The LORD Comes to Judge

You are the Almighty God. You are the great God. You are the everlasting God. And Lord, we in anticipation look forward to the day that you come and we meet you face to face. Lord, we fear not for your coming. Lord, we say even so come Lord Jesus. But there are many, many in our world who should fear, even as this Psalm talks about. Lord, please help us Lord to live in hope of your return in the constant expectation of your return.

And Lord, help us to take the things that are written in this Psalm some 3000 years ago through your servants. And that they would, Lord, just as they’re alive, then as they are now so that they would give us and quicken us as we read your word. And we pray these things in Jesus’ name, amen. All right, Psalm 50 verse number one, the Bible says, the mighty God, even the Lord, had spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come and shall not keep silence. A fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above and to the earth that he may judge his people. Gather my saints together unto me, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness for God is judge himself, say la.

God is judge himself, say la. And the judgment is one of the key themes and subjects in this Psalm, judgment. It’s mentioned in verse four, it’s mentioned in verse six, it’s mentioned in verse seven, in verse 21, and in verse 22, judgment. So it skips a portion in the middle of the Psalm where it doesn’t really talk about judgment as much, but judgment is a major theme in the Psalm.

And in verse number one, notice what it says, God has spoken, now notice to whom or about what God is speaking. He’s speaking, he has spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. What does that cover?

That turn of phrase, from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof, what is that talking about? It’s talking about, huh? But it’s referring to the circuit of the sun, right? It’s for everywhere the sun shines from the rising of the sun to the going down, it’s referring to the entire world. And I know we scientific types will say, well, I mean, that’s only the portion of the sun, the earth, the sun, but this is a turn of phrase that refers to the entire world.

And so the Lord speaking, the context of the events that we’re reading in the first six verses is the whole earth from the rising of the sun to the going down of it, verse number two. Now, this is important because this is God’s message, this is what he’s telling in the context of the whole earth, everyone in the world. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined.

Now we know what Zion is because it hasn’t been too long previous that we studied Zion. Remember we looked at the Psalm that spoke of Zion in chapter number 40, let’s see, verse number, rather chapter number 48, Psalm 48 talks about Zion. And we saw, remember, we saw Zion, there’s two layers of meaning in Zion. You have the earthly Zion, which is Jerusalem, and then you have the heavenly Zion.

And in this case, when we go back to Psalm 50, out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined. Now you could look at that in a way and you could say, well, out of Zion, that’s referring to Jerusalem, the city of God’s people. So you could say God’s people shine. And you could, by extension, refer to the church, like a city on a hill. And that would be a valid way to look at it.

But I think the primary meaning of this is I think it’s referring to the heavenly Zion because of the next verse, it says this, for our God shall come. So you have this idea of the Lord is shining out of Zion. He’s coming from Zion. And he’s coming to us, verse three. He’s coming to us with fire and all that. So the idea is the Lord is coming from Zion to us.

And we’re, you know, speaking to Israel here, we’re in Zion. We are, figuratively, we are Zion, and here the Lord is coming. So I think it’s talking about God’s leaving heavenly Zion, where he abides, where he dwells, and he’s getting ready to come and judge. That’s what the first six verses are talking about. So he’s leaving his heavenly Zion, and when he leaves, he’s shining. That’s what we talked about last week on Wednesday night, which is the glory of God.

Well, actually, that was on Sunday when we talked about the transfiguration. And the idea of glory, what is the primary representation of glory that we see in scripture? What is it? What is it that God has represented in the physical world? By light. And here it is in verse number two, God hath shined. Now listen to this verse. Matthew 24, verse 30.

This is, Matthew 24 and five are speaking reference to the coming of Christ, right, in his advent. Here’s what it says. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Great glory. You know what that’s talking about, right? That’s talking about that light, right, that they saw, the glory of Christ. Now here’s what’s interesting about the coming of Christ in the second advent. When the Lord Jesus comes to judge, and he comes to take his kingdom, it’s kind of a difficult thing to fully get our brains around, because the information’s a little bit sparse in scripture, but there appears to be a period of time in which the Lord Jesus appears in glory, and all the world sees him before he actually begins, he actually descends to earth and judges.

And that’s what you see in verse number of Matthew 24, verse 30, is there’s a sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and they see him in the clouds, there’s a shining. And so you have this idea, what’s interesting is when you compare the two, verse number two, it says God has shine. So everything you read in this psalm about God coming, it’s actually Jesus, which tells us who Jesus is.

But you have Jesus coming, but before he comes, as he departs his heavenly Zion, and he appears, he shines in glory before he descends. Then you get to verse number three.

Now remember, we’re talking about the coming of God to earth, so this truth of God’s coming to earth is something that goes way back in scriptural history. This is not a New Testament doctrine, this is an Old Testament doctrine, which is the foundation of the New Testament doctrine. So even in the Old Testament, God said, I’m coming, you just wait, I’m coming. And that’s why the Jews got so messed up and so deceived is because they misunderstood the coming of Christ in his first coming, because that coming was foretold also, but it wasn’t the one they were really interested in because it had no glory and it had a cross, and they weren’t interested in that part.

Not even the disciples were all that interested in that part, right, because they didn’t understand it. But there is nevertheless a truth in the Old Testament that God was going to come to earth. He had planned this all along. And here you have it in verse three, an example. Our God shall come and shall not keep silence. Now notice what it says. A fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.

Now fire in connection with the coming of Christ in judgment, this is also something that we see. Listen to these verses, you can note the references if you like. Isaiah 66 verse 15 and 16, say this. For behold, the Lord will come with fire and with his chariots like a whirlwind to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh and the slain of the Lord shall be many.

Second Thessalonians one, verses seven and eight. Say this. And to you who are troubled, rest with us. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So in both, and there are other references to fire. In fact, you go to a part of Jeremiah, I believe it refers to the way the fire axis referred to as a plague.

Anyway, here’s the thing I want you to see. This fire at the coming of Christ is not the kind of generic, it’s sort of, this is a lot of times when you read commentaries on this, they’ll kind of make it generic. Well, this is just talking about hell fire when he judges them and they go to hell, but it’s not. This is literal physical fire at his coming, right?

So when Jesus comes, there’s a sign of him appearing in glory, all the earth sees him, and then he descends and he does not have love on his mind. He has fire on his mind. And his chosen method of destruction is fire. This is, the Lord says, this is something to fear for those that do not know God. And this is the way Jesus, this is the way Jesus comes in judgment.

Notice verse number four. He shall call the heavens from above and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Now notice, not only is Jesus coming to judge the world, but he’s also coming to judge his people. Hebrews tells us that the Lord shall judge his people, right? So the Lord is not gonna overlook his people in judgment. Now the judgment looks different than his judgment of the world, of course, but he is gonna judge his people.

Look at verse number five. Gather my saints together. Remember, we’re talking about the coming of Christ. He says, gather my saints together unto me. Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice, words strongly indicating Israel, because the sacrifices pertain to Israel. Now, I know I might be a little bit confusing right now, because there’s a lot of different kind of, different roads that are kind of converging here, right?

You have the road of the coming of Christ, you have the fire, you have the appearance of the Son of Man, and you have the gathering of the saints, and you have the mention of what is essentially God’s people, Israel, because of the sacrifice, the sacrifices. And all those things are happening at once. So when Jesus comes, there’s absolutely a gathering of his people. There’s absolutely a gathering of his people.

Listen to these verses in Mark 13. Excuse me. Mark 13, 26 and 27. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with power and great glory. It’s the parallel of what we just read. And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth, to the uttermost part of heaven, heaven and earth.

All right? Now, notice this. He shall gather together his elect. So when Jesus comes, he is coming in judgment, but he’s also coming to gather his people together, because at that time, there absolutely will be believers who are in a covenant with him by sacrifice. I think it’s a reference, in this case, it’s a reference to Israel primarily. But notice in verse number five, he says, notice verse four and five, the difference in the language.

He shall call the heavens from above that he may judge. Then in verse five, it says, gather my saints. So now verse five, God is speaking, not the psalmist, God is saying, gather my saints. Gather my saints together. And then verse six, it verts back to the psalmist, narrating, he says, and the heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God is judge himself. You know how many times you’ve read in Revelation, where you see these angelic beings that cry out during this period of judgment.

They cry out audibly of God’s righteousness in what he’s doing in judging the world. You read that throughout the book of Revelation. Now, I know when we read this, we’re reading kind of poetically all the events. It’s not supposed to be a prophecy of the events in perfect order, like we would write it down. It’s poetic. This is how it’s described. So some liberties are taken with the timing and all of that kind of thing, but that’s all filled in for us in the book of Revelation.

So what we see here is a picture of the Lord coming in judgment. That’s what I want you to see. This is a picture of Christ coming in judgment. Then we get to verse number seven, the next section. Here’s what it says. Hear, oh my people, and I will speak. Oh Israel, which connects back to verse five, those that had made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

Oh Israel, and I will testify against thee. I am God, even thy God. Now, I want you to go a little bit ahead and look at verse number 16.

So in verse seven, the Lord is speaking to his people. In verse 16, the Lord changes to a different group of people and is speaking to the wicked. Now, we’re gonna get there in just a second. So the Lord has something, now in the context of his coming, right? In the context of his coming, the Lord has something to say to his people, those who believe and trust in him.

And he has something different entirely to say to the wicked. Look at verse eight. So God speaking, in verse seven, God is speaking to his people. You have to understand that.

Verse eight, I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings to have been continually before me. Let me ask you a question, and we’re gonna move right along. Did God command Israel to make sacrifices and offerings? Yes, yes. So Israel made sacrifices and offerings, and they should have, because God told them to do it. Everybody with me? He’s not reproving them for that. He’s not saying you shouldn’t have done that, okay?

What they did was good and right, but there’s more to the story. Keep reading. I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor the he-goats out of thy folds, which is to say, I don’t need any other offerings. I don’t need any more offerings. He’s saying, I’m not asking for more offerings. He goes on, verse 10. For every beast of the forest is mine and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

I know all the fowls of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee, for the world is mine and the fullness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? This idea that Israel started to creep into their mind that because they were doing these sacrifices somehow, God needed it. And God’s saying, I don’t need those.

If I, do you think I’m eating these sacrifices? I’m not eating them. And even if I was hungry, I wouldn’t tell you. I own everything. I don’t need your sacrifices is what God is saying. So the idea here is God is telling Israel, you’re not doing me any favors. And so again, he’s talking to his people. He’s talking to his people now, not to the wicked, but to his people, because these ideas, our service to God, sometimes the idea begins to creep into our mind that what we do for God is in some way helping God.

Or what we do for God is in some way doing him a favor. He should be happy that we tip him every once in a while with our life. He should be happy that we serve him, that we’re honoring him in some way. And God is saying, in this case, he’s talking about the sacrifices. He’s saying, even if I needed something, which I don’t, because I’m self-existent, but even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you because I own everything, including the sacrifices that you make.

Now, I got my pages mixed up here. Now notice verse 14. So just to recap verse eight, I gave you sacrifices to do, I’m not gonna reprove you, I told you to do them. Verse nine, I’m not adding any more, we don’t need more sacrifices. That’s what verse nine says. I’m not asking for more. I’m not taking any more of your animals.

Verse 14, offer unto God thanksgiving and pay thy vows to the Most High and call upon me in the day of trouble and call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me. So here’s what was happening. And this is exactly what happens with God’s people now, even though we don’t have sacrifices. The Lord gave them a form. He gave them a ritual.

He gave them a practice that they were to perform. That’s the sacrifices. But what happened is they started to give the sacrifices without the heart under the sacrifices. And the Lord says, I’m not gonna reprove you for the sacrifices I told you to give me, but I don’t want any more. What I want is the heart. I want the thanksgiving. I want the heart of worship, not just the form of worship.

I want the real thing, not just you following the form and the pattern that you’re supposed to follow. And this is the way it looks to a Baptist Christian in 2025. Here’s how it looks.

Anything that is prescribed that is a form of religion, is a practice, a ritual, a ceremony or whatever, one of those is the church service. One of those is communion. One of those is baptism, the offering, and the prayer, that kind of thing. All of those outward forms, those are things God tells us to do. He’s not reproving us for those things. Those are right. But we have gotten, the human nature is such that we tend to think that the Lord is mostly concerned with the outward form of, we gotta make sure we’re in the church service and we’re out of the church.

We gotta make sure we’re in the church service and we write our tithe check and we put it in the offering and we do the Lord’s Supper and we do the prayer and we da da da and we, it’s, we do all the parts. And what the Lord is saying is, I want the heart. I want the reality. You can do those outward forms and they’re important.

But the outward form without the reality behind it is useless. I don’t want it. I don’t need more sacrifice. In other words, the Lord is saying, I don’t need more form. You know what religion has done over the centuries, right? It’s just multiplied form after form and after form that aren’t found in scripture at all in any way, fashion or form, no pun intended. And everybody feels better because they’re doing the thing that is prescribed.

Now I’ll tell you something, this is gonna, you know, that’s where a lot of the Christian holidays like Lent and the various holidays in the Christian calendar come from. They’re forms that have been multiplied, that aren’t in scripture and that they’ve been multiplied and people expect you’re supposed to do it, you’re supposed to do it, you’re supposed to do it. And it’s like, this is the time you’re supposed to do it.

And you look in the Bible and it’s not there. Why has that been multiplied so much? Because that’s the way people are. They want the form and the form replaces the heart and the inner. Notice what the Lord says. He says, I don’t want any more form. I don’t want any more sacrifices. You do what I told you to do, the word of God. And he says, offer unto God thanksgiving.

Notice the same words as the form, but what he’s asking for is not a form. He’s asking for the heart. Pay thy vows unto the most high. Call upon me in the day of trouble. Notice all three, all the things listed, offer unto God. Pay thy vows unto the most high. Call upon me. Thou shalt glorify me. I will deliver thee. You know what the form leaves out?

God. The form leaves out God. That’s why so many people can go to church and practice the form and their heart is as far from God as is humanly possible. You know why? Because that’s what the form allows you to do. God says, you do the form, but without the me part of it, the form is useless.

This is the Lord’s message to his people. Your religion, your faith should not be just form. Do the form that God has commanded, but what’s really the most important thing is the inner, the reality, the substance, the supposed to fill the form. That is what matters. But human, again, I reiterate, human beings do what? Let’s just make another sacrifice. Let’s have another festival. Let’s have another ritual.

This is what human beings do. Like we read in verse number nine. But the Lord has a different message. Lastly, in verse number 16 to the wicked. Verse 16 says this, but unto the wicked God saith, what hast thou to do to declare my statutes? Or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? The Lord has a different message entirely to this group of people.

In verse number 16, the Lord is speaking to a wicked man and before we look at verse 16, let’s keep reading because I want to give you the characteristics the Lord lists about the wicked. Verse 17, seeing thou hatest instruction and castest my words behind thee. This is how the Lord describes the wicked now. Sadly, some of these things can be found in God’s people as well, but the Lord is talking to the wicked now.

Here’s what he says. They hate instruction. They cast God’s word behind them. Irrelevant to their life. Verse 18, when thou sawest a thief, then thou consentest with him and hast been partaker with adulterers. There’s an association with wicked people. You see this? There’s an association. So it’s not just what they do, but it’s who they love also. Notice this Romans 1, 32, who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, the wicked, but have pleasure in them that do them.

The Lord does say something about associations. He pays attention to who we like, we being human beings. He pays attention not only to what we do, but who it is that we like also. That’s what’s going on here. That’s what’s going on here. He likes the adulterers. He likes those that the thieves, he consents with them. And the Lord notes that because that’s the characteristic of the wicked.

Verse number 19, thou givest thy mouth, speaking to the wicked now, to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. They speak evil. The wicked speak evil. The wicked deceive. Look at the next verse. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother, and slanderest thine own mother’s son.

This is talking about slander and gossip. But it’s not just regular slander and gossip. Notice it is speaking evil against one’s brother. That’s your kin, your relation, and slandering your own mother’s son. So there’s slander and there’s gossip, but this is a worse degree of sin in evil speaking and slander because the target is one’s own relation. You see that? He says, thine own mother’s son. Now it is evil to slander and gossip and speak evil of people in every case, but speaking evil in one’s own relation is worse than speaking evil of a stranger, although both are evil, because there should be a greater level of natural love toward love and kindness, really toward our relations.

And so here, if we’re doing that, some people say, it doesn’t matter how I treat my family. No, it makes everything worse. It aggravates a sin because they are your family. Because someone is our family, that doesn’t mean we have a license to do them harm. If you steal from your parents, it doesn’t make it less bad because they’re your parents. It makes it worse because they’re your parents.

This is how the world has twisted everything around. How much more in the church of God? This is a characteristic of the wicked, slandering one another, speaking evil of another.

Now notice all of these, the list of characteristics. You know, I just wanna tell you, I’m glad in scripture that God gives us lists of sins like this. I’m glad, you know why? Because as we read them, it is easy. These kinds of lists are easy ammunition for the Bible to nail us, or to nail a wicked man, as the case might be, because it’s clearly spelled out.

The wicked are not wicked just because what they do, rather the reverse. They do what they do because they are wicked. And that’s why Cain was rejected, though he brought an offering. He was wicked. And he manifested that later when he killed his brother.

Now, so this is the list of all the things the wicked do in this Psalm. Hate instruction, cast God’s word behind them, consent with and approve of sinners, thieves, and adulterers. They speak evil, they deceive, they speak against and slander their brother. Now go back to verse 16. But unto the wicked God saith, what hast thou to do to declare my statutes? Or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?

What’s the Lord saying here? The Lord’s saying, what business do you have talking about my commandments? What business do you have talking about my covenant? Now that raises a question. Why would, because obviously verse 16, the Lord is reproving the wicked for speaking of his words.

The Lord is reproving the wicked for speaking of his words. So the question I have is, why is the wicked speaking of God’s words? You know what it tells us? It tells us that the wicked is found even in the midst of religion because God’s covenant is in their mouth. God’s statutes are on their lips and they are declaring them. Now note this, just because someone talks about the Bible does not mean they’re not wicked.

Not at all, in fact, to the contrary. But the Lord in heaven is looking at that person’s heart and then also the manifestation of their heart in their life in the characteristics we read in the verses. And the Lord in heaven is thinking, what are they doing? Shut your mouth.

What business do you have talking about my statutes? You despise them. What business do you have talking about my word and my covenant? You have no regard for it. Shut up. That’s what he’s saying.

Would the Lord rather someone who is wicked tell God’s word to somebody or rather that person go on in ignorance? Ignorance. That’s what he’s saying. Keep your mouth shut. That’s pretty, I’m just saying that’s pretty strong. That’s pretty strong language. But what’s striking to me is the fact that the wicked are doing it. The fact, and you know what that tells me? That tells me that you go to churches and you go to religion and you’re gonna find those people in the church preaching the Bible, talking about God’s word.

You’re gonna find, it should not be a surprise. We should not be naive about the fact that the wicked are in religion just like anybody else and the Lord is not happy with it at all. Not happy with it at all. But it’s also a warning to us that do want to declare his words and put his covenant in our mouth that the Lord’s paying attention and he’s connecting the way we live and what we’re talking about, right?

Now verse 21 as we close here. These things, the Lord speaks to the wicked, thou hast done and I kept silence. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such in one as thyself. It’s interesting. God’s saying here, there’s a secret thought in the heart of the wicked that the wicked think in some way that God is like them. That God is wicked as they are or God is okay or has affinity for wickedness like they do.

The Lord telling us the secrets of their heart right in this verse. He goes on in verse 21 and says, but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes. Judgment.

You want to know what judgment is like when you stand before the Lord Jesus Christ? You know what’s gonna happen? Verses like this tell us. All that we have done will be set before the Lord. All that we have done will be set before our eyes. That’s frightening. That’s frightening. All that we have done will be set before our eyes. And the Bible says that we will have to open our mouth and give it an account.

We have to explain to him, not him, he’ll reprove us for sure. That’s what he says here. But we’re gonna have to give an account to him. Let me ask you, that should make every single one of us a little bit uncomfortable or maybe a lot uncomfortable. Should it not? It should strike fear in us that we will have to give an account to our God after our works are laid out and set before our eyes.

Now he says in verse 22, now consider this, ye that forget God. It’s not that they forget like they can’t remember him. It’s that none of their thoughts are on God at all. Psalm 10 four, the wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God. God is not in all his thoughts. You know what that is? That’s forgetting.

This wicked person does not like to think upon God. He pushes thoughts of God out of his mind. Religion, religion’s fine. We can talk about that. But I don’t wanna think about God. We will talk about it, verse 16, cause they did. And God says, what are you doing?

But they don’t wanna talk about God. They forget him. He says, lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver. He says here, God’s warning to the wicked is this. I will judge you. I am not like you and I am going to judge you. Fear.

Fear. You know what that is? That’s a good message to take to people who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not just God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

This is the plan for the wicked right here. It’s wonderful in the sense of it’s holy and it’s righteous. But the Lord’s message for the wicked in scripture is, fear me. I am going to judge you. And that should be our message. Not with glee, we say that, to the contrary. But this is the message God has to the wicked. This is the message, fear me. And so he says in verse 23, the tag, as I call it.

Whoso offereth praise glorifyeth me and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God. What’s interesting is none of us can order our conversation aright. But there is one who ordered it aright for us. Whose righteousness gets applied to us. Who is our salvation. Jesus Christ. Let’s pray together.