Bible Strands
Psalms 50:21
You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses a specific individual who has been slandering others (v. 20), at the precise moment divine silence ends and direct accusation begins.
The words — הֶחֱרַשְׁתִּי (hech'reishtî, "I kept silent") and דִּמִּיתָ (dimîtâ, "you imagined") form the hinge: God's silence was not approval, and the sinner's error was assuming God is "like you" (כָּמוֹךָ).
The thread — The same misreading of divine forbearance as indifference appears in Romans 2:4 and Psalms 94:7; Proverbs 29:1 supplies the consequence of continuing in that posture after reproof.
Why it lands — It strips away the comfort of assuming God's patience is permission, and places the reader on the receiving end of a face-to-face reckoning that no one else will intervene in.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
Cross-references
- Romans 2:4 Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
- Proverbs 29:1 A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.
- Psalms 94:7 They say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed.”
- Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
- Isaiah 57:11 Whom have you dreaded and feared, so that you lied and failed to remember Me or take this to heart? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear Me?
- Psalms 90:8 You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.
- Ecclesiastes 8:11 When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
- Isaiah 42:14 “I have kept silent from ages past; I have remained quiet and restrained. But now I will groan like a woman in labor; I will at once gasp and pant.
- Psalms 73:11 The wicked say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?”
- 1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.