Ps. 50.4 (the summoning)

“He summons / the heavens above – and the earth / to judge his people.” We are, again, confronted with the voice of God. In vs. 1 he was described as having ‘spoken and summoned the world’. Vs. 3 we come witness a ‘coming God’ who “will not be silent”. Here, God speaks again, this time, as in vs. 1, ‘summoning the heavens and earth’. There are, I think, at least two points to this. First, through the repetition of God’s ‘summoning’, those who are about to enter into covenant (or, renew it) with God, are made aware that the ‘voice’ of God is one of such authority that the world, and heaven and earth not only obey his command but are made into his agents. As we saw in the first verse, it is again emphasized here: every covenant needs witnesses and here god himself calls those witnesses to observe the rite that is about to be performed. Heaven and earth, as the two necessary witnesses, will be the ‘judges’ of the covenant. They will be the ones who will observe whether or not Israel has appropriately cleansed itself and approaches God with the honor he is due. Second, through the repetition of God’s voice we are being prepared for the covenant stipulations that will need to be observed prior to entering into covenant with this God, and what is necessary to maintain that covenantal blessing. The “I” within the theophany is here about to ex-press himself in instruction and in judgment. Lastly, within the dramatic action of these first four verses we see something of the following: the world congregating together and uniting at the command of God, forming something like a processional from Zion; God begins to ‘shine forth’ from Zion as his presence begins to emerge; flame and tempest and a voice now appears as God reveals himself to those congregated around him; he now gives a directive to those surrounding him to turn their attention not on him, but on Israel; they will now be God and Israel’s witnesses. The covenantal rite is ready to begin. In the following verse, Israel, God’s bride and partner will now be summoned.