EXALT GOD! ENJOY GOD!
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.
Meditate
‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.’1 How does your life glorify God? In what ways do you enjoy God?
Think Further
The psalms frequently exhort, ‘Praise the Lord!’ In Reflections on the Psalms, CS Lewis wonders – as some of us may – just why God insists on commanding, even demanding, our praise; does he really need our praise? Today’s psalm, however, does not command but asserts that ‘It is good to praise the Lord’ (v. 1, italics added). Praise is our right and fitting response to God, but it is also good and beneficial for us. Lewis writes, quoting the Westminster Shorter Catechism, ‘Man’s chief end is “to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify him, God is inviting us to enjoy him’; he adds, ‘The duty exists for the delight.’2
Since hearts tuned to praise are attuned to God’s Spirit, they are enabled to grasp not just the wonder of God’s works but also the wisdom of his ways (v. 5). ‘Fools’ fail to understand that although evildoers may quickly ‘flourish,’ they will also swiftly ‘perish’ (see vv. 6, 7, 9). ‘Horn’ symbolizes strength and ‘oils’ may represent anointing (v. 10) – those who extol God as the One ‘forever exalted’ (v. 8) are strengthened and empowered to view earthly realities through the lens of God’s perspective; and so they anticipate and acclaim God’s ultimate victory over evil (v. 11). The ‘wicked’ are likened to ‘grass’ (v. 7) but the ‘righteous’ to trees (v. 12). ‘The grass withers and the flowers fall’,3 but these trees remain fresh, flourishing and fruitful, enjoying permanent residence in God’s presence (vv. 12–14)! The psalm has come a full cycle of praise – from ‘proclaiming’ God’s love and faithfulness (v. 2) to ‘proclaiming’ his righteousness and acclaiming him as ‘Rock’ (v. 15).
Apply
God is shaping ‘a people custom-made to praise.’4 Our call to praise will never end. Whenever you praise God, you are practicing for eternity!
Closing prayer
My God, you are indeed worthy of more praise than I could ever begin to offer you. As I pray, thank you for hearing my heart as well as my words.
1 Westminster Shorter Catechism, 1646–47 2 CS Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, Geoffrey Bles, 1958, p97 3 Isa 40:7 4 Isa 43:21, The Message
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