For You, O LORD, have made me glad by Your deeds; I sing for joy at the works of Your hands. Sermons
I. Music ministers to our sanctifying by its RESTFULNESS. Nothing in the world is so soothing to us. David's power on the half-mad king Saul is but a type of the influence of music that we feel. How often nothing will quiet the tossing, restless sufferer, until some one croons a holy song! Who does not feel the cathedral song steal into his very soul, hushing down every passion, and breathing peace? And surely, tempest tossed every week, we need sabbath music. II. Music ministers to our sanctifying by its RELATION TO OUR EMOTIONS. Illustrate by the march of a regiment to its music. The instant effect produced by dance music. The influence of tunes in the minor key, etc. Then our sensitiveness makes music, well chosen and well rendered, an actual, moral, and religious force. Music may be a means of grace. III. Music ministers to our sanctifying by its WINSOMENESS. See the crowds attracted by Salvation Army bands; or by services of song. The power of music to win has not yet been fully realized by the Christian Church. - R.T.
For Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through Thy work: I will triumph in the works of Thy hands The Hebrew prophets and psalmists, when their minds were in the most exalted and inspired state, saw God in everything; in the mightiest and in the meanest movements of the universe, in all the events of history and in all the incidents of the individual experience. They were all and everywhere the works of God. To them the universe was no self-propelling machine, but a living organism of which God was the ever present soul.1. Religious people are often afraid of science, and denounce it as an enemy to faith and piety. But what is science, and what is its aim? Its aim is to know and understand God's work in nature. Why should such an aim be construed as antagonistic to religion or detrimental to piety? God has not sent us into the world blindfolded to the wonder and glory of His works, as if He did not mean us to unriddle the secrets of His workmanship. 2. Then there are rich poetic reasons for a closer communion with the Divine works of nature. God has endowed the meanest nature among us with the susceptibility of being pleased and delighted with the scenes of beauty and grandeur with which the world is filled. We were made for very sweet and pure enjoyments, and not only to grind in the mill of our daily work. This must have been partly what the psalmist meant (ver. 4). 3. Then there is the religious motive to a more intimate acquaintance with the works of God. "How great are Thy works, and Thy thoughts are very deep!" The Divine thoughts are embodied and expressed in the Divine works. And if we wish to know God more perfectly, what ideas the Divine Being has been expressing in His creative acts — ideas of beauty, goodness, and power; to know something of the range of the infinite wisdom, and something of the sweep and compass of Almighty power, we must give ourselves with greater energy to the contemplation and study of His works. (C. Short, M.A.) 1. Creation. 2. Providence. 3. Grace. The renovation of the heart of man, the removal of idolatry, the creation of the beauties of holiness, that is the work of God. And it is His chief work, His sublimest achievement. II. SOME REASONS OR GROUNDS ON WHICH A CONTEMPLATION OF THIS WORK OF GRACE IS SO EMINENTLY FITTED TO INSPIRE THE BREASTS OF GOOD MEN WITH SENTIMENTS OF PECULIAR GLADNESS. 1. Because it is a work of such beneficial character and tendency. Wherever you see a sinner converted from the error of his ways, you see the firstfruits of a most glorious state, the scene of a mighty harvest. 2. Because it contains the richest impress of the hand of its Author. 3. Because it is a work so surprising and unexpected. "Eye hath not seen," etc. 4. On account of its permanency. This work shall advance and triumph, till there shall be unbelief nowhere, faith everywhere; hatred nowhere, love everywhere; confusion nowhere, order everywhere; darkness nowhere, light everywhere; Satan nowhere on earth, Christ everywhere. 5. Because of its necessary connection with still higher operations. The work is too much for one world to hold. When it has filled one world it will rush over into another, and fill the recesses of eternity when earth is a cinder and time a story. (W. Beaumont, D.D.) Helps for the Pulpit. I. AN INTERESTING SUBJECT. It is the work of God —1. To redeem the soul (John 3:16; Psalm 89:19; Romans 8:3; Romans 5:6-8). 2. To regenerate the soul (Ephesians 2:1; 2 Corinthians 5:17; John 1:13; 1 Peter 1:23). 3. To receive the soul to favours and privileges lost by sin (Ephesians 2:11-13; 19-22). 4. To comfort the soul (Isaiah 40:1, 2; 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4; Psalm 119:50; Romans 15:4; Acts 9:31). 5. To protect and save His people to the end (Romans 8:31). 6. To glorify the soul (John 14:2, 3; John 17:24). II. AN INTERESTING STATEMENT: "Thou hast made me glad through Thy works." This gladness is — 1. Divine (Psalm 40:1-3). 2. The gladness of experience (Psalm 4:7). 3. Social joy (Malachi 3:16). 4. The gladness of faith and hope (Romans 15:4; Hebrews 6:16-19; Titus 1:2; Titus 2:13). III. A JUDICIOUS RESOLUTION: "I will triumph in the work of Thy hands." This implies — 1. Grateful acknowledgment of Divine obligation (1 Peter 1:3). 2. Intimate acquaintance and rapturous satisfaction with the works of God's hands (1 Corinthians 2:2; Galatians 6:14). 3. Expectation of an ultimate and complete triumph. 4. A determination to proclaim the works of God's hands to others. (Helps for the Pulpit.) People PsalmistPlaces JerusalemTopics Caused, Deeds, Exult, Glad, Hands, Hast, Joy, O, Rejoice, Sing, Triumph, WorksOutline 1. The prophet exhorts to praise God4. For his great works 6. For his judgments on the wicked 10. And for his goodness to the godly. Dictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 92:4 1265 hand of God Library December 3. Thy Thoughts are Very Deep (Ps. Xcii. 5). Thy thoughts are very deep (Ps. xcii. 5). When a Roman soldier was told by his guide that if he insisted on taking a certain journey it would probably be fatal he answered, "It is necessary for me to go, it is not necessary for me to live." That was depth. When we are convicted like that we shall come to something. The shallow nature lives in its impulses, its impressions, its intuitions, its instincts, and very largely in its surroundings. The profound character looks beyond all these and moves … Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth God Alone the Salvation of his People The Majesty of God. --Ps. Xcii. Dialogue i. --The Immutable. Sweet is the Work, My God, My King Reprobation. Period ii. The Church from the Permanent Division of the Empire Until the Collapse of the Western Empire and the First Schism Between the East and the West, or Until About A. D. 500 Man's Chief End The Knowledge of God Conspicuous in the Creation, and Continual Government of the World. The Resemblance Between the Old Testament and the New. Psalms Links Psalm 92:4 NIVPsalm 92:4 NLT Psalm 92:4 ESV Psalm 92:4 NASB Psalm 92:4 KJV Psalm 92:4 Bible Apps Psalm 92:4 Parallel Psalm 92:4 Biblia Paralela Psalm 92:4 Chinese Bible Psalm 92:4 French Bible Psalm 92:4 German Bible Psalm 92:4 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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