WITH A FLOURISH
Opening Prayer
This Sunday, Father, I come to you with gratitude for showing yourself to me. Please continue to use your Word to transform me; help me to know your good, pleasing, and perfect will.
Read PSALM 92
Psalm 92[a]
A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.
1 It is good to praise the Lord
and make music to your name, O Most High,
2 proclaiming your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,
3 to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
and the melody of the harp.
4 For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;
I sing for joy at what your hands have done.
5 How great are your works, Lord,
how profound your thoughts!
6 Senseless people do not know,
fools do not understand,
7 that though the wicked spring up like grass
and all evildoers flourish,
they will be destroyed forever.
8 But you, Lord, are forever exalted.
9 For surely your enemies, Lord,
surely your enemies will perish;
all evildoers will be scattered.
10 You have exalted my horn[b] like that of a wild ox;
fine oils have been poured on me.
11 My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries;
my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.
12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
13 planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
15 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”
Footnotes
- Psalm 92:1 In Hebrew texts 92:1-15 is numbered 92:2-16.
- Psalm 92:10 Horn here symbolizes strength.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
How beautiful are trees: their stretching out heavenward; the shelter they give; the statement they make. What kind of tree might you see yourself as? Praise God for his creation and thank him that you are part of it.In our recent readings through Obadiah and Nahum, we held our breath as disaster followed disaster and God’s anger was heaped down on his enemies. But today there is a gear change in this Sabbath psalm. There is still talk of evildoers and destruction (v. 7), but mainly we are concerned with a man addressing God directly and very personally. He trusts God in a way the people of Nineveh and Edom did not (v. 6).
I love the word ‘flourish’ (v. 12). Here, it sends such a powerfully positive message. It makes me think of a dramatic gesture. The tree not only grows (v. 12), but grows with style and panache. Evildoers may flourish, but are short-lived, like grass (v. 7). It is easy to mow down grass. But a tree? A tree planted in the house of God will flourish, even when it grows old (v. 14). And, for those of us who have already reached a certain maturity of age, that is welcome news! Praise God!
Apply
Get a sheet of paper and sign your name—with a flourish!
Closing prayer
Thank you, my God, for life in you, life that gives me eternal value and purpose. Give me renewed vision for how I can use my life to bring you glory.
Book and Author Intros
Extras
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.