Psalms 92

i. To sing Jehovah’s praise is a duty and delight. The proofs of His righteous government of the world fill the Psalmist’s heart with joy. Only unspiritual men fail to perceive that the prosperity of the wicked is but the prelude to their ruin, while Jehovah sits enthroned on high for ever (Psalms 92:1-8). ii. His enemies perish, while His people are brought to honour. They rejoice in the discomfiture of the wicked and the triumph of the righteous as the proof of His sovereign power and faithfulness (Psalms 92:9-15). Thus the first division of the Psalm leads up to the central thought of Psa 92:8, the supreme sovereignty of Jehovah which makes for righteousness; and the second division further illustrates the exercise of that sovereignty in the judgement of the wicked and the advancement of the righteous. The problems which perplexed the authors of Psalms 37, 73 will ultimately receive a triumphant solution, of which an earnest has been already experienced. It is clear that the Psalm is not merely an expression of individual gratitude for personal mercies. The Psalmist speaks on behalf of the community of Israel, as a representative of the true members of it. Such jubilant thanksgiving must surely have been prompted by some particular exhibition of Jehovah’s sovereign power on behalf of His people; and it is most natural to connect the Psalm with the judgement of Babylon and the Restoration from the Exile. Do we feel Psalms 92:11 to be a jarring note in the midst of otherwise noble thoughts? Its harshness is mitigated if the triumph is national, not personal. The Psalmist felt intensely that Israel’s cause was the cause of Jehovah against idolatry, the cause of truth against falsehood, the cause of righteousness struggling for existence against dominant tyranny and violence. Who would not rejoice in the victory of the right? And the expression of that joy necessarily took a concrete form. The Israelite did not speak, as we do, of the defeat of evil and the triumph of good, but of the destruction of the wicked and the prosperity of the righteous. See notes on Psalms 58:10-11; and Introd. pp. lxxxviii ff. The title, A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath day, refers to the use of the Psalm in the services of the second Temple. (See Introd. p. xxvii.) We learn from the Talmud that it was sung at the libation of wine which accompanied the sacrifice of the first lamb of the Sabbath burnt-offering (Numbers 28:9-10). Possibly it was selected because Psalms 92:4 was supposed to refer to the works of creation. But whatever may have been the reason for the choice, it suggests a noble conception of the “day of the soul’s rest” as a day of joyous thanksgiving and devout meditation on the works of God. The Targum paraphrases the title curiously, “a Psalm of praise and song which the first man uttered upon the day of the Sabbath.”

Psalms 92:1-3

1–3. Introduction: the joy and seemliness of praise and thanksgiving.

Psalms 92:2

2. Morning and evening are natural times for prayer (Psalms 5:3; Psalms 63:6; Psalms 55:17, &c.); lovingkindness and faithfulness are the attributes which move God to make and keep His covenant with His people (Psalms 89:1, note). The division of the verse into two parallel clauses is rhythmical, not logical (cp. Psalms 90:16), but there is an appropriateness in the connexion of lovingkindness with the morning (Psalms 30:5; Psalms 59:16; Psalms 90:14; Lamentations 3:23), and faithfulness with the night.

Psalms 92:3

3. With decachord and with psaltery, With meditative music on the harp. In Psalms 33:2; Psalms 144:9, ten-stringed is an epithet of psaltery, but here two instruments seem to be meant. Higgâyôn occurs in Psalms 9:16 as a technical term, denoting apparently an instrumental interlude. The word denotes musing or meditation in Psalms 19:14. See Introd. p. xxiv.

Psalms 92:4-8

4–8. The special ground for praise in the manifestation of Jehovah’s sovereignty.

Psalms 92:5

5. How great are thy doings, Jehovah! Exceeding deep are thy thoughts. The grandeur and profundity of Jehovah’s designs in the government of the world stir the Psalmist’s admiration. Cp. Psalms 36:6; Psalms 40:5; Psalms 139:17-18; Isaiah 55:8-9; Romans 11:33-34. “Deep in unfathomable mines Of never-failing skill He treasures up His bright designs, And works His sovereign Will.”

Psalms 92:6

6. A brutish man … a fool] Men who are mere sensuous animals, stupid and unreceptive, incapable of discerning spiritual things. Cp. Psalms 49:10; Psalms 73:22; Psalms 94:8. this] Namely, the truth expressed in Psalms 92:7-8, that the wicked flourish only to perish, while Jehovah is eternally supreme. There should be a colon only at the end of Psa 92:6.

Psalms 92:7-8

7, 8. The tenses in Psalms 92:7 (cp. Psalms 92:10-11) do not merely express a general truth, but point to some particular event. When the wicked did flourish as the herbage, And all the workers of iniquity did blossom, It was that they might be destroyed for ever: But thou art on high for evermore, Jehovah. The simile suggests the rapid growth and equally rapid ruin of the wicked. See note on Psalms 90:5. Their triumph is the preparation for their fall. Cp. Psalms 37:35 ff.; Psalms 73:18 ff. The simple stately rhythm of Psa 92:8—a single line—well expresses the contrast of the unchanging supremacy of Jehovah to the upstart pretentiousness of the wicked. They deify themselves, claiming all power in earth and heaven (Psalms 73:8-9), only to vanish and leave Jehovah’s sovereignty more openly manifested (Psalms 83:17-18). There is an obvious reminiscence of this verse in 1Ma 9:23, “And it came to pass after the death of Judas that the lawless flourished and all the workers of iniquity sprang up.”

Psalms 92:9-15

9–15. Further confirmation of the sovereignty of Jehovah: the wicked who are His foes perish, the righteous who are His friends flourish.

Psalms 92:10

10. But my horn hast thou exalted like (the horn of) a wild ox: I am anointed with fresh oil. The poet speaks on behalf of Israel restored and glorified. The metaphor is derived from animals tossing their heads in the consciousness of vigour. God has restored to Israel a buoyant sense of life and power to repel its enemies. Cp. Psalms 89:17; Psalms 89:24. ‘Unicorn’ comes from the LXX through the Vulg.; but the now extinct wild ox (Bos primigenius) is doubtless the animal meant. Its strength and untameableness are described in Job 39:9 ff. Cp. Numbers 23:22; Deuteronomy 33:17. See Tristram’s Nat. Hist. of the Bible, pp. 146 ff. The metaphor in the second line is taken from the use of oil on occasions of festivity (Psalms 23:5; Psalms 45:7; Isaiah 61:3), or as a restorative of strength. The rendering I am anointed is however doubtful. Some critics would follow the LXX and Symm. in reading the word with different vowels, and rendering, (and restored) my failing strength with fresh oil. “Israel is imagined as an old man, whose strength is restored through the use of oil” (Cheyne).

Psalms 92:11

11. And mine eye hath seen (its desire) upon them that laid wait for me: Mine ear heard (its pleasure) of them that rose up against me to do evil. Cp. Psalms 54:7; Psalms 59:10, &c. Do the words grate upon our ears as we repeat the Psalm? Their form indeed belongs to the O.T., yet even the Christian is bidden to rejoice at the judgement of the enemies of God’s kingdom (Revelation 18:20).

Psalms 92:12

12. The fruitfulness of the palm and the fragrance of the cedar, the stately growth and evergreen foliage of both trees, above all, their longevity in contrast to the ephemeral grass which is the emblem of the wicked, may be among the points of comparison intended. Cp. Psalms 92:14; Psalms 1:3; Hosea 14:5-6; Isaiah 65:22.

Psalms 92:13

13. Planted in the house of Jehovah They shall flourish in the courts of our God. It is possible that trees had grown in the Temple courts, as they grow at the present day in the Haram area, and that the prosperity and security of the righteous are compared to the luxuriant growth of the carefully tended trees in the sacred precincts. But the expression may be merely figurative. The land was ‘Jehovah’s house.’ Replanted there, Israel will evermore flourish under the care and guardianship of Jehovah. Cp. Psalms 52:8; Isaiah 61:3; Jeremiah 32:41. The addition in the P.B.V. ‘in the courts of the house of our God’ is from the Vulg.

Psalms 92:14

14. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age, like the palm-tree. Doughty (Arabia Deserta, i. 286) speaks of palms 90 feet high and 200 years old, in the oasis of Teyma. They shall be full of sap and green (R.V.), like the olive (Judges 9:9).

Psalms 92:15

15. To shew &c.] To witness by their prosperity to the faithfulness and justice of Jehovah. The verse is based on Deuteronomy 32:4.