I Celebrate You
Week of March 18, 2012
Bible Verses: Psalm
92:1-15.
Lesson Focus: This lesson explores reasons believers should
rejoice in the opportunity to worship God and the benefits worship brings to
their lives.
Celebrate God in Worship: Psalm
92:1-4.
[1] A Song for the
Sabbath. It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O
Most High; [2] to declare your steadfast
love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, [3] to the music of the lute and the harp, to the
melody of the lyre. [4] For you, O LORD,
have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. [ESV]
For all Christians,
Sunday is the Lord’s day, a special day to gather together with other
like-minded believers to worship God and honor Christ. While the Old Testament
saints met for public worship on the Sabbath, the last day of the week,
Christians in New Testament times assembled to offer public praise to God on
the first day of the week. In addition to this designated time to render their
weekly praise, believers should worship God every day. Worship is a lifestyle,
a continual experience of magnifying the glory of God. This adoration should be
carried out through a Christian’s actions, thoughts, and words. Wherever we
are, that place should be transformed into a palace for praise. Whatever we are
doing, that activity should be a platform for worship. Ceaseless praise, all
day every day, should be a living reality to every believer. Nevertheless, the
public gathering of God’s people is always a special privilege and should be
maximized to the fullest. But how should the Lord’s day be observed? How should
praise be brought to Him? And why? Psalm 92 gives helpful instruction in
worshipping God in the public gathering of His people. The superscription on
this psalm, For the Sabbath Day, was originally intended to direct
worshippers in their Sabbath worship of God. In the postexilic community, this
psalm came to be sung in the temple on the Sabbath at the time of the morning
sacrifice. It is an exuberant, joyful celebration of the person and work of God
over the earth. All the particulars of praising God detailed here are equally
applicable for New Testament worshippers today. Here is the rightness of [1-3],
reason for [4-11], and results of [12-15] praising God. The guiding principle
of this psalm is to be observed by all believers today.
The first verse
establishes the theme for the entire psalm, that it is good to praise God. Why
is it good to praise God? There are various ways of answering this question. We
might reply that it is good because God declares worship to be good, as He does
in this psalm. The phrase it is good
reminds us of God’s verdict on His creation found in Genesis 1 (seven times in
verses 4,10,12,18,21,25,31). Indeed, this psalm speaks of the created works of
God [4-5] and may even be reflecting on the first chapter of Genesis. Again,
praising God is good because it is good for us. It makes us glad [4]. Yet good is too weak in this context, for worshiping
God is more beneficial than what we usually imply when we use the word ‘good’.
Some writers call the praise of God ‘salutary’ or ‘delightful’. Luther called
it ‘precious’. Worshiping God is a glorious, splendid, delightful, and most
reasonable thing to do. It is also an enjoyable thing to do. And our enjoyment
of God is expressed in our praise of God, and when we praise God we do indeed
enjoy Him. John Piper urges Christians to glorify God by enjoying Him, for that
is what God wants and it is both our greatest duty and pleasure. Thus the
psalmist tells us that it is good to
give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to His name. What should we praise
God for? The psalm suggests two things: the steadfast love of God (hesed), and
God’s faithfulness. There are other things for which we will also want to
praise God, of course, but those two alone are enough to keep us busy. It is
God’s steadfast, covenant love that reaches out to us initially to redeem us
from sin, and it is His faithfulness that keeps us in that love relationship.
As Christians we know both of these to the highest degree in Jesus Christ. Here
is still another question based on these first verses: How should we praise
God? The psalm answers: joyfully [4] and with instruments [3]. In fact, it
specifies two of the instruments of that day: the lute and the harp.
Note concerning
God’s steadfast love and faithfulness.
These two attributes
or character traits of God are very important for the covenantal understanding
of who Yahweh, the covenant God, is. When Moses asked God to reveal His glory
to him in Exodus 33:18, God revealed His character to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7: The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and
gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and
sin. When the Bible speaks of God's name, it is always something more than
simply a title. God's name stands for His entire being. It is His nature. It is
who He is. So when God passed by Moses and said, The LORD, the LORD, He was revealing Himself as the God of creation
and redemption - the God who made and saves His people. The divine definition above
lists seven attributes of God. Each term is rich in its meaning and
application. The key term is steadfast
love (Hebrew word is hesed) which is repeated twice in the middle of the
list. It refers specifically to the commitment God has made to His people in
the covenant. Here God's covenant love is connected with the Hebrew word for
faithfulness, which also means truth or truthfulness. The point is that God
always follows through on His love. His love is loyal and steadfast. Since He
never goes back on a promise, once God promises to love, He keeps on loving.
And His love is boundless. It is love without measure and love beyond degree.
Psalm 92 instructs us to praise and declare these great truths about our God
every morning and evening.
Recognize the Eternal Realities
of Worship: Psalm 92:5-9.
[5] How great are
your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep! [6] The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot
understand this: [7] that though the
wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to
destruction forever; [8] but you, O
LORD, are on high forever. [9] For behold,
your enemies, O LORD, for behold, your enemies shall perish; all evildoers
shall be scattered. [ESV]
Having said a great
deal about the value, reasons for, and methods of worshiping God, the psalm
next introduces a contrast, the case of those who, unlike the psalmist, do not
know or praise God. There are two things wrong with them. (1) They are stupid and the fool. The psalmist is saying that these people do not know any
more about reality than an animal. According to the Bible, men and women are
made to know and enjoy God, but when they turn their backs on God, as the
unregenerate do, they isolate themselves from all that is spiritual in life and
operate on a physical level only. On a slightly higher note we should remember
that this is the inference of Psalm 8, which places man at a mediating point in
creation, saying, You have made him a
little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor
[Psalm 8:5]. By calling him a little lower than the heavenly beings rather than
a little higher than the beasts, it indicates that it is man’s calling to look
up to God and become like God, in whose image he is made. But if he will not
look up, the only place he will be able to look is down, and he will begin to
behave like an animal. Someone said, “God made man a little lower than the
angels, and he has been trying to get lower ever since.” (2) They are wicked in
their beastlike behavior. The second thing that is wrong with those who do not
know or praise God is that they are also wicked. This is what the psalmist
calls them in verses 7 and 9 and why he writes of their judgment: wicked sprout … evildoers flourish … doomed
to destruction forever … enemies shall perish … evildoers shall be scattered.
This means that the failure of the stupid and foolish to worship God is not
merely a case of their being blind to spiritual realities, though they are.
Theirs is a willing blindness; they are blind because they choose not to see.
The reason they do not know and will not praise God is that they do not want to
know or praise Him. They actually hate Him because He is God, and they are not.
Experience the Benefits of
Worship: Psalm 92:10-15.
[10] But you have
exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil. [11] My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;
my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants. [12] The righteous flourish like the palm tree and
grow like a cedar in Lebanon. [13] They
are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. [14] They still bear fruit in old age; they are
ever full of sap and green, [15] to
declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no
unrighteousness in him. [ESV]
[10-15] The Results of
Praise. You have exalted my horn
is a picturesque way of saying that the psalmist triumphed in the face of much
opposition. An animal horn represents strength, and fresh oil poured over the psalmist picture much joy in the midst of
labor. Thus, in face of this great difficulty, much divine enablement and heart
celebration are given to the psalmist. He has every reason to praise God
because he has witnessed the doom of my
evil assailants. This psalm concludes with an affirmation of the abundant
blessing that rests upon the righteous who praise God. The righteous will
flourish like a palm tree, bearing fruit in every season and circumstance of
life. They will grow like a cedar in
Lebanon, the largest trees of the Near East, a symbol of majestic size and
strength. In contrast to the wicked who sprout up and wither like grass, the
righteous are planted in the house of
the Lord and thus perennially flourish. Such vitality, stability,
fruitfulness, and strength result from worshipping God. They still bear fruit in old age, never losing their spiritual
vitality. They will stay fresh and green, full of godly virtues, all because
they are rooted and grounded in God, continually worshipping Him in both good
times and bad times. They do not cease proclaiming, the Lord is upright, always doing what is blameless and right. God
is my rock, and there is no
unrighteousness in him, since He is absolutely holy.
Having made a contrast between himself and those who do not
know and worship God and having shown the destiny of the latter, the psalmist
now picks up on the destiny of these wicked persons and makes a still further
contrast between the destiny of the wicked, which he has just mentioned, and
the end of the righteous. The wicked will wither like grass, but the righteous
will flourish like a palm tree and a cedar of Lebanon. But first a testimony!
God has blessed the psalmist with anointing and with preservation from his
enemies. He wants to say this. He does not want to forget it, and he does not
want others to miss knowing about it, either: you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over
me fresh oil. My eyes have seen the
downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.
But what is true of him is true for all the righteous [12-15], and it is on
this encouraging note that he brings his composition to a close. He states
three things about those who truly know and worship God. (1) The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. These verses are not talking about
physical strength but, rather, what we would call strength in the Lord,
spiritual strength. It is what Paul was writing about when he said, Though our outer self is wasting away, our
inner self is being renewed day by day [2 Cor. 4:16]. That is an internal,
spiritual strength that only those who have grown old walking with Jesus and
trusting Jesus know. It goes beyond all human understanding. (2) They still bear fruit in old age. Not
only will believers such as this be spiritually strong, they will be fruitful
too [14]. That is, they will testify to the greatness and goodness of God, and
God will use their testimonies to bring others to faith in Jesus Christ. (3)
Their testimony will remain firm to the very end of their lives. Finally, says
the psalmist, the righteous will maintain their testimony to the very end,
proclaiming, The Lord is upright; he is
my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. At this point the psalm
comes full circle, ending on the idea of the righteous praising God. It has
been introduced as a song for the Sabbath day, but a song of praise that should
be sung everyday by God’s people.
Questions for
Discussion:
1. What does this Psalm
teach us about worship? What is the meaning of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness?
How can we declare those two things about God every day?
2. What do verses 5-9 say
about the wicked even though they may appear to flourish in this life?
3. Use verses 5-15 to
contrast what the Psalm says about the evildoers and about the righteous. What
is the key difference between these two groups of people? (The key is worship:
evildoers worship themselves while rebelling against God; the righteous worship
God and declare His goodness).
4. This Psalm ends in verse
15 as it started in verse 2 with the righteous declaring the glory of God as
seen in His steadfast love, faithfulness and holiness. Pray that God will show
you this week how you can declare daily these attributes of God, our Rock.
References:
Psalms, Volume 2, James M. Boice, Baker.
Psalms, Volume 3, John Goldingay, Baker.
Psalms, EBC, William VanGemeren, Zondervan.
Psalms 76-150, Steven Lawson, Holman Reference.