Trouble, Trouble, Toil And Stubble

Psalm 50: 1 – 23

Trouble, trouble, toil and stubble

A Psalm of Asaph.

1 The Mighty One, God the LORD, has spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun to its going down. 2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth. 3 Our God shall come and shall not keep silent; A fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous all around Him. 4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people: 5 “Gather My saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” 6 Let the heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge. Selah 7 “Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you; I am God, your God! 8 I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are continually before Me. 9 I will not take a bull from your house, nor goats out of your folds. 10 For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. 12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.

13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? 14 Offer to God thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High. 15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” 16 But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to declare My statutes, or take My covenant in your mouth, 17 Seeing you hate instruction and cast My words behind you? 18 When you saw a thief, you consented with him, and have been a partaker with adulterers. 19 You give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit. 20 You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son. 21 These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you and set them in order before your eyes. 22 “Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver: 23 Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.”

Even though we are near October 31st I am not referring to Shakespeare’s Macbeth where the line of witches says, ‘Double, double, toil and trouble.’

Also, there is a term called ‘stubble, stubble, toil and trouble.’ It speaks about the art of shaving. I like my poem on this statement which says, ‘In this age of toil and sin, you head grows bald, but not your chin.’

No, today’s topic is ‘trouble, trouble, toil and stubble.’ This is my topic as I reviewed today’s Psalm. A verse that speaks out to me and I want you to get it down pat is, “15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

Have you ever experienced trouble in your life? Then here is the reason for it to occur. Since we have the tendency to be busy with all life’s issues we kind of forget about the One Who loves us. One principal reason our Holy Father allows the problems and difficulties to come into our lives is, so we will seek Him intensely. Then in His Mercy He comes to our rescue. Our response should be to shout out to Him our love, thanks, and worship for rescuing us.

A Psalm of Asaph.

The Songs of the Sons of Korah having come to an end in Psalm 49, we now have a Psalm of Asaph which stands on its own, presumably because it was seen as forming a bridge between Psalms 49 and 51. This Psalm will then be followed by a number of Psalms of David, and one of Solomon.

As we will see later there are a few Psalms of Asaph, which are listed in Psalms 73-83 where they are followed by more songs of the Sons of Korah. Asaph was one of David’s three chief musicians, and ‘the sons of Asaph’ continued throughout the generations to provide music for the Temple.

Like Psalm 49 this is a teaching Psalm, but more from a prophetic viewpoint. Note, for example, the importance of the divine utterance, the description of the theophany, the stress on spiritual worship as against sacrifice, and the denunciation of the wicked. Whereas Psalm 49 was addressed to ‘the peoples’, this Psalm is specifically concerning the people of YHWH. It contains a solemn picture of His judgment of them, as the mighty God YHWH calls on all the earth to witness as He sits to judge His people. It contains a firm warning that if they are to be able to depend on Him to answer them in the Day of Trouble, then they must walk rightly before Him and offer Him true worship.