Psalm 92

Celebrant: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God
People: It is right to give him thanks and praise

This call and response that we participate in every Sunday echoes the words of Psalm 92. Fittingly, this psalm is titled “A Song for the Sabbath,” yet interestingly it entreats the hearer to give thanks and sing praises to Yahweh for the WORKS he has done. We can rest in peace on the Sabbath because he is the one whose work is complete!

At the beginning of this psalm, the Psalmist highlights two attributes of God’s character which are deserving of praise: “to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night” (v. 2). By declaring that he abounds in steadfast love we remind ourselves and one another that he will cling to us even when we stray away. He remains our God even when we struggle to remain his people. Similarly, by being faithful the Lord is true to us even when we fail. His works always make up for our deficits. While steadfast love and faithfulness are only a portion of the characteristics that God announced about himself to Moses in Exodus 34, they are meant to remind us of his whole gracious character. The entirety of his works should create such joy in our hearts that we cannot help but praise!

In verses 5-9, the Psalmist critiques the foolishness of rejecting the Lord’s work. All fools, evildoers, and wicked people try to take matters into their own hands for their gain. Though they may succeed for a little while, the Psalmist reminds his audience that their prosperity is nothing more than a fleeting illusion that the Lord will unravel when he sees fit. To the contrary, the best wisdom is to be planted in the praises of God. By taking root in the worship of our God, by gathering weekly to hear his Word and proclaim his praise, we are constantly fed and grown through the witness of his provision. Our faith is made strong through encountering his loving faithfulness until we are held firm and secure like flourishing trees (vv. 12-15).

The Israelites had plenty to praise God for: his creation and preservation of all things, his calling of Abraham to be a father to the nations and to bring salvation to the broken world, his love and care for Israel throughout the reign of David. We have all of this as the backdrop of our praises, but we also have the blessing of knowing the completion of God’s promise to Abraham. We see how Abraham is the father of the nations because he is the ancestor of Jesus, the one true savior who took on the sins of all the world. We see how the love that Yahweh had for Israel extends to all of humanity and that God is a God of reconciliation and redemption. This is why we boldly say “it is right to give him thanks and praise” in preparation for the Lord’s Supper. We are proclaiming Jesus Christ as the fulfilment of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness, as the one who defeated the powers of sin and death and offered us new life. And as such, we come to the table to receive the body and the blood of Christ, expectantly seeking to be firmly rooted and planted in his body, the Church, that we might bear his fruit! Praise God!

-Michael and Tori Davis