Ps. 50.22 (the covenant in conclusion)

"Now / understand this / you who forget God - lest / I tear you apart / and you have no deliverer:
     The one / whose sacrifice / is thanksgiving / honors me
     and the one / who makes fixed / his path
     I will reveal / to him / the salvation of God."

At this, the concluding statement of God to the wicked, we find him adopting an attitude of instruction. There is still the anger that predominated the previous verses. However, the immediate last line was "I will reprove you and accuse you to your face." God was on the verge of enacting judgment (everything is set in the future tense). Here, a space is opened up and the 'time of patience' is extended. This is a crucially important point to realize. Previously we have noted how when God 'speaks' on this psalm it is, for the wicked, the time that he breaks his silence; the wicked's 'cup is full'. One would expect at this moment for the 'devouring flame' (vs. 3) to consume the dross of wickedness. And yet, what we find is a further extension of his patience. He is providing them a 'face to face' encounter that, in fact, is geared to bringing them into the state of his devotees (the righteous). That said, if they do not heed his warning, the consequences will not be merely 'dire'; the wicked will experience God as a lion who tears apart his prey. God will hunt them down, and they will have no one to appeal to; heaven and earth have already been called upon as a witness and proclaimed God 'righteous' (vs. 6). The wicked will be, in the full sense of the word, alone, stripped of every support--and they will encounter a ferocious god that the whole created order recognizes as in the right. Furthermore, while God has specifically said he does not 'eat the flesh or drink the blood of animals'--here is portrayed as a bounding lion who is after his prey. The destruction of the evil is a type of 'food' for God

The instruction itself (vs. 23) is interesting in that it is simply a summation of the entire psalm. "The one whose sacrifice is thanksgiving" is the lesson contained in vs. 14 to the righteous. The fact that it "honors him" alludes to vs. 15. The "one who makes fixed his path" is a reference to what the wicked have failed to do in rejecting God's words and seeking out wickedness. And, the final line "I will reveal to him the salvation of God" is an allusion to the promise to the righteous that, when they summon God, he will "be their deliverer" (vs. 15). This contrast of this final line to God's behavior as a lion is important to note. This is, in fact, an address to the wicked--God does not want to devour them. He wants to be their deliverer. He wants them to heed the wisdom contained in the psalm and for them to enter into a proper covenantal relationship with him. In this we find contained the dynamic of the covenant relationship itself. To enter into covenant with God is to be faced with "life and death". If one adheres to the terms of the covenant, one will experience life; however, if one fails one will bring upon himself the covenantal curses. The curses, however, are not the actions of a vengeful God, but are, in fact, attempts to bring the party back into covenantal fidelity with God. The curse is always aimed at reintroducing the people back into blessing. That sense is clearly seen in the structure of this psalm: 1) God appears in order to enter into covenant with his people (he is, in fact, the lord of the covenant); 2) the righteous are addressed and told that if they continue in their adherence then God will be their protector/deliverer; 3) the wicked are addressed and threatened with the judgment of covenantal curse but this threat is understood to contain within it an urging to come back into communion with God.