If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

PSALMS 50:12KJV
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Psalms 50:12 (KJV)

What does Psalms 50:12 mean?

Psalms 50:12 says that if God were ever in need, He would not have to ask anyone for help, because everything in the world already belongs to Him. The verse emphasizes that God is completely self-sufficient and not dependent on people for anything.

In this psalm, God is speaking to His people, reminding them that He does not need their sacrifices for His own sake. The setting is a kind of courtroom scene where God is addressing misunderstandings about worship. By saying “the world is mine, and the fulness thereof,” God is making it clear that all creation and everything in it are already under His control, so He is not asking for offerings out of personal need.

The Hebrew behind Psalms 50:12

  • “hungry” (רָעֵב, ra‘ev): This word means to be physically hungry. The verse uses it to show that God does not experience human needs like hunger, highlighting His difference from people.
  • “tell” (אָמַר, ’amar): This word means to say or declare. God is saying He would not need to inform anyone if He ever lacked anything, stressing His independence.
  • “world” (תֵּבֵל, tevel): This word refers to the inhabited world or the earth as a whole. It reinforces the idea that God’s ownership is not limited to one nation or people, but covers everything everywhere.
  • “fulness” (מְלוֹא, melo’): This word means all that fills something, the total contents. Here, it points to everything that exists in the world—resources, creatures, and abundance—all belonging to God.

Why Psalms 50:12 matters

  • Psalms 50:12 clears up the misunderstanding that God needs anything from people, even their sacrifices or offerings.
  • The verse emphasizes God’s absolute ownership and sufficiency, which is a key theme in the whole psalm as God corrects mistaken ideas about worship.
  • Understanding this verse helps the reader see that God’s relationship with people is not based on His need, but on His desire for genuine devotion and thankfulness.

Where else these words appear

“hungry” Hebrew H7456 · used in 11 verses

  • Genesis 41:55 And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.
  • Proverbs 6:30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
  • Isaiah 8:21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.

“world” Hebrew H8398 · used in 36 verses

  • 1 Samuel 2:8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them.
  • Psalms 77:18 The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.
  • Isaiah 14:17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?

“fulness” Hebrew H4393 · used in 36 verses

  • Genesis 48:19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
  • 1 Samuel 28:20 Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.
  • Isaiah 31:4 For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.