an enactment · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
take
וַתִּשָּׂ֖אva.ti.Sa'
H5375
to lift · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
covenant
בְרִיתִ֣יve.ri.Ti
H1285
a compact (because made by passing between pieces of fl… · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
mouth
פִֽיךָFi.kha
H6310
the mouth (as the means of blowing) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their he…
Psalms 25:14 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.
Psalms 78:36-38 Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.
Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Romans 2:17-24 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
Isaiah 48:1-2 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the na…
Hebrews 8:9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt;…
Proverbs 26:7 The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 50:16–end
God, by the psalmist, having instructed his people in the right way of worshipping him and keeping up their communion with him, here directs his speech to the wicked, to hypocrites, whether they were such as professed the Jewish or the Christian religion: hypocrisy is wickedness for which God will judge. Observe here,
I. The charge drawn up against them. 1. They are charged with invading and usurping the honours and privileges of religion (Psa 50:16): What has thou to do, O wicked man! to declare my statutes? This is a challenge to those that rare really profane, but seemingly godly, to show what title they have to the cloak of religion, and by what authority they wear it, when they use it o…
the wicked--that is, the formalists, as now exposed, and who lead vicious lives (compare Rom 2:21, Rom 2:23). They are unworthy to use even the words of God's law. Their hypocrisy and vice are exposed by illustrations from sins against the seventh, eighth, and ninth commandments.
John Gill on Psalms 50:16
But unto the wicked God saith,.... By whom are meant, not openly profane sinners; but men under a profession of religion, and indeed who were teachers of others, as appears from the following expostulation with them: the Scribes, Pharisees, and doctors among the Jews, are designed; and so Kimchi interprets it of their wise men, who learnt and taught the law, but did not act according to it. It seems as if the preceding verses respected the truly godly among the Jews, who believed in Christ, and yet were zealous of the law; and retained legal sacrifices; as such there were, Acts 21:20; and that these words, and what follow, are spoken to hypocrites among them, who sat in Moses's chair, and sa…
Psalm 50:16-20
16. But unto the wicked God hath said, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant into thy lips? 17. Also thou hatest correction, and castest my words behind thee. 18. If thou seest a thief, thou wilt run with him, and thou hast been partaker with adulterers. 19. Thou puttest forth thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. 20. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's sons.
16 But unto the wicked, etc. He now proceeds to direct his censures more openly against those whose whole religion lies in an observance of ceremonies, with which they attempt to blind the eyes of God. An exposure is…
The Church Fathers
And although, again, he conceal his natural falsehood, and pretend to speak truth with his lips; yet are we 'not ignorant of his devices,' but are able to answer him in the words spoken by the Spirit against him; 'But unto the ungodly, said God, why dost thou preach My laws?' and, 'Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner.' For even though he speak the truth, the deceiver is not worthy of credit.
The fact, he is saying, that you take pains to read the law, mouth the words of its stipulations, and listen carefully to its being read is no excuse. It only sets me more against you, your knowing the law, listening to the commandments and putting them on your lips while in practice pursuing the opposite, the result being that the reading is useless for you. Instead, listening to me when I speak and give commands in the law is an insult to me when there is utter neglect of me in practice.
For often the tongue of preachers is restrained because of their own wickedness; but often indeed it happens through the fault of those subject to them that the word of preaching is withdrawn from those who are in charge. Indeed the tongue of preachers is restrained because of their own wickedness, as the Psalmist says: "But to the sinner God said: Why do you declare my justices?" And again, because of the fault of those subject to them, the voice of preachers is forbidden, as the Lord says to Ezekiel: "I will make your tongue cleave to your palate, and you shall be mute, and not as a man who rebukes, because it is a provoking house." As if he were to say openly: Therefore the word of preaching is taken from you, because while the people provoke me in their actions, they are not worthy to receive the exhortation of truth. From whose fault, therefore, the word is withdrawn from the preacher is not easily known. But it is known most certainly that the silence of the Pastor sometimes harms himself, but always harms those subject to him.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Asaph — Convener, or collector. (1.) A Levite; one of the leaders of David’s choir (1 Chr. 6:39). Psalms 50 and 73-83 inclusive are attributed to him. He is mentioned along with David as skilled in music,…
Psalms — The psalms are the production of various authors. “Only a portion of the Book of Psalms claims David as its author. Other inspired poets in successive generations added now one now another…
Afflicted Saints · Should be frequent in prayer — See “Affliction, Prayer Under” — Should be frequent in prayer — See “Affliction, Prayer Under”
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The accusation of the manifest sinners. It is not those who are addressed in Psa 50:7, as Hengstenberg thinks, who are here addressed. Even the position of the words ולרשׁע אמר clearly shows that the divine discourse is now turned to another class, viz., to the evil-doers, who, in connection with open and manifest sins and vices, take the word of God upon their lips, a distinct class from those who base their sanctity upon outward works of piety, who outwardly fulfil the commands of God, but satisfy and deceive themselves with this outward observance. מה־לּך ל, what hast thou, that thou = it belongs not to thee, it does not behove thee. With ועתּה, in Psa 50:17, an adversative subordinate cl…
This message is against the wicked, who only pretend to listen to God.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 50:16-21
Here the Lord turns to the manifestly wicked among his people; and such there were even in the highest places of his sanctuary. If moral formalists had been rebuked, how much more these immoral pretenders to fellowship with heaven? If the lack of heart spoiled the worship of the more decent and virtuous, how much more would violations of the law, committed with a high hand, corrupt the sacrifices of the wicked?
