#DailyDevotion When El, Elohim, Yahweh Calls You Into Judgment
Psalm 50 The mighty God, the LORD speaks, and He calls the earth, from where the sun rises to where it sets. 2 God is shining from Zion, the perfection of beauty. 3Our God comes and isn’t silent; in front of Him a fire is devouring, and around Him a storm is raging.
Most translations tend to miss it, the opening words of the psalm are a battery of the names of God: El, Elohim, Yahweh. Keil and Delitzsch suggest the translation, Mighty God, the Revered One, the Being. It is a Trinity of Names like Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In fact, I have no doubt this is a manifestation, a revelation of the Holy Trinity. We should praise the LORD who reveals His name to us to call upon in the day of trouble.
In this psalm, God is calling forth His holy people to judgment. We don’t know exactly when this was. Asaph, to whom the psalm and other psalms are ascribed to was a Levite appointed by David to be one of the singers (chanters) of the temple. A number of psalms are attributed to him. Some attribute the psalms to perhaps a descendant because they seem to speak of the destruction of Jerusalem, which does not come for several hundred years yet. Considering the family held this office of singers in the temple it is possible when any of them composed a psalm it was attributed to the founder of the clan. The charges God lays against His people in this psalm certainly sound like the prophets after David and Solomon’s reign. In any case, the psalm is not written after judgment but before to avoid it.
The LORD does not strike without warning. When He calls the earth, He calls it to witness what He is about to say. He shines in glory there at the temple in Jerusalem, in Zion. Perhaps though when he calls it the perfection of beauty, he sees the New Jerusalem that descends from heaven. Well because the LORD is there with His Name, that in itself gives the place the perfection of beauty.
In front of the temple is the altar of the LORD. It sits before Him. There the fire devours the sacrifices the people bring to Him for the atonement of their sins, for thanksgiving, of peace and the like. Its fire should remind the people our God is a Consuming Fire. His fire burns up all that is impure and purifies it. It is a constant reminder of the judgment of God against sin. Around the LORD a storm is raging. It is God’s wrath against rebellion, trespasses, iniquity, sin and guilt.
4He summons the heavens above and the earth to His people’s trial: 5“Gather around Me My holy ones, who made a pledge with Me by sacrifice.” 6The heavens tell about His righteousness, for God Himself is doing the judging.
Again, the summons of God’s witnesses, heaven above and the earth to whom He called on as witnesses when He made a covenant with Israel. He calls His people to gather around Him. He calls them His Holy Ones, because they were chosen from all the peoples of the earth to be His Holy People. He cut a covenant with them with the blood of the covenant. So judgment begins with the house of God. Peter reminds us of this as we, the Church, are His holy ones. Note, it is not the people’s actions which make them holy but God’s choice of them. The heavens declare the righteousness of God as He has called them to witness. God, Himself is doing the judging. Everything and everyone else are witnesses of it. The earth is called to join the heavens in declaring God’s righteousness.
What will we do when Christ comes to judge the living and the dead? To receive the judgment of His saints and to avoid being judged with the world, put your faith in His work for you on the cross. Believe He is your righteousness before the Father.
Heavenly Father, You have given all judgment to Your Son Jesus Christ. Grant us faith in Him that we may not be judged with the rest of the world but have His righteousness. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.