Mazmur 50:3-4

50:3 Our God approaches and is not silent; ¹ 

consuming fire goes ahead of him

and all around him a storm rages. ² 

50:4 He summons the heavens above,

as well as the earth, so that he might judge his people. ³ 

[50:3]  ¹ tn According to GKC 322 §109.e, the jussive (note the negative particle אַל, ’al) is used rhetorically here “to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen.”

[50:3]  ² tn Heb “fire before him devours, and around him it is very stormy.”

[50:4]  ³ tn Or perhaps “to testify against his people.”

[50:4]  sn The personified heavens and earth (see v. 1 as well) are summoned to God’s courtroom as witnesses against God’s covenant people (see Isa 1:2). Long before this Moses warned the people that the heavens and earth would be watching their actions (see Deut 4:26; 30:19; 31:28; 32:1).