Psalm 92

“When the wicked spring up like grass, and when all the workers of iniquity flourish, it is that they may be destroyed forever. But You, Lord, are on high forevermore. For behold, Your enemies, O Lord, For behold, Your enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil. My eye also has seen my desire on my enemies; my ears hear my desire on the wicked who rise up against me. The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”  Psalm 92:7-15 (NKJV)

I have been in the music business all of my adult life.  I suppose I will always be in it, to some extent, given the sizeable catalog of published songs I’ve written/co-written.  One thing I have learned in the songwriting business is that it’s nearly impossible to write a blues song while you are in the midst of difficulty.  Blues songs are primarily written in retrospect, after the storm has passed.  Then, when the clouds clear away, you can sort through the rubble from the storm more objectively.  But while everything is flying apart, you’re basically rolled up into a ball, hoping you can make it out alive!  Anyone who goes through a hurricane knows what I am talking about.  But every hurricane has an “eye,” a pause in the destruction.  

That is what the Sabbath is for believers: A pause from an otherwise hectic week so that we can focus on the Lord.  Today’s psalm is titled “A Song For The Sabbath Day,” and the subject matter is a contrast between people who praise the Lord and seek Him in His “courts” (the temple) and those “senseless fools” who do not.  God knew that (in addition to seeking Him every day as we go about our work - Deuteronomy 6:6-7), we need to pause and do nothing but remember Him for an entire day every week, so He commanded us to observe the Sabbath:

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11 (NKJV)

Lest we dismiss the Old Testament, consider the New Testament writer of Hebrews.

“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25 (NKJV)

So, how well are you doing with obeying God’s command to observe the Sabbath?