Bible Commentaries

PSALM 92

To be sung upon the weekly sabbath; to which the matter of this Psalm very well agrees. For it celebrates the works of God, both that first and great work of creation, and that succeeding and no less wonderful work of his providence, by which he upholds and governs all his creatures, and especially that by which he ruleth all sorts of men, both good and bad, and that by which he preserveth and manageth his church and people.

The prophet exhorteth to praise God, Psalms 92:1-3, for his great works, Psalms 92:4,5. His judgments on the wicked, Psalms 92:6-9. Gracious promises to the righteous, Psalms 92:10-12. They shall be fruitful, Psalms 92:13-15.

It is a good work, and a just debt to God.

To adore and celebrate thy goodness and truth continually, and especially at those two solemn times of morning and evening, which on every day, and especially upon the sabbath day, were devoted to the worship and service of God.

Which thou didst create by thine almighty power, and dost still govern with infinite wisdom; one instance whereof we have in the following verses.

Thy thoughts; thy counsels and methods in the government of the world and of thy church.

A brutish man; who cannot or doth not seriously consider things, whose mind is corrupted by his sensual and brutish appetites; who is led by sense, and not by reason and faith.

This; the depth of God’s counsels and works mentioned Psalms 92:5, or that particular work of God described Psalms 92:7.

Their present worldly prosperity is a presage and occasion of their utter and eternal ruin.

So this verse is added by way of opposition to the former, They shall perish, but thou shalt endure, as is said in a like comparison, Psalms 102:26; they flourish for a season, but thou rulest for ever to judge and punish them. Or, for (as this Hebrew particle is not seldom used, whereof instances have been formerly given)

thou, Lord, art, & c. So this verse gives a reason of the former, as well the first branch of it, why God suffers the wicked to flourish so long, because he is not like man, of short and uncertain continuance here, to whom a little time is long and tedious, who therefore impatiently expects the time of vengeance, and fears lest the offender should escape it; whereas God is unchangeable and everlasting, and therefore long-suffering without any inconvenience, and the longest time of the prosperity of the wicked is but short and inconsiderable in his eyes, a thousand years being in his sight but as yesterday when it is past, Psalms 90:4, and they can never escape out of his hands; as also of the latter branch of the verse, why the wicked shall be destroyed for ever, because God lives and reigns for ever to execute that just sentence of everlasting punishment which he hath pronounced against them.

He represents their destruction as present, and as certain, which the repetition of the words implies.

But as for me and other righteous persons, (of whom he saith the same thing Psalms 92:12) we shall be advanced to the height of honour, and true and lasting felicity.

Unicorn; of which See Poole "Deuteronomy 33:17".

I shall be anointed; I shall have great cause of rejoicing and testifying my joy by anointing myself, as the manner was in feasts and all joyful solemnities.

Fresh oil; sweet and uncorrupted.

My desire, to wit, in the ruin of thine and mine incorrigible enemies.

Shall hear; what I do not see myself, I shall understand by the certain reports of others.

Like the palm tree; which is constantly green, and flourishing, and fruitful, Song of Solomon 7:8, and growing even when it is pressed down; and so is a fit emblem of a just man’s person and condition. See Revelation 7:9.

Like a cedar; which spreads itself wide, and grows very high and strong, and is very durable, and in some sort incorruptible.

Those that be planted; whom God by his gracious providence and Holy Spirit hath planted or fixed there.

In the house of the Lord, i.e. in its courts, which are a part of the house, and oft come under that name in Scripture. And by this house he means the church of God, whereof all just persons are real and living members.

The courts; which he mentions rather than the house, because he speaks not here of the priests, but of all just men, who were permitted to come no further than into the courts.

When their natural strength decayeth, it shall be renewed; their last days shall be their best days, wherein as they shall grow in grace, so they shall increase in comfort and blessedness.

This glorious work of God in compensating the short prosperity of the wicked with everlasting punishments, and of exchanging the momentary afflictions of the just with eternal glory and happiness, doth clearly demonstrate that God is just and blameless in all the dispensations of his providence in the world.