to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
heavens
הַשָּׁמַ֣יִםha.sha.Ma.yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
above
מֵעָ֑לme.'Al
H5920
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
earth
הָ֝אָ֗רֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
judge
לָדִ֥יןla.Din
H1777
a straight course · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
people
עַמּֽוֹa.Mo
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd 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
Deuteronomy 31:28 Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to re…
Deuteronomy 32:1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
Isaiah 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against m…
Deuteronomy 4:26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to…
Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose li…
Micah 6:1-2 Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
Psalms 98:9 Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.
Isaiah 11:3-4 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 50:1-6
It is probable that Asaph was not only the chief musician, who was to put a tune to this psalm, but that he was himself the penman of it; for we read that in Hezekiah's time they praised God in the words of David and of Asaph the seer, Ch2 29:30. Here is,
I. The court called, in the name of the King of kings (Psa 50:2): The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken - El, Elohim, Jehovah, the God of infinite power justice and mercy, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. God is the Judge, the Son of God came for judgement into the world, and the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of judgment. All the earth is called to attend, not only because the controversy God had with his people Israel for their hypocrisy and i…
above--literally, "above" (Gen 1:7).
heavens . . . earth--For all creatures are witnesses (Deu 4:26; Deu 30:19; Isa 1:2).
John Gill on Psalms 50:4
He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth,.... To hear what he shall say, when he will no longer keep silence; and to be witnesses of the justice of his proceedings; see Isaiah 1:2. The Targum interprets this of the angels above on high, and of the righteous on the earth below; and so Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, explain it of the angels of heaven, and of the inhabitants of the earth;
that he may judge his people; not that they, the heavens and the earth, the inhabitants of either, may judge his people; but the Lord himself, as in Psalm 50:6; and this designs not the judgment of the whole world, nor that of his own covenant people, whom he judges when he corrects them…
Psalm 50:1-5
1. The God of gods, even Jehovah, hath spoken, and called the earth [239] from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. 2. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. 3. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. 4. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth to judge his people. 5. Gather my meek ones (will he say [240] ) together unto me, those who strike a covenant with me over sacrifices.
1. The God of gods, even Jehovah, [241] hath spoken The inscription of this psalm bears the name of Asaph; but whether he was the author of it, or merely received it…
The Church Fathers
On arriving in an obvious manner, then, with fire and storm as his bodyguards, God will summon everyone from all quarters as if to appoint those present as witnesses of the judgment. So whom does he summon? The heavenly powers from on high (the sense of "above") and the whole "earth" from below, and he will hold court on them.
Since then it is evident, that many are to judge with the Lord, but that others are to be judged, not however on equality, but according to their deserts; He will come with all His Angels, when before Him shall be gathered all nations, and among all the Angels are to be reckoned those that have been made so perfect, that sitting upon twelve thrones they judge the twelve tribes of Israel. For men are called Angels: the Apostle saith of himself, "As an angel of God ye received me." Of John Baptist it is said, "Behold, I send My Angel before Thy face, that shall prepare Thy Way before Thee." Therefore, coming with all Angels, together with Him He shall have the Saints also. For plainly saith Isaias also, "He shall come to judgment with the elders of the people." Those "elders of the people," then, those but now named Angels, those thousands of many men made perfect coming from the whole world, are called Heaven. But the others are called earth, yet fruitful. Which is the earth that is fruitful? That which is to be set on the right hand, unto which it shall be said, "I was an hungred, and ye gave Me to eat:" truly fruitful earth in which the Apostle doth joy, when they sent to him to supply his necessities: "Not because I ask a gift," he saith, "but I require fruit." And he giveth thanks, saying, "Because at length ye have budded forth again to be thoughtful for me." He saith, "Ye have budded forth again," as to trees which had withered away with a kind of barrenness. Therefore the Lord coming to judgment (that we may now hear the Psalm, brethren), He will do what? "He will call the heaven from above" (ver. 4). The heaven, all the Saints, those made perfect that shall judge, them He shall call from above, to be sitters with Him to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. For how shall "He call the heaven from above," when the heaven is always above? But those that He here calleth heaven, the same elsewhere He calleth heavens. What heavens? That tell out the glory of God: for, "The heavens tell out the glory of God:" whereof is said, "Into all the earth their sound hath gone forth, and into the ends of the world their words." For see the Lord severing in judgment: "He shall call the heaven from above and the earth, to sever His people." From whom but from evil men? Of whom here afterwards no mention is made, now as it were condemned to punishment. See these good men,…
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…
Judgment · THE GENERAL — THE GENERAL
Second Coming Of Christ, The · The purposes of, are to: Judge — The purposes of, are to: Judge
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 judgment scene. To the heavens above (מעל, elsewhere a preposition, here, as in Gen 27:39; Gen 49:25, an adverb, desuper, superne) and to the earth God calls (קרא אל, as, e.g., Gen 28:1), to both לדין עמּו, in order to sit in judgment upon His people in their presence, and with them as witnesses of His doings. Or is it not that they are summoned to attend, but that the commission, Psa 50:5, is addressed to them (Olshausen, Hitzig)? Certainly not, for the act of gathering is not one that properly belongs to the heavens and the earth, which, however, because they exist from the beginning and will last for ever, are suited to be witnesses (Deu 4:26; Deu 32:1; Isa 1:2, 1 Macc. 2:37). The sum…
The Lord is coming to bring righteousness. This hope encourages his faithful people, but those who have been unfaithful will not experience blessing when the heavens above and earth below testify against them (cp. Deut 30:19; 31:28; 32:1; Isa 1:2). The Lord comes to restore order to the world (Pss 5:8; 22:31; 33:5; 40:9; 50:6; 71:16; 97:6).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 50:4
He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.
He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth. Angels and men, the upper and the lower worlds, are called to witness the solemn scene. The whole creation shall stand in court to testify to the solemnity and the truth of the divine pleading. Both earth beneath and heaven above shall unite in condemning sin; the guilty shall have no appeal, though all are summoned that they may appeal if they dare. Both angels and men have seen the guilt of mankind and the goodness of the Lord, they shall therefore confess the justice of the divine utterance, and say "Amen" to the sentence of the supreme Judge…
