1 It is a good thing to give thanks to Yahweh, to sing praises to your name, Most High; 2 to proclaim your loving kindness in the morning, and your faithfulness every night, 3 with the ten-stringed lute, with the harp, and with the melody of the lyre. 4 For you, Yahweh, have made me glad through your work. I will triumph in the works of your hands. 5 How great are your works, Yahweh! Your thoughts are very deep. 6 A senseless man doesn't know, neither does a fool understand this: 7 though the wicked spring up as the grass, and all the evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever. 8 But you, Yahweh, are on high forevermore. 9 For, behold, your enemies, Yahweh, for, behold, your enemies shall perish. All the evildoers will be scattered. 10 But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox. I am anointed with fresh oil. 11 My eye has also seen my enemies. My ears have heard of the wicked enemies who rise up against me. 12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 They are planted in Yahweh's house. They will flourish in our God's courts. 14 They will still bring forth fruit in old age. They will be full of sap and green, 15 to show that Yahweh is upright. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
The author of this psalm is not indicated in the title, and it is impossible now to ascertain who he was. Nor can the occasion be determined "when" it was composed. It is of so general a character that it might have been written at any period of the Jewish history; and, so far as the style and the contents are concerned, it may have been written by either of those whose names are attached to the other psalms. That it may have been composed by David, is certainly possible, but of that there is no evidence.
In the title it is called "A Psalm or Song for the sabbath-day;" that is, to be used on the sabbath. The Chaldee Paraphrase has in the title, "Praise and a song which the first man spoke for the sabbath-day." This may indicate that there was an carly tradition on this subject; but we have no proof of what would be so interesting a fact, that we have a genuine poetic composition of Adam. The contents are all such as might be properly used on the sabbath, though there is nothing in the psalm that has any "special" reference to the sabbath, or that is derived from the appointment of such a day. It is not improbable, however, that special psalms and hymns were composed with a view to be used on festal occasions; and this, as a psalm of praise, is well adapted still to the services of the sabbath.
The psalmist refers:
I. To the blessedness of praise, or to the propriety of celebrating the praise of God, Psalm 92:1-4.
II. He refers to the works of God as laying the foundation of praise, Psalm 92:5-6.
III. He refers to the justice of God, or the fact that the wicked, however they may seem to be prospered, will be cut off, Psalm 92:7-9.
IV. He refers to the prosperity and the security of the righteous; to the influence of religion and the favor of God on life, as making it prosperous and happy, and as preparing people to be useful and cheerful in old age, Psalm 92:10-15.
The psalmist shows the duty and advantage of praising God, Psalm 92:1-3; speaks of the grandeur of God's works, Psalm 92:4-6; the fall of the wicked, Psalm 92:7-9; the happiness of the righteous, Psalm 92:10-14; and all this founded on the perfections of God.
The title, A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath, gives no information concerning the time, oecasion, or author. The Chaldee, has "Praise, and a song which the first man spoke concerning the Sabbath:" but this is an idle conceit; and, though entertained by some rabbins, has been followed by none of the Versions. Calmet supposes the Psalm to have been composed by some of the Levites during or near the close of the Babylonish captivity, acknowledging the mercy of God, and foreseeing the desolation of their enemies, and their own return to Jerusalem, and their temple service.
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 92
A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath day. Many of the Jewish writers (a) think that this psalm was written by the first man Adam, and so the Targum,
"a hymn or song which the first man said for the sabbath day.''
But had it been a composure of his, one would think it should have been placed at the head of this collection of psalms, and before that of Moses, Psalm 90, besides there were no musical instruments then for this psalm to be sung on, as in Psalm 92:3, for they say it was made by him quickly after his creation, and his ejection from paradise; for Jubal was the father of them that handle the harp and organ; nor were there any number of enemies and wicked men to rise up against him, as in Psalm 92:7. Nor was it written by Moses, as others have thought; but rather by David, to whom the Arabic version ascribes it; the musical instruments, the number of enemies, and the mention of the house and courts of the Lord, best agree with his times. It was made for the sabbath day, and to be used upon it; and directs to the work and worship of it; praising of God and celebrating his works, attending his house and ordinances; even for the seventh day sabbath, which God instituted and appointed the Jews to observe; and which in David's time was religiously kept; though some understand this of the time of rest which David had from his enemies round about him, and apply it to all such times of rest from tyranny and persecution, which the church of God in any period enjoys; and which is a proper season for praise and thanksgiving. Some Jewish writers refer it to the world to come, which will be all sabbath, even to the days of the Messiah, as Jarchi and others; so Theodorot; see Hebrews 4:9.
(Psalm 92:1-6) Praise is the business of the sabbath.
(Psalm 92:7-15) The wicked shall perish, but God's people shall be exalted.
Sabbath Thoughts
This Song-Psalm for the Sabbath-day was the Sabbath-Psalm among the week's Psalm of the post-exilic service (cf. pp. 18, 211); and was sung in the morning at the drink-offering of the first Tamd lamb, just as at the accompanying Sabbath-musaph-offering (Numbers 28:9.) a part of the song Deut. 32 (divided into six parts) was sung, and at the service connected with the Mincha or evening sacrifice one of the three pieces, Exodus 15:1-10, Exodus 15:11-19, Numbers 21:17-20 (B. Rosh ha-Shana 31a). 1 Macc. 9:23 is a reminiscence from Psalm 92:1-15 deviating but little from the lxx version, just as 1 Macc. 7:17 is a quotation taken from Ps 89. With respect to the sabbatical character of the Psalm, it is a disputed question even in the Talmud whether it relates to the Sabbath of the Creation (R. Nehemiah, as it is taken by the Targum) or to the final Sabbath of the world's history (R. Akiba: the day that is altogether Sabbath; cf. Athanasius: αἰνεῖ ἐκείνην τὴν γενησομένην ἀνάπαυσιν). The latter is relatively more correct. It praises God, the Creator of the world, as the Ruler of the world, whose rule is pure loving-kindness and faithfulness, and calms itself, in the face of the flourishing condition of the evil-doers, with the prospect of the final issue, which will brilliantly vindicate the righteousness of God, that was at that time imperceptible to superficial observation, and will change the congregation of the righteous into a flourishing grove of palms and cedars upon holy ground. In this prospect Psalm 92:12 and Psalm 91:8 coincide, just as God is also called "the Most High" at the beginning of these two Psalm. But that the tetragrammaton occurs seven times in both Psalm, as Hengstenberg says, does not turn out to be correct. Only the Sabbath-Psalm (and not Ps 91) repeats the most sacred Name seven times. And certainly the unmistakeable strophe-schema too, 6. 6. 7. 6. 6, is not without significance. The middle of the Psalm bears the stamp of the sabbatic number. It is also worthy of remark that the poet gains the number seven by means of an anadiplosis in Psalm 92:10. Such an emphatic climax by means of repetition is common to our Psalm with Psalm 93:3; Psalm 94:3; Psalm 96:13.
*More commentary available by clicking individual verses.