Psalm 92 | Holy Bible | Mary Our Help

Catholic Commentary on Psalm 92

"The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon." (Psalm 92:12)

A Song for the Sabbath

Psalm 92, the only psalm explicitly headed as a song for the Sabbath day, is a meditation on the goodness of praise and the justice of God. The psalmist declares that it is good to praise the LORD, to proclaim his love in the morning and his faithfulness at night. This is the rhythm of daily prayer: morning and evening, love and faithfulness, the beginning and end of every day bracketed by the acknowledgment of who God is.

The psalm then reflects on the puzzle of the prospering wicked: the foolish cannot understand that the wicked flourish like grass only to be destroyed forever. But the righteous are different: The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon, planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming the LORD is upright. The image of the elder who still bears fruit is one of the most hopeful in Scripture. Holiness has no retirement age. The cedar grows for centuries and is still strong. St. Francis of Assisi, near the end of his life, said he was still only beginning. That is the spirit of Psalm 92.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the Sabbath rest of this psalm is not mere inactivity. It is the deliberate reorientation of the week around praise: it is good to praise the LORD. Make praise a discipline, not a feeling. Come to it in the morning before you have assessed whether you feel like it. Come to it in the evening regardless of how the day went. That faithfulness is the soil in which the palm tree grows.

Prayer

Lord God, it is good to give thanks to you and to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night. Plant us in your house, that we may flourish like the palm tree and still bear fruit in our old age, always proclaiming that you are upright. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

How Great Are Your Works!

A Psalm. A song for the Sabbath day.

1 It is good to praise the LORD,

and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High,

2 to proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning

and Your faithfulness at night

3 with the ten-stringed harp

and the melody of the lyre.

4 For You, O LORD, have made me glad by Your deeds;

I sing for joy at the works of Your hands.

5 How great are Your works, O LORD,

how deep are Your thoughts!

6 A senseless man does not know,

and a fool does not understand,

7 that though the wicked sprout like grass,

and all evildoers flourish,

they will be forever destroyed.

8 But You, O LORD, are exalted forever!

9 For surely Your enemies, O LORD,

surely Your enemies will perish;

all evildoers will be scattered.

10 But You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox;

with fine oil I have been anointed.

11 My eyes see the downfall of my enemies;

my ears hear the wailing of my wicked foes.*

12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,

and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

13 Planted in the house of the LORD,

they will flourish in the courts of our God.

14 In old age they will still bear fruit;

healthy and green they will remain,

15 to proclaim, “The LORD is upright; He is my Rock,

and in Him there is no unrighteousness.”

*92:11 92:11 Or my ears hear evildoers when they rise against me

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