Psalm 92 Test Overview
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
Psalm 92/Test/Overview
Welcome to the Overview of Psalm 92
This page will introduce and provide orientation to Psalm 92 as a whole. It includes the following sections:
Author
- Unspecified
Book
- Book 4 of the Psalter (Chapters 90–106)
Psalm 92 in Brief
- Psalm 92 starts with a simple message, reminding all that it is good and right to praise YHWH, the one whose works are great and whose plans are deep. But that greatness and depth are not simple: the stupid and the fool do not understand them. They only see the short-term, where sometimes it is the wicked who flourish. The stupid and fool are not able to see and understand the difficult and complex: the great and deep, over which God is always on high, reigning in justice, forever. They do not understand that God is righteous and just, and there is no injustice in him.
“It Is Right to Always Praise YHWH” This title is a memorable phrase that helps remember the unique character and content of this psalm.
- “It is right to always praise YHWH,” not because his justice can always be seen, but because it is always true. The righteous are those who see beyond the temporary and understand God’s eternal justice, which means, regardless of circumstances, it is always right to praise YHWH!
Purpose The Purpose was the psalmist's probable intent or reason for writing this psalm.
- To provide a (weekly?) reminder that YHWH is faithful and just
Content The Content is a concise summary of the whole psalm's content.
- It is right to declare: "YHWH rules justly from on high!" We rejoice because we understand that his justice means that the wicked flourish only temporarily but the righteous flourish forever.
Message The Message is the main idea the psalmist probably wanted the audience to remember upon or after hearing the psalm.
- YHWH's actions are just and fair from the perspective of forever.
Psalm 92 At-a-Glance
These sections divide the content of the psalm into digestible pieces , and are determined based on information from many of our layers, including Semantics, Poetics, and Discourse. The columns, left to right, contain: the verse numbers; the main title of the section; a brief summary of the content of that section (quote marks indicate the text is taken directly from the English text of the psalm (as per our Close-but-Clear translation); and an icon to visually represent and remember the content.
| v.1A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day. | Superscription | |||
| v.2It is right to praise YHWH and [it is right] to sing praise to your name, Most High. | Justice Praised | It is right to praise YHWH and it is right to declare his attributes, |  |
confidence & zeal |
| v.3[It is right] to declare your loyalty in the morning and [it is right to declare] your faithfulness at night. | ||||
| v.4[It is right to praise YHWH] with a ten-stringed instrument and with a harp, with a soft melody on a lyre. | ||||
| v.5For you have made me rejoice, YHWH, by your action; In the work of your hands I rejoice. | for he has made me rejoice in his works! |  |
awe | |
| v.6How great are your works, YHWH! Your plans are so deep. | ||||
| v.7Stupid people do not know [this] and fools do not understand this: | Justice Ignored | Only fools do not realize that after briefly flourishing, evildoers will be destroyed forever, |   |
confidence & contempt |
| v.8when wicked people flourish like a green plant and any evildoers prosper, [this is] for them to be destroyed forever, | ||||
| v.9but you are on high forever, YHWH. | but YHWH is on high forever! |  |
awe | |
| v.10For look, your enemies, YHWH— for look, your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered, | Justice Seen | Evildoers will perish, and I will see the downfall of my enemies. |  |
confidence & contempt |
| v.11and you will lift up my horn like a wild ox, my old age [will be] fresh like oil, | ||||
| v.12and my eyes will look upon my enemies; my ears will hear those who rise up against me, wicked people. | ||||
| v.13The righteous will flourish like a palm tree; like a cedar tree in Lebanon he will grow. | Justice Experienced | The righteous will flourish permanently |   |
confidence |
| v.14[They will be] transplanted in the house of YHWH; in the courtyards of our God they will flourish. | ||||
| v.15They will still thrive in old age; they will be vigorous and fresh | in order that people declare that YHWH is just. |  |
confidence & zeal | |
| v.16in order that people declare that YHWH, my rock, is fair and there is no injustice in him. | ||||
Background Orientation for Psalm 92
Following are the common-ground assumptionsCommon-ground assumptions include information shared by the speaker and hearers. In our analysis, we mainly use this category for Biblical/Ancient Near Eastern background. which are the most helpful for making sense of the psalm.
- YHWH's creation is just and orderly (Pss 24:1-2; 74:12-17; 93; 96:10; 104:5-9; Prov 8:29).
- After creating the world, YHWH rested on the seventh day and declared this day holy (Gen 2:1-3), then established a Sabbath rest for his people also to observe (Exod 20:8–11; Isa 56:6; 58:13-14; Jer 17:19-27).
- Having established his reign, YHWH executes justice from his holy mountain (Isa 11:1-9; 57:15; Amos 1:2; Pss 2:6; 3:5; 43:3; 97:8; 99; 102:20-22).
- YHWH is perfectly just, but that is not always obvious (Job; Eccl 7:15; 8:14), since the wicked may flourish for a while (Pss 37:1-2, 10, 20; 73; Job 21:7; Prov 29:16; Eccl 8:12-13).
- The righteous will flourish eternally on YHWH's holy mountain (Exod 15:13, 17-18; Isa 65:17-25; Ps 37:18, 28-29), enjoying the future Sabbath rest he has prepared for them (Ps 95:11).
Background Situation for Psalm 92
The background situation is the series of events leading up to the time in which the psalm is spoken. These are taken from the story triangle – whatever lies to the left of the star icon.
Participant Set List
There are four participants/characters in Psalm 92:
| Psalmist |
| YHWH |
| "Most High" (v. 2) |
| "Our God" (v. 14) |
| "My rock" (v. 16) |
| Righteous |
| [YHWH's] Enemies |
| [The psalmist's] Enemies |
| "Wicked people" (vv. 8, 12) |
| "Evildoers" (vv. 8, 10) |
| "Those rising up against me" (v. 12) |
| Stupid people |
| Fools |
- Psalmist: someone who has been made to rejoice by YHWH's work (v. 5) and received promises of victory over his enemies (vv. 11-12). Furthermore, he is the relational proprietor of "my rock" (v. 16) and shares in "our God" (v. 14).
- The righteous are explicitly introduced as a class term in the topic shift in v. 13, yet subtly shift to a plural reference from v. 14 onwards. They have also been judged as the addressee from then on, with the intended perlocutionary effect that they will trust in the contents of v. 16: that YHWH is fair and just.
- The enemies are explicitly mentioned as YHWH's enemies in v. 10 and probably also as the psalmist's in v. 12 (though see the lexical notes on שׁוּרָי). In parallel with "evildoers" in v. 10, this is also true of their identification as both "wicked" and "evildoers" in v. 8 and "those rising up against me" in v. 12. Though not identical, the fools mentioned in v. 7 are not aware of their coming downfall, despite their ephemeral prosperity, so are understood to form part of this participant set. As in the case of the righteous above, this participant set is first introduced as a class term in the singular (v. 7), before shifting to plural reference in vv. 8, 10, 12.