Psalm 92 comments

 

Psalm 92:1 ¶  «A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day.» It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: 2  To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, 3  Upon an instrument often strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound. 4  For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. 5  O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. 6  A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.

 

Some Jewish mythologies, Gill tells us, had this as a Psalm written by the first man, Adam. We can dismiss this notion for several commonsense reasons.

 

It most definitely is a good thing to be thankful toward God and to sing praises to His holy name.

Colossians 3:15  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

 

1Thessalonians 5:18  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

 

Hebrews 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

 

This expresses gratitude for God’s constant lovingkindness and faithfulness, some examples of which are here;

 

Lamentations 3:22  It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

 

Psalm 51:1  «To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.» Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

 

1Corinthians 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

 

Musical instruments are mentioned so it is not improper, as some historical Christian groups believed, to use instruments to praise God.

 

The Psalmist, whoever he is, is thankful that God has blessed him and delivered him. The brutish and the fool don’t even understand this, as it is today.

 

Psalm 53:1b  The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.

 

Romans 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

 

God’s thoughts are deep and certainly the divine mind is greater than any mind or computer made by a human mind can fathom, making trillions of things happen each moment, balancing all things within our physical universe, and holding all things together. It’s impossible to conceive His mind. And yet He calls us to reason with Him.

 

Romans 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

 

Isaiah 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

 

 

 

Psalm 92:7 ¶  When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever: 8  But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore. 9  For, lo, thine enemies, O LORD, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. 10  But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil. 11  Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me. 12  The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13  Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14  They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; 15  To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

 

The promise here that the wicked, the workers of iniquity, will be destroyed for ever is contrasted with God’s position as the most high and that fact that He is forever.

 

Isaiah 57:15  For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

 

The enemies of God are doomed, it is clearly stated. But the power and strength, the horn, is contrasted with the power and strength of a rhinoceros. So, the contrast is between a spiritual trait of God’s man and a natural trait of a powerful animal. Note my comments on the use of the word unicorn in my study on Job. The Psalmist also wishes to see the wicked destroyed, those who oppose him and wish him ill.

 

The righteous are likened to a tree. This is presented in the very first Psalm.

 

Psalm 1:1 ¶  Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

 

         4 ¶  The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6  For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

 

The righteous are planted in the Lord’s house and they will flourish. God will be glorified by how He treats those who are His.

 

So, this Psalm ends, praise of God’s power and of His intentions, with the Psalmist wishing his enemies condemned and marveling at the elevation of the righteous before God. It is important to understand here the fate of the wicked in eternity and the lifting up that God will do for His man or woman in the time we think of as forever and ever.