Add parallel Print Page Options

Psalm 92[a]

A psalm; a song for the Sabbath day.

92 It is fitting[b] to thank the Lord,
and to sing praises to your name, O Most High.[c]
It is fitting[d] to proclaim your loyal love in the morning,
and your faithfulness during the night,
to the accompaniment of a ten-stringed instrument and a lyre,
to the accompaniment of the meditative tone of the harp.
For you, O Lord, have made me happy by your work.
I will sing for joy because of what you have done.[e]
How great are your works, O Lord!
Your plans are very intricate![f]
The spiritually insensitive do not recognize this;
the fool does not understand this.[g]
When the wicked sprout up like grass,
and all the evildoers glisten,[h]
it is so that they may be annihilated.[i]
But you, O Lord, reign[j] forever.
Indeed,[k] look at your enemies, O Lord.
Indeed,[l] look at how your enemies perish.
All the evildoers are scattered.
10 You exalt my horn like that of a wild ox.[m]
I am covered[n] with fresh oil.
11 I gloat in triumph over those who tried to ambush me;[o]
I hear the defeated cries of the evil foes who attacked me.[p]
12 The godly[q] grow like a palm tree;
they grow high like a cedar in Lebanon.[r]
13 Planted in the Lord’s house,
they grow in the courts of our God.
14 They bear fruit even when they are old;
they are filled with vitality and have many leaves.[s]
15 So they proclaim that the Lord, my Protector,
is just and never unfair.[t]

Psalm 93[u]

93 The Lord reigns.
He is robed in majesty.
The Lord is robed;
he wears strength around his waist.[v]
Indeed, the world is established; it cannot be moved.
Your throne has been secure from ancient times;
you have always been king.[w]
The waves[x] roar, O Lord,
the waves roar,
the waves roar and crash.[y]
Above the sound of the surging water,[z]
and the mighty waves of the sea,
the Lord sits enthroned in majesty.[aa]
The rules you set down[ab] are completely reliable.[ac]
Holiness[ad] aptly adorns your house, O Lord, forever.[ae]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 92:1 sn Psalm 92. The psalmist praises God because he defeats the wicked and vindicates his loyal followers.
  2. Psalm 92:1 tn Or “good.”
  3. Psalm 92:1 sn The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן ʿelyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Pss 7:17; 9:2; 18:13; 21:7; 47:2.
  4. Psalm 92:2 tn The words “it is fitting” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. Verses 1-3 are actually one long sentence in the Hebrew text, but this has been divided up into two shorter sentences in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.
  5. Psalm 92:4 tn Heb “the works of your hands.”
  6. Psalm 92:5 tn Heb “very deep [are] your thoughts.” God’s “thoughts” refer here to his moral design of the world, as outlined in vv. 6-15.
  7. Psalm 92:6 tn Heb “the brutish man does not know, and the fool does not understand this.” The adjective בַּעַר (baʿar, “brutish”) refers to spiritual insensitivity, not mere lack of intelligence or reasoning ability (see Pss 49:10; 73:22; Prov 12:1; 30:2, as well as the use of the related verb in Ps 94:8).
  8. Psalm 92:7 tn Or “flourish.”
  9. Psalm 92:7 tn Heb “in order that they might be destroyed permanently.”sn God allows the wicked to prosper temporarily so that he might reveal his justice. When the wicked are annihilated, God demonstrates that wickedness does not pay off.
  10. Psalm 92:8 tn Heb “[are elevated] on high.”
  11. Psalm 92:9 tn Or “for.”
  12. Psalm 92:9 tn Or “for.”
  13. Psalm 92:10 sn The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “to exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:24; Lam 2:17).
  14. Psalm 92:10 tn The Hebrew verb בָּלַל (balal) usually has the nuance “to mix.” Here it seems to mean “to smear” or “to anoint.” Some emend the form to בַּלֹּתַנִי (ballotani; a second person form of the verb with a first person suffix) and read, “you anoint me.”
  15. Psalm 92:11 tn Heb “my eye gazes upon my walls.” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 56:2. The form שׁוּרָי shuray, “my walls”) should be emended to שׁוֹרְרָי (shoreray, “my foes” or perhaps “those who rebel against me” or “those who malign me”). See HALOT 1454 s.v. שׁוֹרֵר and also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 56:2.
  16. Psalm 92:11 tn Heb “those who rise up against me, evil [foes], my ears hear.”
  17. Psalm 92:12 tn The singular is used in a representative sense, with the typical godly person being in view.
  18. Psalm 92:12 sn The cedars of the Lebanon forest were well-known in ancient Israel for their immense size.
  19. Psalm 92:14 tn Heb “they are juicy and fresh.”
  20. Psalm 92:15 tn Heb “so that [they] proclaim that upright [is] the Lord, my rocky summit, and there is no injustice in him.”
  21. Psalm 93:1 sn Psalm 93. The psalmist affirms that the Lord is the king of the universe who preserves order and suppresses the destructive forces in the world.
  22. Psalm 93:1 sn Strength is compared here to a belt that one wears for support. The Lord’s power undergirds his rule.
  23. Psalm 93:2 tn Heb “from antiquity [are] you.” As the context suggests, this refers specifically to God’s royal position, not his personal existence.
  24. Psalm 93:3 tn The Hebrew noun translated “waves” often refers to rivers or streams, but here it appears to refer to the surging waves of the sea (see v. 4, Ps 24:2).
  25. Psalm 93:3 tn Heb “the waves lift up, O Lord, the waves lift up their voice, the waves lift up their crashing.”
  26. Psalm 93:4 tn Heb “mighty waters.”sn The surging waters here symbolizes the hostile enemies of God who seek to destroy the order he has established in the world (see Pss 18:17; 29:3; 32:6; 77:20; 144:7; Isa 17:13; Jer 51:55; Ezek 26:19; Hab 3:15). But the Lord is depicted as elevated above and sovereign over these raging waters.
  27. Psalm 93:4 tn Heb “mighty on high [is] the Lord.”
  28. Psalm 93:5 tn Traditionally “your testimonies.” The Hebrew noun עֵדוּת (ʿedut) refers here to the demands of God’s covenant law. See Ps 19:7.
  29. Psalm 93:5 sn The rules you set down. God’s covenant contains a clear, reliable witness to his moral character and demands.
  30. Psalm 93:5 sn Holiness refers here to God’s royal transcendence (see vv. 1-4), as well as his moral authority and perfection (see v. 5a).
  31. Psalm 93:5 tn Heb “for your house holiness is fitting, O Lord, for length of days.”