The Goodness Of Giving Thanks To The Lord

Title:  The goodness of giving thanks to the LORD

Scripture Reading:  Psalms 92

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High:

² To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,

³ Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.

⁴ For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

⁵ O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.

⁶ A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.

⁷ When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:

⁸ But thou, Lord, art most high for evermore.

⁹ For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.

¹⁰ But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.

¹¹ Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me.

¹² The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

¹³ Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.

¹⁴ They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;

¹⁵ To shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Psalms 90 – God and Man: that God, the ever living and only living God, is eternal and very strong. Man is very stupid to say there is no God. Man, contrary to God, is transitory, not lasting. 

Psalms 91 – Sovereign Security. If we cleave and know our God, there is security, like a trapeze artist can perform multiple turns knowing that if he falls, there is a safety net below.

Psalms 92 – The goodness of giving thanks to the LORD.

This psalm is titled ‘A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath Day.’ Derek Kidner observed: ‘This song for the Sabbath is proof enough, that the Old Testament Sabbath was a day not only for rest but for corporate worship; a holy convocation, and, intended to be a delight rather than a burden

For all Christians, Sunday is the Lord’s Day, a special day to gather together with other like-minded believers to worship God and honor Christ.  While the Old Testament saints met for public worship on the Sabbath, the last day of the week, Christians in the New Testament times assembled to offer public praise to God on the first day of the week.

What can we learn from this whole Psalm?

1. The Psalm emphasizes PRAISE

Psalms 92:1-4, ‘It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night.  Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound. For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

Giving thanks to God is more than right; it is also good.

Ordinary services of our churches, whether the form is liturgical or what we designate free, we need to take note that however small it is, a part of them is devoted to giving of thanks. Singing is a valid and wonderful expression of gratitude to God.

Notice the recurring references to music.  This would refer to worship in the temple on a feast day. Notice the 4 verbs used:

1. Give thanks.
2. Sing praises.
3. Make glad.
4. Sing for joy.

Musical instruments are defined and used in this Sabbath Psalm:

1. Ten-stringed lute
2. Harp
3. Lyre

This Sabbath psalm begins with a simple yet profound statement:  It is a good thing to give thanks to Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel and the Maker of Heaven and Earth. 

There are no prayer requests in this Psalms but just statement to the works of God.

It focuses on two aspects of God:

• His character
• His works:

1. Creation
2. Justice
3. Blessings

This psalm begins with three declarations: give thanks, sing praises and declare.

The declaration involves:

A. YHWH’s lovingkindness

B. YHWH’s faithfulness

C. YHWH’s uprightness

D. YHWH’s stability and strength (literally He is my rock)

E. YHWH’s perfect character

The phrase, ‘morning… night’is parallel and is idiomatic for ‘always.

The reason for the praise is in verse 92:4 ‘what you have done.’  YHWH’s work is

A. The destruction of the wicked.

B. The blessings of the righteous.

2. The Psalm focuses on YHWH’S ACTIONS TOWARDS THE BRUTISH MAN

Psalms 91:5-9 says, ‘O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this. When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever: But thou, Lord, art most high for evermore. For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.’

Psalms 92:6 mentions a ‘brutish man.’ In another translation it is a ‘senseless man.’ The New Scofield Reference Bible says, ‘A stupid man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand this.’ All these 4 adjectives describe a man that does not understand God’s loving-kindness or faithfulness.

This second point focuses on YHWH’s activity towards

1. A senseless man.
2. A stupid man.
3. The wicked.
4. He who does iniquity
5. YWHH’s enemies

They are characterized as:

1. Having no knowledge
2. Flourishing in this fallen world.
3. Ultimately and permanently being destroyed (this is what the senseless and stupid do not understand.)

Here, Man is pictured as brutish. 

So, who will really prosper one day?  Definitely not the brutish man. I also would like to say that you can call yourself a Christian and yet be a brutish man: senseless like an animal, a stupid man like a fool that cannot understand. To this person, to be called a Christian is just a name and no more than that.

Throughout the Bible the question of the wicked who prosper haunts us. 

It is only in the presence of God that this issue can be dealt with adequately.

The brutish man is actually compared to God.

Notice the repetition; ‘For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.’ ‘This emphatic repeated clause almost becomes a curse.  It says, ‘for behold your enemies shall be scattered.’  They will be separated from both God and His people. 

3. The Psalm focuses on YHWH’S ACTIONS TOWARDS THE RIGHTEOUS MAN

Psalms 92:10-15 says, ‘But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil. Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing. To shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.’

This psalm concludes with an affirmation of the abundant blessing that rests upon the righteous who praise God. Finally, we see YHWH’s actions towards the righteous

Notice YHWH’s activities on behalf of the righteous:

1. Exalted his horn.
2. Anointed with fresh oil. “Fresh oil, in such a context, speaks eloquently of a renewed anointing…or consecration, to serve God. This meaning possibly comes form an Arabic root, ‘to moisten.’ Some bible commentator calls it fine oil.
3. God’s judgment upon his enemies.
4. Would flourish like the palm tree.
5. Would grow like the Cedar.
6. Planted in YHWH’s temple.
7. Would flourish in YHWH’s courts.
8. Would yield fruit in old age.
9. Full of sap and very green
10. Know YHWH is his rock and He is perfectly just.

The psalmist uses a lot of imagery to convey the point that God will give strength, stability and longevity to those who are His.