It Is Good To Praise God

Psalm 92, the superscription of the psalm, says that it's a psalm, a song for the Sabbath.

It's the only psalm in the entire Psalter that has a title that associates you with the Sabbath.

Its content is not exclusively about the Sabbath.

We're in Psalm 92.

But meditating on it, it does help us rest in God.

And it does help us to praise Him as we rest.

And it has a fairly straightforward structure.

The main message of the psalm is that we should praise the Lord for His great works.

And it can be divided into three sections.

Verses 1 to 5 is an exhortation to praise God.

And then verses 6 to 11 is a description of those who do not praise God.

And then verses 12 to 15 is a description of those who do praise God.

And let me read the psalm out loud, and then we'll talk about it briefly.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High,

to declare your steadfast love in the morning and your faithfulness by night,

to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre.

For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work.

At the works of your hands I sing for joy.

How great are your works, O Lord!

Your thoughts are very deep.

The stupid man cannot know.

The fool cannot understand this.

That though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evildoers flourish,

they are doomed to destruction forever.

But you, O Lord, are on high forever.

For behold, your enemies, O Lord, for behold, your enemies shall perish.

All evildoers shall be scattered.

But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox.

You have poured over me fresh oil.

My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies.

My ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.

The righteous flourish like the palm tree,

and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

They are planted in the house of the Lord.

They flourish in the courts of our God.

They still bear fruit in old age.

They are ever full of sap and green.

To declare that the Lord is upright, he is my rock,

and there is no unrighteousness in him.

So in verse 1, if you look at Psalm 92,

it begins by telling the hearers, the audience,

that it is good to give thanks to the Lord.

And then it transitions to a direct address to God.

He starts talking to God, saying,

To sing praises to your name, O Most High.

It's almost as if the psalmist who's leading the congregation into worship,

is it starts addressing the congregation,

but then recognizes the very presence of God in the iron mist,

and then starts talking to him, start to praise him.

And then verses 2 to 3, it shows why it is good to declare

your steadfast love in the morning,

and your faithfulness by night,

to the music of the lute, and the harp to the melody of the lyre.

The phrases in the morning, and then by night,

they constitute a merism.

So it's not just saying praise God at night,

and in the morning,

saying it's praise God all day long, right?

It's merism.

There's no time in the day

when God's not worthy of praise.

And it's the reason we praise him,

it's fitting to praise him

because of his steadfast love and faithfulness, right?

Both are words that represent

God's enduring commitment to his people.

He shows steadfast love, not fickle love,

not dissipating love, but steadfast love.

And he is faithful to us.

He's steady in his commitment to us.

He's true to us.

And then verses 4 to 5 then explain further

why it is good to give thanks to God and praise him.

It says,

For, the reason,

For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work.

At the works of your hands I sing for joy.

How great are your works, O Lord!

Your thoughts are very deep.

The word works is repeated three times there

in those few verses.

And the word works is used in scripture

to refer to God's work and creation,

which is why this is a song that's really used to the Sabbath, right?

God created all things in six days

and the rest is on the seventh day.

But the works can also be used more generally

to refer to God's redemptive deeds.

And we see that here also.

So part of what we do on a Sabbath,

basically on our day of rest,

what God's people are supposed to do

is recognize that God worked for six days

and the rest on the seventh day.

So likewise, we, instead of working on that day,

we marvel at God's work,

the fact that he finished his work.

And we praise God for his work.

That's what a Sabbath is about.

And that's what this psalm teaches us.

So that's the exhortation to praise God.

And then verses 6 to 11

is a short description of those who do not praise God.

And it's not flattering, right?

Right after telling us that we have to praise God

because of his great works and deep thoughts

at the end of verse 5.

In verses 6 to 11,

the psalmist tells us that

people who do not praise God don't

because he says,

the stupid man cannot know.

The fool cannot understand this,

that though the wicked sprout like grass

and all evil doors flourish,

they are doomed to destruction forever.

But you, O Lord, are on high forever.

So God's thoughts are deep.

So it's no wonder then

that the stupid man, as he says,

or a fool is not,

that he can't understand it.

Biblically speaking,

a stupid man or a fool

is not someone who has a low IQ.

It's someone who doesn't acknowledge God, right?

So Psalm 14, one says,

the fool says in his heart,

there is no God, right?

So the biblical speaking,

a fool or a stupid man

is not someone who is just unintelligent,

but someone who discounts

the existence and power of God.

So a lot of very intelligent

and smart people can be fools.

And in a biblical sense,

they're fools precisely

because they don't praise God

is what he's saying.

They don't understand

that the wicked only flourish

for a short while,

but then are doomed

to destruction forever.

While the Lord is on high forever,

meaning he is exalted

and beyond reproach

of the evildoers.

And then this is written

in the Middle Eastern context

where you get short

kind of seasonal rains

and then right after the seasonal rain,

grass sprout up really, really quickly.

And then because it's so dry and hot,

they die really fast.

And so that's the picture of evildoers.

They flourish for a little bit,

but then they die really fast.

And often as believers

who are observing a day of rest,

that's often a challenge for people too.

Look at all those people

that are flourishing.

They're working.

They're busy.

How can I take a day off?

How can I rest?

And it's the fool

that doesn't understand

that evil people,

though they might flourish

for a little while,

they will not.

In the end,

their end is doomed

because they're not acknowledging God.

They're not following God.

And for those who trust in him,

we can rest as well.

And then verses 9 to 10,

read with me,

they continue.

For behold,

your enemies,

O Lord,

for behold,

your enemies shall perish.

All evildoers shall be scattered.

But you have exalted my horn

like that of the wild ox.

You have poured over me fresh oil.

Evildoers perish.

They are scattered.

But God's people,

they have their horn exalted

like that of a wild ox.

Horn is a representation

of someone's power.

It's an image of power.

And here,

not only is the horn exalted,

but it also has oil poured over it.

So it's like glistening.

It's like polished.

It's well established by God.

Unlike the enemies of God

who are scattered,

the evildoers who are perishing.

And then,

in fact,

their destruction is so sure.

Verse 11 says,

My eyes have seen the downfall

of my enemies.

My ears have heard

the doom of my evil assailants.

The doom of evildoers

is so certain.

He's seen it with his eyes.

He's heard it with his own ears.

It's definite.

And then,

verses 12 to 15,

we move on to the description

of those who praise God.

The righteous flourish

like the palm tree

and grow like the cedar

in Lebanon.

So that's obviously

a contrast

with the grass

that sprouted up

really quickly

and then withers away.

This palm tree,

this is a reference

to the date palm,

which is known

for its deep tap roots

that find water

deep in the ground.

It has large leaves

and plumage

like a peacock's feathers.

And it's a tree.

And the cedar of Lebanon

is famous

for its towering size

and its durable quality

of the wood.

And so both images

really offer a contrast

with the grass

that just sprouts

in the Middle East

really quickly

after the rain

and then dies.

Cannot weather

the heat.

And the righteous,

according to verse 13,

they are planted

in the house of the Lord.

They flourish

in the courts of our God.

So their dwelling

is with God.

That's where

they derive nourishment.

They rest in Him.

They stay with Him.

They dwell with Him.

And because of that,

they flourish continually

with the result

given in verses 14 to 15.

They still bear fruit

in old age.

They are ever full

of sap and green.

To declare that

the Lord is upright,

He is my rock

and there is no

unrighteousness in Him.

God is our rock,

right?

Steady,

reliable,

unchanging,

the foundation.

And He is upright

and there is no

unrighteousness in Him

which is why

it is right for us

to praise Him,

for the righteous

to praise Him.

And that's really

the main point of the psalm.

We should praise the Lord

because of His great works.

He's created the world.

He's also saved us.

And as saints

in the new covenant

for us,

because we're not

in the old covenant anymore,

we have even more reasons

to praise God

for His great works

because Psalm 92

praises God

for His great works

in creation

and redemption.

But we can praise God

now for the new creation.

God makes us new creation

in Jesus Christ

and He redeems us

once and for all.

And this is a song

for the Sabbath

but we have an even

greater Sabbath

to look forward to

because Hebrews 4

teaches us that

Joshua,

who led God's people

into the promised land,

didn't ultimately

give them rest.

But it promises us

that Jesus,

who is the greater Joshua,

their name is exactly

the same,

that they mean the same thing

in Hebrew.

It comes from the same word.

And that Jesus,

the greater Joshua,

is the one that leads us

into the ultimate Sabbath.

It says,

there still remains

a Sabbath rest

for the people of God.

And this is not just

one day of rest

once a week

but it's eternal rest.

Eternal rest

because Christ

finished His work.

Christ said on the cross

when He died for our sins

it is finished

and it is into that rest

we enter in

when we put our faith

in Jesus

and when we die

and are raised with Him.

And so that's

really kind of

the promise

that this psalm

looks forward to.

It's a song

for the Sabbath

but it's really a song

that anticipates

that eternal rest

that we have in God.

And so with that

let's enter

into a time of prayer.