Psalm 92
1 It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,
3 to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre.
4 For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
5 How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!
6 The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this:
7 that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever;
8 but you, O LORD, are on high forever.
9 For behold, your enemies, O LORD, for behold, your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered.
10 But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil.
11 My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.
12 The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,
15 to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
We look to the past and worship in the present (V1-5)
The Sabbath reminds the people that redemption was an act of sovereign grace and power by which God with his own hand called the people out from darkness and slavery into freedom and joy.
God doesn’t say, “Obey, and I’ll rescue you.” He says, “I’ve rescued
you, now obey.”
Biblical faith doesn’t feature my sacrifice so much as it features God’s
bounteous grace! It’s not devotion/discipline-driven. It’s beauty-driven.
Glory-driven. Gospel-driven.
Worship in the present is fueled by God’s work in the past or else it
may not be the worship of God at all. It may simply be a veiled form of
self-worship.
They live for the present but perish in the future (V6-9)
Wisdom language in the Old Testament often distinguishes between the
way things appear now and the way they will finally end up.
There are major problems that come when we frontload Christian faith
with all the commands—where grace is in small print and LAW in all
caps. The other danger is to leave warning out completely.
Wisdom literature in the Bible is constantly saying, “Things aren’t
always what they seem.”
Sometimes God-haters look like they’re flourishing. But it doesn’t
end well.
Sometimes the righteous look like they’re withering. But they flourish
in the end.
We age in the future but flourish there as well. (10-15)
There are no imperatives in this passage. It’s possible to read too much
into that. But it’s also possible to neglect to acknowledge that sometimes God’s Word accents the fact that He is both the Author and the Finisher of our faith.
This song for the Sabbath points back to Genesis 2 when God finished his work of creation and rested, and to Exodus 12 when God worked and finished his work of redemption and brought the faithful into his rest. But it points forward to Matthew 27 where Jesus finished his greater work of redemption and then “sat down.” (Hebrews 1:3; 10:12)
Thanks Matt!
