The opening words in Latin are Deus deorum, Dominus, locutus est / et vocavit terram a solis ortu usque ad occasum.

[6] The imagery of the introduction evokes the revelation of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, where God's appearance was accompanied by thunder and lightning.

[14] In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, this psalm is appointed to be read on the morning of the tenth day of the month.

[15] In a Scottish Psalter of 1650, Psalm 50 was paraphrased rhymed in English as "The mighty God, the Lord, Hath spoken, and did call".

[17] Heinrich Schütz set Psalm 50 in a rhymed version in the Becker Psalter, as "Gott unser Herr, mächtig durchs Wort", SWV 147.

The last verse is used in German in the opening chorus of Bach's cantata Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, BWV 17, composed in 1726.