Christianity

Psalms 92A Song for the Sabbath Day

Summary

Psalm 92, headed a psalm or song for the sabbath day, is a hymn of thanksgiving declaring it good to praise God, telling of his lovingkindness in the morning and his faithfulness every night. It contrasts the wicked, who spring up like grass only to be destroyed, with the righteous, who flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon, still bearing fruit in old age. It is the only psalm whose Hebrew heading names a day.

Key verse

“The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.”

Psalms 92:12

Themes

Sabbath Praise
Gratitude Morning and Night
The Flourishing Righteous
Fruitful Old Age

IT IS A GOOD THING TO GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD, AND TO SING PRAISES UNTO THY NAME, O MOST HIGH:

To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,

Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.

For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.

A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.

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:

But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore.

For, lo, thine enemies, O LORD, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.

But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.

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.

The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.

They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;

To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.

Across traditions

Christianity
Genesis 2: God Rests on the Seventh Day
Genesis 2:2 to 3 tells how God rested on the seventh day and blessed it. Psalm 92 shows that day becoming an occasion for song and for reflection on God's works.
Judaism
Psalm 92 in the JPS 1917 Tanakh
Psalm 92 was the Levites' Sabbath song in the temple and is recited in Jewish services welcoming the Sabbath on Friday evening and again on Sabbath morning.
Christianity
Psalm 1: The Tree by the Rivers
Psalm 1 also likens the righteous to a fruitful tree and the wicked to something that does not last, chaff in Psalm 1 and grass in Psalm 92.

Questions about Psalms 92

Why is Psalm 92 associated with the Sabbath?

Its Hebrew heading dedicates it to the sabbath day, and the Mishnah (Tamid 7:4) records it as the psalm sung in the temple on the Sabbath. The psalm itself does not mention rest, so interpreters see the day as a time for praising God's works.

What does it mean that the righteous flourish like a palm tree?

Psalm 92:12 to 14 compares the righteous to palm trees and Lebanon cedars planted in God's house, long-lived and still fruitful in old age. The image stresses endurance and lasting vitality rather than quick success.