A Sabbath Psalm

If you’ll notice the superscription above this Psalm you will see it says “Psalm or Song for the Sabbath”. While most conservative scholars do not believe the titles are inspired they do believe they are historically accurate. The titles also help us in interpreting the Psalm. This is the only Psalm in your bible that is called “A Psalm for the Sabbath”.

In that regard, it’s a unique Psalm. This was a Psalm the Hebrew people would sing when they gathered for worship on the Sabbath. You may say they sang many Psalms on the Sabbath. That’s true. But this Psalm is specifically identified and must therefore have held some special place in the Sabbath services. We will interpret the Psalm as an outline for what should occur when God’s people congregate to worship. Of course we don’t worship on the Sabbath. Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ we worship on the first day of the week. We call this the Lord’s Day.

Every day is the Lords day but on Sunday believers gather to worship. This is our tradition rooted in Scripture. Concerning this Psalm Charles Spurgeon said

“In the church of Christ at this hour, no Psalm is more frequently sung on the Lords Day than the present.”

We have historical evidence that suggests this Psalm was not only common in the worship of Old Testament saints but was also common in the worship of New Testament saints as well.

There seems to be a misunderstanding among many that Old Testament saints were dry, rigid and joyless. Those who believe that way must not be reading the Psalms. The Psalms are filled with vibrant worship. There is laughter, tears, shouting, fear, joy, singing, praise, silence and any emotion you can think of in the Psalms. As believers we read these Psalms with more spiritual light than the scribes who wrote them. As we look at Psalm 92 we look at it in its fullness. Christ has come. Worship is even sweeter than it was when the Psalm was penned. Let’s consider what New Testament worship should look like.

1. There is adoration (1-4).

Leviticus 23:3 teaches that the Sabbath was to include a holy convocation. This simply means a gathering of worship. The Sabbath wasn’t just a day off. Rest is not found in mere idleness. Rest is found in the rejuvenating of the spirit. On the Sabbath Israel gathered to worship because worship is rest.

At the end of each day of creation God looked at all His work and said “It is good.” You can sense a satisfaction in that. On the Sabbath Israel was to stop and look at all God has done and say “He is good.” They are to find satisfaction in all the goodness of God.

Let’s consider the type of worship that should accompany the New Testament church service.

Worship should be with heart and harmony (1).

The Psalmist tells us worship is a good thing.

It is in fact the greatest thing. If you could do any one thing it is what you should choose over every other thing.

The angels in heaven are doing it right now.

The saints who have died before us are doing it right now.

The heavens are declaring His glory right now.

Worship is the only thing worth doing forever.

Worship makes sense. Intellectually it makes sense. God is worthy of worship. We have all been to award ceremonies or functions when too much praise is heaped upon a person. We have thought “I don’t know if this person deserves all of this attention.” I experienced that many times going to the award banquets of my sons sporting events. We tend to heap praise where little worth resides these days.

Listen closely, that is not the case in heaven. No one is rolling their eyes or sighing at all the attention God is getting. He is absolutely worthy. Notice the end of the verse calls God the Most High.

There seems to be confusion about the purpose of our worship services today. We are inundated with consumer oriented worship. What is God concerned with when it comes to our worship services?

Social interaction?

Entertainment?

Absolutely not. Sunday is the Lord’s Day. If we are going to call it that we ought to treat it that way as well. Let me be as clear as I can. On Sunday our target audience is God. We are not appealing to crowds.

Sunday is for reaching up not reaching out. To be sure, we want lost people to come to church. We want them to feel loved. But the lost are not the center of our attention. The saved are not the center of our attention. Our attention is on the Lord.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord and for that thanks to overflow into our songs.

Worship should be in the morning and the evening (2).

This language would have been familiar to the Hebrews. Exodus 29:28-44 gave instructions for daily morning and evening offerings.

I’m not suggesting we are bound by Scripture to have a morning and evening service on Sunday. We are not. However, this tradition has helped us honor Sunday as the Lord’s Day. It seems that many look at it more as the Lord’s morning but their afternoon and evening. Corporate worship in the morning and the evening are wonderful things. We begin and end our day with the Lord and His people. I was saved after attending a Sunday night service. I am sure I would not have attended a Sunday morning service due to my gross sinfulness on Saturday nights.

When we start our day by worshipping God we are looking forward to all God is going to do. We are saying “God will…”

When we end our day by worshipping God we are looking back. We are saying “God has!”

I want you to notice a word in verse 2. It is the word “lovingkindness”. The Hebrew word is “hesed”. It describes God’s covenant love. It means strength, love, & steadfastness. It communicates His faithfulness to us. This Great God has linked Himself to us through His special love. As believers we are covenanted with Him. This is His work. God has a stubborn determination to love and completely save His people. He has chained Himself to us. We will not be lost. He will not allow it.

This is important. This relates to morning and evening worship. If I am saved this morning I know that I will be saved this evening! If I am worshipping Him today I know I will be worshipping Him for eternity. What freedom that gives us in worship! How can we be free in worship if we are in fear of desertion?

Worship is with skill and thrill (3-4).

Let’s look at the skill first. The Psalmist mentions three different instruments in verse 3.

These were all stringed instruments. These would not be easy to play. A person would have to give considerable time and effort to these instruments. According to 1 Chronicles 15:16 musicians were appointed for specific worship opportunities.

If a person is leading in the area of music it should be taken as an act of worship. We get a couple of principles from this.

1) The person playing the music should be saved. If it is leading the worship of others the person leading should be worshipping. You can’t really worship if you are not saved.

Spurgeon said “Fine music without devotion is but a splendid garment on a corpse.”

2) The person playing the music should be prepared. Just as you expect the pastor or the teacher to be prepared our musicians should be prepared as well. It should be obvious to the congregation that those leading are taking worship seriously.

Now he says worship should be with thrill. Look at verse four. “I will triumph in the works of Thy hands.” The word “triumph” means to sing for joy. There is emotion conveyed in that word.

In verse 4 he says the Lord has made him glad through His works. We ought to be excited in worship. Can we not think of many things the Lord has done for us? God’s work is great in our lives. Joy is to be associated with worship.

2. There is Contemplation (5-8).

The Psalmist puts his mind on God and the eternal in these verses.

He thinks of the lost. He calls them brutish and foolish. They are like animals in their thinking. Look at verse 7. We see them flourishing. They are growing like the spring grass. They think this is all because of them. They think they have so much because they’re hard workers or God is impressed with them.

They’re like a turkey on the farm before Thanksgiving. They are strutting around the yard. The farmer is feeding them more than they’ve ever been fed. They stick their chest out. They wave their fan at all the other animals. They think life is good. Then Thanksgiving comes. They are cut off.

That’s how the lost are. They foolishly believe everything is ok. But the harvest is coming. Did you know that coming to church regularly helps to remind you of the lost? When a person stops coming to church they very quickly forget about the urgent need of salvation for a lost world. You’re not inviting anyone to church if you’re not going to church. I would almost guarantee you if a person doesn’t have the courage to invite someone to church, they certainly don’t have the courage to invite someone to Jesus.

Coming to church helps us to contemplate. It sets our minds on things above.

He thinks of the Lord. I love verse 8. It’s so simple. Notice it’s in the very center of the Psalm. It says “Thou LORD art most high forever!” It’s like a burst of praise at the center of the Psalm.

Look back at verse 5. The Psalmist says the thoughts of God are very deep.

We live in a very shallow culture. There is very little that we do that is deep. There’s not a lot of depth to social media. We spend our days filtering selfies with puppy dog faces and watching cat videos on Youtube.

There’s not a lot of depth to the shows we watch or the music we listen to. There’s not a lot of depth to the jobs many people do.

There is great depth to God. It is the job of the pastor to open the depths of God to the church each week. That’s why it’s so important to have a pastor who preaches the Word of God. When we open this book and begin teaching we are revealing the depths of God. The heart and the mind are to be engaged in worship. When the Word of God is faithfully preached it appeals to both mind and heart.

We wonder and we worship. We learn and we worship. God is such a complex Being we could never fully comprehend Him. Think of this, God is not changing. He is not getting any bigger. Yet we still can’t learn all there is to learn about Him.

Many in church today listen to sermons without a Bible open. We listen to sermons without a pen in hand. I’m not suggesting we must take notes on the sermon but I am suggesting we must take note of the sermon. We must be engaged. We must be focused. We are here to learn the deep thoughts of God.

How can God be magnified in our lives if we are not learning more of Him? How can we learn more of Him if we are not engaged in His Word? Listening in church cannot be casual. It must be intentional.

Think of the Psalmist here. It is the Sabbath. He is worshipping the Lord. He is thinking of the great works of God. He is thinking of the fate of the wicked. He is thinking of the greatness and eternality of God. He is thinking of how deep the thoughts of God are. This is a person engaged in worship. His mind is on the Lord. This is where our minds must be when we gather to worship. There must be contemplation. There must be deep reflective thought about the Lord.

Have you ever saw those thought bubbles in comic strips? They pop up over the characters head and you can read their thoughts. Wouldn’t it be neat if we had those in church? They popped up over folk’s heads and we could read their thoughts. What would mine say? That’s a question to help us examine ourselves.

3. There is Anticipation (9-15).

In this last section we see a contrast between the lost and the saved.

We see what will happen to the enemies of the Lord. We see it in verses 9 & 11. The enemies of the Lord in verse 9 are the enemies of the Psalmist in verse 11. When Satan fights against believers he is fighting against God. Jesus Himself told Saul that on the road to Damascus when he asked Saul “Why are you persecuting Me?” To persecute the church was to attack Christ. To attack the body is to attack the Head.

What happens to the enemies of the Lord? They perish. They are scattered. When judgment day comes they scatter in fear hoping to hide from the Lord. But the Lord finds them. They perish. They are judged. This happens every day when a lost person dies. But there is an anticipation in the believer concerning the Day of the Lord. We know when Christ returns there will be a judgment of which has never been known before. All history is headed toward this event. All the unbeliever has to look forward to is judgment.

The believer is completely different. The believer has much to look forward to. Let’s consider what’s mentioned in this Psalm.

Strengthening. Look at verse 10. His horn shalt be exalted like that of the unicorn. There has been speculation on exactly what animal this is. Some believe it is a rhinoceros. Others say it was an ox or buffalo while some believe it was an animal that is extinct today. It really doesn’t matter what animal it was. The symbolism is found in the horn. The horn was symbolic of strength.

Worship on Sunday strengthens us.

We are strengthened by the Word. Man cannot live on bread alone.

We are strengthened as others help us bear our burdens (Gal. 6:2).

We are strengthened as we joyfully worship. The joy of the Lord is my strength (Neh. 8:10).

The Psalmist also says he is anointed with fresh oil. It’s important that we recognize the horn along with the anointing oil. Oil was often kept in a horn. The anointing horn is mentioned in 1 Sam. 16:13.

Of course we know that our strength comes from the Holy Spirit. We have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. We are immersed in Him. Yet, we are called to be continually filled with Him. I can think of no more practical way to be filled with the Spirit than to come to church and be filled with the Word and worship. Colossians teaches us that to be filled with the Word and worship is equal to being filled with the Spirit (Colossians 3:16).

The strengthening we receive from worship services is by the Holy Spirit of God. If we want to be strengthened we must eat of the word of God as it is served and drink of the Spirit as we worship. I believe we should anticipate this. We don’t have to wait to be strengthened until we get to church. I’m not saying that. What I am saying is there is a great opportunity to be filled with the Spirit and strengthened by the Word when we go to church. We should anticipate that.

I am going to church today!

God is going to speak to me!

I am going to speak to God!

I am going to pray for others!

Others are going to pray for me!

There is a flourishing. We see that in verses 12-13. Do you remember the flourishing of the wicked back in verse7? They flourished then they were finished. The righteous are not like that. They’re not like grass. They are compared to palm trees and cedars. Notice their position as well. They are in the house of the Lord, they are in the courts of our God. They are protected by God Himself. He is the Husbandman. He is the Great Gardener.

God’s plants are evergreens. We flourish despite the season.

There is an enduring. Look at verse 14. It says that even in old age they shall bring forth fruit. There is no useless saint. We learn that at church. Take one generation out of the church and you will see the church suffer. When we look around we should see grey hair. It ought to be in every church.

Going to church reminds me that I have purpose. I will say that you may get so feeble that the only thing you can do is pray. Then you will have found the greatest thing you could ever do. God help us to live so long that all we can do is pray all day. Would we not see more fruit then?

But there is much the aged can do in the church. We ought to challenge our seniors with this Psalm. God has called us to bear fruit in our old age. We ought not say:

I’ve served my time!

I’ve done my part!

One of the great things about church is the opportunity to serve side by side with another generation. There aren’t many places other than church we get to do that. Church is a wonderful place where we see commonality. We see a faith that spans generations.

What does the older generation declare? Look at verse 15. “The Lord is my Rock, there is nor unrighteousness in Him!”

I’ve searched Him for eighty years and found nothing unrighteous!

I’ve leaned on Him for eighty years and He’s always held me up!

What a testimony the seniors can give the juniors! Moses finished his writings with a song and a sermon in Deuteronomy 32-33! May we as well!

A Sabbath Psalm! May we take the Lord’s Day as seriously as our Psalmist took his Sabbath Day.