Psalm 92: a meditation

Here's something that I posted on "Through A Glass Darkly". I probably won't post on there again for awhile, and just use this blog instead. It's just more convenient for everyone.

Passage: Psalm 92, “a Song for the Sabbath day”.

Meditation: vs. 1-4. This is a Song for the Sabbath, a song that summarizes God’s works and the theology of His sovereignty. The Psalmist begins by declaring the fitness of praising God. On a day dedicated to worship, it is good to remember that we are made for worship, that this is our highest calling. Morning and night, harmoniously, we are to honor Him, for He has made us glad through His work. He satisfies us. We give thanks to Him because it is His due, because it is proper for us to praise Him for His mercies.

vs. 5-7. The Psalmist praises God for His “great works” and “deep thoughts”. He says that fools and senseless men do not understand these things. First, they do not understand that God’s thoughts are great. They think either that God has no thoughts or that He is some trifling little demigod who they can bribe to do what they want. Second, they do not understand their own end. They cannot grasp how a just God could condemn anyone. To them, the idea of Hell, of eternal punishment, is preposterous. They do not understand that God is sovereign and that He has chosen to make some men “vessels” for glory, and some men “vessels” for wrath. Some men are to show God’s mercy by praising Him; others are to show His justice by suffering His righteous anger. Thus, when the wicked grow and flourish, they are only flourishing to be destroyed. As the tree puts on leaves in the summer only to have them die in the fall, so the earth puts on wicked men, only to have them be destroyed.

vs. 8-9. Standing before God in worship, the Psalmist meditates on God’s exaltedness. God is high above everything, and He is eternal. He alone is worthy of praise. The Psalmist understands that God’s enemies, the wicked, will be destroyed. Seeing God’s might, the Psalmist understands that the end of the wicked is certain, and just. They are not merely wicked or annoying, as they are from the world’s perspective—they are wicked, God-haters, and they deserve to perish in light of their offenses against this eternally holy being. God has given the Psalmist understanding as one of His people. On the Sabbath day, we are enabled to grasp some small part of God’s plan.

vs. 10-11. In contrast to His judgment of the wicked, God is merciful to the Psalmist, who is one of His people, a vessel made to show God’s mercy and glory. God blesses His people and exalts us. He anoints us, cleanses us, chooses us. The Holy Spirit settles upon us like the anointing oil that covered the heads of Israelite priests and kings. Indeed, we do not merely rejoice that we are strong—we even rejoice in God’s judgment of the wicked, for they are our enemies, too. They are the ones who persecute us for following God. It is right for us to desire their punishment since they have offended our Lord and King. Their end is certain. Those who rebel against God and mock His people will have a nasty awakening from the sleep of this life.

vs. 12-13. The Psalmist declares God’s uprightness by recounting His mercies—the Psalmist has already spoken of God’s justice. Now he points out God’s grace to undeserving sinners, even to those who may appear useless and ugly to the world. Unlike His treatment of the wicked, God establishes His people. They flourish in Him, growing and extending. In God we have our joy deepened, our sense of God’s greatness and love enlarged, our capacity to serve Him stretched. Those whom He chooses to plant in His house cannot wander. They are like cedars, which stay firmly rooted in one place and are a wonder, a magnificence, to those around them.

vs. 13-14. Not only in their youth or in middle age, but even in old age God’s people flourish. Young people of the world gloss over their suffering and discontent with riches and prettiness, with all the pleasures of youth. Yet they may wither as they grow older, and as they face the endless bleak hopelessness of death. Many elderly people feel useless. They are helpless by sickness, and they are hopeless for they have no work to do. But those who trust God will never wither. Even in old age they will serve God in their specific vocations. God leads His people through all ages, from childhood to death. Christians of all ages bear fruit and flourish. (My Bible’s notes say that verse 14 reads literally, “They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fat and green.”) God doesn’t let his people grow rusty in old age. He doesn’t abandon them. He keeps them on earth for as long as He has planned, and He has given them work for every moment of every day so that they may glorify Him.

vs. 15. This ties back to the first verses of the Psalm. "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." God gives His people hope and joy as they praise Him. Praising God gives them purpose and meaning. The elderly remain fresh and flourishing “to declare that the Lord is upright”, and they do so consciously, and this conscious knowledge is what God uses to keep them flourishing. God sustains us alive so that we can serve Him. We are to stand as conscious monuments to His grace. My parents and friends often talk about how they’ve been encouraged and edified by elderly people. I know of one woman in particular who was homebound. She couldn’t even leave her rocking chair. She often felt despairing and useless, and she was in pain, but she held firmly to the belief that God would take her to Himself only when He had no more use for her on this earth. So she found a way to be useful: she would listen to the radio and read the newspaper, and pray about all the things she heard or read. I heard that, after she died, they found her sitting in her rocking chair with the newspaper spread over her knees and the radio switched on. She declared that the Lord was upright. The Psalmist finishes by praising God: “there is no unrighteousness in Him”. This boldly refutes the claims of the senseless men earlier who say that the wicked flourish for their own ends and are not cut down. God is upright in His dealings with men. He is merciful to some (and that is great mercy, for no one deserves it! the Psalmist has detailed some of that mercy, both to himself personally and to the elderly), and uses all the others for His glory, to show His justice. No man has any right to argue with the upright God, for no man can claim to be upright. God is unmovable. He is our rock, our strength, our completely righteous One. It is in this Holy God that we have our refuge.