Bible Strands
Psalms 50:4
He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that He may judge His people:
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks to the heavens and the earth as witnesses at the moment He approaches to judge His people. This declaration follows the announcement that He will not remain silent and is accompanied by consuming fire and a raging tempest.
The words — The verb יִקְרָא (yik.Ra') translates literally as "he summons," directing the heavens above and the earth to witness the impending judgment. The phrase לָדִין (la./Din) renders "to judge," establishing the explicit purpose of the cosmic call.
The thread — This summons of creation appears in Deuteronomy 32:1 and Isaiah 1:2, where heaven and earth are called to hear God's verdict. It parallels Deuteronomy 31:28, where elders and officers are assembled to listen to God's words.
Why it lands — The text establishes that divine judgment is witnessed by all creation and directed specifically at God's own people. It requires the reader to acknowledge that God convenes creation to render verdicts and expects immediate attention to His covenant standards.
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
He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 31:28 Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officers so that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them.
- Deuteronomy 32:1 Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
- Isaiah 1:2 Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.
- Deuteronomy 4:26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.
- Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live,
- Micah 6:1 Hear now what the LORD says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.
- Psalms 98:9 before the LORD, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.
- Isaiah 11:3 And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear,
- John 5:22 Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son,
- Deuteronomy 4:36 He let you hear His voice from heaven to discipline you, and on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the fire.