“Gather my saints together to me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
Parallel Translations
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“Gather my saints together to me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
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Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
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'Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.'
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Psalms 50:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 24:3-8 Moses came and told the people all Yahweh’s words, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words which Yahweh has spoken will we do.” Moses wrote all Yahweh’s words, then rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the base of the mountain, with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of cattle to Yahweh. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “We will do all that Yahweh has said, and be obedient.” Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words.”
- Hebrews 13:20 Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus,
- Matthew 26:28 for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.
- Hebrews 12:24 to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than that of Abel.
- Deuteronomy 33:2-3 He said, “Yahweh came from Sinai, and rose from Seir to them. He shone from Mount Paran. He came from the ten thousands of holy ones. At his right hand was a fiery law for them. Yes, he loves the people. All his saints are in your hand. They sat down at your feet. Each receives your words.
- Psalms 30:4 Sing praise to Yahweh, you saints of his. Give thanks to his holy name.
- Psalms 97:10 You who love Yahweh, hate evil! He preserves the souls of his saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
- Matthew 24:31 He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
- Hebrews 9:10-23 being only (with meats and drinks and various washings) fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation. But Christ having come as a high priest of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, that those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where a last will and testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him who made it. For a will is in force where there has been death, for it is never in force while he who made it lives. Therefore even the first covenant has not been dedicated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” Moreover he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry in the same way with the blood. According to the law, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission. It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
- Proverbs 2:8 that he may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of his saints.
- 1 Thessalonians 3:13 to the end he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
- Jude 1:14 About these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones,
- Isaiah 13:3 I have commanded my consecrated ones; yes, I have called my mighty men for my anger, even my proudly exulting ones.
- Zechariah 14:5 You shall flee by the valley of my mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azel; yes, you shall flee, just like you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Yahweh my God will come, and all the holy ones with you.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, we ask you
- 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 Don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Don’t you know that we will judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain God in respect of his elect calleth the whole…
God in respect of his elect calleth the whole body holy, Saints, and his people.
Which should know that Sacrifices are sealed of the covenant between God and his people, and not set religion therein.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 50:5 Gather my saints together unto me; those…
Psa 50:5 Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
Ver. 5. Gather my saints together unto me] This seemeth to be spoken to the angels, those active instrumeuts and executioners of God’s judgments. By saints here understand professors at large, all that live in the bosom of the Church visible, and partake of the external privileges only; such as are in the vine, but bear no fruit, Joh 15:2; have a name to live, but are dead, Rev 3:1; such as whose sanctity consisteth only in covenanting by sacrifice. Basil saith that such are called saints to aggravate their sins; as a man that hath an honourable title, but hath done wickedly; and is, therefore, the rather to be condemned. When one pleaded once with a judge for his life, that he might not be hanged, because he was a gentleman, he told him that therefore he should have the gallows made higher for him.
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Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice] But were never brought by me into the bond of the covenant; for then the rebels would have been purged out from among them, as it is Eze 20:37-38.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain O ye angels, summon and fetch them to my…
O ye angels, summon and fetch them to my tribunal; which is poetically spoken; not as if they were actually to do so, but only to continue the metaphor and representation of the judgment here mentioned.
My saints; the delinquents, the Israelites, whom he calls saints; partly, because they were all by profession a holy people, as they are called, Deu 14:2; partly, by an irony, intimating how unworthy they were of that name; and partly, as an argument or evidence against them, because God had chosen and separated them from all the nations of the earth, to be a holy and peculiar people to himself, and they also had solemnly and frequently consecrated and devoted themselves to God, and to his faithful service; all which did greatly aggravate their present apostacy.
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Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice, i.e. which have entered into covenant with me, and have ratified that covenant with me by sacrifice, not only in their parents, Exo 24:4, &c., but also in their own persons from time to time, even as oft as they offer sacrifices to me. This clause seems to be added here, to acquaint them with the proper nature, use, and end of sacrifices, which were principally appointed to be signs and seals of the covenant made between God and his people; and consequently to convince them of their great mistake and wickedness in trusting to their outward sacrifices, when they neglect the very life and soul of them, which was the keeping of their covenant with God; and withal to diminish that overweaning conceit which they had of sacrifices, and to prepare the way for the abolition of them, as being only necessary to confirm the covenant; which being once for all confirmed by the blood of Christ, they might without any inconvenience be laid aside and abrogated.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Gather my saints together unto me,.... These words are…
Gather my saints together unto me,.... These words are spoken by Christ to the heavens and the earth; that is, to the angels, the ministers of the Gospel, to gather in, by the ministry of the word, his elect ones among the Gentiles; see Mat 24:30; called his "saints", who had an interest in his favour and lovingkindness, and were sanctified or set apart for his service and glory;
those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice; or, "who have made my covenant by, or on sacrifice" (s); the covenant of grace, which was made with Christ from everlasting, and which was confirmed by his blood and sacrifice; this his people may be said to make with God in him, he being their head, surety, and representative: now these covenant ones he will have gathered in to himself by the effectual calling, which is usually done by the ministry of the word; for this is not to be understood of the gathering of all nations to him, before him as a Judge; but of his special people to him as a Saviour, the "Shiloh", to whom the gathering of the people was to be, Gen 49:10.
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(s) So Pagninus.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Gather - O ye angels, summon and fetch them…
Gather - O ye angels, summon and fetch them to my tribunal. Which is poetically spoken, to continue the metaphor, and representation of the judgment. My saints - The Israelites, whom God had chosen and separated them from all the nations of the earth, to be an holy and peculiar people to himself, and they also had solemnly devoted themselves to God; all which aggravated their apostacy. Those - Who have entered into covenant with me, and have ratified that covenant by sacrifice. This seems to be added, to acquaint them with the proper nature, use and end of sacrifices, which were principally appointed to be signs and seals of the covenant made between God and his people; and consequently to convince them of their great mistake in trusting to their outward sacrifices, when they neglected the very life and soul of them, which was the keeping of their covenant with God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 50:5-6. Gather my saints, &c. — O ye…
Psa 50:5-6. Gather my saints, &c. — O ye angels, summon and fetch them to my tribunal. Which is poetically spoken, to continue the metaphor and representation of the judgment here mentioned. My saints — The Israelites, whom he calls saints; 1st, Because they were all by profession a holy people, as they are called in Deu 14:2; Deuteronomy , , 2 d, As an argument and evidence against them, because God had chosen and separated them from all the nations of the earth, to be a holy and peculiar people to himself, and they also had solemnly and frequently devoted themselves to God and his service; all which did greatly aggravate the guilt of their present apostacy. Those that have made a covenant with me, &c. — Who have entered into covenant with me, and have ratified that covenant with me by sacrifice — Not only in their parents, Exo 24:4, &c., but also in their own persons from time to time, even as often as they have offered sacrifices to me. This seems to be added, to acquaint them with the proper nature, use, and end of sacrifices, which were principally appointed to be signs and seals of the covenant made between God and his people; and consequently to convince them of their great mistake in trusting to their outward sacrifices, when they neglected the very life and soul of them, which was the keeping of their covenant with God: and withal to diminish that too high opinion which they had of sacrifices, and to prepare the way for the abolition of them. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness — Which they were called to witness, Psa 50:4, as was the earth also; but here he mentions the heavens only, probably, because they were the most impartial and considerable witnesses in the case. For men upon earth might be false witnesses, either through ignorance and mistake, or through prejudice, partiality, and passion; but the angels understand things more thoroughly, and are so exactly pure and sinless, that they neither can nor will bear false witness for God; and therefore their testimony is more valuable. Or, the meaning is, that God would convince the people of his righteousness, and of their own wickedness, by thunders and lightnings, and storms, or other dreadful signs wrought by him in the heavens. For God is judge himself — In his own person. God will not now reprove them by his priests or prophets, but in an extraordinary manner from heaven.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Gather my saints together unto me - This is…
Gather my saints together unto me - This is an address to the messengers employed for assembling those who are to be judged. Similar language is used by the Saviour Mat 24:31 : “And he (the Son of Man) shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” The idea is, that God will bring them, or assemble them together. All this is language derived froth the notion of a universal judgment, “as if” the scattered people of God were thus gathered together by special messengers sent out for this purpose. The word “saints” here refers to those who are truly his people. The object - the purpose - of the judgment is to assemble in heaven those who are sincerely his friends; or, as the Saviour expresses it Mat 24:31, his “elect.” Yet in order to this, or in order to determine who “are” his true people, there will be a larger gathering - an assembling of all the dwellers on the earth.
Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice - Exo 24:6-7. Compare the notes at Heb 9:19-22. The idea here is, that they are the professed people of God; that they have entered into a solemn covenant-relation to him, or have bound themselves in the most solemn manner to be his; that they have done this in connection with the sacrifices which accompany their worship; that they have brought their sacrifices or bloody offerings as a pledge that they mean to be his, and will be his. Over these solemn sacrifices made to him, they have bound themselves to be the Lord’s; and the purpose of the judgment now is, to determine whether this was sincere, and whether they have been faithful to their vows. As applied to professed believers under the Christian system, the “idea” here presented would be, that the vow to be the Lord’s has been made over the body and blood of the Redeemer once offered as a sacrifice, and that by partaking of the memorials of that sacrifice they have entered into a solemn “covenant” to be his. Nothing more solemn can be conceived than a “covenant” or pledge entered into in such a manner; and yet nothing is more painfully certain than that the process of a judgment will be necessary to determine in what cases it is genuine, for the mere outward act, no matter how solemn, does not of necessity decide the question whether he who performs it will enter into heaven.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain my saints-- (Psa 4:3).
my saints-- (Psa 4:3).
made--literally, "cut"
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a covenant, &c.--alluding to the dividing of a victim of sacrifice, by which covenants were ratified, the parties passing between the divided portions (compare Gen 15:10, Gen 15:18).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 5. Gather my saints— “My saints” are here defined…
5. Gather my saints— “My saints” are here defined as those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. This “covenant” is recorded Exo_24:7-8; comp. Heb_9:19-20. It was national, solemn, perpetual, sealed in blood, and comprehended all of God’s revealed will, and now God is to judge whether they have fulfilled it.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 5. Gather &c.] To whom is the command addressed?…
5. Gather &c.] To whom is the command addressed? Perhaps to the angels who are God’s ministers of judgement (Mat_24:31), and by whom He appears attended (Deu_33:2); less probably to heaven and earth, which according to the analogy of the parallel passages, are summoned as witnesses. But perhaps no definite reference at all is intended, and no particular messengers are in the Psalmist’s mind (cp. Isa_13:2).
my saints] The word châsîd denotes those who are the objects of Jehovah’s chesed or lovingkindness. ‘saint,’ like ‘servant,’ as applied to Israel, expresses the relation in which Jehovah has placed the nation towards Himself, without necessarily implying that its character corresponds to its calling (Psa_79:2; Isa_42:19). The indictment against many of the Israelites is that their conduct towards their fellow-men is entirely destitute of that ‘lovingkindness’ which ought to reflect the lovingkindness of Jehovah towards them. On the word châsîd see Appendix, Note i.
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those that have made &c.] Or, those that make &c. The reference is not merely to the original ratification of the covenant with the nation at Sinai (Exo_24:5 ff.), but to the recognition and maintenance of it by each fresh generation with repeated sacrifices. The previous line refers (in the word ‘saints’) to the divine grace which is the originating cause of the covenant with Israel, this line to the human act which acknowledges that grace and the obligations which it entails. It has been thought strange that the Ps. which depreciates sacrifice should recognise it as the sanction of the covenant, and it has been suggested that these words are merely ‘ironical.’ It is however impossible to regard them as merely ironical. Though the Decalogue contained no command to offer sacrifice, the primitive institution of sacrifice was sanctioned and regulated by the Book of the Covenant (Exo_20:24 ff). Sacrifice had its divinely appointed place in the economy of the old Covenant, though not that which formal and hypocritical worshippers imagined. It could not be a substitute for devotion and morality; but its abuse did not abrogate its use. See Oehler’s O.T. Theology, § 201.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (5) My saints.—This verse is of great importance, as…
(5) My saints.—This verse is of great importance, as containing a formal definition of the word chasîdîm, and so a direction as to its interpretation wherever it occurs in the Hebrew hymn book. The “saints” are those in the “covenant,” and that covenant was ratified by sacrifices. As often, then, as a sacrifice was offered by an Israelite, it was a witness to the existence of the covenant, and we are not to gather, therefore, from this psalm that outward acts of sacrifice were annulled by the higher spirit taught in it; they were merely subordinated to their proper place, and those who thought more of the rites that bore testimony to the covenant than of the moral duties which the covenant enjoined, are those censured in this part of the psalm.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Gather my saints together unto me. By "my saints"…
Gather my saints together unto me. By "my saints" the psalmist means here, not godly Israel, as in Psa_16:3, but all Israel the whole nation, whether true servants of Jehovah, or only professed servants. This is rendered clear by the ensuing clause, Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. Not even was the first covenant dedicated without blood; (Heb_9:18; comp. Exo_24:3-8) nor could any Israelite remain within the covenant without frequent sacrifice. (Exo_12:2-47, etc.)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 5. Gather my saints together unto me. Go,…
Ver. 5. Gather my saints together unto me. Go, ye swift winged messengers, and separate the precious from the vile. Gather out the wheat of the heavenly garner. Let the long scattered, but elect people, known by my separating grace to be my sanctified ones, be now assembled in one place. All are not saints who seem to be soa severance must be made; therefore let all who profess to be saints be gathered before my throne of judgment, and let them hear the word which will search and try the whole, that the false may be convicted and the true revealed. Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice; this is the grand test, and yet some have dared to imitate it. The covenant was ratified by the slaying of victims, the cutting and dividing of offerings; this the righteous have done by accepting with true faith the great propitiatory sacrifice, and this the pretenders have done in merely outward form. Let them be gathered before the throne for trial and testing, and as many as have really ratified the covenant by faith in the Lord Jesus shall be attested before all worlds as the objects of distinguishing grace, while formalists shall learn that outward sacrifices are all in vain. Oh, solemn assize, how does my soul bow in awe at the prospect thereof!
Ver. 5. Gather, etc. To whom are these words addressed? Many suppose to the angels, as the ministers of God's will; but it is unnecessary to make the expression more definite than it is in the Psalm. J. J. Stewart Perowne.
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Ver. 5. My saints, the objects of my mercy, those whom I have called and specially distinguished. The term is here descriptive of a relation, not of an intrinsic quality. J. A. Alexander.
Ver. 5. Gather my saints together unto me. There is a double or twofold gathering to Christ. There is a gathering unto Christ by faith, a gathering within the bond of the covenant, a gathering into the family of God, a gathering unto the root of Jesse, standing up for an ensign of the people. "In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek; and his rest shall be glorious." Isa 11:10. This is the main end of the gospel, the great work of ministers, the gathering of sinners unto Christ. But then there is a gathering at the general judgment; and this is the fathering that is here spoken of. This gathering is consequential to the other. Christ will gather none to him at the last day but those that are gathered to him by faith here; he will give orders to gather together unto him all these, and none but these, that have taken hold of his covenant...
I would speak of Christ's owning and acknowledging the saints at his second coming. His owning and acknowledging them is imported in his giving these orders: Gather my saints together unto me.... Now upon this head I mention the things following: 1. Saintship will be the only mark of distinction in that day. There are many marks of distinction now; but these will all cease, and this only will remain. 2. Saintship will then be Christ's badge of honour. Beware of mocking at saintship, or sanctity, holiness and purity; for it is Christ's badge of honour, the garments with which his followers are clothed, and will be the only badge of honour at the great day. 3. Christ will forget and mistake none of the saints. Many of the saints are forgotten here, it is forgotten that such persons were in the world, but Christ will forget and mistake none of them at the great day; he will give forth a list of all his saints, and give orders to gather them all unto him. 4. He will confess, own, and acknowledge them before his Father, and his holy angels. Mt 10:32 Lu 12:8 Re 3:5. They are to go to my Father's house, and they are to go thither in my name, in my right, and at my back; and so it is necessary I should own and acknowledge them before my Father. But what need is there for his owning them before the angels? Answer. They are to be the angel's companions, and so it is necessary he should own them before the angels. This will be like a testimonial for them unto the angels. Lastly. The evidences of his right to and propriety in them, will then be made to appear. Mal 3:17: "And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels." It is too late for persons to become his then; so the meaning is, they shall evidently appear to be mine. James Scot, 1773.
Ver. 5. Gather my saints together unto me. Our text may be considered as the commission given by the great Judge to his angels those ministering spirits who do his will, hearkening to the voice of his power. The language of the text is in accordance with that which was uttered by our Lord when, alluding to the coming of the Son of Man, he says, "And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." But previous to this final, this general gathering together of his saints to judgment, Jehovah gathers them together in various ways, in various places, and by various means, both of providence and of grace. Previous to his being seated on a throne of judgment, we behold him sitting on a throne of mercy, and we hear him saying, Gather my saints together unto me. These words lead us to noticeI. The characters described, My saints. II. The command issued, Gather my saints together unto me. I. THE CHARACTERS HERE DESCRIBED my saints, we are to understand my holy ones those who have been sanctified and set apart by God. None of us possess this character by nature. We are born sinners, and there is no difference; but by divine grace we experience a change of nature, and consequently a change of name. The title of saint is frequently given to the people of God in derision. "Such an one, "says a man of the world, "is one of your saints." But, my brethren, no higher honour can be conferred upon us than to be denominated saints, if we truly deserve that character; but in what way do we become saints? We become saints1. By divine choice. The saints are the objects of everlasting love; their names are written in the Lamb's book of life; and it is worthy of remark that wherever the people of God are spoken of in sacred Scripture, as the objects of that everlasting love, it is in connection with their personal sanctification. Observe, they are not chosen because they are saints, nor because it is foreseen that they will be so, but they are chosen to be saints; sanctification is the effect and the only evidence of election. We become saints2. By a divine change which is the necessary consequence of this election. An inward, spiritual, supernatural, universal change is effected in the saints by the power of the Holy Ghost. Thus they are renewed in the spirit of their minds, and made partakers of a divine nature...Remember, then, this important truth, that Christians are called by the gospel to be saints; that you are Christians, not so much by your orthodoxy as by your holiness; that you are saints no further than as you are holy in all manner of conversation. 3. The people of God furnish an evidence of being saints by their godly conduct. "By their fruits, "not by their feelings; not by their lips, not by their general profession, but, "by their fruits shall ye know them." 4. The character of the saints is evidenced by divine consecration. The people of God are called holy inasmuch as they are dedicated to God. It is the duty and the privilege of saints to consecrate themselves to the service of God. Even a heathen philosopher could say, "I lend myself to the world, but I give myself to the gods. But we possess more light and knowledge, and are therefore laid under greater obligation than was Seneca."
II. THE COMMAND ISSUED. Gather my saints together unto me. Jehovah gathers his saints to himself in various ways. 1. He gathers them to himself in their conversion. The commission given by Christ to his ministers is, "Go ye forth into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature, "or in other words, Gather my saints together unto me. The gospel is to be preached to sinners in order that they may become saints. 2. Saints are gathered together by God in public worship...3. He gathers his saints together to himself in times of danger. When storms appear to be gathering around them, he is desirous to screen them from the blast. He say to them, in the language of Isaiah, "Come, my people, and enter into thy chamberthe chamber of my perfections and my promisesenter into thy chamber and shut the doors about thee, and hide thyself until the calamity is overpast."
4. God gathers his saints together in the service of his church. Thus Christ collected his apostles together to give them their apostolic commission to go and teach all nations. At the period of the Reformation, the great Head of the church raised up Luther and Calvin, together with other eminent reformers, in order that they might light up a flame in Europe, yea, throughout the world, that the breath of popery should never be able to blow out. 5. God gathers his saints together in death, and at the resurrection. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." This is the commission which death is habitually receiving"Go, death, and gather such and such of my saints unto me." As the gardener enters the garden, and plucks up the full blown flower and the ripened fruit, so Jesus Christ enters the garden of his church and gathers his saints to himself; for he says, "Father, I will that all they whom thou hast given me may be with me, where I am, and behold my glory." Condensed from J. Sibree's "Sermon preached at the reopening of Surrey Chapel, August 29th, 1830."
Ver. 5. (second clause). Made, or ratifying a covenant; literally, cutting, striking, perhaps in allusion to the practice of slaying and dividing victims as a religious rite, accompanying solemn compacts. (See Ge 15:10-18.) The same usage may be referred to in the following words, over sacrifice, i.e., standing over it: or on sacrifice, i.e., founding the engagement on a previous appeal to God. There is probably allusion to the great covenant transaction recorded in Ex 24:4-8. This reference to sacrifice shows clearly that what follows was not intended to discredit or repudiate that essential symbol of the typical or ceremonial system. J. A. Alexander.
Ver. 5. Made a covenant with me. Formerly soldiers used to take an oath not to flinch from their colours, but faithfully to cleave to their leaders; thus they called sacramentum militaire, a military oath; such an oath lies upon every Christian. It is so essential to the being of a saint, that they are described by this, Gather together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me. We are not Christians till we have subscribed this covenant, and that without any reservation. When we take upon us the profession of Christ's name, we enlist ourselves in his muster roll, and by it do promise that we will live and die with him in opposition to all his enemies ...He will not entertain us till we resign up ourselves freely to his disposal, that there may be no disputing with is commands afterwards, but, as one under his authority, go and come at his word. William Gurnall.
Ver. 5. The great family gathering.
1. Who are gathered.
2. How they are gathered.
3. To whom.
4. When they are gathered.
Ver. 5. (last clause).
1. The covenant.
2. The sacrifice which ratifies it.
3. How we may be said to make it.
Psalms 50:6*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Gather My saints together unto Me.
Psa_50:5
Gather My saints together unto Me.
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The doctrine of a general judgment and of a final retribution is a doctrine of pure revelation, and is found both in the Old Testament and in the New. But before this judgment shall be issued the command given in our text.
I. The characters here described--My saints. How we become saints.
1. By Divine choice.
2. By a Divine change which is the necessary consequence of this choice.
3. Their character is evidenced by their Divine conduct, and--
4. By Divine consecration.
II. The command issued. Gather, etc. Now, God does this--
1. In their conversion.
2. In public worship.
3. In times of danger.
4. In the service of His Church, and--
5. In death and at the Resurrection. (J. Sibree.)
Gather My saints together unto Me
1. What an expressive word--My saints! How the Lord appropriates them as His own! (Mal_3:17).
2. Gather My saints. He shall gather the lambs in His arms. He shall gather them as a shepherd his sheep in the hour of weakness and danger. They shall not be weak or nervous then. The frail body shall be dropped for ever.
3. Gather My saints together. It is the family meeting; it is the grand reunion; it is the glad assembly. We shall not rise to meet the Lord individually--in isolation; we shall be gathered together. What heart does not bound at the thought!
4. Unto Me. What would that meeting be without Jesus? What is any meeting without Him? (F. Whitfield, M. A.)
The gathering of Christs saints
It is the Son of God who is the speaker in this psalm, which tells of His first advent at Jerusalem, and then of His second coming to take vengeance on the disobedient. In that second coming we all shall be deeply interested. Let us think how it will fare with us on that day. Our text refers to it. Consider--
I. The characters described.
1. They are Christs saints. We are to be a holy people, without blame before Him in love. How is it with us?
2. They have entered into covenant with God. Abraham (Gen_15:9, etc.; Jer_34:18). See also Noahs sacrifice. And so Gods saints now covenant with God through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.
II. The command respecting them.
1. They will be gathered together. They are not so now.
2. They will be gathered unto Christ. Gather . . . unto Me. How blessed this prospect.
III. Inferences.
1. The duty of Christs ministers--to gather together saints, from sin and the world, by the preaching of the Gospel. Nothing compensates if this be left undone.
2. The privileges of Christs people. Eternal life in heaven is yours. (C. Clayton, M. A.)
Christs order for the gathering of His saints
This psalm certainly relates to the coming of Christ for judgment (Psa_50:8). Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. But whether to His first coming, to abolish the ceremonial law, set up the simple Gospel-worship, and to judge, condemn, and take vengeance on the formal, superstitious Jews, destroying their temple, and ruining their kingdom; or to His second coming to judge the world, is a question. I think it is plain it relates to both, the former as an emblem, pledge and type of the other; and thus we find them stated by our Saviour Himself (Mat_24:1-51.).
1. We have the party in whose name the court is called and held. It is in the name of the Holy Trinity, Hebrews God! God! Jehovah; He hath spoken, etc. God will judge the world by the man Christ.
2. The issuing out of the summons to the whole world, called the earth from the rising of the sun, unto the going down thereof; from east to west, from the one end to the other.
3. From whence the Judge sets forth, making His glorious appearance. At the giving of the law He came from Sinai with terrible majesty (Deu_33:2). At this His appearance He will come from Zion, the city of the living God, namely, from heaven, the Church being so called as a heaven on earth.
4. His awful coming to the judgment. He is God, as well as man. Devouring fire shall be his harbinger (2Th_1:8). But will any then bid Him welcome? Yes, His people will.
5. Whither the summons shall be directed. To the heavens, where the souls of the blessed are that are dead; to the earth, where the living are, good and bad, and where the bodies of the dead are (Rev_20:13).
6. A special gracious order in favour of His people. See text. Now comes the time of setting all to rights with them. And they are further characterized as those that have made a covenant, etc.
From all which we gather these doctrines--
1. When Christ comes again to put an end to this world, and complete the state of the other world, He will publicly own the saints as His own, and they shall be honourably gathered to Him by His order.
2. When Christ comes again, this earth will be very throng, and a wonderful mixture will be in it more than ever at any time before; He having called to heaven, and the other receptacle of departed souls, and brought them all back to their bodies which are in the earth.
3. When Christ comes again He will put an end to this world ere He go. His very first appearance will put an end to the business of it. All trades, employments, and diversions in this world will end for ever. And, ere He leave it, He will put an end to itself by setting it on fire; so that it shall no more be capable of affording a habitation to man or beast; while withal the heavens that cover it shall pass away (2Pe_3:10).
4. Saintship will be the only mark of distinction among men then. (T. Boston, D. D.)
The final saintly gathering
I. Here is the character of good men.
1. They are saints. By this expression, My saints, God claims a property in them, and expresseth His care of them and love to them.
2. They have made a covenant with Him by sacrifice. They have taken Him to be their God, their ruler and portion; and given up all dependence upon other objects.
II. The command. Let it be thy care, O my soul! I have the honour and happiness to be gathered with His people; and to have fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. This is the main thing; the source of my chief joy. I bless God that I am gathered with His saints, and united to His Church; and that I do not live in the total or general neglect of this sacred institution. I am willing and thankful to be laid under the most solemn engagements to be the Lords, and often to recollect and renew them. I know that my treacherous heart needs every tie, to bind it more closely to God and its duty. I would come, deeply humbled for past violations of my engagements, and with the renewed exercises of repentance and faith. Lord, I come, to join myself to Thee in a perpetual covenant, never to be forgotten; with a believing regard to Jesus Christ, the great sacrifice, here set forth, as crucified before my eyes. Let us remember what is said of this gathering. They shall all be gathered from all places, the most obscure and the most remote; and brought to the presence of their covenant-God and Father, who will applaud and reward their fidelity. (Job Orton, D. D.)
A covenant with God
The psalmists idea of God, as herein expressed, is broad and spiritual, and indicates high spiritual development. It is an ennobling one for man. To have a covenant with God, to be partner with Him in a bond, is to make us, to a certain extent, equal with Him. Covenant-making is one of the earliest instincts in man, and intrinsically one of the noblest. The bargain-making spirit is not necessarily a low one, nor a selfish one, nor a worldly one. We have degraded it by our use of it, by our desire to over-reach, to get the better of our neighbours in our bargains. The first condition of existence is the establishing of relationship between self, and that which is outside self. During the early years of our life we are largely dependent on others for the fulfilling of that condition for us. When we grow older we realize that for a rich and full and strong life we still are dependent on others, but as they in their turn are also dependent on us, we make covenants with them to fix and regulate the mutual help which we are prepared to render and receive. This covenant-making denotes the recognition, conscious or unconscious, of the incapacity of our own resources to satisfy our own needs and desires. But it indicates also that the true nature of man is not that little portion which he has within himself, but is that great nature, of which each one of us has in himself but a little share. And such is the nature of man, that with all his own resources, and all he can draw from others, he is left still unsatisfied. He craves for a yet fuller life, to be filled out of the infinite nature. This leads us to think of the nature of the covenant between God and man, involving the duty of man. Our part of the agreement is that we sacrifice to God. The only true sacrifice is the one which is prompted by love. Love and sacrifice are a twin growth, and each loses its purity when severed from the other. The act of sacrifice is contemplated oftentimes when we are still in the enjoyment of comfort and peace and light, but the sacrifice itself is carried out when all our comfort has declined, when our peace has been turned into maddest strife, and when the light by which we entered the narrow path of self-surrender has been turned into a darkness deep as death. If we love God, we shall delight in every sacrifice which is a manifestation of love, and we shall rejoice to offer our dearest and best gifts to Him. In poverty and weakness we may now make such offering, but it will continue to complete itself. And, at last, as the righteous will of man gains the final victory, as it unites itself in entire acquiescence with the all-righteous will of God, sacrifice will at once be perfected and abolished, immersed in one infinite ocean of joy and love. What we are vitally concerned to know about God is that He is perfectly just, and true, and loving. And this we can never learn from any revelation to our outward senses, but by quick prophetic insight, by the intuition of the Spirit. When we realize that God and man are one in a covenant of eternal life, we shall have incentive sufficient and worthy for all noble effort; for we ourselves shall have then become sons of God. (A. H. Moncur Syme.)
The necessity of sacrifice
The history of sacrifice is as old as the history of sin; the idea of sacrifice much older. It is part of the inmost counsels of God. It finds its corresponding utterance, with differing degrees of clearness and truth, through all that is holiest, noblest, and most personal of all Gods creation. Time, study, thought, enter into every work of art that earns any real fame and perhaps it is not too much to say that no painters creation, no sculptors reproduction of all but life, no burning words of eloquence, no minstrels strain, no poets dream, no work of art, ever really touches the heart, kindles deep feeling, directs motives, or influences conduct, if it does not bear on or below its surface the evidence of labour, of travail, of self-devotion, of self-dedication, self-absorption in the object of beauty or of power. And only in proportion as those who look, or admire, or criticize, or are captivated, know the real principles of what they gaze upon, or estimate the suffering they cost, does the popular opinion approximate the true. And hence it is that Gods judgment, and Gods opinion of people and acts, differ so often and so terribly from ours. He knows on what grounds His professing servants claim to have a covenant with Him: in what manner they act up to their claim. But God is gathering together those with whom He has made a covenant by sacrifice. And why? For judgment. God is judge Himself. He has a heavy charge against them. They are His. They have made a covenant with Him. But herein is their sin. The first awful charge against them is opened thus: I am God, even thy God. The only sacrifice they had made had cost them nothing. And this day again God speaks. Again out of Zion bath God appeared in perfect beauty; but it is not the beauty of the world; it is in the beauty of holiness expressed in sacrifice. He gathers His saints together unto Him; lifted up from the earth upon the Cross, He draws all men unto Him. Standing before the Cross, gathered before God, can we compare our lives with that life of sacrifice? Can we say that we have really rendered to Him that which He knows it is a sacrifice to us to give? (G. C. Harris, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.