Psalm 50:15

And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Psalm 50:15. And call upon me — Make conscience of that great duty of constant and fervent prayer to me, which is an acknowledgment of thy subjection to me, and of thy trust and dependance upon me, and therefore is pleasing to me; in the day of trouble — When trouble comes, do not endeavour to avoid or extricate thyself from it by sinful shifts and contrivances, nor apply merely or chiefly to creatures for relief, but give glory to me, by applying to me, relying on my promises, and expecting help from me in the way of hearty and unfeigned prayer. I will deliver thee — I will support thee under thy troubles, and deliver thee out of them in the time and manner which will be most for my glory and thy good. And thou shalt glorify me — Shalt have occasion, and shalt consider it as thy duty, to praise and glorify me for thy deliverance. Observe well, reader, our troubles, though we see them coming from the hand of God, should drive us to God, and not from him. We must acknowledge him in all our ways, depend upon his wisdom, power, and goodness, and refer ourselves entirely to him, and so give him glory. This is a cheaper, easier, readier way of seeking his favour than by a peace-offering or trespass-offering, and yet more acceptable. Observe also, when in answer to our prayers he delivers us, as he has promised to do in such way and time as he shall think fit, we must glorify him, not only by a grateful mention of his favours, but by living to his praise. Thus must we keep up our communion with God: meeting him with our prayers when he afflicts us, and with our praises when he delivers us.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

50:7-15 To obey is better than sacrifice, and to love God and our neighbour better than all burnt-offerings. We are here warned not to rest in these performances. And let us beware of resting in any form. God demands the heart, and how can human inventions please him, when repentance, faith, and holiness are neglected? In the day of distress we must apply to the Lord by fervent prayer. Our troubles, though we see them coming from God's hand, must drive us to him, not drive us from him. We must acknowledge him in all our ways, depend upon his wisdom, power, and goodness, and refer ourselves wholly to him, and so give him glory. Thus must we keep up communion with God; meeting him with prayers under trials, and with praises in deliverances. A believing supplicant shall not only be graciously answered as to his petition, and so have cause for praising God, but shall also have grace to praise him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And call upon me in the day of trouble - This is a part of real religion as truly as praise is, Psalm 50:14. This is also the duty and the privilege of all the true worshippers of God. To do this shows where the heart is, as really as direct acts of praise and thanksgiving. The purpose of all that is said here is to show that true religion - the proper service of God - does not consist in the mere offering of sacrifice, but that it is of a spiritual nature, and that the offering of sacrifice is of no value unless it is accompanied by corresponding acts of spiritual religion, showing that the heart has a proper appreciation of the mercies of God, and that it truly confides in him. Such spirituality in religion is expressed by acts of praise Psalm 50:14; but it is also as clearly expressed Psalm 50:15 by going to God in times of trouble, and rolling the burdens of life on his arm, and seeking consolation in him.

I will deliver thee - I will deliver thee from trouble. This will occur

(a) either in this life, in accordance with the frequent promises of his word (compare the notes at Psalm 46:1); or

(b) wholly in the future world, where all who love God will be completely and forever delivered from all forms of sorrow.

And thou shalt glorify me - That is, Thou wilt honor me, or do me honor, by thus coming to me with confidence in the day of calamity. There is no way in which we can honor God more, or show more clearly that we truly confide in him, than by going to him when everything seems to be dark; when his own ways and dealings are wholly incomprehensible to us, and committing all into his hands.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

8-15. However scrupulous in external worship, it was offered as if they conferred an obligation in giving God His own, and with a degrading view of Him as needing it [Ps 50:9-13]. Reproving them for such foolish and blasphemous notions, He teaches them to offer, or literally, "sacrifice," thanksgiving, and pay, or perform, their vows—that is, to bring, with the external symbolical service, the homage of the heart, and faith, penitence, and love. To this is added an invitation to seek, and a promise to afford, all needed help in trouble.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

And make conscience of that great duty of constant and fervent prayer to me; which is an acknowledgment of thy subjection to me, and of thy trust and dependence upon me, and therefore is pleasing to me.

In the day of trouble; when trouble comes, do not avoid it by sinful shifts, not’ trust to creatures for relief, as hypocrites generally do, but give glory to me, by relying upon my promises, and expect help from me by hearty and unfeigned prayer.

Thou shalt glorify me: this is mentioned, either,

1. As a privilege; thou shalt have occasion to praise and glorify me for thy deliverance. Or,

2. As a further duty; thou shalt give me the glory of thy deliverance by praising me for it, and improving it to my service and glory.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And call upon me in the day of trouble,.... This is another part of spiritual sacrifice or worship, which is much more acceptable to God than legal sacrifices. Invocation of God includes all parts of religious worship, and particularly designs prayer, as it does here, of which God, and he only, is the object; and which should be performed in faith, in sincerity, and with fervency; and though it should be made at all times, in private and in public, yet more especially should be attended to in a time of affliction, whether of soul or body, whether of a personal, family, or public kind, James 5:13; and the encouragement to it is,

I will deliver thee: that is, out of trouble: as he is able, so faithful is he that hath promised, and will do it. The obligation follows,

and thou shall glorify me; by offering praise, Psalm 50:23; ascribing the glory of the deliverance to God, and serving him in righteousness and true holiness continually.

Geneva Study Bible

And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

15. call upon me &c.] Prayer is the proof of trust. Cp. Psalm 20:1; yet note that that Psalm contains a reference to the acceptableness of material sacrifice (Psalm 50:3).

The LXX. here inserts a Selah, which would appropriately mark the close of this division of the Ps. Cp. Psalm 50:6.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 15. - And call upon me in the day of trouble (comp. Psalm 20:1). I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. The meaning is, "Then, when thou shalt offer unto me a true worship (ver. 14), if thou wilt call upon me in the day of trouble, I will assuredly deliver thee, and so give thee occasion for glorifying me." Psalm 50:15

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Exposition of the sacrificial Tra for the good of those whose holiness consists in outward works. The forms strengthened by ah, in Psalm 50:7, describe God's earnest desire to have Israel for willing hearers as being quite as strong as His desire to speak and to bear witness. העיד בּ, obtestari aliquem, to come forward as witness, either solemnly assuring, or, as here and in the Psalm of Asaph, Psalm 81:9, earnestly warning and punishing (cf. Arab. šahida with b, to bear witness against any one). On the Dagesh forte conjunctive in בּך, vid., Ges. ֗20, 2, a. He who is speaking has a right thus to stand face to face with Israel, for he is Elohim, the God of Israel - by which designation reference is made to the words אנכי יהוה אלהיך (Exodus 20:2), with which begins the Law as given from Sinai, and which here take the Elohimic form (whereas in Psalm 81:11 they remain unaltered) and are inverted in accordance with the context. As Psalm 50:8 states, it is not the material sacrifices, which Israel continually, without cessation, offers, that are the object of the censuring testimony. ועולתיך, even if it has Mugrash, as in Baer, is not on this account, according to the interpretation given by the accentuation, equivalent to ועל־עולותיך (cf. on the other hand Psalm 38:18); it is a simple assertory substantival clause: thy burnt-offerings are, without intermission, continually before Me. God will not dispute about sacrifices in their outward characteristics; for - so Psalm 50:9 go on to say-He does not need sacrifices for the sake of receiving from Israel what He does not otherwise possess. His is every wild beast (חיתו, as in the Asaph Psalm 79:2) of the forest, His the cattle בּהררי אלף, upon the mountains of a thousand, i.e., upon the thousand (and myriad) mountains (similar to מתי מספּר or מתי מעט), or: where they live by thousands (a similar combination to נבל עשׂור). Both explanations of the genitive are unsupported by any perfectly analogous instance so far as language is concerned; the former, however, is to be preferred on account of the singular, which is better suited to it. He knows every bird that makes its home on the mountains; ידע, as usually, of a knowledge which masters a subject, compasses it and makes it its own. Whatever moves about the fields if with Him, i.e., is within the range of His knowledge (cf. Job 27:11; Psalm 10:13), and therefore of His power; זיז (here and in the Asaph Psalm 80:14) from זאזא equals זעזע, to move to and fro, like טיט from טיטע, to swept out, cf. κινώπετον, κνώδαλον, from κινεῖν. But just as little as God requires sacrifices in order thereby to enrich Himself, is there any need on His part that might be satisfied by sacrifices, Psalm 50:12. If God should hunger, He would not stand in need of man's help in order to satisfy Himself; but He is never hungry, for He is the Being raised above all carnal wants. Just on this account, what God requires is not by any means the outward worship of sacrifice, but a spiritual offering, the worship of the heart, Psalm 50:14. Instead of the שׁלמים, and more particularly זבח תּודה, Leviticus 7:11-15, and שׁלמי נדר, Leviticus 7:16 (under the generic idea of which are also included, strictly speaking, vowed thank-offerings), God desires the thanksgiving of the heart and the performance of that which has been vowed in respect of our moral relationship to Himself and to men; and instead of the עולה in its manifold forms of devotion, the prayer of the heart, which shall not remain unanswered, so that in the round of this λογικὴ λατρεία everything proceeds from and ends in εὐχαριστία. It is not the sacrifices offered in a becoming spirit that are contrasted with those offered without the heart (as, e.g., Sir. 32 [35]:1-9), but the outward sacrifice appears on the whole to be rejected in comparison with the spiritual sacrifice. This entire turning away from the outward form of the legal ceremonial is, in the Old Testament, already a predictive turning towards that worship of God in spirit and in truth which the new covenant makes alone of avail, after the forms of the Law have served as swaddling clothes to the New Testament life which was coming into being in the old covenant. This "becoming" begins even in the Tra itself, especially in Deuteronomy. Our Psalm, like the Chokma (Proverbs 21:3), and prophecy in the succeeding age (cf. Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:6-8; Isaiah 1:11-15, and other passages), stands upon the standpoint of this concluding book of the Tra, which traces back all the requirements of the Law to the fundamental command of love.