After the lamentations and trials of some of the earlier psalms, 92 is a delightful psalm of pure praise. I particularly love the way the psalmist turns, to nature, to ‘all God’s works’ and sees the glory of god shining through them:
For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy works: and I will rejoice in giving praise for the operations of thy hands.
O Lord, how glorious are thy works: thy thoughts are very deep.
Indeed this psalm seems to recollect the beauty and assurance of psalm 1, for it returns to that archetypal image of the righteous person as a deeply rooted tree, bringing forth fruit in due season:
The righteous shall flourish like a palm-tree: and shall spread abroad like a cedar in Libanus.
Such as are planted in the house of the Lord: shall flourish in the courts of the house of our God.
They also shall bring forth more fruit in their age
All these things were in my mind when I wrote my poetic response for David’s Crown.
As always you can hear me read the poems by clicking on the play button or the title and you can find the other poems in this evolving series by putting the word ‘psalm’ into the search box on the right.
The full set of these poems has now been published as a book David’s Crown which you can buy from UK Amazon Here, or, in North America, it is available from Amazon Here.
My Lord will bring me through my darkest hour,
And I will praise him in the morning light
And contemplate his wisdom and his power
Meeting together on the cross. By night
His truth will nurse and nurture me in dreams
And in the day my mind will still delight
In all his works and wisdom. The rich themes
Of his wise teaching shine through all I see:
The rushing winds and swiftly flowing streams
Will teach me of his spirit, the green tree
Will show his rooted fruitfulness, and I
Myself will flourish in his house and be
A tree that lifts its branches to the sky
Still bearing fruit for him in my old age
And trusting him until the day I die.
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Malcolm Guite 