Latest / Reformed Thinking / Planted in the House of the Lord (Psalm 92) | Charles Spurgeon

Transcript

Planted in the House of the Lord (Psalm 92) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

0:00
Hello, and welcome back to Reform Thinking.
0:02
I'm really glad you joined us again today.
0:04
Yeah. It is great to be here.
0:06
We are here to do what we love best, which is opening up the
0:09
texts that have shaped the Christian life for centuries
0:14
and, well, really getting into the substance of them.
0:16
Absolutely. And as we always do, we are
0:19
approaching this discussion from a specific starting point,
0:22
right? We are both Protestant
0:23
Christians and we hold to the Westminster Confession of Faith.
0:27
That is our theological baseline.
0:30
Which is so critical to lay out there for you listening.
0:32
It is, we believe, that creates a necessary framework for
0:36
understanding the weight and the glory of the Scriptures we are
0:39
about to discuss today. Yeah, we are not just looking at
0:41
literature here. We are handling God's
0:44
revelation, and today we are turning our attention to Psalm
0:48
92. A magnificent text.
0:50
It really is, but we are not doing it alone.
0:53
We are going to be looking at this Psalm specifically through
0:55
the lens of the Prince of Preachers himself, Charles
0:58
Haddon Spurgeon. Yes, drawing heavily from his
1:01
massive commentary, The Treasury of David.
1:03
A total masterpiece and Psalm 92 is a particularly special
1:07
selection for us to look at. I was looking at the title of
1:09
this song and it stands out immediately.
1:12
It is titled A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath Day, right?
1:15
And I learned from our reading that this is actually the only
1:18
Psalm in the entire Salter that carries that specific title.
1:22
That is correct. It is totally unique in that
1:24
regard. It is a composition intended
1:26
specifically to be sung on the day of rest.
1:29
Which is fascinating. It is, and Spurgeon makes a
1:31
beautiful point right at the outset about why that matters.
1:34
He says that the subject of the Psalm is the praise of God, and
1:37
that praise is sabatic work. Sabatic work.
1:40
Yes, it is the joyful occupation of resting hearts.
1:44
I just love that phrase. Joyful occupation.
1:47
We often think of rest is, you know, doing nothing, just
1:50
sitting on the couch, totally checked out.
1:52
Right. The modern view of weekend
1:53
recovery, Yeah. But Spurgeon is saying that the
1:56
true Sabbath is found in God, so it is only wise to meditate upon
1:59
him on that day. It is an active rest.
2:02
Precisely. And because it is for the
2:04
Sabbath, the style of the Psalm reflects that.
2:07
It balances solemnity and joy. It.
2:10
Lifts the mind. It does.
2:11
It lifts the mind from the drudgery of the week to the
2:13
contemplation of God's finished work.
2:16
Now, before we get into the text itself, we have to address the
2:20
authorship, because I found this bit of background absolutely
2:24
fascinating. A rabbinical theory.
2:25
Yes, apparently there is a Jewish tradition that says Adam
2:30
wrote this Psalm. Yeah, the Rabbi's had a theory
2:32
that Adam composed this on the 7th day of creation, immediately
2:36
after he was made and God rested.
2:38
Well, I mean, it is a romantic idea, isn't it?
2:40
Adam in the Gordon, fresh from the Creator's hand, singing this
2:43
song. It paints quite a picture.
2:45
It does. But Spurgeon, well, he doesn't
2:47
have much patience for that theory, does he?
2:49
No, he certainly does not. He dismisses it quite readily.
2:52
He actually calls it the ravings of the Rabbis.
2:55
Wow. He never mince his words.
2:57
Never. And his logic is delightfully
2:59
practical. He points out that the Psalm
3:01
later mentions wicked men and workers of iniquity.
3:04
Right. Adam in Paradise had no wicked
3:07
men to contend with. That is a very good point.
3:09
It would be a bit premature for Adam to be complaining about
3:12
enemies when he is the literal only man on Earth.
3:15
Spot on. Spurgeon also notes that Adam
3:18
likely didn't have a harp constructed yet.
3:20
And the Psalm heavily mentions instruments.
3:23
Right, so we can safely ascribe this to David, written as the
3:26
Spirit gave him utterance. So we have David writing a hymn
3:29
for the Sabbath, and the mission of this deep dive today is to
3:33
understand what that Sabbath work looks like.
3:36
We want to see how the Christian view of rest involves this
3:40
active contemplation. And we want to unpack how David
3:43
contrast the fleeting success of the wicked with the steady, deep
3:47
growth of the righteous. That contrast is the absolute
3:51
heartbeat of the Psalm. So let's get into the first
3:53
segment, dealing with verses one through 3.
3:54
This is about the ethics and aesthetics of praise.
3:57
Verse one starts with a very simple statement.
4:00
It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord.
4:02
We hear that all the time. We do.
4:03
You hear people say, well, it is good to give thanks.
4:06
But Spurgeon breaks down what good actually means here in a
4:10
threefold way that I found so helpful.
4:13
He does. He moves beyond the surface
4:15
definition of the word. First he says it is ethically
4:19
good, meaning, meaning it is the Lord's right.
4:22
He is our creator and benefactor.
4:24
Therefore we owe Him thanks. It is a matter of pure justice.
4:27
Right. It is not just a nice thing to
4:28
do, it is the right thing to do is a moral obligation.
4:31
Second, he says, it is emotionally good.
4:34
It is pleasant to the human heart.
4:36
It actually does the worshipper good to worship.
4:39
It lifts us up. Yes, and 3rd it is practically
4:42
good because when we give thanks, it leads others to
4:46
render homage as well. It has a contagious effect on
4:50
the people around us. I really like how he connects
4:52
duty and pleasure there, he says.
4:53
When duty and pleasure combine, who will be backward?
4:56
It is a great rhetorical question if.
4:58
It is the right thing to do and it actually feels good to the
5:01
soul to do it. We should be running to do it.
5:04
And Spurgeon adds that a Sabbath without Thanksgiving is a
5:07
Sabbath profaned. Profaned.
5:09
That is a strong word. It is, he says.
5:11
We are loaded daily with benefits.
5:13
So to let the Lord's Day pass without distinct praise is to
5:17
despise the gift. Now in verse one, it also
5:20
mentions singing praises to the name of the Most High.
5:24
And here's Spurgeon gets into a bit of a debate with the Society
5:27
of Friends or the Quakers regarding silent worship.
5:30
Ah yes, this is a classic Spurgeon moment.
5:34
The Quakers famously sit in silence, waiting upon the
5:37
Spirit. Right, that is their whole
5:39
tradition. And Spurgeon acknowledges that
5:42
silent worship is sweet. He doesn't deny that, but he
5:45
argues that vocal worship is sweeter.
5:47
His argument is based on nature, right?
5:49
It is. He says nature itself is vocal.
5:51
The birds sing the Brooks War as they flow.
5:55
Everything makes a sound. Right.
5:57
So he argues that to deny the tongue which he calls the glory
6:00
of man, to deny it the function of praising God is an unnatural
6:03
strain. He actually.
6:05
Calls it a problem how they can deprive themselves as such a
6:08
noble part of worship. And then he quotes Luther.
6:11
You can always count on Luther for a strong opinion.
6:13
Indeed, Luther said, come, let us sing a Psalm and drive away
6:17
the devil drive. Away the devil.
6:19
Yes, there is a sense in which vocal, audible praise has a
6:22
spiritual strength to clear the air, so to speak, of the enemy's
6:26
influence. Moving on to verse 2, the
6:28
psalmist gives us a rhythm for this praise to show forth Thy
6:32
loving kindness in the morning and Thy faithfulness every
6:35
night. I love this distinction between
6:37
what we focus on in the morning versus the evening.
6:40
It is a beautiful liturgical rhythm for the individual
6:43
believer. In the morning.
6:45
The focus is loving kindness. Why specifically in the morning?
6:49
Spurgeon notes that the day is fresh.
6:52
It is the time when the morn is sewing the earth with Orient
6:55
Pearl, as he puts it so poetically.
6:57
And he makes a point about the manna too.
6:59
Yes, God distributes the day's manna before the sun is hot.
7:03
The idea is that we should catch God's mercy early, Spurgeon
7:06
says. We should magnify the Lord
7:08
before unpleasant tasks distract the mind.
7:11
We all know how the day gets away from us.
7:13
If we don't lock into that loving kindness first thing, the
7:16
emails and the chores will just crowd it out.
7:18
Completely so. Mourning is for mercy and loving
7:21
kindness. But then verse 2 says thy
7:23
faithfulness every night. Why the shift of faithfulness in
7:26
the evening? Because evening is the time for
7:29
retrospect. When you look back at the day
7:31
that has just passed, you see that God kept His promises.
7:36
He sustained you. You are still here.
7:39
That makes so much sense. You anticipate the kindness in
7:42
the morning, and you verify the faithfulness in the evening.
7:45
Precisely. Spurgeon quotes a beautiful line
7:48
here. He says every night, clouded or
7:50
clear, is a like suitable for a song upon the faithfulness of
7:54
God. Clouded or clear, So whether the
7:56
day was good or bad, right? Whether you had a triumphant day
7:59
or a miserable one, God remained faithful through it.
8:03
Then in verse 3, we get to the instruments, the text, an
8:06
instrument of 10 strings, the psaltery and the harp with a
8:09
solemn sound. Now this brings up a bit of
8:12
attention in our reformed heritage, doesn't?
8:14
It it really does. We have to be honest about the
8:16
history here. While the Psalm clearly commands
8:19
the use of instruments, the interpretation of this in the
8:22
Church age has varied quite a bit.
8:24
Spurgeon cites Eusebius, right, an early church historian.
8:27
Yes, Eusebius gives an allegorical interpretation of
8:29
this text. This is the view that the 10
8:31
strings represent the body and soul.
8:33
That is, it. UCB suggests the 10 strings
8:36
represent the worship of the Holy Spirit performed by the
8:38
five senses of the body and the five powers of the soul.
8:42
That is a very creative way to look at it.
8:43
It is a way of spiritualizing the text to apply it to the New
8:46
Testament believer, avoiding the literal instruments.
8:50
And Spurgeon also brings in the Puritans and earlier Church
8:54
fathers like Justin Martyr and Chrysostom.
8:57
They weren't fans of full bands in church, were they?
8:59
No, they absolutely were not. Justin Martyr and Chrysostom
9:02
argued that instrumental music was permitted to the Jews in
9:05
their infant state because of the grossness of their souls.
9:08
The grossness of their souls, That is a heavy critique.
9:11
They believed the Old Testament Saints needed the external
9:14
stimulation, but the Church, having come of age, uses the
9:18
body and the voice, the living instrument.
9:21
That is a sharp historical perspective, but Spurgeon, being
9:24
Spurgeon, seems to find a middle ground, or at least a spiritual
9:28
application for us today. He quotes Doctor Watts, the
9:31
great hymn writer. Doctor Watts says the best harp
9:34
of solemn sound is the heart found in tune.
9:37
The heart found in tune. Yes, and that is the key take
9:40
away for us. Whether 1 uses a piano, a
9:43
guitar, or just the human voice, the warning stands fine.
9:47
Music without devotion is Esperjun puts it a splendid
9:51
garment upon a corpse. A splendid garment upon a corpse
9:54
that is such a vivid image. It doesn't matter how
9:57
professional the band sounds if the heart is dead.
9:59
That is exactly the point. Let's move into the second
10:02
segment, verses four and five. This is where we get into the
10:04
logic of this gladness and the depth of God's thoughts.
10:08
Verse 4 says, For thou Lord has made me glad through thy work.
10:12
Notice how the root of the joy is external to the psalmist.
10:15
He is glad because of what God has done.
10:17
It is objective. Yes, it is outside of himself
10:20
and Spurgeon differentiates the works of God into 3 categories
10:23
here, Creation, Providence and redemption.
10:26
OK, so creation is adoring the maker, looking at the mountains,
10:30
the stars. Right Providence is seeing God's
10:33
hand in our daily history, how He provides for us, how He
10:36
steers the events of the world. But redemption is the third
10:39
category. And Spurgeon says that while
10:41
creation is great, redemption makes gladness note no bounds.
10:45
No bounds at all. When we contemplate the finished
10:47
work of Christ the Atonement, silence becomes impossible.
10:52
He actually says if we didn't sing, we would die.
10:55
And the verse continues. I will triumph in the works of
10:57
thy hands. Spurgeon has a great note on
10:59
that word. Triumph.
11:00
He likens it to a victor dividing the spoil.
11:03
It is not just a quiet appreciation, it is a shout of
11:06
victory. I will triumph.
11:08
It is an aggressive joy. You have won the battle and now
11:11
you are rejoicing in the spoils. And then immediately after this
11:15
triumph, we hit verse 5. O Lord, how great are they
11:18
works? And thy thoughts are very deep.
11:21
This feels like a major shift from looking at the works to
11:24
looking at the mind behind the works.
11:26
It is the shift from the action to the decree, and this is where
11:29
we as Reformed thinkers really lean in.
11:32
Oh, for sure. Spurgeon connects thy thoughts
11:34
directly to the Reformed understanding of God's eternal
11:37
decrees and predestination. Thy thoughts are very deep.
11:40
It is not something you can just wade into.
11:42
It is an ocean. It is, Spurgeon notes, the
11:44
massive contrast here. Man is superficial.
11:48
Man is shallow. God is deep, and there is a
11:51
fascinating linguistic point here that you brought up in our
11:54
prep. The Hebrew root for thoughts.
11:56
Right, the Hebrew root implies counting or interlacing.
12:00
Interlacing like a massive design.
12:02
Yes, think of a complex braided structure.
12:05
The design is intricate with many threads, Providence,
12:09
history, redemption, all knit together by the Divine mind.
12:13
To us, looking at the back of the design, it might look
12:15
chaotic, just a bunch of loose threads and knots.
12:18
But the thoughts the knit pattern are very deep, every
12:21
thread is placed with purpose. That is a beautiful image, but
12:25
it's also a dangerous ground for the arrogant, isn't it?
12:28
Spurgeon quotes Augustine here with a very stern warning.
12:31
A very serious warning. Augustine says that unbelieving
12:34
souls are wrecked in this depth. Wrecked.
12:36
When men try to scrutinize God's sovereignty without faith, they
12:39
drown. In the end, this Augustine's
12:41
advice is this the only safety is holding fast to the wood of
12:45
Christ's cross. That is heavy.
12:48
Don't try to swim the ocean of predestination without holding
12:50
on to the cross. Precisely, we view the decrees
12:53
through the lens of the cross. If we untether from Christ, we
12:57
will just sink in our own speculation.
12:59
Now this sets up a massive contrast.
13:01
In the text we have just been talking about the sheer depth of
13:04
God's thoughts. In segment 3, verses 6 through
13:07
9, we meet a character who is the absolute opposite of deep,
13:12
the brutish man. Yes, verse 6 says a brutish man
13:15
knoweth not, neither does the fool understand this.
13:19
Spurgeon points out that the Hebrew word here is related to
13:21
boorish. Right.
13:22
Or even boorish like a wild pig. Boorish man.
13:25
It describes someone who lives entirely at the level of their
13:28
appetite. They are governed by instinct
13:30
and flesh, not by spiritual insight.
13:32
And the tragedy, as Spurgeon points out, is that a man can be
13:36
a philosopher, an intellectual giant, and yet remain brutish in
13:40
the eyes of Scripture. How does that happen?
13:42
Well, if he fails to see the designer behind the design.
13:45
Spot on. If he looks at nature and sees
13:47
only material processes and not the glory of God, he has lowered
13:50
himself to the level of swine. He is rooting around in the
13:53
earth for acorns and never looks up to the oak tree or the sky
13:56
above it. There is a very striking
13:58
anecdote Spurgeon includes from Dequincy regarding the
14:02
philosopher Immanuel Kant. Now, Kant is a Titan of
14:05
philosophy. His mind was incredibly sharp.
14:08
But this story is chilling. It is deeply unsettling, the
14:12
Quincy recounts, that Kant in private conversation, exalted in
14:16
the prospect of annihilation, you.
14:18
Actually look forward to it. He wanted to rot forever like a
14:20
beast. He took pride in the idea that
14:22
there was no afterlife, no judgement, just biological
14:26
cessation. Spurgeon calls that the man
14:28
brute. God made man a little lower than
14:30
the angels, and man has been trying to get lower ever since.
14:33
It is the final degradation of the Imago day, taking the image
14:36
of God and dragging it into the mud.
14:38
And this leads right into verse 7, where these wicked man are
14:42
described as grass. When the wicked spring is the
14:45
grass, it is that they shall be destroyed forever.
14:48
The analogy of grass is perfect for the point David is making.
14:51
Think about grass. It springs up incredibly fast.
14:54
Especially after a rain. It is abundant.
14:57
It looks green and successful, but it has no woody fiber.
15:00
It has no stability to it at all.
15:02
It is entirely superficial success.
15:04
Correct, and it's end is the scythe or the oven.
15:08
Spurgeon uses a terrifying phrase here to describe this
15:11
dynamic. He says their prosperity is the
15:13
fattening for slaughter. They grow to die.
15:16
They blossom to be blasted. That is the quote, and it
15:19
totally reframes how we look at the successful wicked.
15:22
We look at the world and we often envy them.
15:25
We see their wealth, their ease. Right, it looks like they are
15:28
winning, but if we. Saw a beast being fattened up in
15:30
a stall. Knowing the butcher is coming
15:32
tomorrow. We wouldn't envy the beast, we
15:35
would pity it. That is a staggering
15:37
perspective, and it brings us to verse 8.
15:40
Looking at the structure of the Psalm, this seems to be the
15:43
pivot point. It is the central verse, but
15:45
thou, Lord, art most high forevermore.
15:47
Everything else we just read about is moving, changing,
15:50
dying, or growing. But God is.
15:52
The contrast is stark. The wicked are destroyed
15:55
forever, God is high forever, and this is the core basis of
15:59
the believer's security. Because God doesn't change.
16:01
Because he is immutable. Because he is the the high Rock
16:04
forever, the believer is safe. It does not matter how much the
16:08
wicked rage or how tall the grass grows, the grass will
16:11
burn. The rock does not move.
16:13
And because the rock doesn't move, the enemies are scattered.
16:16
Verse 9 repeats it. For lo thine enemies, O Lord,
16:19
For lo thine enemies shall perish.
16:21
Notice the repetition. It confirms the certainty for
16:23
lo. For lo, it is as if the psalmist
16:27
is pointing them out on a battlefield.
16:29
Look there, look there. They are perishing.
16:31
And Spurgeon points out their complete lack of unity.
16:35
The verse says all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
16:38
Evil has a self-destructive nature built into it.
16:41
It cannot maintain a confederacy.
16:43
They may unite against God for a moment, but self-interest drives
16:46
them apart. They scatter like chaff in the
16:48
wind. Moving to segment 4, we hit
16:50
verse 10. We have seen the brutish man, We
16:52
have seen the grass. Now the psalmist speaks of
16:54
himself. But my horn shall thou exalt
16:57
like the horn of a Unicorn. OK, we have to stop here,
17:00
unicorns. Yes, the King James Version uses
17:04
the word Unicorn, but we shouldn't think of the mythical
17:07
horse with a magical spiral horn on its forehead.
17:09
I am glad Spurgeon clarifies this.
17:11
He does. He cites a scholar named Weiner
17:13
who identifies it as the antelope leukorex or the wild ox
17:17
or Buffalo. So a real historical animal.
17:19
Yes, a real animal known in that region for its tremendous
17:23
physical strength and it's very formidable horn.
17:26
So the symbol here is sheer strength.
17:28
Unconquerable strength. The wicked are cut down like
17:31
wheat grass, but the believer is exalted with the force of a wild
17:35
ox. We are not defeated, we are
17:37
strengthened to triumph. And then comes one of my
17:40
absolute favorite phrases in this entire song.
17:43
I shall be ignited with fresh oil.
17:45
Fresh oil. It is such a sensory rich image.
17:48
Spurgeon goes into the literal agricultural meaning here.
17:51
It is not just new oil from the store, it is green oil.
17:55
Yes, green oil or cold drawn oil.
17:57
This is the oil squeezed from the fruit without boiling or
18:00
heating it. The first press.
18:01
Exactly. It is the purest, most fragrant
18:04
and most expensive type. It preserves the absolute
18:07
essence of the olive. And what is the spiritual
18:09
application for you and me? It is the absolute need for
18:12
constant renewal. We cannot rely on the stale
18:15
grace of yesterday. We cannot rely on a spiritual
18:18
high we had 10 years ago at a retreat.
18:20
We need it today. We need the fresh, cold, drawn
18:23
oil of the Spirit today. It speaks of incredible
18:26
vitality. The believer is fresh, fragrant
18:30
and ready for use. Contrast that with the dry
18:33
withering grass of the wicked we just saw.
18:36
One is totally drying out, about to be burned.
18:39
The other is being saturated with pure oil.
18:41
It is literally the difference between life and death.
18:44
Now in segment 5, we hit a bit of a technical snag.
18:47
In the translation of verse 11, the verse reads mine.
18:50
I also shall see my desire on mine enemies, but my desire is
18:55
in italics in the King James Version.
18:58
Right. And Spurgeon is very critical of
19:00
the translators here. He says those words.
19:02
My desire had far better been left out.
19:04
Why is he so opposed to that edition?
19:06
Because the original Hebrew simply says mine eye shall see
19:09
on mine enemies, it leaves it blank.
19:12
It doesn't fill in the emotion. Right when the translators added
19:15
my desire, it makes the psalmist sound vindictive, as if he is
19:20
gloating and wanting to see them suffer personally, like he has a
19:23
specific revenge fantasy. Spurgeon argues that the
19:27
theological implication here is that we should be content to
19:30
just wait on God's justice. Spot on.
19:33
The believer is content to see what God does.
19:36
We don't need to prescribe what we want to see happen to our
19:39
enemies. God's justice is perfect without
19:41
our input. Spudgeon has a truly great line
19:44
about adding to Scripture here. He says adding human words is
19:48
like repairing gold with tinsel or gems with painted wood.
19:51
It is a very strong call to let the text speak, even in its
19:55
silence. Don't try to help the Holy
19:57
Spirit out. Now we come to the beautiful,
19:59
expansive imagery of segment 6, verse 12, the two trees.
20:04
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree.
20:06
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
20:08
These are two very different trees and they represent 2 very
20:11
different aspects of the Saints life.
20:13
Let's start with the palm tree. Spurgeon calls this the Desert
20:15
St. The palm grows in the desert in
20:18
dearth and severe drought. It stands out there in burning
20:22
sand and scorching sun. But, and this is the key, it
20:26
flourishes. How does it manage that in a
20:28
desert? Because it's taproots go down
20:30
deep to hidden water sources, it is totally independent of the
20:35
surface rain. It doesn't care if it rains or
20:37
not this season because it's life comes from a source the
20:39
world cannot see. That is heavy.
20:42
The world sees the circumstances, the drought, the
20:44
hardship, and thinks, well, he should be withering.
20:47
But the Christian is tapping into the grace of God deep
20:49
underground. And Spurgeon notes the
20:51
verticality of the palm. It is tall, slender, erect.
20:55
It sends all its strength upward toward heaven.
20:57
I read that the Hindus point out 360 distinct uses for the palm
21:01
tree, fruit, shade, timber, everything.
21:04
It is incredibly fruitful and useful, and there is a lovely
21:06
detail. Spurgeon mentions the dust does
21:09
not adhere to the leaf of a palm.
21:10
The Christian is in the world, but not of it.
21:13
Precisely. The dust of the desert, the sin
21:15
and the grime slides right off. And of course, the palm is the
21:18
historic symbol of victory. Then there's the cedar in
21:21
Lebanon, the Mountain St. The habitat changes entirely
21:25
here. Now we are up on the mountain
21:26
summits. We are exposed to blasts, severe
21:29
storms and snow. The palm deals with the heat.
21:33
The Cedar deals with the storm. And the physical structure is
21:35
different. The cedar is Massey.
21:37
It has massive spreading branches.
21:40
It is deeply rooted into the rock itself.
21:43
It represents incredible stability and longevity, living
21:47
for centuries. Spurgeon contrasts the cedar
21:50
with the grass, again tying the whole Psalm together.
21:52
He says grass makes hay for oxen.
21:54
Cedars build the temple of the Lord.
21:56
That is the difference in Destiny 1 is just fodder for
21:58
beasts. The other is a permanent pillar
22:00
in the House of God. And the righteous combine both
22:03
of these. We are the palm and the cedar,
22:05
fruitful and upright like the palm, strong and stable like the
22:08
cedar. It gives a complete holistic
22:11
picture of the Christian character.
22:12
This leads us right into segment 7, verses 13 and 14.
22:16
Those that be planted in the House of the Lord shall flourish
22:18
in the courts of our God. The absolute keyword there is
22:21
planted. Planted.
22:22
Yes, Spurgeon points out that no tree in God's garden is self
22:26
sown. This points us directly back to
22:28
the doctrine of election and sovereign grace.
22:31
We are there because the husbandmen planted us there.
22:33
We didn't blow in on the winds. And the location matters so
22:36
much. The House of the Lord, the
22:38
courts of our God. The church, the ordinances, the
22:42
means of grace. Spurgeon argues that professors,
22:45
meaning those who merely profess faith but don't possess it, who
22:48
are rooted in the world, do not flourish.
22:50
You have to be rooted in the communion of Christ and his
22:53
people. And if you are planted, there's
22:55
an amazing promise in verse 14. They shall still bring forth
22:58
fruit in old age. This is such a comfort,
23:01
especially as the years go by. Natural law dictates that as you
23:04
get older, you decay, you slow down, you become less useful.
23:08
But spiritual loss is the exact opposite.
23:10
Grace thrives. Spurgeon lists the specific
23:14
fruits of old age. It is not necessarily the active
23:17
running around energy of youth. No, it is a different kind of
23:19
fruit. It is patience, a mellow temper,
23:22
sweet testimony, ripe tested experience.
23:25
I love the phrase fat and flourishing.
23:27
It sounds a bit funny to our modern ears to call an old Saint
23:30
fat, but it means full of SAP, full of vital life.
23:34
It means they do not drag out a starving, miserable existence.
23:39
God ensures their inner man is being renewed day by day, even
23:43
as the outer man perishes. Spurgeon says an aged, happy
23:46
Christian is a letter of recommendation for God.
23:49
It proves God's fidelity. Think about it, if God abandons
23:53
his people when they get old and weak, he isn't faithful, but he
23:57
doesn't abandoned them. He carries them all the way to
23:59
whore hairs. And that brings us to the final
24:02
segment, verse 15, the conclusion of the entire
24:04
argument. Why do they flourish?
24:06
The text says to show that the Lord is upright.
24:09
The very existence of the thriving St. is a proof of the
24:12
character of God. The believer stability is proof
24:14
of the rock stability. He is my rock, the psalmist
24:18
says. And there is no unrighteousness
24:20
in him. Spurgeon unpacks this
24:21
beautifully. He says God never defrauds the
24:23
believer. Never.
24:24
He may delay rewards. We might have to wait a very
24:27
long time in this life, but he never forgets.
24:29
His dispensations have no flaw whatsoever.
24:32
And Spurgeon ends his commentary by tying the end all the way
24:35
back to the beginning. Yes.
24:37
The Psalm began with the statement it is good to give
24:40
thanks. It ends by proving why it is
24:42
good. It is good because he is the
24:45
rock and there is no unrighteousness in him.
24:48
The logical argument of the song is complete.
24:50
What a path this Psalm takes us on.
24:53
We started with the duty of Sabbath praise.
24:55
We move through the joy of contemplating God's deep
24:58
thoughts. We look down on the destruction
25:00
of the brutish wicked and we ended up standing tall with the
25:03
palm and the cedar fruitful in old age.
25:06
It really covers the entire span of the Christian life and
25:09
worldview. It places us firmly and
25:11
permanently on the rot. As we wrap up today's deep dive,
25:15
I want to leave you the listener with a thought derived from that
25:18
palm tree analogy we discussed. It is something to chew on this
25:21
week. It is a great application, go
25:23
ahead. If the palm grows in the desert
25:25
by tapping into hidden water sources, what secret springs are
25:28
you drawing from when your visible circumstances dried up?
25:31
When the surface rain stops, are your roots deep enough to find
25:34
the water that the world can't see, or are you going to wither
25:37
like the grass? That is the ultimate question
25:40
for us because the drought will come, the heat will come, the
25:43
roots are what save you. Thank you so much for joining us
25:46
for this deep dive into Psalm 92 with Charles Spurgeon.
25:50
We hope this truly enriches your next Sabbath.
25:52
Indeed, may you find your rest in the rock.
25:55
Until next time.