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Psalms 50:21

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

These things hast thou done - My eye has been continually upon you, though my judgments have not been poured out: and because I was silent, thou didst suppose I was such as thyself; but I will reprove thee, etc. I will visit for these things.

Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

These things hast thou done, and I kept silence - Compare the notes at Isaiah 18:4. The meaning is, that while they did these things - while they committed these abominations - he did not interfere. He did not come forth in his anger to destroy them. He had borne all this with patience. He had borne this until it was now time that he should interpose Isaiah 18:3, and state the true principles of his government, and warn then of the consequences of such a course of sin and hypocrisy. Compare the notes at Acts 17:30.

Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself - The idea here is, that they thought or imagined that God was just like themselves in the matter under consideration, and they acted under this impression; or, in other words, the fair interpretation of their conduct was that they thus regarded God. That is, they supposed that “God” would be satisfied with the “forms” of religion, as “they” were; that all he required was the proper offering of sacrifice, according to “their” views of the nature of religion; that he did not regard principle, justice, pure morality, sincerity, even as they themselves did not; and that he would not be strict to punish sin, or to reprove them for it, if these forms were kept up, even as “they” were not disposed to be rigid on the subject of sin.

But I will reprove thee - I will rebuke thee alike for thy sins, and for this view of the nature of religion.

And set them in order - literally, I will “array” them; that is, I will draw them out to view in their appropriate ranks and orders, as soldiers are drawn up in martial array. They shall be so arranged and classified that they may be seen distinctly.

Before thine eyes - So that they may be plainly seen. The meaning is, that they would have a clear and impressive view of them: they would be made to see them as they were. This might be done then, as it is done now, either

(a) by their being set before their minds and hearts, so that they would see and feel the enormity of sin, to wit, by conviction for it; or

(b) by sending such punishment on them for their sins that they might “measure” the guilt and the number of their transgressions by the penalties which would be inflicted.

In some way all sinners will yet be made to see the nature and the extent of their guilt before God.

Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary
Hypocrisy is wickedness, which God will judge. And it is too common, for those who declare the Lord's statutes to others, to live in disobedience to them themselves. This delusion arises from the abuse of God's long-suffering, and a wilful mistake of his character and the intention of his gospel. The sins of sinners will be fully proved on them in the judgment of the great day. The day is coming when God will set their sins in order, sins of childhood and youth, of riper age and old age, to their everlasting shame and terror. Let those hitherto forgetful of God, given up to wickedness, or in any way negligent of salvation, consider their urgent danger. The patience of the Lord is very great. It is the more wonderful, because sinners make such ill use of it; but if they turn not, they shall be made to see their error when it is too late. Those that forget God, forget themselves; and it will never be right with them till they consider. Man's chief end is to glorify God: whoso offers praise, glorifies him, and his spiritual sacrifices shall be accepted. We must praise God, sacrifice praise, put it into the hands of the Priest, our Lord Jesus, who is also the altar: we must be fervent in spirit, praising the Lord. Let us thankfully accept God's mercy, and endeavour to glorify him in word and deed.
Ellen G. White
Education, 144

The accounts of every business, the details of every transaction, pass the scrutiny of unseen auditors, agents of Him who never compromises with injustice, never overlooks evil, never palliates wrong. Ed 144.1

“If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice, ... marvel not at the matter: for He that is higher than the highest regardeth.” “There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.” Ecclesiastes 5:8; Job 34:22. Ed 144.2

“They set their mouth against the heavens.... And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?” “These things hast thou done,” God says, “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,” Psalm 73:9-11; 50:21. Ed 144.3

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Ellen G. White
Selected Messages Book 3, 398.1

Work of Wolves in Sheep's Clothing—There will be, even among us, hirelings and wolves in sheep's clothing who will persuade [some of] the flock of God to sacrifice unto other gods before the Lord.... Youth who are not established, rooted and grounded in the truth, will be corrupted and drawn away by the blind leaders of the blind; and the ungodly, the despisers that wonder and perish, who despise the sovereignty of the Ancient of Days, and place on the throne a false god, a being of their own defining, a being altogether such an one as themselves—these agents will be in Satan's hands to corrupt the faith of the unwary. 3SM 398.1

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Ellen G. White
Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, 25

But the words of Jesus, “Blessed are the pure in heart,” have a deeper meaning—not merely pure in the sense in which the world understands purity, free from that which is sensual, pure from lust, but true in the hidden purposes and motives of the soul, free from pride and self-seeking, humble, unselfish, childlike. MB 25.1

Only like can appreciate like. Unless you accept in your own life the principle of self-sacrificing love, which is the principle of His character, you cannot know God. The heart that is deceived by Satan, looks upon God as a tyrannical, relentless being; the selfish characteristics of humanity, even of Satan himself, are attributed to the loving Creator. “Thou thoughtest,” He says, “that I was altogether such an one as thyself.” Psalm 50:21. His providences are interpreted as the expression of an arbitrary, vindictive nature. So with the Bible, the treasure house of the riches of His grace. The glory of its truths, that are as high as heaven and compass eternity, is undiscerned. To the great mass of mankind, Christ Himself is “as a root out of a dry ground,” and they see in Him “no beauty that” they “should desire Him.” Isaiah 53:2. When Jesus was among men, the revelation of God in humanity, the scribes and Pharisees declared to Him, “Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil.” John 8:48. Even His disciples were so blinded by the selfishness of their hearts that they were slow to understand Him who had come to manifest to them the Father's love. This was why Jesus walked in solitude in the midst of men. He was understood fully in heaven alone. MB 25.2

When Christ shall come in His glory, the wicked cannot endure to behold Him. The light of His presence, which is life to those who love Him, is death to the ungodly. The expectation of His coming is to them a “fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation.” Hebrews 10:27. When He shall appear, they will pray to be hidden from the face of Him who died to redeem them. MB 26.1

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