Read
(A psalm and a song for the Sabbath.)
Sing Praises
1It is wonderful to be grateful
and to sing your praises,
Lord Most High!
2It is wonderful each morning
to tell about your love
and at night to announce
how faithful you are.
3I enjoy praising your name
to the music of harps,
4because everything you do
makes me happy,
and I sing joyful songs.
5You do great things, Lord.
Your thoughts are too deep
6 for an ignorant fool
to know or understand.
7Though the wicked sprout
and spread like grass,
they will be pulled up
by their roots.
8But you will rule
over all of us forever,
9and your hateful enemies
will be scattered
and then destroyed.
10You have given me
the strength of a wild ox,
and you have chosen me
to be your very own.
11My eyes have seen,
and my ears have heard
the doom and destruction
of my evil enemies.
12Good people will prosper
like palm trees,
and they will grow strong
like the cedars of Lebanon.
13They will take root
in your house, Lord God,
and they will do well.
14They will be like trees
that stay healthy and fruitful,
even when they are old.
15And they will say about you,
“The Lord always does right!
God is our mighty rock.”
Reflect
This psalm was to be sung on Sabbath. It’s the only psalm in the entire canon where Sabbath is mentioned and it sums up the spirit with which Moses taught the Hebrew slaves about the need to observe a day of rest. In Deuteronomy 5, Moses links the observance of Sabbath with God’s deliverance of the Hebrews and his promise of freedom. They were to stop all work and remember a sea that had parted, a pillar of fire, rocks from which water had gushed, sweet food that had fallen from heaven. They were to remember who had called them out of slavery. They were to never forget the God who was leading them to a land flowing with milk and honey.
The prophet Isaiah picks up Moses’ teaching. If the people refuse to get caught up with their own concerns, and honour God by setting apart space and time for him, then they will know joy beyond their wildest imaginings (Isaiah 58:13-14).
And so we receive Psalm 92 as a melodic call to pause in the presence of the Lord whose love and faithfulness are new every morning, and to orient ourselves to our true North who is Jesus crucified and risen.
It’s only when we do so that we recognize the truth at the heart of our story: God chose us to be his very own (v 10). We begin to pay attention to the love and faithfulness with which God lavishes us and we find ourselves free—to be worshippers whose lives are marked by wonder, gratefulness and joy.
So go ahead. Press the pause button.
Respond
Lover of our souls, You came to set us free. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear so that we may truly live every day as Sabbath – fully aware of your presence, filled with thankfulness and praise. In Jesus’ name. Amen
Renee James
Renee James is the communications director for Canadian Baptist Women of Ontario and Quebec (CBWOQ), and the editor of its award-winning magazine live. An award-winning freelance writer, she’s been published in Faith Today and has been a regular contributor to Leadership Journal and Today’s Christian Woman both published by Christianity Today International (CTI). She's also been a regular contributor to Gifted For Leadership, CTI’s leadership blog written by and for women leaders.