Many passages in Scripture cannot help but spark your imagination and make you wonder how the event played out. Like what did it look like when God sent the plagues upon Egypt, or what did the choir of Angels sound like when they proclaimed the birth of the Savior to the shepherds on that first Christmas evening, or what did the resurrection smell like? Ok, that last one might just be me, but my imagination loves to run wild when I read Scripture. However there is one passage that probably sparks my imagination more than any other and it’s found in the very beginning in Genesis 1:1. When I read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light, and there was light.”. I can’t help but wonder what it was like to be there and witness the majesty and splendor of the Creator at His work. Were the words that spoke creation into being loud or were they soft and powerful? Was it instantly bright or did the light slowly build when God called forth the light? This one passage brings to mind so many questions that I like to just sit and think about them all sometimes. I’m not the only one who has had their imagination spurred by this passage — many others have as well. There have been many musical artists throughout the centuries that have tried to capture this event with music and some have done a wonderful job. I remember hearing one song several years ago and when I heard its soul stirring melody, my mind immediately thought about creation. Only after I listened to the entire song did I learn that is exactly what the artist was intending. In his wonderful Christian metaphor, “The Chronicles of Narnia”, C.S. Lewis famously wrote his thoughts about what creation was like. In his book, “The Magician's Nephew”, he describes creation as being nothing, but then a voice rang out in song. The tune that was being sung was powerful, but wordless, rich, deep, and resonanting, coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. It was the most beautiful sound anyone could ever hear, and at the song's movement, the stars appear, the sun rises, and the landscapes are formed. Even with so many attempts to describe and understand what creation looked like, God only saw fit to describe this wondrous event this side of eternity with a single phrase — “It is good”. It’s in that single phrase that God used to sum up all of creation that we find ourselves looking at this morning in the Psalms. If you have your Bibles this morning, turn with me to the 92nd Psalm.
We are not told who wrote the 92nd Psalm. We are not given a hint when the Psalm was written or who it was written to. The only thing we are told is that it is a Psalm to be sung on the Sabbath. With its first line we hear echoes of creation and within that echo we hear the truth of the purpose for those who have called upon Jesus as Lord and Savior. It’s that purpose I want to look at this morning.
We were made to Worship. - Psalm 92:1-4
It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening, accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, a harp, and the melody of a lyre. You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done.
The word “good” is never really defined in Scripture, for it’s assumed that the reader knows what good is. We are told by Jesus that only God is good, so it is God that defines what else can be considered good. Good is not an external definition that God conforms to, it is who He is. When we see God proclaim that creation is good there is a sense that it’s Himself that is reflected in His created work. There is also a sense that it is good because everything was working perfectly as it should. Creation was fulfilling its God-given purpose. When the Psalmist uses that phrase here, it is saying your purpose, the reason you were created is to thank the Lord and to do so with song. Now we have already talked about how we are supposed to worship as a method of giving thanks to God, but the Psalmist just reminds us that this is what we are created for. This reminder is peppered with even more reasons to be thankful and to sing out to God. The first is found in the word “Lord” that the Psalmist uses in the very first verse. This is the name which God used to reveal Himself to Moses and the Children of Israel in Exodus. With its usage the Psalmist is telling us to be thankful and worship God because He is near to us and He is personal. He is not a God that stands far off, but is intimately acquainted with us and wants a relationship with us. This is not the only reason to shout. Maybe if you are having a tough day, you might say, “So what, I’ve got plenty of people who want to be close to me, God isn’t that special.” That’s when the Psalmist introduces Him with a new name. He uses the name “El Elyon”. The Psalmist uses this name because he wants us to know that just because He is close with us and personable, it doesn’t take away from the fact that He is the highest and most perfect of all. He is the one who is greater than anything you will ever face. Even man's greatest enemy — death — cannot stand in the presence of the Most High. As a follower of Jesus, if you want proof of this we can just look to the garden tomb. We will see that it’s still just as empty as it was on that first Easter morning. Jesus wants an intimate relationship with us, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that Jesus Christ is fully God as well as fully man. The one who was the Creator in Genesis 1:1 was the same one who died for you and we were created to worship Him.
There is another “it is good” statement that tells us more about the reason we were created to worship and it contains two wonderful truths. The first is the fact that God’s love is consistent as well as persistent. A great example of this is the life of the Apostle Peter. Jesus knew that Peter would fail Him, but it didn’t stop the love of Jesus for him. After the resurrection, Jesus called Peter by name when He sent the women back from the empty tomb to tell the disciples that He was risen. Jesus sought him when he went back to his old life of fishing. He cooked for him meeting his physical needs, and then with a love that never gives up He restored him to ministry meeting his spiritual needs. This is the same love we have experienced. Jesus knew you were going to let Him down, but that didn’t stop Him from loving you and going to the cross for you. You didn’t let Him down because you were never holding Him up, but He is the One who holds onto you with His mighty right hand and when you wander, it’s that persistent love that comes after you every time. You were made to worship and thank the God who loves you. We are told about when we are supposed to carry out this act. From the morning when you get up to the time you lay your head on the pillow and go to sleep, we are to be singing praises to the Lord. Truth be told, most of us wake up worrying and we go to bed worrying. That's not what we were created for. We were created to worship from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same. What changes would we see in our lives if we started to live out our perfect role? We are told it’s not just with our voices we worship. We are to go and get some instruments because when we praise the Lord we are to make a joyful and loud noise. Then the Psalmist cries that “You thrill me Lord”. How can we not do the same, when we experience what God has done for us through Jesus Christ and I will sing because that was what I was created for. Worship is a fruit of a revived soul. It's not the music that is the revival. When Jesus awakens a soul that was sleeping, just like we are told in Ephesians 5:14, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” You aren’t going to be able to hold it back. The praise and song of thanksgiving will rise. We were created to worship.
We were made to Overcome. - Psalms 92:5-11
O Lord, what great works you do! And how deep are your thoughts. Only a simpleton would not know, and only a fool would not understand this: Though the wicked sprout like weeds and evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever. But you, O Lord, will be exalted forever. Your enemies, Lord, will surely perish; all evildoers will be scattered. But you have made me as strong as a wild ox. You have anointed me with the finest oil. My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the defeat of my wicked opponents.
A theme we looked at last week begins to emerge again. It was the idea of the wicked flourishing, but this time the Psalmist takes a different approach. They are no longer concerned with the wicked's prosperity, but are rejoicing in the truth of their situation and ours as well. It’s a celebration that God’s thoughts and plans are deeper than we can ever know and that it is ridiculous for us to ever doubt God’s plans for us. It’s an admission that “yes” the wicked will look like they are winning. “Yes” it looks like they are thriving, but it’s only for a season and when that season is over, they are destroyed forever. However in contrast the Lord will be exalted forever just as the evil are perishing. This future event is recorded in Revelation 20:11-15 when we are told, “And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.” The Psalmist was focused upon the truth of eternity and not their present state. Remember this was a declaration that we were made to overcome. Therefore this first truth was just setting the stage. The Psalmist begins to tell us why we are overcomers. It’s not because of our effort, but it is totally because of God. He says “You” have made me and “You” have anointed me. It was through God alone that the Psalmist declared that they experienced victory over their enemy. For followers of Jesus, the reason we have overcome death, we have overcome the grave and that we have overcome our enemy Satan is by the blood of Jesus Christ alone. We can go to Revelation again to see this declared as the world begins to wind down. In Revelation 12:10-12 we read “Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last— salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth— the one who accuses them before our God day and night. And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens! And you who live in the heavens, rejoice!” It’s by the blood of Jesus that we overcome and that should cause us to shout because nothing can overcome those who have been washed in the blood.
We were made to Flourish. - Psalm 92:12-15
But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon. For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house. They flourish in the courts of our God. Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green. They will declare, “The Lord is just! He is my rock! There is no evil in him!”
The last thing that Psalmist proclaims is that we were made to flourish and it goes hand in hand with our last point. We don't flourish because of what we have done but it’s because we have been reborn. We have been transplanted into the Lord’s own house, we flourish in His presence, just like a tree planted beside waters. That is what we are created for — to be with Him for all of eternity and that eternity starts the moment we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. But what does it mean to flourish? The Psalmist explains this by referencing two different types of trees, one is a cedar and one is a palm. Cedars are used to demonstrate how a believer flourishes because in order for them to be strong, the strongest they can be, their root system must reach out horizontally to other cedars and form a larger and stronger root system. For a follower of Jesus to flourish we must do the same thing. We must not only be connected to Jesus but we need to be connected to His followers through the church. That is why we are told not to forsake the gathering of the believers (Hebrews 10:25), because we need each other to flourish in our Christian lives. Then we are compared to a palm tree. One of the reasons it is mentioned here specifically is that even in old age the palm tree produces fruit. Actually for a palm the older they get, the more mature they are, the more fruit they produce. The same goes for a follower of Jesus. We are not talking about physical age here (although Jesus doesn't care about age, He uses everyone), but rather we are talking about spiritual maturity. All believers will produce fruit, but those who are further along will produce more. Want to see if you are flourishing and growing in your faith? Check how much fruit you are producing compared to this time last year. If you have not seen an uptick you are stagnant and need to grow. There is another fact about palms that I believe is important as well. Even in the dry season they still produce fruit. In the life of a Christian, times get hard and they get tough. The world might not see anything we should sing and rejoice about, for they see no reason why our lives should produce any fruit — thanksgiving or otherwise. However as a Christian we know better. We are made to worship. By the blood of Jesus we have overcome the enemy and it’s in Him that we flourish. We don’t need what this world offers, because we have been given so much more, and because of it we cry out in thanksgiving to the one who paid it all for us.
