Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:
-The true sacrifices, as contrasted with the false: the duty is stated in Psalms 50:14; the blessed result in Psalms 50:15.
Verse 14. Offer unto God thanksgiving - literally, 'praise' or 'confession' of all that God is in himself, and is to us. Praise is mentioned as one species of inward worship performed by the heart, and as a specimen of all such worship, as contrasted with external worship not so accompanied.
And pay thy vows unto the Most High - not only by "thanksgiving," but in all other ways of loving obedience of heart and life, render to God all that thou hast bound thyself to as His servant and His child (Psalms 116:17-18; Job 22:27; Ecclesiastes 5:4-5). Outward vows are to be faithfully paid to God, not that He needs aught from us, but for the fulfillment of our promise, which, if we keep to our fellow- men, much more ought we to keep to God. The chief vow which God urges on Israel to fulfill is that which they made of obedience at Sinai, -- "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do" (Exodus 19:8). The context, which dwells on the uselessness of mere ritualism, makes it likely that the "vows" meant are faith, love, and obedience.
Verse 15. And call upon me in the day of trouble. - a gracious promise consequent on the heart "thanksgiving" and 'payment' of Israel's moral as well as ceremonial, "vows." If first thou givest heartfelt thanks, and art faithful to thy vows of obedience (Psalms 50:15), then thou mayest "call upon me in the day of trouble," and
I will deliver thee, and thou shalt (have fresh occasion to) glorify me. So obedience and thanksgiving, rendered in the first instance by Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:19-30), issued in immediate "deliverance," in answer to the "call" of faith "in the day of trouble." The absence of the conjunction and marks the immediate effect of believing, obedient, and thankful prayer (cf. Isaiah 65:24). So Israel, in her last and greatest tribulation, shall experience the Lord in her present help, after she has turned humbly to: Him (Daniel 12:1; Zechariah 12:10-14; Zechariah 13:1-9; Zechariah 14:1-5).
Judgment on the wicked who take God's covenant in their mouth, but flagrantly violate it by absence of natural affection and offences of heart, hand, and tongue against their neighbours, especially against the godly, presuming on God's present silence.