Wednesday: Waiting in God’s Sabbath Rest

Daily Lesson for Wednesday 27th of March 2024

Read Psalms 92:1-15. What two aspects of the Sabbath day are highlighted in this song for the Sabbath day?

The praise of God for the great works of His hands (Psalms 92:4-5) and the Eden-like portrayal of the righteous (Psalms 92:12-14) clearly point to Creation, the first aspect that the Sabbath commemorates. The psalm also magnifies the Lord for His victory over enemies as the God of justice (Psalms 92:7-15) and so reinforces the second Sabbath theme—redemption from evil (Deuteronomy 5:12-15). Thus, Psalms 92:1-15 extols God for His past Creation and present sustaining of the world, and it points to the end-time hope in eternal divine peace and order.

Image © Review & Herald Publishing from GoodSalt.com

The people can enjoy Sabbath rest because God is the “Most High” (Psalms 92:1, NKJV); His superior position on the high places gives Him an unparalleled advantage over their enemies.

Yet, although He is the Most High, the Lord readily reaches down to rescue those who call on Him. The Lord’s work of creation and especially redemption of that creation should inspire people to worship God and love Him. After all, living in a fallen creation, without the hope of redemption, isn’t anything to be particularly thrilled about. We love, we suffer, we die—and do so without any hope. Hence, we praise the Lord, not only as our Creator but as our Redeemer, as well.

“Fresh oil” conveys the psalmist’s renewed devotion to serve God as His reconsecrated servant (Psalms 92:10). The anointing with oil was done for consecration of chosen people such as priests and kings (Exodus 40:15, 1 Samuel 10:1). Yet, the psalmist chose an unusual Hebrew word, balal, to describe his anointing that does not typically depict anointing of God’s servants but denotes “mixing” of oil with other parts of the sacrifice (Exodus 29:2, NKJV; Leviticus 2:4-5). The psalmist’s unique use of balal implies that the psalmist wishes to present himself as a living sacrifice to the Lord and to consecrate his whole self to God (Romans 12:1).

It is not surprising to find thoughts about consecration in a psalm that is dedicated to the Sabbath because the Sabbath is the sign that the Lord sanctifies His people (Exodus 31:13). The images of palm trees and cedars of Lebanon portray God’s people growing in faith and true appreciation of God’s wonderful purposes and love. The Sabbath is the sign of the Lord’s eternal covenant with His people (Ezekiel 20:20). Thus, the Sabbath rest is essential to God’s people because it empowers them to trustingly wait upon the Lord to fulfill all His covenantal promises (Hebrews 4:1-10).

Read through Psalms 92:1-15 again. What great hope is offered to us there, and how can we, even right now, take comfort in what it says?