A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.
Psalm 92:1-3, Make music!
It is good to praise the LORD
and make music to your name, O Most High,
to proclaim your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,
to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
and the melody of the harp.
The psalm begins with a joyous declaration of praise embedded in music. Note the three stanzas of parallelism:
"praise YHWH/make music to Most High","love in morning/faithfulness at night","music on lyre/melody of harp".
Psalm 92:4-5, Great works
For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD;
I sing for joy at the works of your hands.
How great are your works, O LORD,
how profound your thoughts!
The psalmist praises the works of God, in general terms. Here four stichs are all parallel, repeating, growing the same praise statement.
Psalm 92:6-9, YHWH over all evil
The senseless man does not know,
fools do not understand,
that though the wicked spring up like grass
and all evildoers flourish,
they will be forever destroyed.
But you, O LORD, are exalted forever.
For surely your enemies, O LORD,
surely your enemies will perish;
all evildoers will be scattered.
God is praised for His victory over enemies -- and in the middle of this declaration, the psalmist inserts a exaltation for all of eternity. The wicked are like grass, fast growing but fast dying.
The Hebrew word tsuwts, translated "flourish" here, means "to blossom, shine, sparkle". It is apparently same or similar (says Kidner) to parach, which is translated "flourish" in verses 12 and 13 where it includes the concept of "sprout".
Psalm 92:10-11, Uplifted me
You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox;
fine oils have been poured upon me.
My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries;
my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.
Here the praise focuses on the personal gifts and salvation that the psalmist has received. In the first stanza the synthetic parallelism shows an exuberant wild ox and then one enjoying luxurious oils, as if in a bath. (Or, says Kidner, like oils in a consecration ceremony.) In the second stanza, the defeat of enemies is first seen, then heard.
Psalm 92:12-13, A flourishing tree
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
planted in the house of the LORD,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
The tree metaphor, both as cedar or palm, appears here, comparing the righteous to a flourishing tree. Like the opening psalm, Psalm 1:3-4, fading grass, flourishing tree describe the passing wicked and the stable righteous.
Psalm 92:14-15, My Rock
They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
proclaiming, "The LORD is upright;
he is my Rock,
and there is no wickedness in him."
Those who rely on God continue to stay fresh and green, like a well-watered tree, even in their old age. (As I approach 70, I hope this is so!)
At the end of the psalm we return to the theme of the beginning: it is good to praise YHWH!
According to Kidner, the hymn Sweet is the work, my God, my King, by Isaac Watts, is based on this psalm. That ancient slow-moving hymn is contrasted by Caroline Cobb's Good to Give Thanks song, also based on this psalm, which challenges one to dance, to clap hands and stomp their feet! The Sabbath celebration is to be a raucous one!
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