PSALM 92

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath day. [It is] good to give thanks to the LORD, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; 2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, And Your faithfulness every night, 3 On an instrument of ten strings, On the lute, And on the harp, With harmonious sound. 4 For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands. 5 O LORD, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep. 6 A senseless man does not know, Nor does a fool understand this. 7 When the wicked spring up like grass, And when all the workers of iniquity flourish, [It is] that they may be destroyed forever. 8 But You, LORD, [are] on high forevermore. 9 For behold, Your enemies, O LORD, For behold, Your enemies shall perish; All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. 10 But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil. 11 My eye also has seen [my desire] on my enemies; My ears hear [my desire] on the wicked Who rise up against me. 12 The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 Those who are planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing, 15 To declare that the LORD is upright; [He is] my rock, and [there is] no unrighteousness in Him.

PSALM 92:1-15

I LOVE SUNDAYS

There is just something about Sundays (I’m kind of grateful this Psalm fell on a Sunday)! I hope you enjoy getting out of bed, getting ready to come to church and worship the Lord with your brothers and sisters in Christ! We need Sunday morning worship! This Psalm talks about the benefits of worshiping the Lord together. 

In the Old Testament the Nation of Israel worshiped the Lord together on SATURDAY, known as the Sabbath. In the New Testament, however, the day of worship for the church became SUNDAY so we could honor the day Jesus rose from the dead. “Now after the Sabbath, as the first [day] of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb” (Matthew 28:1). In the early church, Sunday had come to be known as the LORD’s Day, the day that Jesus had risen from the dead. It was the day that the New Testament Church met to Fellowship and worship the Lord, memorializing His resurrection and celebrating new life in Christ (and the fact that we are a “new creation” – 2 Corinthians 5:17).

“Now on the first [day] of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight”(Acts 20:7).

“On the first [day] of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come” (1 Corinthians 16:2).

“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, (Revelation 1:10).

This time of coming together is a time of corporate remembrance. Throughout the week we are bombarded with information. Sometimes it is information we need to process like a cancer diagnosis, a tragic car wreck, or sudden loss of a loved one. We need to figure out how we feel about it. It’s tragic news that often produces grief. We search for meaning and hopefully turn to the Lord for comfort and strength that may even be beyond our understanding. 

We acknowledge that we are bombarded with messages all week from coworkers, billboards, movies, tv, shows, songs on the radio, politicians, face book, and more. Many of these voices compete against the voice of God in our lives. They tell us to covet: If we just had this car or that truck with that transmission. We need to put in more overtime to afford this or that or pay off our debts. They play on our anxieties through the stress of mounting bills, relational strife with our children, puzzlement over how to help our aging parents, or a quarrel with our spouse. They play to our pride: you deserve a break. They play to our laziness: You need to sleep in. Or maybe they encourage us in the right direction: You can be a godly father or mother to your children! You can love in your actions, not just your words.

Each week all of these voices encourage or discourage us and point us to or away from our purpose in God. We need Sunday to come together and be recentered on what matters most! We need to hear one another singing about the faithfulness of God. We look across the pews and we see those who are facing similar struggles or who have been through them. We sing and we remind each other of the grace and goodness of God. We share in Sunday school lessons, share prayer requests, and absorb the same message from God’s word. We give of what the Lord has entrusted to us to demonstrate we still trust Him to provide for our needs. We are brought to a place of examining our lives and seeking God’s will not just that day, but for everyday in the coming week. It is a moment to recenter and remember who life is all about.

To seek to honor the LORD and rest from our labors, we are confessing that we can’t do it all, we are limited. We rest in the fact that God is not limited. When we close our eyes to sleep he is in control. When we rest for a day from our labors, He is in control. We remember we were put here on this earth not for all the striving, overtime, stress, relational dysfunction… but that we are here to worship Him! We recenter our lives. Without it, we often fall into disarray and pursue the wrong things.

The LORD Is certainly worthy of all of our praise. I hope you are able to meet with the people of God today to sing His praise and share in His word. I hope you are lifted up and encouraged. I hope you are blessed and a blessing to others. I hope you have opportunity to be still and hear from Him today.

PRAYER

Father, Thank you for the church. We are grateful to gather together with saints to praise your name. (What a small taste of heaven this is). Thank you for the diversity of testimonies that will be in the room today as we sing your praise. We all have lived different lives apart from you but have seen your grace displayed to us through Jesus Christ. We are new creations, conformed to the image of your son Jesus Christ, we celebrate your glory and grace today in the resurrection of Jesus. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

I’m reading and blogging the Psalms Through The Summer. I’d love for you to join me. You can find out a little more here.