Psalm 50:18
When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers.
When you see a thief
The phrase begins with a direct observation, "When you see," indicating an awareness or recognition of wrongdoing. The Hebrew root for "thief" is "גָּנָב" (ganav), which refers to one who steals or takes what is not theirs. In the historical context of ancient Israel, theft was a serious offense, violating the commandment "You shall not steal" (Exodus 20:15). This phrase challenges the reader to consider their response to sin when it is evident before them. It is a call to vigilance and moral discernment, urging believers to not only recognize sin but to respond to it in a manner that aligns with God's righteousness.

you befriend him
The act of befriending a thief implies a level of acceptance or complicity. The Hebrew word used here can be understood as "רָצָה" (ratzah), which means to be pleased with or to associate with. This suggests a deeper issue of the heart, where one not only tolerates sin but also finds comfort or agreement with it. From a conservative Christian perspective, this is a warning against compromising one's values and integrity. It serves as a reminder that believers are called to be in the world but not of the world (John 17:14-16), maintaining a standard of holiness and separation from sinful practices.

and throw in your lot
This phrase conveys the idea of sharing in or participating with others in their actions. The Hebrew root "שָׁלַךְ" (shalak) means to cast or throw, indicating a deliberate choice to join in. Historically, this reflects the communal nature of ancient societies, where one's actions were often tied to the group they associated with. In a spiritual sense, it highlights the danger of aligning oneself with those who live contrary to God's commands. It is a call to choose one's associations wisely, as they can influence one's path and relationship with God.

with adulterers
The term "adulterers" comes from the Hebrew "נָאַף" (na'af), referring to those who break the covenant of marriage through infidelity. Adultery was not only a personal sin but a societal one, undermining the family unit and community integrity. In the biblical context, it also symbolizes unfaithfulness to God, as seen in the prophetic writings where Israel's idolatry is likened to adultery (Jeremiah 3:8-9). This phrase serves as a stark warning against spiritual and moral unfaithfulness. It calls believers to uphold the sanctity of marriage and to remain faithful to God, resisting the temptation to compromise with the world.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Thief
Represents those who engage in stealing, violating the commandment against theft. In the context of this Psalm, it symbolizes sinful behavior that is condoned or ignored by the observer.

2. Adulterers
Individuals who engage in sexual immorality, specifically violating the covenant of marriage. This term is used to highlight moral and spiritual unfaithfulness.

3. God as Judge
The overarching theme of Psalm 50 is God’s role as the righteous judge who calls His people to account for their actions and attitudes.

4. Israel
The primary audience of the Psalm, representing God’s chosen people who are being admonished for their hypocrisy and failure to live according to His laws.

5. Asaph
The author of the Psalm, a Levite and one of the leaders of David’s choir, who often wrote about themes of justice and righteousness.
Teaching Points
The Danger of Complicity
Associating with those who commit sin can lead to a gradual acceptance and participation in their actions. Believers must be vigilant about the company they keep.

Moral Integrity
Upholding God’s commandments requires not only personal adherence but also a commitment to not condone or support sinful behavior in others.

Spiritual Accountability
God sees beyond outward appearances and judges the heart. We are accountable for our associations and the influence they have on our spiritual walk.

Repentance and Restoration
God’s call to His people is not just to recognize sin but to turn away from it and seek restoration through repentance.

Witness to the World
As Christians, our lives should reflect God’s holiness, serving as a witness to those around us rather than conforming to worldly standards.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does befriending a thief or adulterer reflect on one's own spiritual state, and what steps can be taken to avoid such associations?

2. In what ways can we ensure that our friendships and associations align with biblical principles, as seen in Proverbs 1:10-19 and 1 Corinthians 15:33?

3. How does the concept of God as a righteous judge in Psalm 50 challenge us to examine our own lives and relationships?

4. What practical steps can we take to maintain moral integrity in a world that often condones or celebrates sinful behavior?

5. How can we balance the call to be in the world but not of it, ensuring that our witness remains strong and uncompromised?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Proverbs 1:10-19
Warns against consenting to the enticement of sinners, paralleling the idea of befriending thieves and adulterers.

1 Corinthians 15:33
Advises that bad company corrupts good character, reinforcing the danger of associating with those who practice sin.

James 4:4
Describes friendship with the world as enmity with God, similar to the idea of throwing in one's lot with sinners.
God the Righteous JudgeW. Forsyth Psalm 50:1-23
Preparation to Meet GodPlain Sermons by authors of "Tracts for the Times."Psalm 50:1-23
The First of the Asaph PsalmsA. Maclaren, D. D.Psalm 50:1-23
The Judge, the Judged, and the Eternal JudgmentC. Clemance Psalm 50:1-23
The Religion of ManHomilistPsalm 50:1-23
True Religion and its CounterfeitsW. Forsyth Psalm 50:7-21
HypocrisyC. Short Psalm 50:16-23
The InconsistencyA. R. Beard.Psalm 50:16-23
The Mere Formalist and the Spiritualist in ReligionHomilistPsalm 50:16-23
People
Asaph, Bathsheba, David, Nathan, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Adulterers, Agreement, Associate, Company, Consented, Consentedst, Friend, Hadst, Hast, Join, Joined, Lot, Men's, Partaker, Participated, Pleased, Pleasure, Portion, Sawest, Thief, Throw, Wives
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 50:18

     6213   participation, in sin
     6242   adultery

Psalm 50:16-22

     6169   godlessness

Library
Prayers Answered
IN BUSINESS AND SOCIAL ANXIETIES. HELP IN PAYING A MORTGAGE. A business man in New York had several large amounts due for payment. An unprecedented series of calls from tradesmen wishing their bills paid sooner than customary, drained his means, and he was satisfied from the situation that his means would not be sufficient to pay them all. His business receipts, at this juncture, fell to one-half what they had usually been. A loan was due at the bank; a mortgage on his property, as well as large
Various—The Wonders of Prayer

And that which Follows Concerning Birds of the Air and Lilies of the Field...
35. And that which follows concerning birds of the air and lilies of the field, He saith to this end, that no man may think that God careth not for the needs of His servants; when His most wise Providence reacheth unto these in creating and governing those. For it must not be deemed that it is not He that feeds and clothes them also which work with their hands. But lest they turn aside the Christian service of warfare unto their purpose of getting these things, the Lord in this premonisheth His servants
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

The Holy Souls
THE HOLY SOULS Officium Defunctorum Lent and Holy Week, etc. Miserere mei Deus Psalm 50 Vatican Antiphonale First Mode (First portion is sung before the Psalm) (The entire antiphon is sung at the end of Psalm) Exsultabunt Domino ossa humiliata. First Psalm Tone 1. Miserere mei Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam. 2. Et secundum multitudinem miserationem tuarum, dele iniquitatem mea. 3. Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea: et a peccato meo munda me. 4. Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego cognosco: et
Various—The St. Gregory Hymnal and Catholic Choir Book

Why all Things Work for Good
1. The grand reason why all things work for good, is the near and dear interest which God has in His people. The Lord has made a covenant with them. "They shall be my people, and I will be their God" (Jer. xxxii. 38). By virtue of this compact, all things do, and must work, for good to them. "I am God, even thy God" (Psalm l. 7). This word, Thy God,' is the sweetest word in the Bible, it implies the best relations; and it is impossible there should be these relations between God and His people, and
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

Rome and Ephesus
Corinth as portrayed in the Epistles of Paul gives us our simplest and least contaminated picture of the Hellenic Christianity which regarded itself as the cult of the Lord Jesus, who offered salvation--immortality--to those initiated in his mysteries. It had obvious weaknesses in the eyes of Jewish Christians, even when they were as Hellenised as Paul, since it offered little reason for a higher standard of conduct than heathenism, and its personal eschatology left no real place for the resurrection
Kirsopp Lake—Landmarks in the History of Early Christianity

The Opinion of St. Augustin
Concerning His Confessions, as Embodied in His Retractations, II. 6 1. "The Thirteen Books of my Confessions whether they refer to my evil or good, praise the just and good God, and stimulate the heart and mind of man to approach unto Him. And, as far as pertaineth unto me, they wrought this in me when they were written, and this they work when they are read. What some think of them they may have seen, but that they have given much pleasure, and do give pleasure, to many brethren I know. From the
St. Augustine—The Confessions and Letters of St

How they are to be Admonished who Lament Sins of Deed, and those who Lament Only Sins of Thought.
(Admonition 30.) Differently to be admonished are those who deplore sins of deed, and those who deplore sins of thought. For those who deplore sins of deed are to be admonished that perfected lamentations should wash out consummated evils, lest they be bound by a greater debt of perpetrated deed than they pay in tears of satisfaction for it. For it is written, He hath given us drink in tears by measure (Ps. lxxix. 6): which means that each person's soul should in its penitence drink the tears
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Triumph Over Death and the Grave
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin: and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. T he Christian soldier may with the greatest propriety, be said to war a good warfare (I Timothy 1:18) . He is engaged in a good cause. He fights under the eye of the Captain of his salvation. Though he be weak in himself, and though his enemies are many and mighty, he may do that which in other soldiers
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Seasons of Covenanting.
The duty is never unsuitable. Men have frequently, improperly esteemed the exercise as one that should be had recourse to, only on some great emergency. But as it is sinful to defer religious exercises till affliction, presenting the prospect of death, constrain to attempt them, so it is wrong to imagine, that the pressure of calamity principally should constrain to make solemn vows. The exercise of personal Covenanting should be practised habitually. The patriot is a patriot still; and the covenanter
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Putting God to Work
"For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen a God beside thee who worketh for him that waiteth for him."--Isaiah 64:4. The assertion voiced in the title given this chapter is but another way of declaring that God has of His own motion placed Himself under the law of prayer, and has obligated Himself to answer the prayers of men. He has ordained prayer as a means whereby He will do things through men as they pray, which He would not otherwise do. Prayer
Edward M. Bounds—The Weapon of Prayer

Epistle cxxi. To Leander, Bishop of Hispalis (Seville).
To Leander, Bishop of Hispalis (Seville). Gregory to Leander, Bishop of Spain. I have the epistle of thy Holiness, written with the pen of charity alone. For what the tongue transferred to the paper had got its tincture from the heart. Good and wise men were present when it was read, and at once their bowels were stirred with emotion. Everyone began to seize thee in his heart with the hand of love, for that in that epistle the sweetness of thy disposition was not to be heard, but seen. All severally
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

The Third Commandment
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.' Exod 20: 7. This commandment has two parts: 1. A negative expressed, that we must not take God's name in vain; that is, cast any reflections and dishonour on his name. 2. An affirmative implied. That we should take care to reverence and honour his name. Of this latter I shall speak more fully, under the first petition in the Lord's Prayer, Hallowed be thy name.' I shall
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

First Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 12, 1-6. 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. 2 And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Letter Xlv (Circa A. D. 1120) to a Youth Named Fulk, who Afterwards was Archdeacon of Langres
To a Youth Named Fulk, Who Afterwards Was Archdeacon of Langres He gravely warns Fulk, a Canon Regular, whom an uncle had by persuasions and promises drawn back to the world, to obey God and be faithful to Him rather than to his uncle. To the honourable young man Fulk, Brother Bernard, a sinner, wishes such joy in youth as in old age he will not regret. 1. I do not wonder at your surprise; I should wonder if you were not suprised [sic] that I should write to you, a countryman to a citizen, a monk
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

How those are to be Admonished who Abstain not from the Sins which they Bewail, and those Who, Abstaining from Them, Bewail them Not.
(Admonition 31.) Differently to be admonished are those who lament their transgressions, and yet forsake them not, and those who forsake them, and yet lament them not. For those who lament their transgressions and yet forsake them not are to be admonished to learn to consider anxiously that they cleanse themselves in vain by their weeping, if they wickedly defile themselves in their living, seeing that the end for which they wash themselves in tears is that, when clean, they may return to filth.
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Nature of Covenanting.
A covenant is a mutual voluntary compact between two parties on given terms or conditions. It may be made between superiors and inferiors, or between equals. The sentiment that a covenant can be made only between parties respectively independent of one another is inconsistent with the testimony of Scripture. Parties to covenants in a great variety of relative circumstances, are there introduced. There, covenant relations among men are represented as obtaining not merely between nation and nation,
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Letter xix (A. D. 1127) to Suger, Abbot of S. Denis
To Suger, Abbot of S. Denis He praises Suger, who had unexpectedly renounced the pride and luxury of the world to give himself to the modest habits of the religious life. He blames severely the clerk who devotes himself rather to the service of princes than that of God. 1. A piece of good news has reached our district; it cannot fail to do great good to whomsoever it shall have come. For who that fear God, hearing what great things He has done for your soul, do not rejoice and wonder at the great
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Epistle Lxiv. To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli .
To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli [174] . Here begins the epistle of the blessed Gregory pope of the city of Rome, in exposition of various matters, which he sent into transmarine Saxony to Augustine, whom he had himself sent in his own stead to preach. Preface.--Through my most beloved son Laurentius, the presbyter, and Peter the monk, I received thy Fraternity's letter, in which thou hast been at pains to question me on many points. But, inasmuch as my aforesaid sons found me afflicted with the
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

The Doctrine
OF THE LAW AND GRACE UNFOLDED; OR, A DISCOURSE TOUCHING THE LAW AND GRACE; THE NATURE OF THE ONE, AND THE NATURE OF THE OTHER; SHOWING WHAT THEY ARE, AS THEY ARE THE TWO COVENANTS; AND LIKEWISE, WHO THEY BE, AND WHAT THEIR CONDITIONS ARE, THAT BE UNDER EITHER OF THESE TWO COVENANTS: Wherein, for the better understanding of the reader, there are several questions answered touching the law and grace, very easy to be read, and as easy to be understood, by those that are the sons of wisdom, the children
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Ninth Commandment
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.' Exod 20: 16. THE tongue which at first was made to be an organ of God's praise, is now become an instrument of unrighteousness. This commandment binds the tongue to its good behaviour. God has set two natural fences to keep in the tongue, the teeth and lips; and this commandment is a third fence set about it, that it should not break forth into evil. It has a prohibitory and a mandatory part: the first is set down in plain words, the other
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

On the Symbols of the Essence' and Coessential. '
We must look at the sense not the wording. The offence excited is at the sense; meaning of the Symbols; the question of their not being in Scripture. Those who hesitate only at coessential,' not to be considered Arians. Reasons why coessential' is better than like-in-essence,' yet the latter may be interpreted in a good sense. Explanation of the rejection of coessential' by the Council which condemned the Samosatene; use of the word by Dionysius of Alexandria; parallel variation in the use of Unoriginate;
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

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