Holy Bible

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord. Psalm 92:1-3 Good to be thankful W. H. Lewis, D.D. 1. Had we no other motive but our own personal happiness, we should find it "a good thing to be thankful." When we have reviewed the mercies of past years, traced the hand of Providence in all our course from infancy onwards, and seen goodness following us all the way, and then have fallen down before our God, with melting hearts and tender eyes, or have poured forth our feelings in some sacred hymn of praise, have we not at such times known the highest luxury this earth can afford? A friend of mine in travelling, happened to lodge in one of the hotels of a neighbourhood city, and in the middle of the night he heard some one in an adjoining room singing in a low but earnest tone of voice, Addison's hymn, "When all Thy mercies, O my God," etc., the whole of which he went through, evidently supposing that none heard him but his God. He proved to be a governor of one of our Western States, suffering under an incurable disease, of which he soon after died. But what a frame of mind must that have been which poured forth the gushings of a full heart at the midnight hour, and with a consciousness of approaching death, in such a hymn as that. And as there is no grace which so immediately fills the heart with pleasure, so again it would seem as if none might be more easily cherished than thankfulness. We have so much to make us thankful, that it would appear as if none could resist the impulse. And then, in addition to this, the natural heart is apparently more susceptible of this Christian grace than of any other, so that they who show right feeling in nothing else have seemed moved at times to gratitude to God. And though earth has many trials, yet God has given to us, as well as to everything else in nature, a wonderful restoring power, which makes it easy for us to recover a cheerful and thankful spirit. 3. Again, it is a good thing to be thankful, because such a spirit exhibits religion in a beautiful form to others. We have read of instances of great thankfulness in the midst of great privations, and we may have seen them. We may have gone to some wretched abode of poverty, where it seems, that had it been our lot to dwell there, we could discover nothing but occasion to murmur at our hard fate, and we may have heard there expressions of gratitude and acknowledgments of God's goodness that have perfectly amazed us. Have we not gone away in love with such a spirit, and ashamed that we possessed no more of it? 4. "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord," because it is pleasing to Him. It is true that our returns of praise can add nothing to God's glory or happiness, and yet He has declared that "whoso offereth Him thanks and praise, he glorifieth Him." When we confer a favour on a fellow-man we say that we want no thanks for it, meaning thereby that we did not do it for the sake of the thanks; we want not the thanks for our own sake, but as evidence of a right state of heart in him. And for the same reason God loves the returns of gratitude. ( W. H. Lewis, D.D. ) Thankfulness F. Wells. After the return of the Jews from captivity the liturgy of the temple service was rearranged, and this psalm was selected as the Sabbath psalm, and appointed to be sung in the morning service when, on the offering of the first lamb, the wine was poured out as a drink-offering unto the Lord. We must all feel the appropriateness of the selection. What more proper and profitable Sabbath employment than to sing praises unto the name of the Most High? This Sabbath, then, let us raise this Sabbath psalm. By our thanksgiving we shall worship God; through our thanksgiving God will bless us, and we shall prove, in our own experience, "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord." I. THANKFULNESS IS THE BEST ANTIDOTE TO THE EVILS OF LIFE AND LIGHTENS LIFE'S BURDENS. The burdens of life are not equally distributed; but no life is without them. "Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards." The chief difference between us lies here — while one man gets him to his burden and carries it, another frets and murmurs and magnifies it. Now, thankfulness, perhaps more than anything else, helps us to keep our eye fixed upon the brighter side of life. If every night as we retired to rest we added up and recorded the mercies of the day, and started each following morning with the record in our hands, what a transfiguration of our life there soon would be! The gloom around us would be scattered, the trees would seem to clap their hands, the mountains and the hills to rejoice together, and the meadows to break out into song. II. THANKFULNESS QUICKENS SPIRITUAL PERCEPTION AND ENLARGES SPIRITUAL CAPACITY. Take a son who accepts every attention and provision of his mother as a matter of course, regards all that she has done for him as her duty and his due, looks upon all her service as simply fulfilling her obligation to him — what will that son know of his mother's heart? She may make some great sacrifice for him, and he will greedily accept the gift without appreciating the cost at which it is given. But take a child whose tender heart is touched with every token of the mother's thoughtfulness and love, that child will understand something of the mother's heart; as it leaves the gift to fly into its mother's arms, it will feel something of the joy the mother feels in giving, and the mother's love will be more to it than the gift itself. It is precisely so with us in our relation to God — the thankful heart discerns and realizes God. The more we are thankful the more we know God as our Friend and our Father. Our thoughts will be nearer the truth and our hearts will be nearer to God because we accept His blessings with gratitude. And thankfulness enlarges spiritual capacity. There are some attitudes of mind and heart in which God cannot bless us. The thirsty man might as well lower a sealed bottle into the well as a man seek blessing from God with a sealed heart. Let us remember this when we think of unanswered prayers. Now, thankfulness opens the heart to God, and God's blessing fills the open heart as the fresh air rushes through the open window, and the light of heaven fills the unshuttered room. When the heart is thankful for past mercies, new mercies are not far away. III. THANKFULNESS FOSTERS CONFIDENCE AND LOVE. The heart that registers mercy received knows there is mercy to follow. The milestones we reach on the King's highway become guide posts to the Royal City. The ungrateful heart keeps no record of the past, its memory furnishes no evidence of the eternal faithfulness, and every step in life is an untrodden path; but the thankful heart treasures up the record of the past, and travels along as though it had been that way before. That record becomes a guide. With that in our hand we feel no fear, shrink before no difficulty, cringe before no spectre, bow beneath no burden, but trudge along in the confident possession of a strength greater than our own. Soldiers march best to music. They go to face the fatal fire of the musketry, and encounter the keen edge of the sword, but the cheerful and triumphant strain of music quickens their spirit, strengthens their resolve, whets their energy, dissipates their fear, and inspires their courage. Christians live best to praise. It lifts their thoughts from the possibilities of the "awful unknown" and centres them in the faithfulness of their Father. ( F. Wells. ) Thanksgiving -- a good thing T. W. Aveling. I. THE SPIRIT OF THANKFULNESS, AND THE AUDIBLE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MERCIES RECEIVED, ARE GOOD ON THE PART OF THE INDIVIDUAL RECIPIENT THEREOF. II. IT IS A GOOD THING FOR THE CHURCH OF GOD TO GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD, IN OPEN AND SPECIAL ACTS OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT. III. IT IS A GOOD THING FOR A NATION TO GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD, AND ESPECIALLY WHEN DISTINGUISHED NATIONAL MERCIES ARE VOUCHSAFED. ( T. W. Aveling. ) To sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High Praise C. A. Heurtley, D.D. I. THE REASONABLENESS OF PRAISING GOD. It is His due; and we defraud Him of that which He has a just claim to, at our hand, if we hold it back. To have minds furnished with scientific acquirements, or stored with historical information, or replenished with theological doctrine, and yet to fail to confess with adoring praise that God, with whose wonders, whether of science or of providence or of redemption, we are daily conversant — this is to be as like Satan as we well can be. While, on the other hand, devoutly to acknowledge God in His great works, to laud and magnify His holy name more and more, in proportion as our knowledge is enlarged — this is to be like the holy angels, who live in the continual contemplation of His excellencies, and in the adoring acknowledgment of them. II. THE ADVANTAGES WHICH ACCOMPANY THE RIGHT DISCHARGE OF THIS DUTY. 1. It is a most cheering and enlivening occupation. It is impossible for any one to enter into it with all his heart, without having his spirit refreshed and invigorated by the exercise. One cannot imagine a person to be habitually dejected who spends much of his time in it. 2. It is an antidote to our natural selfishness. In many of our duties we have an eye to ourselves, even while our thoughts are directed to God or to our neighbour. In prayer, for instance, this is the case, and even in thanksgiving. But praise, as distinct from thanksgiving, is eminently unselfish: it draws away our thoughts from ourselves, and fixes them exclusively upon God. We adore and praise Him not merely for those of His perfections, of the advantage of which to ourselves we are directly conscious, but for others also — such as His majesty and greatness, His justice, His wisdom, His power, the advantage of which to ourselves is less immediate and less obvious. ( C. A. Heurtley, D.D. ) To show forth Thy lovingkindness in the morning, and Thy faithfulness every night. Psalm 92:2 Morning and evening songs The Jews have for a long while used this psalm in their Sabbath worship; and this, not because there is much if any allusion to Sabbatic rest in it, but because it is fitting that on that day above all others our thoughts should be lifted up from all earthly things to God Himself. It is a psalm of praise, and this should be the Christian's continual exercise. And we should avoid all slovenliness and formalism in our praise; and as before prayer it is well to pause and consider what we are going to ask for, so in praise we should not rush upon it helter-skelter, but engage in it with prepared hearts. Thus the psalmist would have us offer praise; not mere praise, but varied praise, praise with distinct subjects at appointed seasons. Note, then — I. MORNING WORSHIP. "To show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning." There cannot be more suitable time for praise than this. Every morning is a sort of resurrection. We are full of vigour then. Let us give the Lord the bud of the day, its virgin beauty, its unsullied purity. The morning is the choice time. And so is it with the morning of our life. Nothing can happen to you who are young so blessed as to be converted now, while you are young. And the bright morning-like periods of our life — these, too, should be seasons for showing forth God's lovingkindness. We have our darker hours, our more sombre seasons, but when the joy days come, let us always consecrate them by praise to the giver of them. Do not, as some do, who, if they are prospering, make a point of not owning to it. We often whine as if our lives were martyrdoms, and every breath a woe, thus slandering the good Lord. There are bright days like the morning, and in them we ought to render praise. And see what is to be the subject of our praise — God's lovingkindness. Was there ever such a word in any language as this word lovingkindness? It is a duplicate deliciousness. There are within it linked sweetnesses long drawn out. It is a kind of word with which to cast spells which should charm away all fears. And this lovingkindness we are to show forth; we are not to keep it to ourselves. I do not mean by talking of it to every one he meets, casting pearls before swine, as it would be to some men, but by the very way in which he speaks, acts, and looks. A Christian ought to be the most cheerful of men. Let the joy of the Lord be our strength. II. EVENING WORSHIP, — "to show forth Thy faithfulness every night." The evening is the Sabbath of the day, and should be the Lord's. And our subject should be God's faithfulness, for we have had more experience of it. Notice that the text says "every night," the dark, drear, cold nights as well as others. Let the old who are nearing the night of life show forth the Lord's faithfulness. And let us all publish it abroad. If there be any one topic on which Christians should speak, it is this, and they should speak of it bravely, continuously, thankfully and positively. Satan makes a dead set upon it in the minds of many tempted ones, and therefore all the more should you bring the strength of your testimony that God doth not forsake His people. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) Morning and night set to music D. Davies. I. A GENERAL STATEMENT (ver. 1). "To give thanks unto the Lord" — 1. Is in harmony with the original design of creation ( Job 38:7 ). Sin has brought discord with it into the world; but it is supremely a good thing to add to the world's harmonies, and not to its discords. 2. Is the highest expression of human service.(1) It is good for a man when he learns to give, to feel that he has so much of blessing as that he can afford to give out of the fulness that is in him: good for him to forget himself, and to think of some one whom he feels a yearning desire to bless.(2) It is good "to give thanks." A grand thing when man has that delicacy of feeling that enables him to appreciate a blessing, to recognize its source, its value, and in return acknowledge his own indebtedness.(3) Further, it is good "to give thanks unto the Lord." Anything that brings man into contact with God, everything that reciprocates the relationship between man and God, is ennobling. God gives. In thanks I give something back. 3. Imparts joy to the heart of the Lord Himself. All that we know of the heart of God teaches us that He yearns for this response. II. DETAILS. 1. The morning song. To show forth God's "lovingkindness in the morning" is a grand exercise, when the energies of life are refreshed once more; when the morning dew rests upon mind and heart; when everything is vigorous; and when the day's toils have not taken the spring and vivacity out of your spirit. 2. The evening song. "To show forth... Thy faithfulness every night." The faithfulness represents the strong side, the robust aspect, of Divine goodness. It expresses the fidelity of God; His strong adherence to His promise. This represents the more fatherly aspect of His goodness: the power that sustained you in the struggle of the day. ( D. Davies. ) For Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through Thy work: I will triumph in the works of Thy hands . Psalm 92:4-6 Delight in God's works C. Short, M.A. The Hebrew prophets and psalmists, when their minds were in the most exalted and inspired state, saw God in everything; in the mightiest and in the meanest movements of the universe, in all the events of history and in all the incidents of the individual experience. They were all and everywhere the works of God. To them the universe was no self-propelling machine, but a living organism of which God was the ever present soul. 1. Religious people are often afraid of science, and denounce it as an enemy to faith and piety. But what is science, and what is its aim? Its aim is to know and understand God's work in nature. Why should such an aim be construed as antagonistic to religion or detrimental to piety? God has not sent us into the world blindfolded to the wonder and glory of His works, as if He did not mean us to unriddle the secrets of His workmanship. 2. Then there are rich poetic reasons for a closer communion with the Divine works of nature. God has endowed the meanest nature among us with the susceptibility of being pleased and delighted with the scenes of beauty and grandeur with which the world is filled. We were made for very sweet and pure enjoyments, and not only to grind in the mill of our daily work. This must have been partly what the psalmist meant (ver. 4). 3. Then there is the religious motive to a more intimate acquaintance with the works of God. "How great are Thy works, and Thy thoughts are very deep!" The Divine thoughts are embodied and expressed in the Divine works. And if we wish to know God more perfectly, what ideas the Divine Being has been expressing in His creative acts — ideas of beauty, goodness, and power; to know something of the range of the infinite wisdom, and something of the sweep and compass of Almighty power, we must give ourselves with greater energy to the contemplation and study of His works. ( C. Short, M.A. ) Divine workmanship W. Beaumont, D.D. I. THE WORK OF THE LORD. 1. Creation. 2. Providence. 3. Grace. The renovation of the heart of man, the removal of idolatry, the creation of the beauties of holiness, that is the work of God. And it is His chief work, His sublimest achievement. II. SOME REASONS OR GROUNDS ON WHICH A CONTEMPLATION OF THIS WORK OF GRACE IS SO EMINENTLY FITTED TO INSPIRE THE BREASTS OF GOOD MEN WITH SENTIMENTS OF PECULIAR GLADNESS. 1. Because it is a work of such beneficial character and tendency. Wherever you see a sinner converted from the error of his ways, you see the firstfruits of a most glorious state, the scene of a mighty harvest. 2. Because it contains the richest impress of the hand of its Author. 3. Because it is a work so surprising and unexpected. "Eye hath not seen," etc. 4. On account of its permanency. This work shall advance and triumph, till there shall be unbelief nowhere, faith everywhere; hatred nowhere, love everywhere; confusion nowhere, order everywhere; darkness nowhere, light everywhere; Satan nowhere on earth, Christ everywhere. 5. Because of its necessary connection with still higher operations. The work is too much for one world to hold. When it has filled one world it will rush over into another, and fill the recesses of eternity when earth is a cinder and time a story. ( W. Beaumont, D.D. ) The Christian made glad Helps for the Pulpit. I. AN INTERESTING SUBJECT. It is the work of God — 1. To redeem the soul ( John 3:16 ; Psalm 89:19 ; Romans 8:3 ; Romans 5:6-8 ). 2. To regenerate the soul ( Ephesians 2:1 ; 2 Corinthians 5:17 ; John 1:13 ; 1 Peter 1:23 ). 3. To receive the soul to favours and privileges lost by sin ( Ephesians 2:11-13 ; 19-22). 4. To comfort the soul ( Isaiah 40:1, 2 ; 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4 ; Psalm 119:50 ; Romans 15:4 ; Acts 9:31 ). 5. To protect and save His people to the end ( Romans 8:31 ). 6. To glorify the soul ( John 14:2, 3 ; John 17:24 ). II. AN INTERESTING STATEMENT: "Thou hast made me glad through Thy works." This gladness is — 1. Divine ( Psalm 40:1-3 ). 2. The gladness of experience ( Psalm 4:7 ). 3. Social joy ( Malachi 3:16 ). 4. The gladness of faith and hope ( Romans 15:4 ; Hebrews 6:16-19 ; Titus 1:2 ; Titus 2:13 ). III. A JUDICIOUS RESOLUTION: "I will triumph in the work of Thy hands." This implies — 1. Grateful acknowledgment of Divine obligation ( 1 Peter 1:3 ). 2. Intimate acquaintance and rapturous satisfaction with the works of God's hands ( 1 Corinthians 2:2 ; Galatians 6:14 ). 3. Expectation of an ultimate and complete triumph. 4. A determination to proclaim the works of God's hands to others. ( Helps for the Pulpit. ) O Lord, how great are Thy works! Psalm 92:5 Man's admiration and marvel at God's great works A near connection of Sir David Brewster, but not a relative, who in former years often lived in his house, and formed one of the loving watchers by his death-bed, gives this characteristic and striking anecdote: "When we were living in his house at St. Andrew's, he was much occupied with the microscope, and, as was his custom, he used to sit up studying it after the rest of the household had gone to bed. I often crept back into the room on pretence of having letters to write or something to finish, just to watch him. After a little he would forget that I was there, and I have often seen him suddenly throw himself back in his chair, lift up his hands, and exclaim, 'Good God, good God! how marvellous are Thy works.' One Sunday morning I said to him that it had been given to him to show forth much of God's great and marvellous works, and he answered, 'Yes, and I have found them to be great and marvellous; and I have felt them to be His.'" Thy thoughts are very deep The depth of God's thoughts Homilist. I. Out of those thoughts have come all that EVER HAVE BEEN, AND THAT ARE GONE. Who can tell the number of worlds, with all their productions, populations, institutions, that have been and that are no more? They were all once in the thoughts of God. II. Out of those thoughts have come all that ARE AND WILL BE. How vast is this universe! Who can tell the number of worlds and systems, and the myriad creatures of varied species, sentient and insentient, rational and irrational, that belong to them? They all came out of the depths of God's thoughts; the archetypes and germs were all there as in immeasurable seas. Who shall tell what worlds and beings are yet to come? Generations of creatures in all planets may succeed each other as waves that break upon the shore. But all the worlds, systems, and existences that are ever to come, are in THE THOUGHTS OF GOD. How "deep," then, are God's thoughts! ( Homilist. ) A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this . Psalm 92:6 The degradation of man In this psalm we have a contrast between the animal and the spiritual life, the latter exulting in God, uttering His praise, receiving His thoughts, studying His works; the former cleaving to the earth, wallowing in the dust, with no ambition that soars higher than the husks which it eats, or the roof of the sty which it occupies. "A brutish man." It is originally a compound expression — "a brute-man." It is a degrading epithet, and it is employed in common daily life. I. MAN'S NATURE IS VERY CLOSELY ALLIED TO THAT OF THE ANIMAL. It is difficult to define the boundary between instinct and reason. The mental faculties of man and of the animals run in parallel lines to a point high up on the scale, Where the difference begins. Animals serve man, and should be treated justly, considerately, kindly. II. THE DEGRADATION OF MAN TO THE LEVEL OF THE ANIMAL. 1. When he is ruled by appetite, not by conscience. A man will sometimes attempt to justify his avarice, his pride, his vindictiveness, his sensuality by saying that he is only following the lead of passions which God has implanted in him; that the light which "leads astray is light from heaven," that God has created the appetite in his nature. Yes; but God never intended it to rule or lead; He intended it to serve, to be under the control of reason and conscience and religious principle. 2. When he eats and drinks, and does not worship. Training may produce a great change in animals; education may turn the stolid rustic into an intelligent, cultured scholar; but there is something greater than any advantage which education may confer — that is, the capacity of union and communion with God of lifting up the soul to the Most High. And yet there are some who ignore this, who cast this pearl before the swine of evil passions, darken the window that looks heavenwards, nail the shutters over it, so that not a ray of light can reach the spirit; go down, down to the animal, as if there were no God, no worship, no adoration, no gratitude. The altar is in ruins; and the man has become as the brute. 3. Because he is working blindly. Take a man who is bent on acquiring wealth, who sacrifices everything on the altar of Mammon; he is shrewd, quick to take advantage of the favourable breeze, successful, makes his "pile," as they say. Is he working blindly? Yes, blindly; he has never discerned the meaning of what he is doing, he has never appraised the course at its right value, never estimated its bearing, its consequences to his moral nature; he is like a mole, scratching and burrowing in the dust, with no eye for the broad universe, and the light of God that floods it. And there is no thought of the future. He degrades himself to an equality with the brute, forgetting that while the beast "goes downwards to the earth," the spirit of man "goeth upward," and that man shall receive in another state "according to that he hath done in the body, whether it be good or bad." III. THE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS DEGRADATION. 1. He has no eye for the greatest and noblest in life. Just as the eyes and the light, the air and the lungs correspond to each other, so it is with beauty and taste, science and intellect, friends and affection. And there is a spiritual faculty by which we discern spiritual things. The brutish man represses, restrains, stifles this faculty; resists the Spirit of God, who would quicken, direct, enlarge it. 2. He does not, then, value his nature, as God values it. He has degraded himself to a level with the swine; he has no sense of sonship, no feeling of spiritual dignity, he has gone down and down to the mire. Happy is he if he comes to himself, if in a sane moment the animal is cowed, and the angel asserts itself, and the ragged swineherd says, "I will arise and go to my Father." 3. He has no resources in time of suffering and trouble. God is a stranger — he dreads the thought of God — would fain hope that God does riot exist. He is like the brute; he has nothing to fall back upon. Very different is the experience of the spiritual man. Trouble comes; but he sees God in it. The tempest gathers; but "His way is in the whirlwind," etc. The deep, full, bitter cup is presented — but it has been mingled by a Father's love. The bear deprived of her whelps can only rage and moan; the brutish man bereaved of his children can only curse and rebel; the godly man, missing his loved ones in the gloom of the gorge of death, can say ( Job 1:21 ). ( J. Owen . ) But Thou, Lord, art most high for evermore. Psalm 92:8 The utmost [or the Highest F. Platt, B.D. Mr. G. F. Watts, the spiritual seer amongst our modern masters of art, was asked by an enterprising editor to quote the motto which had been most influential in his artistic life. He replied, "I have invented a motto for myself, 'The Utmost for the Highest.'" There is a matchless inspiration for life, as for art, in Mr. Watts' characteristic message. The Divine election of youth is vision, and its grace is the passion for the highest. Longfellow recognizes it when he makes the typical climber a youth: " A youth, who bore, 'mid snow and ice, A banner, with the strange device, Excelsior!"And one of the latest additions to the roll of climbers of the Matterhorn, the Alpine peak last to be conquered because most inaccessible, is a young French girl of seventeen, who, by a happy coincidence, rejoices in the name Felicite. it is the youngest of the modern nations to enter the concert of great world powers whose citizens urge their growing race to "hitch their wagon to a star." Economists have discussed of late the interesting phenomenon in business life that the most successful men are mostly young. The spectacle of millionaires under forty has perplexed them. The secret probably comes nearest to revealing itself in the suggestion that it is the ambition of youth for the highest, and the willingness, unfettered by maxims of prudence, to venture everything in its attainment that explains their success. Emerson penetrates the arcana of the same mystery with his saying, "The hero is one who takes risks." The excelsior spirit is by nature a prerogative of the young. They are in a peculiar sense "children of the highest." But the earliest of the grave perils that await the young is the danger and discouragement of disillusionment; the peril of seeing the highest and becoming content with less than the highest — of settling into inglorious ease with the best undone and the utmost untried. Less than the utmost is sacrilege in the sanctuary of the highest. "She hath done what she could" is the test of the service of duty as well as of the sacrifice of love. To do our best is the proof of talent in the ethical sphere, for the pursuit of the highest, and not its attainment alone, is the hallowing of work. This is the pursuit that Michael Angelo reverently expounds: "Nothing makes the soul so pure, so religious, as the endeavour to create something perfect; for God is perfection, and whosoever strives for it strives for something that is godlike." It is the strife for the best that matures and enriches character, whether the joy of triumph is added or withheld. It is not the song alone, but the spirit of the singer, that perfects the utmost for the highest. It is said of Jenny Lind that in conversation one day with Mr. John Addington Symonds, she said of her life-work, "I sing to God." There is a memorial brass in the chapel of Balliol College, Oxford, to the late Mr. Lewis Nettleship, who a few years ago was lost in an ascent of Mont Blanc, with an inscription that has been to many an abiding inspiration: "He loved great things and thought little of himself; desiring neither fame nor influence, he won the devotion of men, and was a power in their lives; and, seeking no disciples, he taught to many the greatness of the world and of man's mind." Life's greatness of privilege and of responsibility meets and mingles in the inscrutable sense that our "utmost" lives and moves in others. And lest we should imagine that the utmost for the highest is merely an artistic euphemism for the eager strife for fame and prestige, we need day by day to guard any noble ambition within us from depreciating into the pursuit of the paltry boons of self-seeking by holding it back from "The longing for ignoble things, The strife for triumph more than truth."To do this successfully we must watch also lest "We wind ourselves too high For mortal man below the sky."To remember the sanctity of common life, and that obedience to simple dues simply fulfilled are ladders on which we climb to our highest things, will be to most of us the way of enduring conquest over meaner modes of the soul. We cannot serve the lower within us and reach the higher beyond us. Weighted with self, the wings of the strongest weary. There is no gain except by loss. Perhaps a beautiful converse of Mr. Watts' motto might be found in Michael Angelo's suggestive saying, "As the marble wastes, the image grows." Waste and growth, how they correlate themselves in all progress towards the highest; their very correspondence, indeed, is life's law of progress. ( F. Platt, B.D. ) But my horn shalt Thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil . Psalm 92:10 Character: an ordination charge M. O. Evans. The image of lifting up the horn denotes strength, courage, victory over enemies — the power and glory which rays out from the Christly life in the soul. In the legends of early Christianity we read that night and day a cloud of light shone round about Jesus; and the old masters used to paint a nimbus round His sacred head, by which they sought to express, or at least to suggest, the Divinity of our Lord. We do not blame them. The halo was there, though it rarely assumed the form of a visible Shechinah. It was the beauty of holiness — something to be felt and not seen. John said, "We beheld His glory" — the Shechinah occasionally shining forth, as in the Transfiguration. But that was at rare intervals, whereas the power of the holy life was always present. And here also is the hiding of His ministers' power, in the bright, subtle aura, the throbbing, living light that streams from them, the Christlike character that rays out from the life of Jesus in the soul and makes the atmosphere bright and healing around about them. The true minister is not simply a speaker, not at all an actor — he is more; he is an influence, a spiritual force, a fragrance — subtle, pervading. All unconsciously we exert an influence for good or evil. Was there not a power of healing in the very shadow of Peter as it fell? There is that in every man, call it what you will, which adds to or detracts from all he may say or do. Character, the Greeks called it. You miss it in biography; it refuses to be put into words — but it is there; we all know it, we have all felt it. It is as inseparable from man as his own shadow. The psalmist

Benson Commentary Psalm 92:1 A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: Psalm 92:1-2 . It is a good thing to give thanks, &c. — It is a good work, and a just debt, which is due from us to God; to show forth thy loving- kindness, &c. — To adore and celebrate thy goodness and truth continually, and especially at those two solemn times of morning and evening, which, on every day, and particularly upon the sabbath day, were devoted to the worship and service of God. Psalm 92:2 To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, Psalm 92:3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound. Psalm 92:4 For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. Psalm 92:4-5 . For thou hast made me glad through thy work, &c. — Which thou didst create by thine almighty power, and dost still govern with infinite wisdom. “A prospect of creation, in the vernal season,” says Dr. Horne, “fallen as it is, inspires the mind with joy, which no words can express. But how doth the regenerate soul exult and triumph at beholding that work of God’s hands whereby he creates all things anew in Christ Jesus! If we can be pleased with such a world as this, where sin and death have fixed their habitation; shall we not much rather admire those other heavens and that other earth wherein dwell righteousness and life? What are we to think of the palace, since even the prison is not without its charms!” O Lord, how great are thy works! — Great beyond expression, beyond conception! The products of boundless power and unsearchable wisdom; men’s works are nothing to them. We cannot comprehend the greatness of God’s works, and therefore must reverently and awfully wonder, and even stand amazed at the magnificence of them. Thy thoughts are very deep — Here he assigns the reason of the inconceivable greatness and grandeur of God’s works. Mens’ works are little and trifling, for their thoughts are shallow: but God’s works are very great, and such as cannot be measured, because his thoughts are very deep, and such as cannot be fathomed. Or, he speaks of God’s counsels and methods in the government of the world and of his church. All his counsels, whether in creation or providence, as much exceed the contrivances of human wisdom as his works do the efforts of human power! Psalm 92:5 O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. Psalm 92:6 A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this. Psalm 92:6 . A brutish man — Who cannot, or doth not, seriously consider things; whose mind is corrupted by sensual and brutish appetites; who is led by sense, and not by reason and faith, knoweth not — That thy works are so inexpressibly great and wonderful; neither doth a fool understand this — The depth of wisdom displayed in thy counsels, and of power in thine operations, or the particular work of God, described Psalm 92:7 . “Glorious are thy works, profound thy counsels, marvellous thy dispensations in nature, in providence, in grace; but all are lost to the man void of spiritual discernment; who, like his fellow-brutes, is bowed down to earth, and knoweth no pleasures but those of sense. Here he hath chosen his paradise, and set up his tabernacle; not considering that his tabernacle must shortly be taken down, and he must remove hence for ever.” — Horne. Reader, is this thy character? Psalm 92:7 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: Psalm 92:7-8 . When the wicked spring, &c. — Many interpreters connect this with the preceding verse, thus: A brutish man knoweth not, &c., that 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: “they are only nourishing themselves, like senseless cattle, in plentiful pastures, for the approaching day of slaughter.” Their present worldly prosperity is a presage and occasion of their utter ruin. But thou, O Lord, art most high for evermore — That is, they shall perish, but thou shalt endure, as is said in a like comparison, Psalm 102:26 . They flourish for a season, but thou rulest for ever, to judge and punish them. So this verse is added by way of opposition to the former. Psalm 92:8 But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore. Psalm 92:9 For, lo, thine enemies, O LORD, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. Psalm 92:9-10 . For lo, thine enemies, &c., shall perish — He represents their destruction as certain, and as present, which the repetition of the words implies. But my horn shalt thou exalt, &c. — But, as for me and other righteous persons, (of whom he says the same thing, Psalm 92:12 ,) we shall be advanced to true and everlasting honour and felicity: I shall be anointed with fresh oil — Oil, sweet and uncorrupted; that is, I shall have great cause of rejoicing, and testifying my joy, by anointing myself; as the manner was in feasts, and all joyful solemnities. Psalm 92:10 But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil. Psalm 92:11 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. Psalm 92:11 . Mine eye also shall see my desire, &c. — The words, my desire, are twice inserted in this verse by our translators, and it seems improperly, as there is nothing for them in the original, which is literally, Mine eye also shall look upon mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear of the wicked that rise up against me; nor are they found in the Septuagint, or in several other versions ancient and modern. There is indeed an ellipsis, but, as Dr. Horne observes, would it not be better to supply it thus: “Mine eye shall behold the fall of mine enemies; and mine ears shall hear of the destruction of the wicked?” &c. The psalmist undoubtedly foresaw their dreadful doom, but we cannot infer, from that circumstance, that he desired it. Psalm 92:12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Psalm 92:12 . The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree — Which is constantly green and flourishing, spreads its branches very wide, and grows to a vast size, affording a most refreshing shade to travellers. It also produces dates, a very sweet, luscious, and grateful kind of fruit; is a most beautiful tree, and every way an invaluable treasure to the inhabitants of those hot countries, and therefore a fit emblem of the flourishing state of a righteous man. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon — The cedars in Lebanon are immensely large, being some of them thirty-five, or even forty feet in the girt, and thirty-seven yards in the spread of their boughs. They flourish for ages, and are always green; and, when cut down, yield a most beautiful kind of wood, inclining to a brown colour, solid, durable, and, in some sort, incorruptible. These then, as well as the palm-trees, compared with the short-lived and withering grass, are a striking illustration of the well-founded, durable, and continually increasing virtue and happiness of the truly righteous, in opposition to the momentary, trifling, and perpetually decaying prosperity of the wicked. Psalm 92:13 Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. Psalm 92:13-14 . Those that be planted in the house of the Lord — In his church, of which all righteous persons are real and living members: those whom God, by his gracious providence and Holy Spirit, hath planted and fixed there, and incorporated with his people; shall flourish in the courts of our God — Like the trees just mentioned, they shall retain their pleasant verdure, extend their cooling shade, refresh many by their sweet and nourishing fruit, or support and adorn them by their useful qualities, and increase continually in grace and goodness. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age — When their natural strength decays it shall be renewed: their last days shall be their best days, wherein, as they shall grow in grace, so they shall increase in comfort and blessedness. He seems to allude to the palm-trees above mentioned, which produce, indeed, little fruit till they be about thirty years of age, but after that time, while their juice continues, the older they become, are the more fruitful, and will bear each three or four hundred pounds of dates every year. “Happy the man whose goodness is always progressive, and whose virtues increase with his years; who loseth not, in multiplying of worldly cares, the holy fervours of his first love, but goeth on, burning and shining more and more, to the end of his days!” — Horne. Psalm 92:14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; Psalm 92:15 To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Psalm 92:15 . To show that the Lord is upright, &c. — That he is true to his promises, and faithful to every word that he hath spoken, and therefore does not leave nor forsake those that cleave to him, but carries on the work which he has begun. As it is by his promises that believers first partake of a divine nature, so it is by his promises that that divine nature is preserved and maintained, and therefore the power it exerts is an evidence that the Lord is upright, and such he will show himself to be with an upright man, Psalm 18:25 . He is my rock — I have chosen him for my rock, on which to build my confidence and hopes for time and eternity, and in the clefts of which to take shelter in the time of danger: and I have found him a rock, strong and steadfast, and his word firm and stable. And there is no unrighteousness in him — He is as able, and will be as kind, as his word represents him to be. All that ever trusted in God have found him faithful and all-sufficient, and none were ever made ashamed of their hope in him. He is just and upright in his dealings with his intelligent creatures, “immoveable in his counsels, and determined to punish the wicked and reward the good; so that, when his proceedings shall come to be unfolded at the last day, it will appear to men and angels that there is no unrighteousness in him.” — Horne. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 92:1 A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: Psalm 92:1-15 AUTHORITIES differ in their arrangement of this psalm. Clearly, the first three verses are a prelude; and if these are left out of account, the remainder of the psalm consists of twelve verses, which fall into two groups of six each, the former of which mainly deals with the brief prosperity and final overthrow of the wicked, while the latter paints the converse truth of the security and blessedness of the righteous. Both illustrate the depth of God’s works and purposes, which is the psalmist’s theme. A further division of each of these six verses into groups of three is adopted by Delitzsch, and may be accepted. There will then be five strophes of three verses each, of which the first is introductory; the second and third, a pair setting forth the aspect of Providence towards the wicked; and the fourth and fifth, another pair. magnifying its dealings with the righteous. Perowne takes the eighth verse, which is distinguished by containing only one clause. as the kernel of the psalm, which is preceded by seven verses, constituting the first division, and followed by seven, making the second. But this arrangement, though tempting, wrenches Psalm 92:9 from its kindred Psalm 92:7 . Psalm 92:1-3 are in any case introductory. In form they are addressed to Jehovah, in thankful acknowledgment of the privilege and joy of praise. In reality they are a summons to men to taste its gladness, and to fill each day and brighten every night by music of thanksgiving. The devout heart feels that worship is "good," not only as being acceptable to God and conformable to man’s highest duty, but as being the source of delight to the worshipper. Nothing is more characteristic of the Psalter than the joy which often dances and sings through its strains. Nothing affords a surer test of the reality of worship than the worshipper’s joy in it. With much significance and beauty, "Thy lovingkindness" is to be the theme of each morning, as we rise to a new day and find His mercy, radiant as the fresh sunshine, waiting to bless our eyes, and "Thy faithfulness" is to he sung in the night seasons, as we part from another day which has witnessed to His fulfilment of all His promises. The second strophe contains the reason for praise-namely, the greatness and depth of the Divine works and purposes. The works meant are as is obvious from the whole strain of the psalm, those of God’s government of the world. The theme which exercised earlier psalmists reappears here, but the struggles of faith with unbelief, which are so profoundly and pathetically recorded in Psalm 73:1-28 , are ended for this singer. He bows in trustful adoration before the greatness of the works and the unsearchable depth of the purpose of God which directs the works. The sequence of Psalm 92:4-6 is noteworthy. The central place is occupied by Psalm 92:5 -a wondering and reverent exclamation, evoked by the very mysteries of Providence. On either side of it stand verses describing the contrasted impression made by these on devout and on gross minds. The psalmist and his fellows are "gladdened," though he cannot see to the utmost verge or deepest abyss of Works or Plans. What he does see is good; and if sight does not go down to the depths, it is because eyes are weak, not because these are less pellucid than the sunlit shallows. What gladdens the trustful soul, which is in sympathy with God, only bewilders the "brutish man" -i.e., the man who by immersing his faculties in sense, has descended to the animal level; and it is too grave and weighty for the "fool," the man of incurable levity and self-conceit, to trouble himself to ponder. The eye sees what it is capable of seeing. A man’s judgment of God’s dealings depends on his relation to God and on the dispositions of his soul. The sterner aspect of Providence is dealt with in the next strophe ( Psalm 92:7-9 ). Some recent signal destruction of evil-doers seems to be referred to. It exemplifies once more the old truth which another psalmist has sung, { Psalm 37:2 } that the prosperity of evil-doers is short-lived, like the blossoming herbage, and not only short-lived, but itself the occasion of their destruction. The apparent success of the wicked is as a pleasant slope that leads downward. The quicker the blossoming, the sooner the petals fall. "The prosperity of fools shall destroy them." As in the previous strophe the middle verse was central in idea as well as in place, so in this one. Psalm 92:8 states the great fact from which the overthrow of the wicked, which is declared in the verses before and after results. God’s eternal elevation above the Transitory and the Evil is not merely contrasted with these, but is assigned as the reason why what is evil is transitory. We might render "Thou, Jehovah, art high (lit. a height) for evermore," as, in effect, the LXX and other old versions do; but the application of such an epithet to God is unexampled, and the rendering above is preferable. God’s eternal exaltation "is the great pillar of the universe and of our faith" (Perowne). From it must one day result that all God’s enemies shall perish, as the psalmist reiterates, with triumphant reduplication of the designation of the foes, as if he would make plain that the very name "God’s enemies" contained a prophecy of their destruction. However closely banded, they "shall be scattered." Evil may make conspiracies for a time, for common hatred of good brings discordant elements into strange fellowship, but in its real nature it is divisive, and, sooner or later, allies in wickedness become foes, and no two of them are left together. The only lasting human association is that which binds men to one another, because all are bound to God. From the scattered fugitives the psalmist turns first to joyful contemplation of his own blessedness, and then to wider thoughts of the general wellbeing of all God’s friends. The more personal references are comprised in the fourth strophe ( Psalm 92:10-12 ). The metaphor of the exalted horn expresses, as in Psalm 75:10 ; Psalm 89:17 , triumph or the vindication of the psalmist by his deliverance. Psalm 92:10 b is very doubtful. The word usually rendered "I am anointed" is peculiar. Another view of the word takes it for an infinitive used as a noun, with the meaning "growing old," or, as Cheyne renders, "wasting strength." This. translation ("my wasting strength with rich oil") is that of the LXX and other ancient versions, and of Cheyne and Baethgen among moderns. If adopted, the verb must be understood as repeated from the preceding clause, and the slight incongruity thence arising can be lessened by giving a somewhat wider meaning to "exalted" such as "strengthen" or the like. The psalmist would then represent his deliverance as being like refreshing a failing old age, by anointing with fresh oil. Thus triumphant and quickened, he expects to gaze on the downfall of his foes. He uses the same expression as is found in Psalm 91:8 , with a similar connotation of calm security, and possibly of satisfaction. There is no need for heightening his feelings into "desire," as in the Authorised and Revised Versions. The next clause ( Psalm 92:11 b) "seems to have been expressly framed to correspond with the other; it occurs nowhere else in this sense" (Perowne). A less personal verse ( Psalm 92:12 ) forms the transition to the last strophe, which is concerned with the community of the righteous. Here the singular number is retained. By "the righteous" the psalmist does not exactly mean himself, but he blends his own individuality with that of the ideal character, so that he is both speaking of his own future and declaring a general truth. The wicked "spring like herbage" ( Psalm 92:7 ), but the righteous "spring like the palm." The point of comparison is apparently the gracefulness of the tree, which lifts its slender but upright stem, and is ever verdant and fruitful. The cedar in its massive strength, its undecaying vigour, and the broad shelves of its foliage, green among the snows of Lebanon, stands in strong contrast to the palm. Gracefulness is wedded to strength, and both are perennial in lives devoted to God and Right. Evil blooms quickly, and quickly dies. What is good lasts. One cedar outlives a hundred generations of the grass and flowers that encircle its steadfast feet. The last part extends the thoughts of Psalm 92:12 to all the righteous. It does not name them, for it is needless to do so. Imagery and reality are fused together in this strophe. It is questionable whether there are trees planted in the courts of the Temple; but the psalmist’s thought is that the righteous will surely be found there, and that it is their native soil, in which rooted, they are permanent. The facts underlying the somewhat violent metaphor are that true righteousness is found only in the dwellers with God, that they who anchor themselves in Him as a tree in the earth, are both stayed on, and fed from Him. The law of physical decay does not enfeeble all the powers of devout men, even while they are subject to it. As aged palm trees bear the heaviest clusters, so lives which are planted in and nourished from God know no term of their fruitfulness, and are full of sap and verdant, when lives that have shut themselves off from Him are like an old stump, gaunt and dry, fit only for firewood. Such lives are prolonged and made fruitful, as standing proofs that Jehovah is upright, rewarding all cleaving to Him and doing of His will, With conservation of strength, and ever-growing power to do His will. Psalm 92:15 is a reminiscence of Deuteronomy 32:4 . The last clause is probably to be taken in connection with the preceding, as by Cheyne ("And that in my Rock there is no unrighteousness"). But it may also be regarded as a final avowal of the psalmist’s faith, the last result of his contemplations of the mysteries of Providence. These but drive him to cling close to Jehovah, as his sole refuge and his sure shelter, and to ring out this as the end which shall one day be manifest as the net result of Providence-that there is no least trace of unrighteousness in Him. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.