December 3/5

(7) PSALM 92 MY JOY IN A SABBATH WITH HIM

Introduction:

 To this very day in the land of Israel, the Sabbath is a very special day, universally kept. At sunset on Friday, shops close, work ends, holiday (if not Holy day!) begins for all Israelis. Sabbath is rest and recreation – and for the faithful, worship. Psalm 92 has the title: ‘A Song: For the Sabbath Day’. The Psalmist looks on the Sabbath as a day of joyful enjoyment of his Lord. The Psalm is full of the things that fill the heart and fuel the joy and praise of Sabbath worship.

• 92.1-5: PERSONALLY ALIVE TO THE GOODNESS OF KNOWING GOD

The Psalmist rejoices in the lot of those who know, love and (on the Sabbath join together to) praise God.

• (1-3) What does the Psalmist have to say about the joy of (Sabbath day) worship?
• about its ‘goodness’? (see Psalm 147.1)
• about its ‘gladness’?
• about its duration?
• (4-5) What is it about God that makes him glad?
• What do you think he means by the Lord’s ‘deeds’? (In what ‘deeds’ of the Lord can we, ourselves, rejoice? In just what he’s done for us? Or in his great historic deeds of ‘redemption history’)
• What do you think is in mind when he speaks of the Lord’s ‘works’? What ‘works’ of the Lord fill you with praise?
• What is in his mind as he speaks of the Lord’s ‘thoughts’? (See Psalm 139. 6,17-18)

II. 92.6-9: FULLY AWARE OF THE INDIFFERENCE AND ‘DEADNESS’ TO GOD OF MANY OTHERS. (See Jeremiah 17.5-6)

He speaks of the sad lot of those whose lives are lived in indifference or opposition to God. Every Sabbath the joyful gathering for worship of the faith-full highlights the non-gathering and non-worship of the faith-less.

• How are the people who are insensitive and unresponsive to God described in this Psalm?
• Why is their lot such a sad one?
• How do we think of those whose ‘Sabbath day’ is so very different to our own? (Do we envy their ‘freedoms’ or feel sad at their losses?)

III. 92.10-15: DEEPLY CONSCIOUS OF THE BLESSINGS OF BELONGING TO GOD (See Jeremiah 17.7-8)

In contrast to the lot of the ‘faith-less’, the ‘faith-full’ are joyfully conscious of the rich and lasting blessings that attend the lives of those whose spiritual lives are firmly rooted in the Lord.

(10-12): The Psalm says that the Lord blesses his life with

• spiritual strength
• spiritual anointing and honour
• spiritual victory
• Can you identify where he speaks of these? What do they mean? Are you conscious of such blessings? Any testimonies?

(13-15): The Psalmist speaks further of the ‘life-blessings’ of the faithful.

• What is said about the quality of the spiritual lives the faithful can look forward to?
• What is said about the sort of old-age the faithful can anticipate? (See Psalm 23.6 and Isaiah 46.4)
• What is said about the special testimony the faithful elderly person will render to the Lord?

• How does the Psalmist stress that it is the commitment and closeness of the faithful to God that is the reason for the great blessings on their lives. (See Ps92.13 and 84.1-4,10)