| Christian Life and Doctrine | September 1978 |
Songs of Thankfulness
PSALM 92:1-5—“It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord”! How full of meaning, and how true are these words! It requires but a moment’s reflection to realize that everything we prize in life, yes, even life itself, has come to us through the mercy of the Lord, the Giver of every good and perfect gift. This is true not only of the material blessings which he provides but more particularly of the spiritual—those precious truths of his Word by which the eyes of our understanding have been given a vision of his glory and by which we are inspired to serve him and to be like him.
Giving praise to God should not be thought of as something which is appropriate just once a week, such as when we attend church on Sunday, for it is a daily privilege. Our hearts should be continually praising him. The psalmist speaks of showing forth his loving-kindness every morning and his faithfulness every night.
There is an important thought suggested by these two words “show forth.” To show forth means to put on display, and since it is the Lord’s loving-kindness that we are to show forth, it means that we are to spread out in array all the facts that demonstrate his loving-kindness. And what are those facts? They are the precious and revealing truths of the divine plan for human redemption and salvation.
The central truth of the divine plan is God’s provision for redeeming the world from sin and death. In a very special way this demonstrates divine love, for we read that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”—John 3:16
Not only has the Lord made a loving provision on behalf of the sin-cursed and dying race, but we have the assurance that every detail of that plan will be carried out exactly as he has purposed. “My word … that goeth forth out of my mouth … shall not return unto me void,” the Lord declares, “but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”—Isa. 55:11
Because we have this divine guarantee that the plan of God for both the church and the world will be accomplished, we can show forth the Lord’s faithfulness as well as his loving-kindness. In order to show forth the attributes of God’s character properly, in a manner that will redound to his praise and glory, it is essential to proclaim the truth of his Word. Peter speaks of this as showing “forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”—I Pet. 2:9
And we are to do this in the morning and in the evening—in other words, it is a daily privilege to “offer the sacrifice of praise to God,” even “the fruit of our lips.” (Heb. 13:15) It is a very similar thought to that of sowing the seeds of truth in the morning, and in the evening withholding not our hands from continuing the same appropriate effort to sing the praises of our God.—Eccles. 11:6
Verse 3 of Psalm 92 speaks of an “instrument of ten strings,” a “psaltery,” and a “harp.” These instruments were apparently in general use in Israel in ancient times. While it is quite appropriate to employ musical instruments in our praise to God, it is quite possible that here they are being used in a symbolic manner to denote great truths pertaining to God’s plan. It has been suggested, for example, that the ten strings mentioned might well represent ten important doctrines of the divine plan, beginning with creation. The ransom would be another of these doctrines and so would be the high calling of the church and the restitution of all things. It requires a harmonious blending of the tones produced by all these doctrines to sound forth the praises of our God properly.
The term “solemn sound” is a translation of the Hebrew word higgayon. Its literal meaning is soliloquy, or meditation. The thought we get from its use in this passage is that our praise of God should not be a mere outburst of momentary enthusiasm, or excitement, but should be based upon a well thought-out acceptance of the divine plan, a praise to God that springs forth from a heart that has meditated deeply and seriously on the great verities of the divine Word. If the Lord and his Word are our meditation day and night, our lips are certain to be busily engaged in showing forth his praises.
“O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.” (vs. 5) The more we come to know about the divine plan of the ages, the better we understand the meaning of expressions like this. Truly, the Lord’s works are great! His original work of creation was great. His work of restoring the lost race and the lost paradise will be great. The bringing into being of the new creation is another of his mighty works.
And his thoughts are indeed “very deep.” The Apostle Paul, after relating some wonderful truths pertaining to God’s dealings with Israel, declares: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counselor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.”—Rom. 11:33-36
PSALM 103:1-11—In this psalm the thought of praising God is continued. In the psalm just considered, the praising of God along general lines, as his glories are reflected by his wondrous plan to bless all mankind, is stressed, while in this psalm some of the reasons for praising him which apply to us individually are referred to. For these “benefits” which mean so much to us, our “souls” “bless,” or praise, the Lord. To make it more emphatic, the psalmist adds, “And all that is within me, bless his holy name.” The soul is the being, and we are to praise our God with our whole being!
In verse 2 a solemn admonition is expressed—“and forget not all his benefits.” The appropriateness of this expression is readily seen when we consider how impossible it would be to remember all the Lord’s benefits. The Lord blesses us in so many ways that it would be quite beyond our ability to remember everything he does for us. Indeed, there are many of his blessings of which we are not even aware. No, we could not remember them all; but how tragic it would be should we fu„ get all the blessings which the Lord showers upon us from day to day! We are apt to forget many of them, but let us remember as many as we can and, as we meditate upon them, have our hearts and lives filled with thoughts of his loving-kindness.
One of the benefits which has reached us from the hand of the Lord is the redemption which he has provided through Christ Jesus. He has redeemed us from destruction, from death. By faith, we are even now justified to life through Christ and have peace with God. What a marvelous blessing it is to know this; and having accepted the divine provision of redemption, this great truth should be helping to sanctify us, or set us apart, more completely day by day to the doing of our Heavenly Father’s will.
“Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (vs. 5) All the natural good things we have to eat are furnished by the Lord, and we should be thankful for them. But more important are the spiritual morsels provided in his Word. Through this provision we are able to “taste” that the Lord is good. In Revelation 10:9 we are told of a “little book”—evidently symbolic of the truths of the divine plan—which the Revelator was told to eat, with the explanation that it would be in his mouth “sweet as honey.”
John represents the church class living at the end of the age, when this “little book” would be given to the followers of the Lamb; and many of us have tasted its sweetness and have rejoiced therein. In the case of the little book, the eating of it finally results in bitterness, that is, bitter experiences of persecution because of having accepted the truth. But all who have eaten of this book can truly say that the Lord has satisfied their mouths with good things—truths, precious and enduring.
And when we feast upon the blessings of present truth, our “youth is renewed”; that is, we become new creatures in Christ Jesus through the begetting of the Holy Spirit. As new creatures, we should daily be growing stronger and more like him who is our Pattern. As new creatures, we do not grow weary and faint, as do the aged according to the flesh, because he gives us strength; and in his strength we can “mount up with wings as eagles.”—Isa. 40:31
To know God’s plan and to have his viewpoint in the very nature of things widens our interest in others. Because of this, while there are many blessings which the Lord showers upon us as individuals, we are not unmindful of his loving plan to offer blessings to all mankind in his own due time. The psalmist mentions this point, saying, “The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.”—vs. 6
Then the psalmist gives an illustration of this, that is, the deliverance of the oppressed Israelites under the leadership of Moses. In this illustration, the Hebrews represent the whole world in bondage to Satan—and their deliverance from Egyptian bondage represents the deliverance of all mankind from bondage to sin and death. Prior to this larger deliverance from Egypt, there was the deliverance from death of Israel’s firstborn, which pictures God’s dealings with the “church of the firstborn” during the Gospel Age. (Heb. 12:23) For our knowledge of this and for the fact that our deliverance draweth nigh we can indeed thank the God of our salvation.
Verses 8 to 11 enlarge upon the mercy of God as exemplified in his loving-kindness toward us, his people. “He hath not dealt with us after our sins,” writes the psalmist. How true! If he had, we would have no hope of life at all. But, because of his mercy, he made provision to cover our iniquities. Because of this, he rewards us according to our heart intentions.—Ps. 32:1,2
The psalmist declares that the Lord has removed our transgressions as far from us as the east is from the west. What a powerful illustration! The east and the west never come together, and so it is in the experience of those whose sins have been covered by the robe of Christ’s righteousness. As far as counting against them is concerned, their sins are completely removed. The “old man” is reckoned dead, being offered in sacrifice. Truly our God is good, and let us continue to rejoice in his merciful loving-kindness!