The title of Psalm 92 is “A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.” While we often find that multiple psalms share these titles, this is the only one with this particular title. That is significant because it specifically says it’s for the Sabbath day. For Jews, the Sabbath day was not only a day of rest and refraining from work, but it was also their day to focus on worshiping God. This psalm helps bring words to that focus.
“It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp” (Psalm 92:1-3).
We see right at the start of this psalm that “it is good to praise the Lord.” It’s a simple statement, but it also has deep meaning. Why is it good to praise and worship the Lord? He is a good God. He has created us. He loves us. When we continually turn away from Him, He continually reaches out to us and provides a way to restore our relationship. He sent His Son to die and be raised for us that we may live with Him eternally. The list could go on and on of all the reasons that it is good to praise the Lord!
In case you don’t know how to praise the Lord, the psalm goes on with some suggestions: proclaim His love and faithfulness throughout the day, and you can even use music. We often associate praising God with music; in fact, I’ve heard it says many times in congregational services where the “worship time” is equated to the music and singing time. The reality is that we should be in constant worship of the Lord with our entire lives. Our worship of God should not be limited to singing songs on a Sunday morning, though that is one way we can praise the Lord.
Other reasons to praise God are found in verses 4-5: “For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord; I sing for joy at what your hands have done. How great are your works, Lord, how profound your thoughts!” While not everything God does will make us happy all the time, He does have our good as His ultimate focus when we’re following Him (see Romans 8:28). We can look at all the things God has done in our own lives, the lives of those around us, and His deeds recorded in the Bible and we can see how great He is. We cannot understand His thoughts, but we know they are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).
In verses 6-8, we see two responses to God: the wicked don’t understand and will be destroyed, but those who follow God will forever exalt and praise Him. Verse 6 uses the phrase, “Senseless people do not know.” The word in Hebrew for “senseless” has the connotation of behavior like animals, who don’t necessarily have common sense. The wicked are like animals in that they are focused on themselves and not on God. The Godly, however, will exalt and praise the Lord forever.
Because of the wicked people’s response (or lack thereof) to God, they will be judged and perish. That is described in more detail in verses 9-11 of this psalm. Enemies will perish and evildoers will be scattered. In contrast, verses 12-14 tell how the righteous ones will flourish. While the wicked are swept away, the righteous are planted like a tree - which, interestingly, is the same metaphorical ideas as Psalm 1.
This psalm closes in verse 15 by giving words that the righteous proclaim: “The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.” This psalm started with saying that it is good to praise the Lord, and the psalm closes with that same idea. We know that the Lord is always good and faithful, and for that He deserves our constant praise. He is the only one who is truly reliable and always perfectly good, all the time!
What part of your life reflects God’s goodness? Where are you witnessing God’s goodness and praising Him for it? Or, if you don’t feel like your life is going very well right now, can you identify with the wicked and need to turn your life back toward one that honors and praises God? How do you praise God, other than singing some songs on a Sunday morning? I encourage you this week to think about praising God with your whole life, because He is always good to His people!
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