For You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands. O Lord, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep. Psalm 92:4, 5
Thanksgiving for Vindication
Psalm 92, a psalm of descriptive praise (Ps. 113), celebrates the person and work of God in an exuberant way. The psalm also includes several wisdom themes. The title is unusual in that it attaches the designation “for the Sabbath day.” God’s actions stimulate us to praise (92:1-7) and convince us that the wicked will perish and the righteous be rewarded (vv. 8-15).
92:1-5 To give thanks, to sing praises means “to give public acknowledgement” or to praise God verbally in a public setting.
It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; 2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, And Your faithfulness every night, 3 On an instrument of ten strings, On the lute, And on the harp, With harmonious sound. 4 For You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands. 5 O Lord, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep
92:6 A senseless man… a fool: In contrast to the limitless wisdom of God is the shallow nature of the fool.
6 A senseless man does not know, Nor does a fool understand this.
92:8, 9 You, Lord, are on high forevermore is the central shout of this psalm of descriptive praise (113:4). The Lord’s eternality is contrasted with the brevity of the lives of His enemies. Because of God’s patience, He allows evil to occur (2 Pet. 3:9) – but He will not allow it to flourish forever.
7 When the wicked spring up like grass, And when all the workers of iniquity flourish, It is that they may be destroyed forever. 8 But You, Lord, are on high forevermore. 9 For behold, Your enemies, O Lord, For behold, Your enemies shall perish; All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
92:10 My horn You have exalted is a figure of speech for the psalmist’s eventual triumph, the celebration of the psalmist’s strength. I have been anointed with fresh oil is not just a general statement of God’s interest in the poet, but a prediction of the coming One, the Lord’s Anointed.
10 But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil. 11 My eye also has seen my desire on my enemies; My ears hear my desire on the wicked Who rise up against me.
92:12-15 The language of this section speaks of God’s continuing blessing on the believer not only in this life but also in the life to come (Ps. 23). The tree image recalls the words of 1:3.
12 The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 Those who are planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing, 15 To declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
** It’s only Thursday today. But, it feels like Friday. TGIF! The wicked will not flourish forever. It feels like Sabbath is just around the corner. When we see it finally arriving, our hearts will be bursting with joy. Those of us who’ve been waiting and waiting shall shout with joy. The good part is that we don’t need to dread its end. It will not end. No more blue Mondays.
92 1 A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath day. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; 2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, And Your faithfulness every night, 3 On an instrument of ten strings, On the lute, And on the harp, With harmonious sound. 4 For You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands. 5 O Lord, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep. 6 A senseless man does not know, Nor does a fool understand this. 7 When the wicked spring up like grass, And when all the workers of iniquity flourish, It is that they may be destroyed forever. 8 But You, Lord, are on high forevermore. 9 For behold, Your enemies, O Lord, For behold, Your enemies shall perish; All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. 10 But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil. 11 My eye also has seen my desire on my enemies; My ears hear my desire on the wicked Who rise up against me. 12 The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 Those who are planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing, 15 To declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
