How Great Are Your Works
A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath.
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
    to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
    and your faithfulness by night,
3 to the music of the lute and the harp,
    to the melody of the lyre.
4 For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work;
    at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
5 How great are your works, O LORD!
    Your thoughts are very deep!
6 The stupid man cannot know;
    the fool cannot understand this:
7 that though the wicked sprout like grass
    and all evildoers flourish,
they are doomed to destruction forever;
8     but you, O LORD, are on high forever.
9 For behold, your enemies, O LORD,
    for behold, your enemies shall perish;
    all evildoers shall be scattered.
10 But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox;
    you have poured over me fresh oil.
11 My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;
    my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.
12 The righteous flourish like the palm tree
    and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 They are planted in the house of the LORD;
    they flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They still bear fruit in old age;
    they are ever full of sap and green,
15 to declare that the LORD is upright;
    he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.  (ESV)

Commentary:
What better interpretation of the first three verses of Psalm 92 could we present than Isaac Watts’ classic hymn of the faith:
How good it is to thank the Lord,
And praise to You, Most High, accord.
To show our love with morning light,
And tell Your faithfulness each night;
Yea, good it is Your praise to sing,
And all our sweetest music bring.

      Vocal and instrumental music should be offered to the Lord because it is a gift from the Lord.  God graciously provides such a gift even to those who offer Him no thanks for it.  Intricate flower blossoms may be admired in a lovely bouquet or in a formal garden, but the source of their beauty is the mind of God.  This is true of musical arrangements as well. 
      The Psalmist is made glad and he triumphs because of the greatness of the LORD’s works and the profoundness of His thoughts.  Not only are His thoughts “deep” (v5), they are very high (Isa 55:9), “precious” (Ps. 139:7), and numberless ({Ps 139:18).  They are “to all generations” (Ps. 33:11) and directed toward us individually (Ps. 40:17).
      What kind of thoughts does He have towards me? See Jeremiah 29:11.  Wonder of wonders!  His thoughts are knowable through His prophets. (See also Amos 3:7, 4:13).
      Verse 8 is a high mountain above the valley of verse 7 where we live while the enemy flourishes.  When our eyes are upon the mountain, our horns are exalted above the horns of the wicked (Ps. 75:10), and we flourish and bring forth fruit because we are planted in the house of the LORD.
     
“The Psalms” Author, Don Kelso
     
APPLICATION
Music is a gift from God and should be offered to Him from our hearts.  His gracious gift ministers to us as we offer it to Him through our worship.

“The Psalms Application”  Author, Don Kelso

Submitted by
Pat Spies
Development