A Psalm of Asaph. The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken - Here the essential names of God are used: אל אלהים יהוה El, Elohim, Yehovah, hath spoken. The six first verses of this Psalm seem to contain a description of the great judgment: to any minor consideration or fact it seems impossible, with any propriety, to restrain them. In this light I shall consider this part of the Psalm, and show: -
First, The preparatives to the coming of the great Judge. El Elohim Jehovah hath spoken, and called the earth - all the children of men from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, (מכלל יפי michlal yophi, the beauty where all perfection is comprised), God hath shined, Psalms 50:1, Psalms 50:2.
1. He has sent his Spirit to convince men of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
2. He has sent his Word; has made a revelation of himself; and has declared both his law and his Gospel to mankind: "Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined," Psalms 50:2. For out of Zion the law was to go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:3.
Secondly, The accompaniments.
1. His approach is proclaimed, Psalms 50:3 : "Our God shall come."
2. The trumpet proclaims his approach: "He shall not keep silence."
3. Universal nature shall be shaken, and the earth and its works be burnt up: "A fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous round about him," Psalms 50:3.
Thirdly, The witnesses are summoned and collected, and collected from all quarters; some from heaven, and some from earth.
1. Guardian angels.
2. Human associates: "He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people," Psalms 50:4.
Fourthly, The procedure. As far as it respects the righteous, orders are issued: "Gather my saints," those who are saved from their sins and made holy, "together unto me." And that the word saints might not be misunderstood it is explained by "those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice;" those who have entered into union with God, through the sacrificial offering of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the rest are passed over in silence. We are told who they are that shall enter into the joy of their Lord, viz., only the saints, those who have made a covenant with God by sacrifice. All, therefore, who do not answer this description are excluded from glory.
Fifthly, The final issue: all the angelic hosts and all the redeemed of the Lord, join in applauding acclamation at the decision of the Supreme Judge. The heavens (for the earth is no more, it is burnt up) shall declare his righteousness, the exact justice of the whole procedure, where justice alone has been done without partiality, and without severity, nor could it be otherwise, for God is Judge himself. Thus the assembly is dissolved; the righteous are received into everlasting glory, and the wicked turned into hell, with all those who forget God. Some think that the sentence against the wicked is that which is contained, Psalms 50:16-22. See the analysis at the end, and particularly on the six first verses, in which a somewhat different view of the subject is taken.