Psalm 92

It is Good to Praise the Lord

Psalm 92 is known as "A Song for the Sabbath Day."  It was appointed to be sung in the house of the sanctuary on the Sabbath day.  Worship & praise, which are the business of the Sabbath, are recommended & abundant in this psalm. 

The Sabbath day is a day of rest from routine work, but includes holy work.  The proper work of the Sabbath is praising God; every Sabbath day must be a thanksgiving day.   ~ Matthew Henry

God's works are celebrated as great and unsearchable.  Over and over in the Psalms, we have been called to remember what God has done, to remember His great works of the past.  Matthew Henry comments:

From a joyful remembrance of what God has done for us, we may raise a joyful prospect of what He will do.  We cannot comprehend the greatness of God's works, and therefore must reverently and awfully wonder at them.

 

It is good . . . to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night.
~ Ps. 92:2

"Morning and night" in verse 2 indicates daily regular worship, which deepens fellowship with God.  A wonderful result from our daily Psalms study, isn't it!


The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree.
~ Ps. 92:12
Date palm tree        Megiddo, Israel



The palm tree is ever-green, and its dates are pleasant and nourishing.  Have you ever seen a palm tree in a storm or hurricane?  Strong winds can bend the palm over so far that it almost touches the ground; yet when the winds cease, the palm tree returns to its erect stance.  It has been said of the palm:

sub pondere crescit - the more it's pressed down, the more it grows.   

And so the righteous.  God knew His children would encounter difficult times, that "storms" would come.  We are assured in Psalm 92 that we will be like the palm - we will flourish under our burdens.  Storms of life will come and we will be buffeted by tumultuous winds, but we will come back stronger than before and increased in our faith. 

Matthew Henry notes this regarding the palm:

  

The strength of grace does not fail with the strength of nature!

 Do you see why God's children are likened to this tree!

Palm trees also continue to produce fruit even as they age - a good point to remember!  The last days of God's saints are sometimes their best days, and their last work is sometimes their best work.  No matter our age, we can used of God to advance His kingdom!

WHAT CAN I LEARN ABOUT GOD THROUGH THIS PSALM:

• God is worthy of my thanks and praise
• God is faithful and lovingly kind
• God's works are great
• God is on high forevermore
• The Lord is upright
• God is my rock
• God is altogether righteous

HOW CAN I PRAISE GOD THROUGH THIS PSALM:

• I praise the Lord for His great works, shown to His children of old and to me today!
• I praise the Lord that He has made me like a palm tree, that I will flourish under burdens which produce sanctification in my soul
• I praise the Lord that He is my rock, and that He is holy

PRAYER:  during this Psalms study, I've shared some of the prayers written by Ruth Myers.  Today is a beautiful prayer of thankfulness for the "storms" -  may we pray this prayer as 'palm trees' today:

     Father, I'm so delighted that You are both loving and sovereign, and that You cause all things to work together for good to those who love You, to those are who are called according to Your purpose.  So I thank You for each disturbing or humbling situation in my life, for each breaking or cleansing process You are allowing, for each problem or hindrance, for each thing that that triggers in me anxiety, anger or pain.  And I thank You for each disappointment, each demanding duty, each pressure, each interruption that may arise in the coming hours and days.

     Thank You that each difficulty is an  opportunity to see You work . . . that in Your time, You will bring me out to a place of abundance.  I rejoice that You plan to enrich and beautify me through each problem, each conflict,  each struggle. . . that through them You expose my weaknesses and needs, my hidden sins, my self-centeredness and especially my self-reliance and pride!  Thank You that You use trials to humble me and perfect my faith and produce in me the quality of endurance . . . that they prepare the soil of  my heart for the fresh new growth in godliness that You & I both long to see in me . . . and that my momentary troubles are producing for me an eternal glory that far outweighs them all, as I keep my eyes focused on You.  I am grateful that You look beyond my superficial desire for a trouble-free life; instead You fulfil my deep-down desire to glorify You, enjoy Your warm fellowship, and become more like Your Son.  ~Amen and amen!