibliography
  • Dahood, Mitchell (1966). Psalms I: 1-50. Anchor Bible Series. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company.
  • Kirkpatrick, A. F. (1901). The Book of Psalms. The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. Cambridge University Press.
  • Rhodes, Arnold B. (1960). The Book of Psalms. The Layman's Bible Commentary. Richmond, Virginia: John Knox Press.
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