It’s a Sabbath song and it’s really kind of rich. Why?
Because we see that the Sabbath was to be a time of great worship, music, joy and even shouting for joy. The works of His hands are good reason to celebrate (Ps 92:1-5).
Because evil and the prosperity of evildoers isn’t just swept under the carpet but is brought up in this Sabbath worship.
“A stupid person does not know, a fool does not understand this; though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be eternally destroyed” (Ps 92:6-7).
It sounds harsh but it is a call to keep things in perspective. There are seasons that evil seems uncaged and not only that, it seems to provide great prospersity and ease for people. But this psalm says to remember that our journey is one with eternal consequences and eternal blessings.
This psalm is also rich because of its blessing for the elderly:
“The righteous thrive like a palm tree and grow like a cedar tree in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the LORD, they thrive in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, healthy and green, to declare: “The LORD is just; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (Ps 92:12-15).
As one person said to me once, “The devil doesn’t have very happy old people.”
And that’s typically true. Those who have lived an unrighteous life typically pay the price at some point, and they feel it in their latter years.
But the righteous? They tend to live with the fruit of their lives–children, grandchildren and more. And not only that, but they still have purpose. And it’s to declare to the next generation that the LORD is a strong foundation, he is righteous and just.
It’s a surprising thing I’ve found in the psalms as of late. That our purpose so much is to declare the good works and the character of the Lord. It’s a theme stronger in the Scriptures than I realized (see Ps 88:10-12).
So this Sabbath song. It’s one we would sing although our modern propensity for “being nice” would want us to take out the middle part about wicked people and eternal destruction. And yet it is so rich to remember that our destiny is eternal, that God is with us, and that we will still be fruitful even in our latter years.
