THE GREATNESS OF HIS WORKS.
Psalm 92:1-15.
This Psalm takes up a common Bible theme: the dichotomy between the “righteous” (Psalm 92:12) and the “wicked” (Psalm 92:7). However, first and foremost, taken as a whole, it is about the LORD. The LORD is mentioned seven times in this ‘Psalm or Song for the sabbath day’, and the “high” point is at its centre, with its declaration that the LORD is “high for evermore” (Psalm 92:8).
The designation “for the sabbath day” is both unique, and interesting. The sabbath was instituted in the first instance as a commemoration of Creation (Exodus 20:11), but also in celebration of Redemption (Deuteronomy 5:15). “O LORD, how great are thy works” (Psalm 92:5) could refer to either, or both.
We open with the declaration, “It is good to give thanks to the LORD” (Psalm 92:1a). Perhaps our prayers are too often loaded down with petitions: but we should be thanking God for past benefits, even as we make our requests known to Him. Furthermore, if we are asking Him in faith believing, we can thank Him in anticipation of a favourable answer in accordance with His will.
“And to sing praises to thy name, O most high” (Psalm 92:1b). This is vocal, not silent. We can be vocal in the privacy of our own rooms, or as we go about manual labour. It is good, too, to be vocal with others (when we have opportunity).
Thus do we “show forth thy lovingkindness” EVERY morning, and “thy faithfulness” EVERY night (Psalm 92:2). Worship is not just for the sabbath day, after all. We may not have the benefit of the full Temple band (Psalm 92:3), but the sweetest praise of all comes from the contemplative heart of the believer, wherever and whenever we may lift our voice in praise to the LORD.
“For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work” (Psalm 92:4a). As the popular chorus suggests, ‘He has made me glad! He has made me glad! I will rejoice for He has made me glad.’
It is a singular work of God in the believer that makes them appreciate the multifarious “works” of Creation, Providence, and Redemption. This is what it is to “triumph in the works of thy hands” (Psalm 92:4b).
As well as marvelling at the greatness of the LORD’s works, the Psalmist admires the depth and profundity of the LORD’s thoughts (Psalm 92:5). ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts,’ declared the LORD (Isaiah 55:8-9). The exclamation of Paul is ‘O the depth! How unsearchable!’ (Romans 11:33).
The failure of the unbelieving mind to grasp the things of God is highlighted here (Psalm 92:6). They do not understand that, though they may flourish for a season, it is only that they might be destroyed for ever (Psalm 92:7). “But thou, LORD, (art) high for evermore” (Psalm 92:8)!
Yes, the enemies of the LORD shall perish, the workers of iniquity be scattered (Psalm 92:9). “But my horn, my power, you shall exalt as the unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil” (Psalm 92:10). ‘The Lord God of Israel has raised up a horn for us in the house of His servant, David,’ (Luke 1:69), even Jesus, our Saviour.
It is God who establishes us in Christ, and has anointed us (2 Corinthians 1:21; cf. Psalm 23:5). ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ (Philippians 4:13). Even as God sees the downfall of His enemies, so we see the downfall of ours (Psalm 92:11), because His enemies and ours are one and the same (cf. John 15:20a).
“The righteous” are compared to a palm tree, and a cedar in Lebanon: both sturdy long-living evergreens (Psalm 92:12). Just as a palm tree flourishes in the courtyard of a palace in an oasis, and a cedar stands tall no matter what, so those who are “planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God” (Psalm 92:13).
They shall be immovable, like a tree planted by a riverside (Psalm 1:3; cf. Jeremiah 17:8). “They shall bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing” (Psalm 92:14). Like Caleb, still as strong at the end of his course as he was at the beginning (Joshua 14:11).
Not that this righteousness is anything of our own ‘doing’: it is an imputed, imparted righteousness. It is the LORD who is “upright”: He is “my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (Psalm 92:15). Jesus is the rock of my salvation (1 Corinthians 10:4).
