The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets. From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages. He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people: “Gather to me this consecrated people, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice. - Psalm 50:1-6
Around castles and other defensive fortifications, the land would always be cleared up to the distance of a bow shot so that the defenders could have a clear view of anyone who approached. As cities grew up around castles, the view was no longer clear filled with the livelihood of those people who worked and supported the castle and no one had a way to see when the true situation.
In this psalm, as God comes to judge his people, he wants a clear view, not for himself, but for others to witness what he has seen all the time. He is not quiet. His fire devours all that has grown up and obscures peoples' clear view. They claim to be the "consecrated people" and the "covenant" people who pledged themself to him. The fire will show the truth, not to God who has known it all along, but to us and those around us.
Sometimes God does that in our lives. Fire reduces the clutter and we can see the truth. Those around us can see the truth. Then we get a clear view of how we stand with God, we cannot lie anymore or, if we do lie, we do it knowing full well that it is a lie. For a moment, we see what God sees and decide if we will agree with him--that is the test of a soul's confession. Heaven sees that God sees and decides if we are agreeing with him."And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice."
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