Psalms 50:5

50:5 He says: ¹ 

“Assemble my covenant people before me, ² 

those who ratified a covenant with me by sacrifice!” ³ 

Psalms 89:3

89:3 The Lord said, ⁴ 

“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;

I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant:

[50:5]  ¹ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. God’s summons to the defendant follows.

[50:5]  ² tn Or “Gather to me my covenant people.” The Hebrew term חָסִיד (khasid, “covenant people”) elsewhere in the psalms is used in a positive sense of God’s loyal followers (see the note at Ps 4:3), but here, as the following line makes clear, the term has a neutral sense and simply refers to those who have outwardly sworn allegiance to God, not necessarily to those whose loyalty is genuine.

[50:5]  ³ tn Heb “the cutters of my covenant according to sacrifice.” A sacrifice accompanied the covenant-making ceremony and formally ratified the agreement (see Exod 24:3-8).

[89:3]  ⁴ tn The words “the Lord said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. It is clear that the words of vv. 3-4 are spoken by the Lord, in contrast to vv. 1-2, which are spoken by the psalmist.