(Praise God over the next five days!!!)
BACKGROUND
It has been a while since we had so many psalms in a row! I love this!
Psalm 92
This is an undated psalm that praises God for his goodness and is a great psalm to go with the exiles returning to Jerusalem. It was used in temple services on the Sabbath (Friday evening to Saturday evening). The morning and evening sacrifices were doubled (Exodus 29:38-46; Numbers 28:1-10). God's covenant name, LORD, is used seven times in just a few verses. Thanksgiving is right around the corner, but it reminds us to let every day be a "thanksgiving day."
Psalm 94
This psalm emphasizes that God's people will be kept from the punishment that awaits the wicked. Though it seems like the wicked triumph and the helpless are treated unjustly, God is in control, and the wicked will not prevail. He is King! This is one of many psalms that emphasize the justice of God (Psalm 7; 9; 15; 37; 50; 72; 75; 82; 94; 145). The psalm exhorts the righteous to pray for justice, warn the wicked of their danger, accept God's discipline, and work with God for justice.
Psalm 93, 95-100
These are all known as "enthronement" or "royal" psalms because they celebrate the LORD as reigning as King over all the earth (the other one is Psalm 47). They praise God's sovereignty and look forward to a time when God will establish His righteous reign on earth through JESUS, the Messiah!
It has been surmised that Psalm 95 was written for the Feast of Tabernacles when the exiles returned to Judah. "Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah" is a reference to Israel's continued resistance to God's will in the wilderness. Meribah means "quarreling" and Massah means "testing" (see Exodus 17:1-7 and Numbers 20:1-13). This psalm is quoted in Hebrews 3:7-4:13 and calls all believers to submit to God and not harden their hearts to Him.
Psalm 96 is also found in a similar form in 1 Chronicles 16:23-33 where it is a combination of quotations from Psalm 96, 105, and 106. Some scholars believe this was used in the dedication of the second temple after the return from exile.
Psalm 100 is a fitting climax to all the other royal psalms. It sums up God's sovereign rule, His goodness to His people, the encouragement of all nations to come before Him in worship, and the importance to worship and praise and exalt Him!
APPLICATION/PRAYER
It is so important to stop and worship and praise God. So, that is all I suggest you do as an application for the next five days!
Focus on God's character and works as you pray and praise through
1 comment:
I just finished the first day of helping facilitate a three day retreat of "Thanksgiving and Blessings." Today, we focused a lot on gratitude, and these Psalms go right along with it. After my phone charges, I plan on taking a "thanksgiving bike ride." There is a grove of trees at the University that I bike through, and I call them the "gates of thanksgiving." I would sing a song of thanksgiving every day I would go to work there. So I want to drive through them again today.
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