Psalms 92:1–93:5

This psalm was appointed to be sung, at least it usually was sung, in the house of the sanctuary on the sabbath day, that day of rest, which was an instituted memorial of the work of creation, of God's rest from that work, and the continuance of it in his providence; for the Father worketh hitherto. Note, 1. The sabbath day must be a day, not only of holy rest, but of holy work, and the rest is in order to the work. 2. The proper work of the sabbath is praising God; every sabbath day must be a thanksgiving-day; and the other services of the day must be in order to this, and therefore must by no means thrust this into a corner. One of the Jewish writers refers it to the kingdom of the Messiah, and calls it, A psalm or song for the age to come, which shall be all sabbath. Believers, through Christ, enjoy that sabbatism which remains for the people of God (Heb 4:9), the beginning of the everlasting sabbath. In these verses, I. We are called upon and encouraged to praise God (Psa 92:1-3): It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord. Praising God is good work: it is good in itself and good for us. It is our duty, the rent, the tribute, we are to pay to our great Lord; we are unjust if we withhold it. It is our privilege that we are admitted to praise God, and have hope to be accepted in it. It is good, for it is pleasant and profitable, work that is its own wages; it is the work of angels, the work of heaven. It is good to give thanks for the mercies we have received, for that is the way of fetching in further mercy: it is fit to sing to his name who is Most High, exalted above all blessing and praise. Now observe here, 1. How we must praise God. We must do it by showing forth his lovingkindness and his faithfulness. Being convinced of his glorious attributes and perfections, we must show them forth, as those that are greatly affected with them ourselves and desire to affect others with them likewise. We must show forth, not only his greatness and majesty, his holiness and justice, which magnify him and strike an awe upon us, but his lovingkindness and his faithfulness; for his goodness is his glory (Exo 33:18, Exo 33:19), and by these he proclaims his name. His mercy and truth are the great supports of our faith and hope, and the great encouragements of our love and obedience; these therefore we must show forth as our pleas in prayer and the matter of our joy. This was then done, not only by singing, but by music joined with it, upon an instrument of ten strings (Psa 92:3); but then it was to be with a solemn sound, not that which was gay, and apt to dissipate the spirits, but that which was grave, and apt to fix them. 2. When we must praise God - in the morning and every night, not only on sabbath days, but every day; it is that which the duty of every day requires. We must praise God, not only in public assemblies, but in secret, and in our families, showing forth, to ourselves and those about us, his lovingkindness and faithfulness. We must begin and end every day with praising God, must give him thanks every morning, when we are fresh and before the business of the day comes in upon us, and every night, when we are again composed and retired, and are recollecting ourselves; we must give him thanks every morning for the mercies of the night and every night for the mercies of the day; going out and coming in we must bless God. II. We have an example set before us in the psalmist himself, both to move us to and to direct us in this work (Psa 92:4): Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work. Note, 1. Those can best recommend to others the duty of praise who have themselves experienced the pleasantness of it. "God's works are to be praised, for they have many a time rejoiced my heart; and therefore, whatever others may think of them, I must think well and speak well of them." 2. If God has given us the joy of his works, there is all the reason in the world why we should give him the honour of them. Has he made our hearts glad? Let us then make his praises glorious. Has God made us glad through the works of his providence for us, and of his grace in us, and both through the great work of redemption? (1.) Let us thence fetch encouragement for our faith and hope; so the psalmist does: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. From a joyful remembrance of what God has done for us we may raise a joyful prospect of what he will do, and triumph in the assurance of it, triumph over all opposition, Th2 2:13, Th2 2:14. (2.) Let us thence fetch matter for holy adorings and admirings of God (Psa 92:5): O Lord! how great are thy works - great beyond conception, beyond expression, the products of great power and wisdom, of great consequence and importance! men's works are nothing to them. We cannot comprehend the greatness of God's works, and therefore must reverently and awfully wonder at them, and even stand amazed at the magnificence of them. "Men's works are little and trifling, for their thoughts are shallow; but, Lord, thy works are great and such as cannot be measured; for thy thoughts are very deep and such as cannot be fathomed." God's counsels as much exceed the contrivances of our wisdom as his works do the efforts of our power. His thoughts are above our thoughts, as his ways are above our ways, Isa 55:9. O the depth of God's designs! Rom 11:33. The greatness of God's works should lead us to consider the depth of his thoughts, that counsel of his own will according to which he does all things - what a compass his thoughts fetch and to what a length they reach! III. We are admonished not to neglect the works of God, by the character of those who do so, Psa 92:6. Those are fools, they are brutish, who do not know, who do not understand, how great God's works are, who will not acquaint themselves with them, nor give him the glory of them; they regard not the work of the Lord nor consider the operation of his hands (Psa 28:5); particularly, they understand not the meaning of their own prosperity (which is spoken of Psa 92:7); they take it as a pledge of their happiness, whereas it is a preparative for their ruin. If there are so many who know not the designs of Providence, nor care to know them, those who through grace are acquainted with them, and love to be so, have the more reason to be thankful.

Psalm 92:1-4 1. It is good to give thanks unto Jehovah, to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High! 2. To show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness in the night, 3. Upon the psaltery, and upon the hand instrument, with the song upon the harp. 4. For thou, Jehovah, hast made me glad in thy works; I will triumph in the works of thy hands. 1 It is good to give thanks unto Jehovah. There is no reason to doubt that the Jews were in the habit of singing this psalm, as the inscription bears, upon the Sabbath-day, and it is apparent, from different passages, that other psalms were applied to this use. As the words may be read literally in the Hebrew, it is good for giving thanks unto the Lord, some interpreters, founding upon the letter l, lamed, prefixed to the verb, understand the Psalmist to mean that it was good to have a certain day set apart for singing the praises of God -- that it was a useful arrangement by which one day had been chosen to be occupied by the Lord's people in celebrating his works. But it is well known that this letter, when prefixed, is merely the ordinary mark of the infinitive mood -- and I have given what is obviously the simple meaning. The reason why the Psalmist appropriated this psalm to the Sabbath is sufficiently obvious. That day is not to be holy, in the sense of being devoted to idleness, as if this could be an acceptable worship to God, but in the sense of our separating ourselves from all other occupations, to engage in meditating upon the Divine works. As our minds are inconstant, we are apt, when exposed to various distractions, to wander from God. [585] We need to be disentangled from all cares if we would seriously apply ourselves to the praises of God. The Psalmist then would teach us that the right observance of the Sabbath does not consist in idleness, as some absurdly imagine, but in the celebration of the Divine name. The argument which he adduces is drawn from the profitableness of the service, for nothing is more encouraging than to know that our labor is not in vain, and that what we engage in meets with the Divine approbation. In the succeeding verse, he adverts to the grounds which we have for praising God, that we may not imagine that God calls upon us to engage in this service without reason, or simply in consideration of his greatness and power, but in remembrance of his goodness and faithfulness, which should inflame our hearts to such exercise, if we had any proper sense and experience of them. He would have us consider, in mentioning these, that not only is God worthy of praise, but that we ourselves are chargeable with ingratitude and perversity should we refuse it. We are the proper objects of his faithfulness and goodness, and it would argue inexcusable indifference if they did not elicit our cordial praises. It might seem a strange distinction which the Psalmist observes when he speaks of our announcing God's goodness in the morning, and his faithfulness at night. His goodness is constant, and not peculiar to any one season, why then devote but a small part of the day to the celebration of it? And the same may be said of the other Divine perfection mentioned, for it is not merely in the night that his faithfulness is shown. But this is not what the Psalmist intends. He means that beginning to praise the Lord from earliest dawn, we should continue his praises to the latest hour of the night, this being no more than his goodness and faithfulness deserve. [586] If we begin by celebrating his goodness, we must next take up the subject of his faithfulness. Both will occupy our continued praises, for they stand mutually and inseparably connected. The Psalmist is not therefore to be supposed as wishing us to separate the one from the other, for they are intimately allied; he would only suggest that we can never want matter for praising God unless indolence prevail over us, and that if we would rightly discharge the office of gratitude, we must be assiduous in it, since his goodness and his faithfulness are incessant. In the fourth verse, he more immediately addresses the Levites, who were appointed to the office of singers, and calls upon them to employ their instruments of music -- not as if this were in itself necessary, only it was useful as an elementary aid to the people of God in these ancient times. [587] We are not to conceive that God enjoined the harp as feeling a delight like ourselves in mere melody of sounds; but the Jews, who were yet under age, were astricted to the use of such childish elements. The intention of them was to stimulate the worshippers, and stir them up more actively to the celebration of the praise of God with the heart. We are to remember that the worship of God was never understood to consist in such outward services, which were only necessary to help forward a people, as yet weak and rude in knowledge, in the spiritual worship of God. A difference is to be observed in this respect between his people under the Old and under the New Testament; for now that Christ has appeared, and the Church has reached full age, it were only to bury the light of the Gospel, should we introduce the shadows of a departed dispensation. From this, it appears that the Papists, as I shall have occasion to show elsewhere, in employing instrumental music, cannot be said so much to imitate the practice of God's ancient people, as to ape it in a senseless and absurd manner, exhibiting a silly delight in that worship of the Old Testament which was figurative, and terminated with the Gospel. [588] 4 Because thou, Jehovah, hast made me glad. The Psalmist repeats the truth that the Sabbath was not prescribed as a day of idleness, but a season when we should collect our whole energies for meditation upon the works of God. He intimates, at the same time, that those are best qualified for celebrating the praises of God who recognize and feel his fatherly goodness, and can undertake this service with willing and joyful minds. His language implies that the goodness and faithfulness of God, which he had already mentioned, are apparent in his works upon a due examination of them. What produces joy in our hearts is the exhibition which God gives of himself as a Father, and of his deep and watchful anxiety for our welfare; as, on the other hand, the cause of our brutish indifference is our inability to savor or relish the end designed in the works of God. [589] As the universe proclaims throughout that God is faithful and good, it becomes us to be diligently observant of these tokens, and to be excited by a holy joy to the celebration of his praise. Footnotes: [585] "Car selon que nos pensees sont volages, si elles sont distraittes ca et la, elles s'alienent facilement de Dieu." [586] "Que si nous commencons au matin de louer Dieu, il faut continuer ses louanges jusques a la derniere partie de la nuit; pource que sa bonte et fidelite meritent cela." -- Fr. [587] "Mais pource que c'estoit un rudiment fort utile au peuple ancien." -- Fr. [588] But although Calvin held the use of instrumental music in public worship to be inconsistent with the genius of the Christian dispensation, he regarded the celebration of the praises of God with the melody of the human voice as an institution of great solemnity and usefulness. He knew that psalm-singing is sanctioned by the apostles, and that music has a powerful influence in exciting the mind to ardor of devotion; and to him belongs the merit of having, with the advice of Luther, formed the plan of establishing, as a principal branch of public worship in the Reformed Churches, the singing of psalms, translated into the vernacular language, and adapted to plain and easy melodies, which all the people might learn, and in which they all might join. Immediately upon the publication of Clement Marot's version of David's Psalms into French rhymes at Paris, he introduced it into his congregation at Geneva, set to plain and popular music; and it soon came into universal use throughout the numerous congregations of the Reformed Church of France. At length Marot's Psalms formed an appendix to the Catechism at Geneva, and became a characteristic mark or badge of the Calvinistic worship and profession. Marot's translation, which did not aim at any innovation in the public worship, and which he dedicated to his master Francis I., and the ladies of France, received at first the sanction of the Sorbonne, as containing nothing contrary to sound doctrine. But Calvin knew the character of the book better than the doctors of the Sorbonne, and having, by his influence, obtained its introduction into the worship of the Protestant Church of France, it contributed so much, in consequence of its extraordinary popularity, to the advancement of the Reformed cause in that country, that it was interdicted under the most severe penalties; and, in the language of the Romish Church, psalm-singing and heresy became synonymous terms. -- Warton's History of English Poetry, volume 3, pages 164, 165. [589] "Comme aussi la cause de nostre paresse brutale est, que nous avons perdu tout goust quand il est question dee savourer la fin des oeuvres de Dieu."

The psalmist had said (Psa 92:4) that from the works of God he would take occasion to triumph; and here he does so. I. He triumphs over God's enemies (Psa 92:7, Psa 92:9, Psa 92:11), triumphs in the foresight of their destruction, not as it would be the misery of his fellow-creatures, but as it would redound to the honour of God's justice and holiness. He is confident of the ruin of sinners, 1. Though they are flourishing (Psa 92:7): When the wicked spring as the grass in spring (so numerous, so thickly sown, so green, and growing so fast), and all the workers of iniquity do flourish in pomp, and power, and all the instances of outward prosperity, are easy and many, and succeed in their enterprises, one would think that all this was in order to their being happy, that it was a certain evidence of God's favour and an earnest of something as good or better in reserve: but it is quite otherwise; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever. The very prosperity of fools shall slay them, Pro 1:32. The sheep that are designed for the slaughter are put into the fattest pasture. 2. Though they are daring, Psa 92:9. They are thy enemies, and impudently avow themselves to be so. They are contrary to God, and they fight against God. They are in rebellion against his crown and dignity, and therefore it is easy to foresee that they shall perish; for who ever hardened his heart against God and prospered? Note, All the impenitent workers of iniquity shall be deemed and taken as God's enemies, and as such they shall perish and be scattered. Christ reckons those his enemies that will not have him to reign over them; and they shall be brought forth and slain before him. The workers of iniquity are now associated, and closely linked together, in a combination against God and religion; but they shall be scattered, and disabled to help one another against the just judgment of God. In the world to come they shall be separated from the congregation of the righteous; so the Chaldee, Psa 1:5. 3. Though they had a particular malice against the psalmist, and, upon that account, he might be tempted to fear them, yet he triumphs over them (Psa 92:11): "My eye shall see my desire on my enemies that rise up against me; I shall see them not only disabled from doing me any further mischief, but reckoned with for the mischief they have done me, and brought either to repentance or ruin:" and this was his desire concerning them. In the Hebrew it is no more than thus, My eye shall look on my enemies, and my ear shall hear of the wicked. He does not say what he shall see or what he shall hear, but he shall see and hear that in which God will be glorified and in which he will therefore be satisfied. This perhaps has reference to Christ, to his victory over Satan, death, and hell, the destruction of those that persecuted and crucified him, and opposed his gospel, and to the final ruin of the impenitent at the last day. Those that rise up against Christ will fall before him and be made his footstool. II. He triumphs in God, and his glory and grace. 1. In the glory of God (Psa 92:8): "But thou, O Lord! art most high for evermore. The workers of iniquity who fight against us may be high for a time, and think to carry all before them with a high hand, but thou art high, most high, for evermore. Their height will be humbled and brought down, but thine is everlasting." Let us not therefore fear the pride and power of evil men, nor be discouraged by their impotent menaces, for the moth shall eat them up as a garment, but God's righteousness shall be for ever, Isa 51:7, Isa 51:8. 2. In the grace of God, his favour and the fruits of it, (1.) To himself (Psa 92:10): "Thou, O Lord! that art thyself most high, shalt exalt my horn." The great God is the fountain of honour, and he, being high for evermore, himself will exalt his people for ever, for he is the praise of all his saints, Psa 148:14. The wicked are forbidden to lift up the horn (Psa 75:4, Psa 75:5), but those that serve God and the interest of his kingdom with their honour or power, and commit it to him to keep it, to raise it, to use it, and to dispose of it, as he pleases, may hope that he will exalt their horn as the horn of a unicorn, to the greatest height, either in this world or the other: My horn shalt thou exalt, when thy enemies perish; for then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, when the wicked shall be doomed to shame and everlasting contempt. He adds, I shall be anointed with fresh oil, which denotes a fresh confirmation in his office to which he had been anointed, or abundance of plenty, so that he should have fresh oil as often as he pleased, or renewed comforts to revive him when his spirits drooped. Grace is the anointing of the Spirit; when this is given to help in the time of need, and is received, as there is occasion, from the fulness that is in Christ Jesus, we are then anointed with fresh oil. Some read it, When I grow old thou shalt anoint me with fresh oil. My old age shalt thou exalt with rich mercy; so the Septuagint. Compare Psa 92:14, They shall bring forth fruit in old age. The comforts of God's Spirit, and the joys of his salvation, shall be a refreshing oil to the hoary heads that are found in the way of righteousness. (2.) To all the saints. They are here represented as trees of righteousness, Isa 61:3; Psa 1:3. Observe, [1.] The good place they are fixed in; they are planted in the house of the Lord, Psa 92:13. The trees of righteousness do not grow of themselves; they are planted, not in common soil, but in paradise, in the house of the Lord. Trees are not usually planted in a house; but God's trees are said to be planted in his house because it is from his grace, by his word and Spirit, that they receive all the sap and virtue that keep them alive and make them fruitful. They fix themselves to holy ordinances, take root in them, abide by them, put themselves under the divine protection, and bring forth all their fruits to God's honour and glory. [2.] The good plight they shall be kept in. It is here promised, First, That they shall grow, Psa 92:12. Where God gives true grace he will give more grace. God's trees shall grow higher, like the cedars, the tall cedars in Lebanon; they shall grow nearer heaven, and with a holy ambition shall aspire towards the upper world; they shall grow stronger, like the cedars, and fitter for use. He that has clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. Secondly, That they shall flourish, both in the credit of their profession and in the comfort and joy of their own souls. They shall be cheerful themselves and respected by all about them. They shall flourish like the palm-tree, which has a stately body (Sol 7:7), and large boughs, Lev 23:40; Jdg 4:5. Dates, the fruit of it, are very pleasant, but it is especially alluded to here as being ever green. The wicked flourish as the grass (Psa 92:7), which is soon withered, but the righteous as the palm-tree, which is long-lived and which the winter does not change. It has been said of the palm-tree, Sub pondere crescit - The more it is pressed down the more it grows; so the righteous flourish under their burdens; the more they are afflicted the more they multiply. Being planted in the house of the Lord (there their root is), they flourish in the courts of our God - there their branches spread. Their life is hid with Christ in God. But their light also shines before men. It is desirable that those who have a place should have a name in God's house, and within his walls, Isa 56:5. Let good Christians aim to excel, that they may be eminent and may flourish, and so may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour, as flourishing trees adorn the courts of a house. And let those who flourish in God's courts give him the glory of it; it is by virtue of this promise, They shall be fat and flourishing. Their flourishing without is from a fatness within, from the root and fatness of the good olive, Rom 11:17. Without a living principle of grace in the heart the profession will not be long flourishing; but where that is the leaf also shall not wither, Psa 1:3. The trees of the Lord are full of sap, Psa 104:16. See Hos 14:5, Hos 14:6. Thirdly, That they shall be fruitful. Were there nothing but leaves upon them, they would not be trees of any value; but they shall still bring forth fruit. The products of sanctification, all the instances of a lively devotion and a useful conversation, good works, by which God is glorified and others are edified, these are the fruits of righteousness, in which it is the privilege, as well as the duty, of the righteous to abound; and their abounding in them is the matter of a promise as well as of a command. It is promised that they shall bring forth fruit in old age. Other trees, when they are old, leave off bearing, but in God's trees the strength of grace does not fail with the strength of nature. The last days of the saints are sometimes their best days, and their last work is their best work. This indeed shows that they are upright; perseverance is the surest evidence of sincerity. But it is here said to show that the Lord is upright (Psa 92:15), that he is true to his promises and faithful to every word that he has spoken, and that he is constant to the work which he has begun. As it is by the promises that believers first partake of a divine nature, so it is by the promises that that divine nature is preserved and kept up; and therefore the power it exerts is an evidence that the Lord is upright, and so he will show himself with an upright man, Psa 18:25. This the psalmist triumphs in: "He is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in him. I have chosen him for my rock on which to build, in the clefts of which to take shelter, on the top of which to set my feet. I have found him a rock, strong and stedfast, and his word as firm as a rock. I have found" (and let every one speak as he finds) "that there is no unrighteousness in him." He is as able, and will be as kind, as his word makes him to be. All that ever trusted in God found him faithful and all-sufficient, and none were ever made ashamed of their hope in him.

Psalm 92:5-8 5. O Jehovah! how magnificent are thy works! thy thoughts are very deep. 6. The foolish man shall not know them, neither shall the man void of wisdom understand them. 7. When the wicked flourish as the grass, and all the workers of iniquity spring up, that they may perish for ever. 8. And thou, O Jehovah! art exalted for evermore. 5 O Jehovah! how highly exalted are thy works! The Psalmist, having spoken of the works of God in general, proceeds to speak more particularly of his justice in the government of the world. Though God may postpone the punishment of the wicked, he shows, in due time, that in conniving at their sins, he did not overlook or fail to perceive them; and though he exercises his own children with the cross, he proves in the issue, that he was not indifferent to their welfare. His reason for touching upon this particular point seems to be, that much darkness is thrown upon the scheme of Divine Providence by the inequality and disorder which prevail in human affairs. [590] We see the wicked triumphing, and applauding their own good fortune, as if there was no judge above, and taking occasion from the Divine forbearance to run into additional excesses, under the impression that they have escaped his hand. The temptation is aggravated by that stupidity and blindness of heart which lead us to imagine that God exerts no superintendence over the world, and sits idle in heaven. It is known, too, how soon we are ready to sink under the troubles of the flesh. The Psalmist, therefore, intentionally selects this as a case in which he may show the watchful care exerted by God over the human family. He begins, by using the language of exclamation, for such is the dreadful distemper and disorder by which our understandings are confounded, that we cannot comprehend the method of God's works, even when it is most apparent. We are to notice, that the inspired penman is not speaking here of the work of God in the creation of the heavens and earth, nor of his providential government of the world in general, but only of the judgments which he executes amongst men. He calls the works of God great, and his thoughts deep, because he governs the world in quite another manner than we are able to comprehend. Were things under our own management, we would entirely invert the order which God observes; and, such not being the case, we perversely expostulate with God for not hastening sooner to the help of the righteous, and to the punishment of the wicked. It strikes us as in the highest degree inconsistent with the perfections of God, that he should bear with the wicked when they rage against him, when they rush without restraint into the most daring acts of iniquity, and when they persecute at will the good and the innocent; -- it seems, I say, in our eyes to be intolerable, that God should subject his own people to the injustice and violence of the wicked, while he puts no check upon abounding falsehood, deceit, rapine, bloodshed, and every species of enormity. Why does he suffer his truth to be obscured, and his holy name to be trampled under foot? This is that greatness of the Divine operation, that depth of the Divine counsel, into the admiration of which the Psalmist breaks forth. It is no doubt true, that there is an incomprehensible depth of power and wisdom which God has displayed in the fabric of the universe; but what the Psalmist has specially in view is, to administer a check to that disposition which leads us to murmur against God, when he does not pursue our plan in his providential managements. When anything in these may not agree with the general ideas of men, we ought to contemplate it with reverence, and remember that God, for the better trial of our obedience, has lifted his deep and mysterious judgments far above our conceptions. 6 The foolish man shall not know them. This is added with propriety, to let us know that the fault lies with ourselves, in not praising the Divine judgments as we ought. For although the Psalmist had spoken of them as deep and mysterious, he here informs us that they would be discerned without difficulty, were it not for our stupidity and indifference. By the foolish, he means unbelievers in general, tacitly contrasting them with believers who are divinely enlightened by the word and Spirit. The ignorance and blindness to which he alludes have possession of all without exception, whose understandings have not been illuminated by Divine grace. It ought to be our prayer to God, that he would purge our sight, and qualify us for meditation upon his works. In short, the Psalmist vindicates the incomprehensible wisdom of God from that contempt which proud men have often cast upon it, charging them with folly and madness in acting such a part; and he would arouse us from that insensibility which is too prevalent, to a due and serious consideration of the mysterious works of God. 7 When the wicked flourish as the grass. He points out, and exposes, by a striking and appropriate figure, the folly of imagining that the wicked obtain a triumph over God, when he does not, it may be, immediately bring them under restraint. He makes an admission so far -- he grants that they spring up and flourish -- but adds immediately, by way of qualification, that they flourish, like the grass, only for a moment, their prosperity being brief and evanescent. In this way he removes what has been almost a universal stumbling-block and ground of offense; for it would be ridiculous to envy the happiness of men who are doomed to be speedily destroyed, and of whom it may be said, that to-day they flourish, and to-morrow they are cut down and wither, (Psalm 129:6.) It will be shown, when we come to consider the psalm now quoted, that the herbs to which the wicked are compared are such as grow on the roofs of houses, which want depth of soil, and die of themselves, for lack of nourishment. In the passage now before us, the Psalmist satisfies himself with using simply the figure, that the prosperity of the wicked draws after it the speedier destruction, as the grass when it is full grown is ready for the scythe. There is an antithesis drawn, too, between the shortness of their continuance and the everlasting destruction which awaits them; for they are not said to be cut down that they may flourish again, as withered plants will recover their vigor, but to be condemned to eternal perdition. [591] When he says of God, that he sits exalted for evermore, some understand him to mean, that God holds the power and office of governing the world, and that we may be certain nothing can happen by chance when such a righteous governor and judge administers the affairs of the world. Various other meanings have been suggested. But it seems to me that the Psalmist compares the stability of God's throne with the fluctuating and changeable character of this world, reminding us that we must not judge of Him by what we see in the world, where there is nothing of a fixed and enduring nature. God looks down undisturbed from the altitude of heaven upon all the changes of this earthly scene, which neither affect nor have any relation to him. And this the Psalmist brings forward with another view than simply to teach us to distinguish God from his creatures, and put due honor upon his majesty; he would have us learn in our contemplations upon the wonderful and mysterious providence of God, to lift our conceptions above ourselves and this world, since it is only a dark and confused view which our earthly minds can take up. It is with the purpose of leading us into a proper discovery of the Divine judgments which are not seen in the world, that the Psalmist, in making mention of the majesty of God, would remind us, that he does not work according to our ideas, but in a manner corresponding to his own eternal being. We, short-lived creatures as we are, often thwarted in our attempts, embarrassed and interrupted by many intervening difficulties, and too glad to embrace the first opportunity which offers, are accustomed to advance with precipitation; but we are taught here to lift our eyes unto that eternal and unchangeable throne on which God sits, and in wisdom defers the execution of his judgments. The words accordingly convey more than a simple commendation of the glorious being of God; they are meant to help our faith, and tell us that, although his people may sigh under many an anxious apprehension, God himself, the guardian of their safety, reigns on high, and shields them with his everlasting power. Footnotes: [590] "Pource que la confusion difforme laquelle se voit en la vie des hommes, obscurcit grandement l'ordre de la providence de Dieu." [591] "Comme s'il disoit qu'ils ne sont point retranchez, afin que sur le prim-temps ils rejettent derechef, ainsi que les herbes mortes reprenent nouvelle vigueur, mais qu'ils sont condamnez a perdition eternelle. -- Fr.

Psalm 92:9-11 9. For, lo! thine enemies, O Jehovah! for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. [592] 10. But my horn shalt thou exalt, like the horn of an unicorn: [593] I have been profusely anointed with fresh oil. [594] 11. And mine eyes shall see it on mine enemies: mine ears shall hear it upon those who rise up against me, upon those who persecute me. 9 For, lo! thine enemies, O Jehovah! From what was already said in the verse preceding, the Psalmist concludes it to be impossible that God should not overthrow his enemies. This, as I have already observed, clearly shows that it was his design to establish our faith under the strong temptations to which it is subjected, and, more especially, to remove that offense out of the way, which has disturbed the minds of many, and led them astray; -- we refer to the prosperity of the wicked, and its effect in attaching a certain perplexity to the judgments of God. As our faith is never called to a more sharp and arduous trial than upon this point, the Psalmist delivers the truth, which he announces with much force of expression, using both exclamations and repetition. First, he declares the destruction of God's enemies to be as certain as if it had already taken place, and he had witnessed it with his own eyes; then he repeats his assertion: and from all this we may see how much he had benefited by glancing with the eye of faith beyond this world to the throne of God in the heavens. When staggered in our own faith at any time by the prosperity of the wicked, we should learn by his example to rise in our contemplations to a God in heaven, and the conviction will immediately follow in our minds that his enemies cannot long continue to triumph. The Psalmist tells us who they are that are God's enemies. God hates none without a cause; nay, so far as men are the workmanship of his hand, he embraces them in his fatherly love. But as nothing is more opposed to his nature than sin, he proclaims irreconcilable war with the wicked. It contributes in no small degree to the comfort of the Lord's people, to know that the reason why the wicked are destroyed is, their being necessarily the objects of God's hatred, so that he can no more fail to punish them than deny himself. [595] The Psalmist, shortly afterwards, shows that he intended this to be a ground of comfort and hope under all cares, griefs, anxieties, and embarrassments. He speaks under the figure of oil of enjoying Divine blessings, and by green or fresh oil is meant, such as has not become corrupted, or unfit for use by age. It is noticeable that he appropriates, and improves for his own individual comfort, that grace of God which is extended to all the Lord's people without exception; and would teach us by this that mere general doctrine is a cold and unsatisfactory thing, and that each of us should improve it particularly for himself, in the persuasion of our belonging to the number of God's children. In one word, the Psalmist promises himself the protection of God, under whatever persecutions he should endure from his enemies, whether they were secret, or more open and violent, that he may encourage himself to persevere with indefatigable spirit in the world's conflict. We may judge from this how absurd is the opinion of the Rabbin, who conjectured that Adam was the author of this psalm [596] -- as if it were credible that his posterity should have set themselves up in rebellion against him. Footnotes: [592] Hammond reads "separated," and supposes that this may be a judicial phrase, denoting the discrimination made betwixt men, as that which will be effected betwixt the sheep and the goats at the last day. Matthew 25:32 -- "All the nations shall be gathered together or assembled before him" as a judge, "and, aphoriei autous ap' allelon, he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd, aphorizei, separates the sheep from the goats." For this interpretation we have the authority of the Chaldee, which paraphrases the clause thus, "In the world to come the workers of iniquity shall be separated from the congregation of the just." If this sense is admitted, the passage corresponds with these words in the fifth verse of the first psalm, "The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." The LXX., however, render the original word, ytphrdv, yithparedu, by diaskorpisthesontai, "shall be scattered;" and the Syriac gives a similar version. Thus it may denote the scattering of enemies, which have been vanquished in battle and put to flight. [593] The horn is worn over all the East, and is the symbol of strength and power. It adorns the heads of all princely personages in Oriental mythology. Large horns, representing the glory of deity, are planted on the heads of their idols, or placed in their hands. The horn is therefore frequently employed in Scripture as the emblem of power and authority; and when the Psalmist affirms that God would exalt his horn, it expresses his assurance of victory over his enemies. As to the animal meant by "the unicorn," great variety of interpretations has obtained both among ancient and modern critics. The most probable opinion is that of Bochart, who, supporting himself by numerous quotations from Arabian and other Eastern writers, concludes that the r'm, reem, of Scripture, is a species of wild goat of a snow-white color, having long and sharp horns, and distinguished by carrying their heads very high. [594] "The verb in the Hebrew expresses much more than a superficial unction, viz., a penetration of the whole substance of the man's person by the oil. See Parkhurst's Lexicon, under vl: -- fresh oil; rather invigorating oil." -- Horsley The original word for fresh signifies green But, as Harmer observes, "We are not to suppose the Psalmist means oil of a green color. We are to understand the word as signifying precious, fragrant oil, such as princes in times of prosperity were anointed with." -- Harmer's Observations, volume 3, page 257. [595] "Qu'il faut necessairement qu'ils soyent hays de Dieu, lequel ne se peut renoncer soy mesme." [596] These Rabbins say that Adam composed it immediately after the creation before the Sabbath. The Chaldee paraphrase entitles the psalm, "A hymn or song which the first man spoke concerning the Sabbath-day." But had it been a composition of Adam's, one would think it should have been placed at the head of this collection of psalms. Besides, there were no musical instruments at that time for this psalm to be sung upon, (see verse 3;) for Tubal was the father of them that handle the harp and organ; nor, as Calvin observes, had Adam numerous enemies and wicked men who rose up against him, to which reference is made in verses 7, 9, 11. We may therefore justly regard the Jewish tradition, which ascribes the composition of this psalm to Adam, as fabulous, having no other foundation but the invention and fancy of some of their Rabbins.

Psalm 92:12-13 12. The righteous shalt flourish like the palm-tree, [597] he shall be multiplied as the cedar in Lebanon. [598] 13. Those who are planted in the house of Jehovah shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14. They shall still bud forth in old age; they shall be fat and green; 15. That they may show that Jehovah is upright, my rock, and that there is no iniquity in him. 12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree. He now passes to the consideration of another general truth, That though God may exercise his people with many trials, subject them to hardships, and visit them with privations, he will eventually show that he had not forgotten them. We need not be surprised that he insists so explicitly and carefully upon this point, as nothing is more difficult than for the saints of God to entertain expectations of being raised up and delivered when they have been reduced almost to the state of the dead, and it does not appear how they can live. Some think the cedar is mentioned from the fragrancy of its smell, and the palm for the sweetness of its fruit; but this is too subtile a meaning to attach to the words. The sense seems simply, that though the righteous may appear for a time to be withered, or to have been cut down, they will again spring up with renewed vigor, and flourish as well and as fair in the Church of God as the stateliest trees upon Lebanon. The expression which is employed -- planted in the house of the Lord -- gives the reason of their vigorous growth; nor is it meant that they have merely a place there, (which can be said even of hypocrites,) but that they are firmly fixed, and deeply rooted in it, so as to be united to God. The Psalmist speaks of the courts of the Lord, because none but the priests were allowed to enter the holy place; the people worshipped in the court. By those who are planted in the Church he means such as are united to God in real and sincere attachment, and insinuates that their prosperity cannot be of a changeable and fluctuating nature, because it is not founded upon anything that is in the world. Nor indeed can we doubt that whatever has its root, and is founded in the sanctuary, must continue to flourish and partake of a life which is spiritual and everlasting. It is in this sense that he speaks of their still budding forth, and being fat, even in old age, when the natural sap and juices are generally dried up. The language amounts to saying that they are exempt from the ordinary lot of men, and have a life which is taken from under the common law of nature. [599] It is thus that Jacob, speaking of the great renovation which should take place in the Church, mentions, that at that happy period he who was an hundred years old should be a child, meaning that, though old age naturally tends to death, and one who has lived a hundred years is upon the very borders of it, yet in the kingdom of Christ; a man would be reckoned as being merely in his childhood, and starting in life, who entered upon a new century. This could only be verified in the sense, that after death we have another existence in heaven. 15. That they may show that Jehovah is upright. It is evident from this verse that the great object of the Psalmist is, to allay that disquietude of mind which we are apt to feel under the disorder which reigns apparently in the affairs of this world; and to make us cherish the expectation, (under all that may seem severe and trying in our lot, and though the wicked are in wealth and power, flourish, and abound in places and distinctions,) that God will bring light and order eventually out of confusion. That they may show, it is said particularly, that the Lord is upright; for through the influence of our corruption we are apt to conclude, when things do not proceed as we would wish in the world, that God is chargeable not only with neglect but with unrighteousness, in abandoning his people, and tolerating the commission of sin. When God displays his justice in proceeding to execute vengeance upon the wicked, it will be seen at once, that any prosperity which they enjoyed was but the forerunner of a worse destruction in reserve for them. The Psalmist, in calling God his rock, shows a second time that he reckoned himself amongst the number of those in whom God would illustrate his justice by extending towards them his protection. Footnotes: [597] The palm is one of the noblest and most beautiful of trees. It is more remarkable than any other tree for its straight, upright growth, and hence its Hebrew name tmr tamar It frequently rises to the height of more than a hundred feet; and its leaves, when it arrives at maturity, are often six or eight feet in length, and broad in proportion. At the age of thirty it attains its greatest vigor, and continues in full strength and beauty for seventy years longer, producing every year about three or four hundred weight of dates. It is crowned at the top with a large tuft of spiralling leaves about four feet long, which never fall off, but always continue in the same flourishing verdure. And it has been said that when loaded with any weight it possesses the quality of resisting it, and of rising upwards and bending the contrary way, to counterbalance the pressure. This tree, then, so distinguished for its uprightness, loftiness, fecundity, longevity, perpetual verdure, and power of resistance, is employed with great elegance to express the spiritual beauty, elevation, fruitfulness, constancy, patience, and victory of the righteous. [598] The cedars of Lebanon are a favourite image with the sacred writers. They grow to a prodigious size, rise to an enormous height, and spread their branches to a great extent, affording a grateful shade. They continue to flourish for more than a thousand years; and, when cut down, their wood is so durable that it has obtained the reputation of being incorruptible. How striking, then, the image, "The righteous shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon," like that massy, lofty, umbrageous, and incorruptible tree, which continues to flourish from generation to generation, which survives empires, and is still vigorous when a thousand years have passed over it. [599] "They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. Being thus planted and watered, they shall not only bring forth the fruits of righteousness, but shall continue and go on to do so, and even when they are grown old; contrary to all other trees, which, when old, cease bearing fruit; but so do not the righteous; grace is often in the greatest vigor when nature is decayed; witness Abraham, Job, David, Zechariah, and Elisabeth, and good old Simeon, who went to the grave like shocks of corn fully ripe." -- Dr Gill.

Ps 92:1-15 . A Psalm-song —(see on Ps 30:1 , title). The theme: God should be praised for His righteous judgments on the wicked and His care and defense of His people. Such a topic, at all times proper, is specially so for the reflections of the Sabbath day. 1. sing … name —celebrate Thy perfections.

2. in the morning, … every night —diligently and constantly ( Ps 42:8 ). loving kindness —literally, "mercy." faithfulness —in fulfilling promises ( Ps 89:14 ).

3. In such a work all proper aid must be used. with a … sound —or, on Higgaion (see on Ps 9:16 ), perhaps an instrument of that name, from its sound resembling the muttered sound of meditation, as expressed also by the word. This is joined with the harp.

6. A brutish man knoweth not —that is, God's works, so the Psalmist describes himself ( Ps 73:22 ) when amazed by the prosperity of the wicked, now understood and explained.

8. This he does in part, by contrasting their ruin with God's exaltation and eternity. most high —as occupying the highest place in heaven ( Ps 7:7 ; 18:16 ).

10. horn … exalt —is to increase power ( Ps 75:5 ). anointed … fresh —or, "new" oil —( Ps 23:5 ) a figure for refreshment (compare Lu 7:46 ). Such use of oil is still common in the East.

11. see … [and] … hear my desire —or, literally, "look on" my enemies and hear of the wicked (compare Ps 27:11 ; 54:7 )—that is, I shall be gratified by their fall.

12-14. The vigorous growth, longevity, utility, fragrance, and beauty of these noble trees, set forth the life, character, and destiny of the pious;

4. “To tell of Thy mercy early in the morning, and of Thy truth in the night season” (ver. 2). What is the meaning of this; that the mercy of God is to be told us in the morning, and in the night the truth of God? The morning is, when it is well with us; the night, the sadness of tribulation. What then did he say in brief? When thou art prosperous, rejoice in God, for it is His mercy. Now, perhaps thou wouldest say, If I rejoice in God, when I am prosperous, because it is His mercy; what am I to do when I am in sorrow, in tribulation? It is His mercy, when I am prosperous; is it then His cruelty, when I am in adversity? If I praise His mercy when it is well with me, am I then to exclaim against His cruelty when it is ill? No. But when it is well, praise His mercy: when ill, praise His truth: because He scourgeth sins, He is not unjust.…During the night Daniel confessed the truth of God: he said in his prayer, “We have sinned, and committed iniquity, and have done wickedly. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto Thee: but unto us confusion of face.” Dan. ix. 5, 7.

5. “Upon a psaltery of ten strings, with a song, and upon the harp” (ver. 3). Ye have not heard of the psaltery of ten strings for the first time: it signifies the ten commandments of the Law. But we must sing upon that psaltery, and not carry it only. For even the Jews have the Law: but they carry it: they sing not.…“And upon the harp.” This means, in word and deed; “with a song,” in word; “upon the harp,” in work. If thou speakest words alone, thou hast, as it were, the song only, and not the harp: if thou workest, and speakest not, thou hast the harp only. On this account both speak well and do well, if thou wouldest have the song together with the harp.

6. “For Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through Thy works; and I will rejoice in giving praise for the operations of Thy hands” (ver. 4). Ye see what he saith. Thou hast made me living well, Thou hast formed me: if by chance I do aught of good, I will rejoice in the work of Thy hands: as the Apostle saith, “For we are His workmanship, created unto good works.” Eph. ii. 10. Rom. xii. 11. Ps. xxxiv. 5, Bible Version. 1 Cor. iv. 7. 7. That wretched man who doeth good, and suffereth evils, seeth him, becometh disturbed, and saith, O God, the wicked, I imagine, please Thee, and Thou hatest the good, and lovest those who work iniquity.…The Sabbath being now lost in the inner man, and the tranquillity of his heart being shut out, and good thoughts repelled, he now beginneth to imitate him whom he seeth flourishing amid his evil deeds; and turneth himself also to evil works. But God is long-suffering, because He is eternal, [Deus autem patiens est quia æternus est. One of those felicitous maxims in which our author abounds.—C.]

8. Teaching us this, what saith he? “O Lord, how glorious are Thy works: Thy thoughts are made very deep” (ver. 5). Verily, my brethren, there is no sea so deep as these thoughts of God, who maketh the wicked flourish, and the good suffer: nothing so profound, nothing so deep: therein every unbelieving soul is wrecked, in that depth, in that profundity. Dost thou wish to cross this depth? Remove not from the wood of Christ’s Cross: thou shalt not sink: hold thyself fast to Christ. What do I mean by this, hold fast to Christ? It was for this reason that He chose to suffer on earth Himself. Ye have heard, while the prophet was being read, how He “did not turn away His back from the smiters, and His face from the spittings of men,” how “He turned not His cheek from their hands;” Isa. l. 6.

9. For this reason, after saying, “Thy thoughts are very deep,” he at once subjoins: “An unwise man doth not well consider this, and a fool doth not understand it” (ver. 6). What are the things which an unwise man doth not well consider, and which a fool doth not understand? “When the ungodly are green as the grass.” What is, “as the grass”? They flourish when it is winter, but they will wither in the summer. Thou observest the flower of the grass? What more quickly passeth by? What is brighter? What is greener? Let not its verdure delight thee, but fear its withering. Thou hast heard of the ungodly being green as the grass: hear also of the righteous: “For lo.” In the mean while, consider the ungodly; they flourish as the grass; but who are they who understand it not? The foolish and unwise. “When the ungodly are green as the grass, and all men look upon the workers of iniquity” (ver. 7). All who in their heart think not aright of God, look upon the ungodly when they are as green as grass, that is, when they flourish for a time. Why do they look upon them? “That they may be destroyed for ever.” For they regard their momentary bloom, they imitate them, and wishing to flourish with them for a time, perish for evermore: this is, “That they may be destroyed for ever.”

10. “But Thou, Lord, art the Most Highest for evermore” (ver. 8). Waiting above in Thy eternity until the season of the wicked be past, and that of the just come. “For lo.” Listen, brethren. Already he who speaketh (for he speaketh in our person, in the person of Christ’s body, for Christ speaketh in His own body, that is, in His Church), hath joined himself unto the eternity of God: as I a little before was saying unto you, God is long-suffering and patient, and alloweth all those evil deeds which He seeth to be done by wicked men. Wherefore? because He is eternal, and seeth what He keepeth for them. Dost thou also wish to be long-suffering and patient? Join thyself to the eternity of God: together with Him wait for those things which are beneath thee: for when thy heart shall have cleaved unto the Most Highest, all mortal things will be beneath thee: say then what follows, “For lo, thine enemies shall perish.” Those who now flourish, shall afterwards perish. Who are the enemies of God? Brethren, perhaps ye think those only enemies of God who blaspheme? They indeed are so, and those wicked men who neither in tongue nor in thought cease to injure God. And what do they do to the eternal, most high God? If thou strike with thy fist upon a pillar, thou art hurt: and thinkest thou that where thou strikest God with thy blasphemy, thou art not thyself broken? for thou doest nothing to God. But the enemies of God are openly blasphemers, and daily they are found hidden. Beware of such enmities of God. For the Scripture revealeth some such secret enemies of God: that because thou knowest them not in thy heart, thou mayest know in God’s Scriptures, and beware of being found with them. James saith openly in his Epistle, “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” Jas. iv. 4.

11. …“But mine horn shall be exalted like the horn of an unicorn” (ver. 10). Why did He say, “like the horn of an unicorn”? Sometimes an unicorn signifies pride, sometimes it means the lifting up of unity; because unity is lifted up, all heresies shall perish with the enemies of God. And “mine horn shall be exalted like an unicorn.” When will it be so? “And mine old age shall be in the fatness of mercy.” So LXX.

12. “And Mine eye hath beheld on mine enemies” (ver. 11). Whom doth he call his enemies? All the workers of iniquity. Do not observe whether thy friend be wicked: let an occasion come, and then thou provest him. Thou beginnest to go contrary to his iniquity, and then thou shalt see that when he was flattering thee, he was thy enemy; but thou hadst not yet knocked, not to raise in his heart what was not there, but that what was there might break out. “Mine eye also hath looked upon mine enemies: and mine ear shall hear his desire of the wicked that rise up against me.” When? In my old age. What is, in old age? In the last times. And what shall our ear hear? Standing on the right hand, we shall hear what shall be said to them that are on the left. [The words “my desire” are not in the Hebrew: what the Hebrew implies is the patient expectation of a just judgment, by which truth shall at last be vindicated. See Rev. vi. 10.—C.]

13. The grass withereth, the flower of sinners dieth away: what of the righteous? “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree” (ver. 12). The ungodly are green as grass; “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree.” By the palm tree he signifieth height. Possibly he had also this meaning in the palm, that in its extremities it is beautiful: so that thou mayest trace its beginning from the earth, its end in its topmost branches, wherein its whole beauty dwelleth. The rough root appeareth in the earth, the beautiful foliage toward the sky. Thy beauty too, then, shall be in the end. Thy root is fixed fast: but our root is upward. For our root is Christ, who hath ascended into heaven. Humbled, he shall be exalted; “he shall spread abroad like a cedar in Libanus.” See what trees he spoke of: the righteous shall flourish like a palm-tree: and shall spread abroad like a cedar in Libanus. When the sun hath gone forth, doth the palm-tree wither? Doth the cedar die? But when the sun hath been glowing for some hours, the grass drieth up. The judgment, therefore, shall come, that sinners may wither, and the faithful flourish.

14. “Such as are planted in the house of the Lord, shall flourish in the courts of the house of our God” (ver. 12). “They shall be yet more increased in fruitful old age, and shall be quiet, that they may show it forth” (ver. 13). Such is the Sabbath, which but a little while ago I commended unto you, whence the Psalm hath its title. “They shall be quiet, that they may show it forth.” Wherefore are they quiet that show it forth? The grass of sinners moveth them not: the cedar and palm-tree not even in tempests are bent. They are therefore quiet, that they may show it forth: and with reason, since at present they must show it forth even unto men who mock at it. O wretched men, who are lovers of the world! Those who are planted in the house of the Lord, show it to you: those who praise the Lord with song and lute, in word and deed, show it forth to you, and tell you. Be not seduced by the prosperity of the wicked, admire not the flower of grass: admire not those who are happy only for a season, but miserable unto eternity.…If ye wish to flourish like a palm-tree, and to spread abroad like a cedar in Libanus, and not to wither like grass when the sun is hot; as those who appear to flourish when the sun is absent. If then ye wish not to be as grass, but as the palm-tree and the cedar, what will ye show forth? “How true the Lord my strength is: and that there is no unrighteousness in Him.” How is it there is no unrighteousness? A man committeth so great crimes; he is well, he hath sons, a plentiful house, he is full of pride, is exalted by his honours, is revenged on his enemies, and doeth every evil deed; another man, innocent, attending to his own affairs, not robbing another’s goods, doing nothing against any one, suffereth in chains, in prison, tosseth and sigheth in poverty. How is it that there is no unrighteousness in Him? Be quiet, and thou shalt know: for thou art disturbed, and in thy chamber thou dost darken thy light. The eternal God doth wish to shine upon thee: do not then make thee cloudy weather from thy own disturbed mind. Be quiet within thyself, and see what I say unto thee. Because God is eternal, because for the present He spareth the bad, bringing them to repentance: He scourgeth the good, instructing them in the way unto the kingdom of heaven: “There is no unrighteousness in Him:” fear not.…What, if He leaveth this man unpunished now, because he is doomed to hear, “Depart into everlasting fire.” But when? when thou shalt be placed at the right hand, then shall it be said to those placed on the left, “Depart into the everlasting fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels.” Let not therefore those things move thee: Be quiet, keep Sabbath, and show “how true the Lord my strength is: and that there is no unrighteousness in Him.”

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord,.... For all mercies, temporal and spiritual; for Christ, and salvation by him; for the Gospel, and for Gospel opportunities and ordinances; for, such days and seasons this psalm was composed for. It is "good" so to do, for it is the will of God that we should in and for every thing give thanks; it is due unto him, and is our reasonable service; it is well pleasing unto God through Christ; it is pleasant work for the saints themselves, and is profitable unto them; to be thankful for what they have is the way to have more. Kimchi connects this with the title; the sabbath day is good to give thanks unto the Lord; it is a very fit opportunity for such service; when a man is at leisure from worldly business, and his heart is engaged in spiritual exercises, and especially when it is warmed with the love of God: and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High; a name and epithet of God, suitable to his majesty and glory, to his supereminence over all his creatures, and the place where he dwells, and to whom the highest praises are due; these two phrases, giving thanks, and singing praise, are much the same; only with this difference, the former may be done in prayer, and without the modulation of the voice, as well as with it; the latter only with it; hence these two are mentioned as distinct things in Ephesians 5:19. (a) Zohar in Gen. fol. 43. 2. Vajikra Rabba, s. 10. fol. 153. 4. See the Targum in Cant. i. 1.

To show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning,.... God has shown forth his lovingkindness in Christ, and Christ has shown it in a ministerial way; and saints should show it forth also with their lips, to warm the hearts of one another, and encourage distressed minds; this should be a part, and a considerable one, of their thanksgiving and praise; as it will appear to be, when the objects of it are considered, not angels, but men, and these the worst and vilest; the instances of it in election, redemption, calling, adoption, and eternal life; and the freeness, earliness, and immovableness of it; and this is to be done in the "morning", not of the sabbath day only, but every other day, giving praise and thanks for the mercies of the night. Jarchi interprets it of the time of salvation: and thy faithfulness every night: or "in the nights" (b); not the night and goings out of the sabbath only, so Arama; but every other night, observing and declaring the faithfulness and truth of God in his counsels and covenant, in his word and promises, and in the preservation of his people, and the continuance of favours to them; particularly praising his name, and giving thanks unto him openly for the mercies of the day past: morning and night being mentioned may have some respect to the morning and evening sacrifices; and may signify that our sacrifices of praise should be offered up to God continually, Hebrews 13:15. (b) "in noetibus", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, &c.

Upon an instrument of ten strings,.... An harp of ten strings, as the Targum. The harp invented by Terpander had only seven strings (c); according to Pliny (d); Simonides added the eighth, and Timotheus the ninth; but this of David was of ten strings: and upon the psaltery; of which See Gill on Psalm 33:2, "upon the harp with a solemn sound"; or "upon higgaon with the harp"; which "higgaon", Aben Ezra says, was either the tune of a song, or an instrument of music; all these instruments of music were typical of the spiritual joy and melody which the saints have in their hearts when they praise the Lord; hence mention is made of harps in particular in this spiritual sense, under the Gospel dispensation, Revelation 5:8. (c) Suidas in voce Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 56. (d) Ibid.

For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work,.... Either of creation, which work is mentioned in the precept of the sabbath, as an argument for it; and therefore a very proper work to be remembered and observed on that day; or of providence, which in general extends to all men, but especially to them that believe; or of the work of redemption wrought out by Christ, which is cause of great joy and gladness; or of the work of grace upon the soul, which when a man is satisfied of, gives him infinite pleasure, as knowing it will be performed until the day of Christ; and when a man is in such a joyful frame of spirit, he is in a very suitable one to sing the praises of God, James 5:13, I will triumph in the works of thine hands; those before mentioned; or shout aloud for joy, on account of them; and also triumph over all enemies, as being out of the reach of them, so as to be hurt and ruined by them.

O Lord, how great are thy works!.... Of nature, providence, and grace, both for quantity and for quality, for number, excellency, and glory, as they are a display of God's wisdom, power, and goodness; see Psalm 104:24, and thy thoughts are very deep; his counsels, purposes, and designs, they are unfathomable and unsearchable; see 1 Corinthians 2:10.

A brutish man knoweth not,.... The lovingkindness of the Lord, and his faithfulness, nor how to show them forth, nor his great works and deep thoughts; man was made originally far above the brute creatures, and had them all under his dominion; but, sinning, became like the beasts that perish; and is in Scripture often compared to one or other of them, as the horse, ass, &c. a brutish man is one that only knows things naturally, as brute beasts do, and in which also he corrupts himself; he is governed by sense, and not by reason, and much less by faith, which he has not; one that indulges his sensual appetite, whose god is his belly, and minds nothing but earth and earthly things; and, though he has an immortal soul, has no more care of it, and concern about it, than a beast that has none; he lives like one, without fear or shame; and in some things acts below them, and at last dies, as they do, without any thought of, or regard unto, a future state: neither doth a fool understand this; what is before said, or else what follows in the next verse, as Jarchi and others interpret it, concerning the end and event of the prosperity of the wicked; Arama interprets it of the Gentiles not knowing this law of the land, the sabbath, and so rejected it: a "fool" is the same with the "brutish" man, one that is so, not in things natural and civil, but in things moral, spiritual, and religious.

When the wicked spring as the grass,.... Out of the earth, as they do, and are of the earth earthly, and become numerous as spires of grass, and look pleasant and beautiful for a while, as that does; but, like it, weak and unstable, and of a short continuance: and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; in the health of their bodies; not being afflicted as other men, and their eyes standing out with fatness; while a Job, an upright man, is smitten with boils from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot: in wealth and riches, in which they increase often to such a degree, as to think of pulling down their barns, and building greater, to put their substance in; in their progeny and offspring, having a numerous issue; as well as in their cattle, and the standing of them, and in other stores; likewise in their power and authority, grandeur and glory, being set in high places of honour and profit, though slippery ones: these are the godly, who are "wicked" at heart, and show it by their wicked works; who are continually committing sin, it is the course of their conversation, and yet prosper in the world; which is sometimes a stumblingblock to God's people, and a hardening of sinners, who consider not that it is that they shall be destroyed for ever they are like brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, and as lambs and other creatures are nourished and fattened for the day of slaughter, 2 Peter 2:12, and as land is manured and cultivated, and grass springs up and flourishes, that it may be, when grown, cut down, and become the fodder of beasts, or the fuel of fire; so the prosperity of the wicked issues in their ruin, and is an aggravation of their damnation; their destruction is of soul and body in hell, and is an everlasting one; the Targum is, "and it shall be that God shall destroy them for ever,''

But thou, Lord, art most high for evermore,.... God is "the most High"; that is one of his names; he is above all, is higher than the highest; and he dwells on high, and looks down upon the inhabitants of the earth, and sees what is doing among them; and to him they will be accountable another day for what they do; and when wicked, men perish, being destroyed, he will continue for ever in all his greatness, glory, and majesty; for there seems to be an antithesis in this verse to the former, or between wicked men and the Lord; and besides he endures for ever to inflict punishment upon them; and therefore it is that they shall be destroyed for ever.

For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord,.... The particle "lo", or "behold", is not used for the sake of God, but for the sake of men; to excite their attention, and to observe unto them that those who are everlastingly destroyed are the enemies of the Lord; who are enemies in their minds by wicked works, yea, enmity itself against God; and therefore their perdition is just as well as certain; sooner or later these shall be brought forth and slain before him; and for the certainty of it is repeated, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; the Targum adds, in the world to come: "all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered"; one from another, and not be able to unite and combine together against the saints, as they have done; or they shall be separated from them at the last day, being placed at Christ's left hand; and shall not stand in judgment, nor in the congregation of the righteous; and so the Targum, "and all the workers of iniquity shall be separated from the congregation of the righteous;'' see Psalm 1:5.

But my horn shall thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn,.... Which is said to be very high and strong, see Deuteronomy 33:17 this may be understood of the establishment of David's kingdom, of his royal authority, power, and the glory of it, signified by his horn; which was fulfilled when he had subdued the neighbouring nations, and the kings of them, and was exalted above them, and had rest from all his enemies: and may be applied unto the Messiah, the horn of David, the horn of salvation raised up in his house, Psalm 132:17 and so may refer to exaltation at the right hand of God, and the strength and glory of his kingdom; see 1 Samuel 2:10, and also may be interpreted of every good man, in opposition to the wicked; who, though low and abased, God will exalt and set them among princes, and cause them to inherit the throne of glory, and even to sit down on the same throne with Christ; see 1 Samuel 2:8. I shall be anointed with fresh oil; oil of olive, as the Targum; oil of myrrh, as Aben Ezra; it may respect David's unction to office, as king of Israel; for not only after he had been anointed by Samuel, but even after he was anointed by the men of Judah as king over them, he was afresh anointed by all the tribes of Israel as their king, 2 Samuel 2:4, "oil" often signifies the Spirit of God, his gifts and graces; and "fresh" oil may intend new supplies of his grace out of the fulness of it, which is in Christ; and also the renewed joys and comforts of the Holy Spirit, who is the oil of gladness Christ was anointed with above his fellows, and is given to his people in measure.

Mine eyes also shall see my desire on mine enemies,.... The Targum supplies thus, "shall see destruction;'' Aben Ezra, shall see "the vengeance of God", as in Psalm 58:10, and Kimchi, as we do, shall "see what I will", or "my desire"; which arose not from a revengeful spirit, or from a spirit of private revenge, but from a regard to the glory of God, and the honour of his name; and in no other view could the destruction of fellow creatures, though his enemies, be grateful to him: and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me; he should see the ruin of some, and hear of the destruction of others; that which his eyes saw not, his ears should hear; the report would be brought to him; as in the latter day the voice of the angel will be heard, "Babylon is fallen"; and other voices heard in heaven, giving glory to God; an account of which will be acceptable to the saints, because of the justice of God, and the honour of it, as well as because it will make for their future peace and comfort, Revelation 18:2.

The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree,.... Not like grass, as the wicked, Psalm 92:7 which is weak and tender, and soon cut down; but like trees, and like palm trees, that are firm and strong, and of a long continuance: the word for righteous being of the singular number, has led some to think that Christ is meant; but though he is eminently the righteous One, being so in himself, and the author of righteousness to others, yet not he, but his church and people, are compared to a palm tree, Sol 7:7, the reason why the singular number is made use of is, as Aben Ezra thinks, because the righteous are very few, in comparison of the wicked: the sense is, that everyone of the righteous, or everyone that is righteous, through the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, and are created anew in righteousness and true holiness, and live soberly, righteously, and godly, are like the flourishing palm trees; which grow upright, and under the greatest pressures, and rise upwards against the greatest weight upon them (e); whose force and vigour is on the top of them, which being cut off, they die; which delight in hot climates and sunny places, bear a delicious fruit, are ever green, are very durable, and their branches used in token of joy and victory; it is said to be a perfect image of a man, and in many things to resemble him (f): so truly righteous persons are upright ones in heart and life, grow up into their head, Christ, and rise up heavenwards in their desires and affections; and, like the Israelites, the more they are pressed with the weight of afflictions, the more they grow; their grace and strength, their life and rigour, lie in their head, Christ; from whom was it possible they could be separated, as it is not, they would instantly die; they flourish under him, the sun of righteousness, and his warming beams of love, and bring forth the fruits of righteousness by him, to the glory of God; their leaf of profession does not wither, but is always green; the grace of God, which is in them, being an incorruptible and never dying seed: hence, in the issue, they make that palm, bearing company in Revelation 7:9 who are more than conquerors through Christ, that has loved them: the Greek version is, "as the phoenix", which some of the ancients understood of a bird so called, supposed to rise out of its ashes, and use it to prove the resurrection of the dead (g): he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon; where the best, tallest, largest, and strongest cedars grow; See Gill on Isaiah 37:24 to which the righteous are compared, who grow up by degrees higher and higher, even to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; and, stronger and stronger in him, go from strength to strength, having their spiritual strength renewed by him; and cast forth their roots in him, like Lebanon, and the cedars there; and spread their boughs and branches, like them, in the exercise of grace and discharge of duty; and grow in every grace, of faith, hope, love, humility, self-denial, and submission to the will of God, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ; and are durable as the cedar, never die, their life being hid with Christ in God. Kimchi refers this to the days of the Messiah. (e) Plutarch. apud A. Gell. Noct. Attic. l. 3. c. 6. (f) Set Sandys's Travels, l. 2. p. 80. (g) Texelii Phoenix, l. 1. c. 4. p. 14.

Those that be planted in the house of the Lord,.... Or being planted (e), that is, everyone of the righteous before mentioned; such are they that are planted out of the wilderness of the world, and into Christ, and are rooted in him, and are planted together in the likeness of his death and resurrection; have the graces of the Spirit of God implanted in them, have received the ingrafted word; and, in consequence of all this, are grafted into the olive tree, the church; or have a place and name there, better than that of sons and daughters, where they are as plants grown up in their youth; and which is here meant by "the house of the Lord", in allusion to the tabernacle, or temple, which had the figure of palm trees on the walls of it: so the Targum interprets it the temple, rendering it, "his children shall be planted in the sanctuary of the Lord:'' and though it may seem strange that trees should be planted in an house, it should be remembered that the house of the Lord, or the church, is a garden, whose plants are an orchard of pomegranates, Sol 4:12, and such are not mere education plants, or such as are merely by outward profession, or only ministerially, planted, but are planted by the Lord himself; and so are choice and pleasant ones, by which God is glorified, and which shall never be plucked up: and these shall flourish in the courts of our God; like trees in courtyards before houses; alluding to the courts in the tabernacle or temple, where the people worshipped: here the righteous flourish like palm trees, as in the preceding verse, being rooted in Christ, who is the righteous man's root, that yieldeth fruit, and from whom all his fruit is found; but this flourishing is not merely in the leaves of profession, but in the fruits of grace and righteousness, being watered with the dews of divine grace, and having the benefit of the word and ordinances; which are the waters of the sanctuary, that refresh and quicken the trees of righteousness that grow by it; see Ezekiel 47:1. This is referred to the times of the Messiah, and the resurrection, by the ancient Jews (f). (e) "plantati", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, &c. (f) Zohar in Leviticus 7. 1.

They shall still bring forth fruit in old age,.... Being thus planted and watered, they shall not only bring forth the fruits of righteousness, but shall continue, and go on to do so, and even when they are grown old; contrary to all other trees, which, when old, cease bearing fruit; but so do not the righteous; grace is often in the greatest vigour when nature is decayed; witness Abraham, Job, David, Zachariah, and Elisabeth, and good old Simeon, who went to the grave like shocks of corn, fully ripe: they shall be fat and flourishing; or "green", full of sap and moisture, abound with green leaves and precious fruit; or, in other words, abound in grace, and be fruitful in every good work: being ingrafted into the true olive, the church of God, they partake of the root and fatness of it; having a place in the house of the Lord, they are satisfied with the goodness and fatness thereof, and are made to drink of the river of divine pleasure; and being in the courts of the Lord, where a feast of fat things is provided for them, they eat and feed, and so thrive and flourish; the allusion is to fat and flourishing palm trees (g). (g) "Praeferat Herodis palmetis pinguibus----". Horat. Ep. l. 2. Ep. 2. v. 148.

To show that the Lord is upright,.... Or righteous, that is, faithful; as he is in his counsels, covenant, and promises, which he makes good by causing his people to grow and flourish, and become fruitful; by carrying on the work of grace upon their souls, and by preserving them to the end safe to his kingdom and glory; by all which it appears that he does not and will not suffer his faithfulness to fail: the Targum is, "that the inhabitants of the earth may show, &c.'' he is my Rock; the psalmist sets his seal to the truth of God's faithfulness, firmness, and constancy, calling him a Rock for his strength and stability, and claiming his interest in him; declaring he found him to be so by experience, even the Rock whose work is perfect; who always completes what he undertakes, and finishes what he begins, and will not forsake the work of his own hands: just and right is he; the Rock of ages, that remains firm, steadfast, and unalterable in all generations: and there is no unrighteousness in him; as not in his sovereign acts of grace, so neither in his providential dispensations, either towards good men or bad men; not in suffering the wicked to prosper, as in Psalm 92:7, and the righteous to be afflicted; nor in punishing bad men here, or hereafter; nor in justifying sinners by the righteousness of his Son, and giving them the crown of righteousness at the last day: all his proceedings are in the most just and equitable manner; see Romans 9:14.

4. thy work —that is, of providence ( Ps 90:16 , 17 ).

5. great … works —correspond to deep or vast thoughts ( Ps 40:5 ; Ro 11:23 ).

9, 10. A further contrast with the wicked, in the lot of the righteous, safety and triumph.

15. and they thus declare God's glory as their strong and righteous ruler.

Next to the being of God there is nothing that we are more concerned to believe and consider than God's dominion, that Jehovah is God, and that this God reigns (Psa 93:1), not only that he is King of right, and is the owner and proprietor of all persons and things, but that he is King in fact, and does direct and dispose of all the creatures and all their actions according to the counsel of his own will. This is celebrated here, and in many other psalms: The Lord reigns. It is the song of the gospel church, of the glorified church (Rev 19:6), Hallelujah; the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Here we are told how he reigns. I. The Lord reigns gloriously: He is clothed with majesty. The majesty of earthly princes, compared with God's terrible majesty, is but like the glimmerings of a glow-worm compared with the brightness of the sun when he goes forth in his strength. Are the enemies of God's kingdom great and formidable? Yet let us not fear them, for God's majesty will eclipse theirs. II. He reigns powerfully. He is not only clothed with majesty, as a prince in his court, but he is clothed with strength, as a general in the camp. He has wherewithal to support his greatness and to make it truly formidable. See him not only clad in robes, but clad in armour. Both strength and honour are his clothing. He can do every thing, and with him nothing is impossible. 1. With this power he has girded himself; it is not derived from any other, nor does the executing of it depend upon any other, but he has it of himself and with it does whatsoever he pleases. Let us not fear the power of man, which is borrowed and bounded, but fear him who has power to kill and cast into hell. 2. To this power it is owing that the world stands to this day. The world also is established; it was so at first, by the creating power of God, when he founded it upon the seas; it is so still, by that providence which upholds all things and is a continued creation; it is so established that though he has hanged the earth upon nothing (Job 26:7) yet it cannot be moved; all things continue to this day, according to his ordinance. Note, The preserving of the powers of nature and the course of nature is what the God of nature must have the glory of; and we who have the benefit thereof daily are very careless and ungrateful if we give him not the glory of it. Though God clothes himself with majesty, yet he condescends to take care of this lower world and to settle its affairs; and, if he established the world, much more will he establish his church, that it cannot be moved. III. He reigns eternally (Psa 93:2): Thy throne is established of old. 1. God's right to rule the world is founded in his making it; he that gave being to it, no doubt, may give law to it, and so his title to the government is incontestable: Thy throne is established; it is a title without a flaw in it. And it is ancient: it is established of old, from the beginning of time, before any other rule, principality, or power was erected, as it will continue when all other rule, principality, and power shall be put down, Co1 15:24. 2. The whole administration of his government was settled in his eternal counsels before all worlds; for he does all according to the purpose which he purposed in himself; The chariots of Providence came down from between the mountains of brass, from those decrees which are fixed as the everlasting mountains (Zac 6:1): Thou art from everlasting, and therefore thy throne is established of old; because God himself was from everlasting, his throne and all the determinations of it were so too; for in an eternal mind there could not but be eternal thoughts. IV. He reigns triumphantly, Psa 93:3, Psa 93:4. We have here, 1. A threatening storm supposed: The floods have lifted up, O Lord! (to God himself the remonstrance is made) the floods have lifted up their voice, which speaks terror; nay, they have lifted up their waves, which speaks real danger. It alludes to a tempestuous sea, such as the wicked are compared to, Isa 57:20. The heathen rage (Psa 2:1) and think to ruin the church, to overwhelm it like a deluge, to sink it like a ship at sea. The church is said to be tossed with tempests (Isa 54:11), and the floods of ungodly men make the saints afraid, Psa 18:4. We may apply it to the tumults that are sometimes in our own bosoms, through prevailing passions and frights, which put the soul into disorder, and are ready to overthrow its graces and comforts; but, if the Lord reign there, even the winds and seas shall obey him. 2. An immovable anchor cast in this storm (Psa 93:4): The Lord himself is mightier. Let this keep our minds fixed, (1.) That God is on high, above them, which denotes his safety (they cannot reach him, Psa 29:10) and his sovereignty; they are ruled by him, they are overruled, and, wherein they rebel, overcome, Exo 18:11. (2.) That he is mightier, does more wondrous things than the noise of many waters; they cannot disturb his rest or rule; they cannot defeat his designs and purposes. Observe, The power of the church's enemies is but as the noise of many waters; there is more of sound than substance in it. Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise, Jer 46:17. The church's friends are commonly more frightened than hurt. God is mightier than this noise; he is mighty to preserve his people's interests from being ruined by these many waters and his people's spirits from being terrified by the noise of them. He can, when he pleases, command peace to the church (Psa 65:7), peace in the soul, Isa 26:3. Note, The unlimited sovereignty and irresistible power of the great Jehovah are very encouraging to the people of God, in reference to all the noises and hurries they meet with in this world, Psa 46:1, Psa 46:2. V. He reigns in truth and holiness, Psa 93:5. 1. All his promises are inviolably faithful: Thy testimonies are very sure. As God is able to protect his church, so he is true to the promises he has made of its safety and victory. His word is passed, and all the saints may rely upon it. Whatever was foretold concerning the kingdom of the Messiah would certainly have its accomplishment in due time. Those testimonies upon which the faith and hope of the Old Testament saints were built were very sure, and would not fail them. 2. All his people ought to be conscientiously pure: Holiness becomes thy house, O Lord! for ever. God's church is his house; it is a holy house, cleansed from sin, consecrated by God, and employed in his service. The holiness of it is its beauty (nothing better becomes the saints than conformity to God's image and an entire devotedness to his honour), and it is its strength and safety; it is the holiness of God's house that secures it against the many waters and their noise. Where there is purity there shall be peace. Fashions change, and that which is becoming at one time is not so at another; but holiness always becomes God's house and family, and those who belong to it; it is perpetually decent; and nothing so ill becomes the worshippers of the holy God as unholiness.

Psalm 93:1-2 1. Jehovah hath reigned, he hath clothed himself with majesty: [1] Jehovah hath clothed himself with strength, he hath girded himself: [2] he hath also established the world, it shall not be moved. 2. Thy throne is stable; [3] from then, from everlasting art thou. 1 Jehovah hath reigned We here see what I have lately adverted to, that in the power of God there is exhibited to us matter of confidence; for our not investing God with the power which belongs to him, as we ought to do, and thus wickedly despoiling him of his authority, is the source of that fear and trembling which we very often experience. This, it is true, we dare not do openly, but were we well persuaded of his invincible power, that would be to us an invincible support against all the assaults of temptation. All admit in word what the prophet here teaches, That God reigns; but how few are there who oppose this shield to the hostile powers of the world, as it becomes them to do, that they may fear nothing however terrible? In this then consists the glory of God, that he governs mankind according to his will. It is said that he clothes himself with majesty and strength; not that we ought to imagine that there is any thing in him which is derived from another, but it is intended by the effect and indubitable experience to show his wisdom and righteousness in the government of mankind. The Psalmist proves that God will not neglect or abandon the world, from the fact that he created it. A simple survey of the world should of itself suffice to attest a Divine Providence. The heavens revolve daily, and, immense as is their fabric, and inconceivable the rapidity of their revolutions, we experience no concussion -- no disturbance in the harmony of their motion. The sun, though varying its course every diurnal revolution, returns annually to the same point. The planets, in all their wanderings, maintain their respective positions. How could the earth hang suspended in the air were it not upheld by God's hand? By what means could it maintain itself unmoved, while the heavens above are in constant rapid motion, did not its Divine Maker fix and establish it? Accordingly the particle 'ph, aph, denoting emphasis, is introduced -- Yea, he hath established it. 2 Thy throne is stable Some read, is prepared, and this agrees well with the context. provided we take the two clauses as one sentence, meaning -- O Lord, as thou art from eternity, even so thy throne is erected or prepared from that time For the sense which some have attached to the words, as if they contained a simple assertion of God's eternity, is poor; and the Psalmist evidently intends to say that as God is eternal in essence, so he has always been invested with power and majesty. The term throne signifies, by the figure synecdoche, righteousness, and office or power of government; it being customary to transfer such images taken from men to God, in accommodation to our infirmity. [4] By this ascription of praise the Psalmist effectually disposes of all the absurd ideas which have been broached, tending to deny or disparage the power of God, and declares, upon the matter, that God may sooner cease to be, than to sit upon his throne in the government of this world. Footnotes: [1] Horsley translates, -- "Jehovah is King, Jehovah is gorgeously arrayed." And, on the second line, he has the following note: -- "The construction of the original is doubtful, though the sense be obvious. The text may be expounded in either of these two ways; yhvh (Jehovah) lvs (hath put on) g'vt lvs (majesty of dress;) or, g'vt lvs (majesty of dress) [is] lvs (the dress) yhvh (of Jehovah.)" [2] See [2]volume 2, page 455, note 2. Bishop Lowth supposes that here, as well as in that passage, there is an allusion to the precious and magnificent ornaments of the priests' attire. "Such," says he, "was the gracefulness, such the magnificence of the sacerdotal vestments, especially those of the High Priest; so adapted were they, as Moses says, (Exodus 28:2,) to the expression of glory and beauty, that to those who were impressed with an equal opinion of the sanctity of the wearer, nothing could possibly appear more venerable and sublime. To these, therefore, we find frequent allusions in the Hebrew poets, when they have occasion to describe extraordinary beauty or comeliness, or to delineate the perfect form of supreme Majesty. The elegant Isaiah (Isaiah 61:10) has a most beautiful idea of this kind when he describes, in his own peculiar manner, (that is, most magnificently,) the exultation and glory of the Church, after its triumphal restoration. Pursuing the allusion, he decorates her with the vestments of salvation, and clothes her in a robe of righteousness. He afterwards compares the Church to a bridegroom dressed for the marriage, to which comparison incredible dignity is added by the word Ikohen, a metaphor plainly taken from the apparel of the priests, the force of which, therefore, no modern language can express. No imagery, indeed, which the Hebrew writers could employ, was equally adapted with this to the display (as far as the human powers can conceive or depict the subject) of the infinite majesty of God, Jehovah' is therefore introduced by the Psalmist as clothed with glory and with strength,' (Psalm 93:1,) he is girded with power,' (Psalm 65:7;) which are the very terms appropriated to the describing of the dress and ornaments of the priests." -- Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews, volume 1, pages 174, 175. [3] "Ou, prepare." -- Fr. marg. "Or, prepared." [4] "Selon que ces similitudes-ci prinses des hommes ont de coustume d'estre appropriees a Dieu, pour le regard et la portee de nostre infirmite." -- Fr.

Psalm 93:3-5 3. The floods have lifted up, O Jehovah! the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods shall lift up their waves. 4. The waves [5] of the sea are terrible, by reason of the noise of great waters, Jehovah is terrible above. 5. Thy testimonies are singularly true: holiness is the glory of thy house, O Jehovah! for length of days. [6] 3 The floods have lifted up, O Jehovah! Various meanings have been attached to this verse. Some think there is an allusion to the violent assaults made upon the Church by her enemies, and the goodness of God seen in restraining them. [7] Others are of opinion that the words should be taken literally, and not figuratively, in this sense -- Though the noise of many waters be terrible, and the waves of the sea more fearful still, God is more terrible than all. I would not be inclined to insist too nicely upon any comparison that may have been intended. I have no doubt the Psalmist sets forth the power of God by adducing one brief illustration out of many which might have been given, [8] Intimating that we need not go farther for a striking instance of Divine power -- one that may impress us with an idea of his tremendous majesty -- than to the floods of waters, and agitations of the ocean; as in Psalm 29:4, the mighty voice of God is said to be in the thunder. God manifests his power in the sound of the floods, and in the tempestuous waves of the sea, in a way calculated to excite our reverential awe. Should it be thought that there is a comparison intended, then the latter clause of the verse must be understood as added, with this meaning, That all the terror of the objects mentioned is as nothing when we come to consider the majesty of God himself, such as he is in heaven. There is still another sense which may be extracted from the words, That though the world may to appearance be shaken with violent commotions, this argues no defect in the government of God, since he can control them at once by his dreadful power. 5 Thy testimonies [9] are singularly true As yet the Psalmist has insisted upon the excellency of God in the work of creation, and the providential government of the world. Now he speaks of his distinguishing goodness to his chosen people, in making known to them the doctrine which bringeth salvation. He begins by commending the absolute trust-worthiness and truthfulness of the law of God. This being a treasure which was not extended to all nations promiscuously, he adds immediately that the house of God would be adorned with a glory which should last for ever. The Divine goodness is displayed in every part of the world, but the Psalmist justly considers it as of all others the most inestimable blessing, that God should have deposited in his Church the covenant of eternal life, and made his glory principally to shine out of it. Some translate the Hebrew word n'vh, na?vah, desirable, [10] as if the Psalmist had said that the adorning of the temple was precious; but the grammatical construction will not admit of this. By length of days is meant perpetual succession, [11] and to this we find Isaiah referring in striking terms, that the Divine truth might be preserved in faithful custody through successive ages. "Behold, I have put my word in thy mouth, in the mouth of thy seed, and of thy seed's seed," (Isaiah 59:21.) Footnotes: [5] The Hebrew word msvry, mishberey, here used for waves, means "waves" that "beat" against the shore or each other, and so are "broken," -- "breakers." Accordingly, Mant translates, "Strong the breakers tossing high." Horsley gives a similar version. He reads the third and fourth verses thus, -- 3. "The floods, O Jehovah! Raised The floods raised their voice; The floods lifted up their waves, With the sound of many waters. 4. Mighty are the breakers of the seal; Mighty on High is Jehovah!" As to the fourth line, "With the sound of many waters," he observes, "This is the first line of the fourth, but should be joined to the third verse. And are not the floods here mentioned, the fluids of the indigested chaos, in wild irregular agitation, before the Creator had reduced it to form and order? Or rather, may they not be mystical, -- the tumults of the rebellious people?" [6] "Domui tuae decus, sanctitas Jehovah in longitudinum dierum." -- Lat. The translation in the French version is different, -- "A ta maison est donc magnificence: la sainctete du Seigneur est pour un long temps." "To thy house then there is glory: the holiness of the Lord is for a length of time." In the former version, holiness is represented to be the true glory and ornament of God's house; in the latter, it is described as the attribute of God. [7] Dr Morison, after stating the opinion of Mudge, who thinks that this psalm was composed on occasion of some violent inundation, which threatened a general confusion to the world, adds, "It is more probable, perhaps, that the floods spoken of are entirely figurative; and that they represent in Eastern phrase, those powerful enemies by whom the peace of David and the ancient Church was so often disturbed. But though the floods were lifted high, and threatened destruction to those who were within their reach, yet Jehovah was seen, as it were, riding on their most tempestuous billows, and amidst their mightiest tumult, his throne was unshaken and his kingdom unmoved." In support of this view he refers to other passages of Scripture, as Isaiah 8:7, 8; 17:12, 13; and Job 46:7, 8, [sic] where the confederated enemies of God's Church are compared to the tempestuous waves of the mighty ocean, which roll one after another with resistless fury upon the storm-tossed bark. [8] "Non dubito quin Propheta quasi per hypotyposin Dei potentiam hic nobis exprimat." -- Lat. "Comme par une demonstration." -- Fr. Hypotyposis means strictly the first rough sketch of a picture. [9] "The testimonies of God, when taken generally, are the truths which he has testified or declared, inclusive not only of moral precepts, but of gracious and unchangeable promises. The combined result of which is, to impress on the minds of men the weighty consideration, that those who trust in the mercy of God must not, in a lower degree, venerate and adore his sanctity in all their converse with him." -- Walford. [10] "Quidam, n'vh, pro desiderabili accipiunt: acsi dixisset propheta, Templi decus esse pretiosum," etc. -- Lat. The French version follows this exactly. But the sentence is unsatisfactory; and there would seem to be some mistake, or omission, in the original text. If the Hebrew word referred to be rendered desirable, then when joined to qds, the clause would read, holiness is desirable, or becoming, to thy house, etc. -- and not the adorning of thy house is desirable, or precious [11] "Holiness becometh thine house -- for ever,' l'rk ymym, le-orec yamim, for length of days:' during the whole lapse of time; till the sun and moon shall be no more." -- Dr Adam Clarke

Ps 93:1-5 . This and the six following Psalms were applied by the Jews to the times of the Messiah. The theme is God's supremacy in creation and providence. 1. God is described as a King entering on His reign, and, for robes of royalty, investing Himself with the glorious attributes of His nature. The result of His thus reigning is the durability of the world.

5. While His power inspires dread, His revealed will should secure our confidence (compare Ps 19:7 ; 25:10 ), and thus fear and love combined, producing all holy emotions, should distinguish the worship we offer in His house, both earthly and heavenly.

2. “The Lord reigneth, He is clothed with beauty; the Lord is clothed with strength, and is girded” (ver. 1). We see that He hath clothed Himself with two things: beauty and strength. But why? That He might found the earth. So it followeth, “He hath made the round world so sure, that it cannot be moved.” Whence hath He made it so sure? Because He hath clothed Himself in beauty. He would not make it so sure, if He put on beauty only, and not strength also. Why therefore beauty, why strength? For He hath said both. Ye know, brethren, that when our Lord had come in the flesh, of those to whom He preached the Gospel, He pleased some, and displeased others. For the tongues of the Jews were divided against one another: “Some said, He is a good Man; others said, Nay, but He deceiveth the people.” John vii. 12. 3. Perhaps we should enquire respecting this word also, why he said, “He is girded.” Girding signifieth work: for every man then girdeth himself, when he is about to work. But wherefore did he use the word præcinctus, instead of cinctus? For he saith in another Psalm, Ps. xlv. 3. John xiii. 4–15. 4. …“ For He hath made the round world sure, which cannot be moved.”…What then is the round world, “which cannot be moved”? This He would not mention specially, if there were not also a round world that can be moved. There is a round world that shall not be moved. There is a round world that shall be moved. For the good who are stedfast in the faith are the round world: that no man may say, As the Donatists. 2 Tim. ii. 17–19.

5. “Thy throne is established from thence, O Lord” (ver. 2). What is, “from thence”? From that time. As if he said, What is the throne of God? Where doth God sit? In His Saints. Dost thou wish to be the throne of God? Prepare a place in thy heart where He may sit. What is the throne of God, except where God dwelleth? Where doth God dwell, except in His temple? What is His temple? Is it surrounded with walls? Far from it. Perhaps this world is His temple, because it is very great, and a thing worthy to contain God. It contains not Him by whom it was made. And wherein is He contained? In the quiet soul, in the righteous soul: that is it that containeth Him.…He who said, “Before Abraham was, I am:” John viii. 58. Luke ii. 40, 52.

6. “The floods lift up their voices” (ver. 3). What are these floods, which have lift up their voices? We heard them not: neither when our Lord was born, did we hear rivers speak, nor when He was baptized, nor when He suffered; we heard not that rivers did speak. Read the Gospel, ye find not that rivers spoke. It is not enough that they spoke: “They have lift up their voice:” they have not only spoken, but bravely, mightily, in a lofty voice. What are those rivers which have spoken?…The Spirit itself was a mighty river, whence many rivers were filled. Of that river the Psalmist saith in another passage, “The rivers of the flood thereof shall make glad the city of God.” Ps. xlvi. 4. Matt. xxvi. 69–74. Acts iv. 24. mighty the persecutions; but see what followeth: “but yet the Lord, who dwelleth on high, is mightier.” Let therefore the sea restrain itself, and sometime become calmed; let peace be granted by Christians. The sea was disturbed, the vessel was tossed; the vessel is the Church: the sea, the world. The Lord came, He walked over the sea, and calmed the waves. How did the Lord walk over the sea? Above the heads of those mighty foaming waves. Principalities and kings believed; they were subdued unto Christ. Let us not therefore be frightened; because “the Lord, who dwelleth on high, is mightier.”

7. “Thy testimonies, O Lord, are very surely believed” (ver. 5). The Lord, who dwelleth on high, is mightier than the mighty overhangings of the sea. “Thy testimonies are very surely believed.” “Thy testimonies,” because He had said beforehand, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation.”…He added, “but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John xvi. 33. Ps. xcvi. 10.

The Lord reigneth,.... The King Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true Jehovah. God over all, the Lord God omnipotent: he has reigned, he was set up as King from everlasting; he reigned throughout the whole Old Testament dispensation; he was promised, and prophesied of, as a King; he came as such, in human nature, into the world, though his kingdom was not with observation; when he ascended to heaven, he was made or declared Lord and Christ, and was crowned with glory and honour; he now reigns in the hearts of his people, by his Spirit and grace; and, ere long, he will take to himself his great power, and reign more manifestly; when the kingdoms of this world shall become his, and he shall be King over all the earth; and this his government will be still more apparent when he shall come in person, and reign with his saints on earth a thousand years; and, after that, for ever and ever, in heaven: he is clothed with majesty; with all the regalia and ensigns of royalty; seated on a throne of glory, with a crown of pure gold on his head, a sceptre of righteousness in his hand, and arrayed with robes of honour and majesty; so that his appearance at his kingdom will be very splendid, Psalm 104:1, the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself; as he was, when he came here on earth, travelling in the greatness of his strength, and mighty to save; bearing the sins of his people, conflicting with and spoiling principalities and powers, and obtaining eternal redemption; and which also appeared in carrying the Gospel into the Gentile world, and succeeding it, against all the opposition made unto it; and making his way into the hearts of sinners at conversion, binding the strong man armed, and dispossessing him, and taking his place; in strengthening them with strength in the inward man, against him and all enemies; and keeping them by his power, through faith, unto salvation: and which will be further manifest in the destruction of antichrist, and in the ruin of all the antichristian states, which will make way for his spiritual reign; and especially this will be seen, at his personal coming, by raising the dead in Christ, causing the heavens and earth to pass away, and making new ones; and binding Satan for a thousand years, that he may give no disturbance to his subjects during that time: the world also is established, that it cannot be moved; the world to come, of which Christ is the Father; that which is not put into subjection to angels, Isaiah 9:6, the Gospel dispensation, the church state in it; which, though it has been unsettled, the church has been tossed about with tempests, and has been moved from place to place, and obliged to fly into the wilderness; yet, in the latter day, it will be established on the top of the mountains: this is one of the glorious things that are spoken of it, and for the accomplishment of which we should earnestly pray, and give the Lord no rest until it is; after which it shall never be moved again; it shall be a tabernacle that shall never be taken down; there will be no enemies to attack it; all will be vanquished and destroyed; the beast, the false prophet, and the old serpent the devil, Psalm 87:3. (a) T. Bab. Roshhashanah, fol. 31. 1. & Tamid, fol. 33. 2.

Thy throne is established of old,.... Or "prepared from eternity" (b); Christ was set up and anointed as King from everlasting; he had a kingdom appointed and prepared for him so early; and his throne, which is prepared in the heavens, is an established one; it is for ever and ever; his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; of his government, and the increase of it, there is no end: thou art from everlasting; as a divine Person, as God, and the Son of God; or he could not have been anointed unto or invested with the kingly office so early; nor have had a glory with his Father before the world began: his eternal existence, as God, accounts for the establishment of his throne of old, without which it could not be. (b) "paratum", Pagninus, Montanus; "a principio", Targum; "ab antiquo", Syr. "ab aeterno", Gejerus; so Ainsworth.

The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice,.... The Targum adds, "in a song,'' taking the words in a good sense; and so some of the ancients, as Jerome particularly, understood them of the apostles and their ministrations; who lifted up their voice like a trumpet, which went into all the world, and unto the ends of the earth; and who came with the fulness of the gifts and graces of the Spirit; and were attended with a force and power which bore down all before them: but rather by "the floods" are meant the enemies of Christ, his kingdom, and interest; and by their "lifting up their voice", the opposition made by them thereunto; see Isaiah 8:7, this was fulfilled in the Jews and Gentiles, who raged, like foaming waves of the sea, against Christ, and lifted up their voices to have him crucified; in the Roman emperors, and in the ten persecutions under them; in those floods of errors and heresies, which the dragon has cast out of his mouth to devour the church of Christ, against which the Spirit of the Lord has lifted up a standard in all ages; in the antichristian kingdoms, compared to many waters, on which the whore of Rome is said to sit, Revelation 17:1 and especially in antichrist himself, who has opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, his tabernacle, and they that dwell therein; and will be further fulfilled in the last persecution and slaying of the witnesses, and in the Gog and Magog army, which shall encompass the beloved city and camp of the saints. Kimchi interprets it of Gog and Magog, and of the kings that shall be gathered together to fight against Jerusalem: the floods lift up their waves; with great strength, making a great noise, and threatening with ruin and destruction, as before.

The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters,.... Christ is the most High; he is God over all, higher than the highest; he is, as King, higher than the kings of the earth; he is in the highest heavens, and higher than they; he is highly exalted, as Mediator, at the right hand of God: he is the mighty God, and mighty Saviour; yea, he is Almighty, and therefore mightier than all his enemies, and the noise they make, and the force they use; he is stronger than the strong man armed; than Satan, and all his principalities and powers; than all the persecuting princes and potentates of this world; than antichrist, and all the antichristian states: yea, than "the mighty waves of the sea"; the same are intended as before (c). (c) Vide Homer. Iliad. 21. v. 190, 91. where the same is said of Jove, almost in the same words, and repeated as here.

Thy testimonies are very sure,.... Meaning not the works of God, of nature, and providence, which testify of his power and Godhead, and other perfections of it; rather the word of God, the Scriptures of truth, the law and Gospel; the one being a testimony of his will to be done by men, the other a testimony of his good will to men; which are sure and true, and to be believed; though it seems best of all to understand them of the promises of God, which testify what he will do, or shall be done hereafter, and which are all yea and amen in Christ; and especially those that respect his kingdom and interest, the glory, stability, and eternity of it, things which are the principal subjects of this psalm; all which promises are sure and certain, true and faithful, firm, and to be believed; see Genesis 19:9, holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever; or "unto length of days" (d): holiness is a dress or clothing; though it is not the robe of a justifying righteousness, yet it is an inner garment, which makes the saints all glorious within; it is a very beautiful and becoming dress; it is called "the beauty of holiness", and it is always becoming; it becomes the church and people of God, all that are of the household of God, both now and for evermore; it will never be out of use; it will be more and more in use, both in the spiritual reign of Christ, and in the New Jerusalem church state, and in heaven to all eternity; see Zechariah 14:20. (d) "in longitudinem dierum", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, &c.

2-4. His underived power exceeds the most sublime exhibitions of the most powerful objects in nature ( Ps 89:9 ).