Psalms 50:16 - Meaning and Application

God, through the psalmist, has already taught his people the right way to worship him and keep fellowship with him. Now he turns to the wicked, to hypocrites, whether they claimed the Jewish or the Christian faith. Hypocrisy is wickedness that God will judge.

We first see the charge against them. They are accused of taking for themselves the honor and privileges of religion: “What right have you, O wicked man, to declare my statutes?” This is a challenge to those who are truly ungodly but seem godly. Let them show what right they have to wear the name of religion when they use it only to hide the evil in their hearts and lives. If they can, let them prove their claim.

Some understand this as a prophecy about the scribes and Pharisees, the teachers and leaders of the Jewish church in the time when Christ’s kingdom and the gospel way of worship were to be established. They strongly opposed that great change and used their authority from Moses’ seat to try to stop it. But our Lord’s words about them (Matthew 23), and Paul’s words in Romans 2:21-22, fit this rebuke very well. They claimed to explain God’s law, but they hated Christ’s teaching. So what business did they have teaching the law when they rejected the gospel?

Still, this applies to all who practice sin while professing godliness, especially if they also preach it. It is absurd, and a great insult to the God of heaven, for wicked people to declare his statutes and speak his covenant. It is very possible, and sadly common, for those who teach God’s statutes to others to disobey them themselves, and for those who speak of God’s covenant to keep a hidden covenant with sin and death. But they are usurpers, taking an honor they do not deserve, and one day they will be thrown out as intruders. “Friend, how did you get in here?”

They are also charged with breaking the laws and commands of religion. First, they show open contempt for God’s word: “You hate instruction.” They liked to give instruction and tell others what to do, because that fed their pride and made them seem important. It also helped them earn a living. But they hated to receive instruction from God himself, because that would correct them and humble them. They hated discipline, the rebukes of God’s word and the warnings of his providence. No wonder those who hate to be reformed also hate the means of reform. “You cast my words behind you.” They seemed to put God’s words in front of them when they sat in Moses’ seat and taught others from the law (Romans 2:19). But in daily life they threw God’s word behind their backs and ignored the rule they were determined not to follow. This is the same as despising the command of the Lord.

Second, they kept close company with the worst sinners. “When you saw a thief,” instead of rebuking him and testifying against him, as those should who declare God’s statutes, “you consented with him.” You approved what he did, wanted to share in his gains, and partnered with him in his cursed trade. “You have been partaker with adulterers.” You did the same things they did, and you encouraged them to keep going in their sin, having pleasure in those who do evil (Romans 1:32).

Third, they stayed fixed in the worst sins of the tongue. “You give your mouth to evil,” meaning you let yourself become fully devoted to all kinds of evil speech. There was lying: “Your tongue frames deceit.” That suggests careful planning and deliberate lying. One lie leads to another, and one fraud often needs another to cover it.

There was also slander: “You sit and speak against your brother.” You treated him badly, misrepresented him, and passed judgment on him as if you were his master and he had to answer to you. But he is your brother, as worthy as you are, because he is your own mother’s son. He is a close relative whom you should have loved, defended, and spoken well of if others attacked him. Even if he had truly done wrong, you charged him falsely and unfairly. You sat there like a judge on the bench, with an air of authority. You sat in the seat of the scornful, mocking and backbiting those you should have honored and treated kindly. Those who do wrong themselves often take pleasure in speaking evil of others.

Then comes the proof of the charge: “These things you have done.” The facts are too clear to deny, and the sin is too great to excuse. God knows them, and your own heart knows them. The sins of sinners will be proved against them beyond question at the judgment of the great day. “I will reprove you,” or show you clearly where you are guilty, so that you will have nothing to say for yourself. A day is coming when unrepentant sinners will be completely silenced and left speechless. What shame will fill them when God sets their sins before their eyes!

They would not look at their sins with humble sorrow. They cast them behind their backs, covered them up, and tried to forget them. They would not let their conscience remind them of them. But the day is coming when God will force them to see their sins to their lasting shame and terror. He will set them in order, one after another, like witnesses brought forward against a criminal. He will include original sin, actual sins, sins against the law, sins against the gospel, sins against the first table of the law, and sins against the second table. He will bring forward sins of childhood, youth, mature years, and old age.

Finally, we see the Judge’s patience, and the sinner’s abuse of that patience. “I kept silent,” God says. He did not trouble them in their sinful path, but let them go on their way. Sentence for their evil deeds was delayed and not carried out quickly. God’s patience is very great toward sinners who keep provoking him. He sees their sins and hates them. It would cost him nothing to punish them, yet he waits to be gracious and gives them time to repent. In this way, if they do not repent, he leaves them without excuse.

God’s patience is all the more amazing because sinners use it so badly. They think, “You are just like me, weak and forgetful, false to your word, even friendly to sin.” People take God’s silence as approval and his patience as permission. So the longer he delays judgment, the more hardened their hearts become. But if they do not turn back, they will one day see their mistake, when it is too late, and they will learn that the God they offend is just, holy, and terrible, and nothing like themselves.

This is the clear warning given to hypocrites in Psalm 50:22: “Now consider this, you who forget God.” Think about the fact that God knows all your sins and keeps account of them. He will call you to account for them. Patience that is abused will turn into greater wrath. Even if you forget God and your duty to him, he will not forget you or your rebellions against him. Think about this in time, before it is too late. If these things are not considered and taken seriously, he will tear you apart, and no one will rescue you.

This is the doom of hypocrites, to be cut to pieces (Matthew 24:51). Forgetfulness of God lies at the root of all wickedness. Anyone who knows God and still does not obey him has surely forgotten him. Those who forget God also forget themselves, and things will never be right with them until they think seriously and recover their senses. Thinking deeply is the first step toward turning back to God. Those who will not listen to the warnings of God’s word will surely be torn apart by the judgments of his wrath. When God comes to tear sinners in pieces, no one can deliver them. They cannot save themselves, and no friend in the world can save them either.

Here, then, is full instruction for all of us, showing how to escape that dreadful end. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter.” We are told what to do to reach our chief purpose in life. Our chief purpose is to glorify God, and here we are told that whoever offers praise glorifies him. This is true whether the person is Jew or Gentile, because these spiritual sacrifices will be accepted. We must praise God, and we must offer praise as a sacrifice, bringing it to God as every sacrifice was brought. We must put it into the hands of the priest, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is also the altar. We must see that it is offered with fire, sacred fire, the flame of holy and sincere affection. We must be fervent in spirit as we praise the Lord. In his great mercy, God counts this as glorifying him. In this way, we give him the honor his name deserves and do what we can to advance his kingdom among people.

Our chief purpose, joined with this, is to enjoy God. Here we are told that those who order their way rightly will see his salvation. It is not enough to offer praise, but we must also order our conduct rightly. Thanksgiving is good, but thankful living is better. If we want our conduct to be right, we must take care and effort to arrange it by God’s rule, to understand our path and direct it well. Those who care about their conduct make sure of their salvation. God will let them see his salvation, because it is a salvation ready to be revealed. He will let them see it and enjoy it, see it and know that they are happy forever in it. The right ordering of life is the only way, and the sure way, to obtain that great salvation.