Chapter Forty-Nine

The author of the psalm was Asaph (see the discussion of him in the introduction to the Psalter). It may be supposed that this Asaph was a contemporary of David and the psalm therefore should be considered as written during the reign of David. The psalm presents a rebuke of the Hebrews for the spread among them of a view of worship and the pleasing of God as a merely external form, as only the observance of the law from the outside, which is why the one offering sacrifices, for instance, lacked a penitent, spiritual disposition (Ps 49:4). Indeed, the solemn establishment of external worship, introduced by David, could dazzle with its magnificence and splendor a Hebrew, generally inclined to everything external and sensuous, and thus impart the conviction that in the observance of the external side of worship lies the whole substance of the pleasing of God. This false view it was necessary to dispel, toward which end this psalm of Asaph is directed. David expressed the same concern when, at the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant to Zion, he required of its inhabitants moral purity and internal illumination (see Ps 14). Agreement of this psalm with the epoch of David’s time, as well as the similarity of its content with the psalms of David, confirms the supposition concerning its origin in the epoch of David and the author Asaph – as a contemporary of that king.

God of gods calls upon His people – the Hebrews – to judgment before Himself (1-6). He speaks to them threateningly: “I reprove you not for the sacrifices which you offer, but for your disposition. In your sacrifices I have no need. They are not necessary to Me for food, since all beasts and birds belong to Me and are in My power (7-13). Offer to Me praise and pay your vows, then in the time of tribulation I will deliver you (14-15). But you are sinful: you observe only outwardly My statute, yet you live with adulterers, you act deceitfully, you hate your brother. For this I will punish you. He who honors Me inwardly and follows My commandments in his life will receive a reward” (16-23).

Psalm 49:1. God of gods, the Lord has spoken and calls the earth, from the rising of the sun to the west. “God of gods.” The repetition of one and the same word is used for emphasis of its meaning, as for instance, vanity of vanities, song of songs, and the like. “God of gods” means the most high God. By gods one must understand the pagan deities, which though the true Hebrew did not recognize as possessing real being and living power, yet could not disregard the belief in them, since these beliefs in false gods were widespread among the neighboring pagans, and the Hebrews themselves often became carried away by them. By indicating that the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, is the God of gods, the psalmist establishes the truth and height of Hebrew beliefs in the Lord as the one and highest over all the earth. By this same indication is determined the importance and seriousness of obedience to Him and the great transgression of offending Him through disobedience to His commandments. – “Calls the earth” – The judgment of God over the Hebrews that is depicted takes place before all the earth, since the Lord is God and Master of all living things. – “From the rising of the sun to the west” – two opposite sides of the light are taken to signify all the light.

Psalm 49:2. From Zion, which is the perfection of beauty, God appears, “From Zion, which is the perfection of beauty.” – Mount Zion, which by its appearance is a crown of beauty especially because the Lord Himself dwells in it.

Psalm 49:3. Our God comes, and not in silence: a fire consumes before Him, and around Him a mighty storm. “Before Him a fire consumes, and around Him a mighty storm.” A picture reminiscent of the appearance of the Lord in the 17th psalm. These images signify Divine Justice, which does not permit evil to triumph and destroys the latter as fire frees metals from alloy. “Mighty storm” – a symbol of His power.

Psalm 49:5. “Gather to Me My saints, those who have entered into a covenant with Me by sacrifice. “My saints,” that is, the Hebrews, who are called by God to be a holy people (Exod 19:6). – “Those who have entered into a covenant with Me by sacrifice” – these are understood to be the sacrifices offered by the Hebrews at Sinai, as an external sign of the solemnity of the moment.

Psalm 49:8. Not for your sacrifices will I reprove you; your burnt offerings are always before Me; God reproves the Hebrews not for the “sacrifices” which they offered, but for the disposition and meaning which they connected with this sacrifice. – “Your burnt offerings are always before Me” – probably a reference is made to the continual burnt offering, which was offered daily in the temple morning and evening.

Psalm 49:12. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the whole world is Mine and all that fills it. Psalm 49:13. Do I eat the flesh of bulls and drink the blood of goats? Psalm 49:14. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise and pay your vows to the Most High, Psalm 49:15. And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify Me. God has no need of sacrifices for His sustenance. If they had only such external significance, then to the Lord, in whose power the whole world is, they would not be necessary. What is important in a sacrifice is not the substance offered, but the “praise” and the “vows” with which this offering should be accompanied. By praise is understood reverent feeling before God, that feeling which lies at the foundation of vows, as obligations assumed by a person voluntarily before the face of the Lord, and therefore with awareness of their importance. Prayer to God with such sacrifices is pleasing to Him and He will deliver the one praying in the day of trouble. Such a person is righteous before Him.

Psalm 49:16. But to the sinner God says: “Why do you proclaim My statutes and take My covenant in your mouth, Psalm 49:17. Yet you yourself hate My instruction and cast My words behind you? Psalm 49:18. When you see a thief, you run with him, and you keep company with adulterers; Psalm 49:19. You open your mouth for slander, and your tongue weaves deceit; Psalm 49:20. You sit and speak against your brother, you slander the son of your mother; He who is sinful before Him and deserves punishment is “he who proclaims His statutes, takes His covenant, ... yet himself hates His instruction and casts His words behind him.” Mere outward piety, an appearance of it, but without corresponding deeds, is an offense to God, a disregard of His commandments (“casting them aside”).

Psalm 49:21. You did this, and I kept silence; you thought I was like you. I will convict you and set before your eyes your sins. “You did this, and I kept silence,” that is, God does not immediately punish the sinner in His longsuffering, but gives him the opportunity to repent and amend his behavior. From this “silence” of God, the slowness in sending punishment, the wicked draw an absurd conclusion that God is like them, that is, content only with external worship, external sacrifices, but not with the inward disposition and corresponding behavior of a person. God will convict such a person and punish him.

Psalm 49:23. He who offers a sacrifice of praise honors Me, and to him who watches his way I will show the salvation of God. The true worshiper of God is one who offers Him sacrifices with sincere reverence before Him and takes care that both his outward behavior and his deeds accord with this disposition. “Never,” says Fénelon, “could any Greek or Latin ode reach the height of the psalms. For instance, the one that begins with the words ‘God of gods, the Lord has spoken and called the earth’ surpasses all human imagination” (Vigouroux).