
Text -- Psalms 92:7 (NET)




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collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
Clarke -> Psa 92:7
Clarke: Psa 92:7 - -- When the wicked spring as the grass - This is a lesson which is frequently inculcated in the sacred writings. The favor of God towards man is not to...
When the wicked spring as the grass - This is a lesson which is frequently inculcated in the sacred writings. The favor of God towards man is not to be known by outward prosperity; nor is his disapprobation to be known by the adverse circumstances in which any person may be found. When, however, we see the wicked flourish, we may take for granted that their abuse of God’ s mercies will cause him to cut them off as cumberers of the ground; and, dying in their sins, they are destroyed for ever.
Calvin -> Psa 92:7
Calvin: Psa 92:7 - -- 7.When the wicked flourish as the grass He points out, and exposes, by a striking and appropriate figure, the folly of imagining that the wicked obta...
7.When the wicked flourish as the grass He points out, and exposes, by a striking and appropriate figure, the folly of imagining that the wicked obtain a triumph over God, when he does not, it may be, immediately bring them under restraint. He makes an admission so far — he grants that they spring up and flourish — but adds immediately, by way of qualification, that they flourish, like the grass, only for a moment, their prosperity being brief and evanescent. In this way he removes what has been almost a universal stumbling-block and ground of offense; for it would be ridiculous to envy the happiness of men who are doomed to be speedily destroyed, and of whom it may be said, that to-day they flourish, and to-morrow they are cut down and wither, (Psa 129:6.) It will be shown, when we come to consider the psalm now quoted, that the herbs to which the wicked are compared are such as grow on the roofs of houses, which want depth of soil, and die of themselves, for lack of nourishment. In the passage now before us, the Psalmist satisfies himself with using simply the figure, that the prosperity of the wicked draws after it the speedier destruction, as the grass when it is full grown is ready for the scythe. There is an antithesis drawn, too, between the shortness of their continuance and the everlasting destruction which awaits them; for they are not said to be cut down that they may flourish again, as withered plants will recover their vigor, but to be condemned to eternal perdition. 591 When he says of God, that he sits exalted for evermore, some understand him to mean, that God holds the power and office of governing the world, and that we may be certain nothing can happen by chance when such a righteous governor and judge administers the affairs of the world. Various other meanings have been suggested. But it seems to me that the Psalmist compares the stability of God’s throne with the fluctuating and changeable character of this world, reminding us that we must not judge of Him by what we see in the world, where there is nothing of a fixed and enduring nature. God looks down undisturbed from the altitude of heaven upon all the changes of this earthly scene, which neither affect nor have any relation to him. And this the Psalmist brings forward with another view than simply to teach us to distinguish God from his creatures, and put due honor upon his majesty; he would have us learn in our contemplations upon the wonderful and mysterious providence of God, to lift our conceptions above ourselves and this world, since it is only a dark and confused view which our earthly minds can take up. It is with the purpose of leading us into a proper discovery of the Divine judgments which are not seen in the world, that the Psalmist, in making mention of the majesty of God, would remind us, that he does not work according to our ideas, but in a manner corresponding to his own eternal being. We, short-lived creatures as we are, often thwarted in our attempts, embarrassed and interrupted by many intervening difficulties, and too glad to embrace the first opportunity which offers, are accustomed to advance with precipitation; but we are taught here to lift our eyes unto that eternal and unchangeable throne on which God sits, and in wisdom defers the execution of his judgments. The words accordingly convey more than a simple commendation of the glorious being of God; they are meant to help our faith, and tell us that, although his people may sigh under many an anxious apprehension, God himself, the guardian of their safety, reigns on high, and shields them with his everlasting power.
TSK -> Psa 92:7
TSK: Psa 92:7 - -- wicked : Psa 37:1, Psa 37:2, Psa 37:35, Psa 37:38, Psa 90:5, Psa 90:6, Psa 103:15, Psa 103:16; Isa 37:27, Isa 40:6, Isa 40:7; Jam 1:10, Jam 1:11; 1Pe ...
wicked : Psa 37:1, Psa 37:2, Psa 37:35, Psa 37:38, Psa 90:5, Psa 90:6, Psa 103:15, Psa 103:16; Isa 37:27, Isa 40:6, Isa 40:7; Jam 1:10, Jam 1:11; 1Pe 1:24
workers : Psa 73:12, Psa 73:18-20; Job 12:6, Job 21:7-12; Jer 12:1, Jer 12:2; Mal 3:15, Mal 4:1
it is that : Psa 37:35, Psa 37:36, Psa 37:38, Psa 73:18-20; 1Sa 25:36-38; Pro 1:32; Luk 16:19-25

collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Barnes -> Psa 92:7
Barnes: Psa 92:7 - -- When the wicked spring as the grass - When they grow up as plants do; when they seem to flourish and prosper. Compare Psa 90:5-6; Psa 37:2, Psa...
When the wicked spring as the grass - When they grow up as plants do; when they seem to flourish and prosper. Compare Psa 90:5-6; Psa 37:2, Psa 37:35, Psa 37:38. The word "grass"here refers to the vegetable creation generally, embracing plants and flowers of all kinds.
And when all the workers of iniquity do flourish - As plants and flowers do. They are like vigorous plants; not like the stunted and dry shrubs of the desert.
It is that they shall be destroyed for ever - The meaning here is, not that the design of their being thus made to flourish is that they should be destroyed, or that they are made to flourish for that purpose, but that such "will be"the result. They will not be made happy in another world by their prosperous and prospered wickedness here, as if God approved of their course; but the end will be that they will be destroyed forever. The design of the psalmist seems to be to turn the mind from the idea that mere external prosperity is necessarily connected with happiness; or that one who is prospered in this life is on that account safe. There is another world, and "there"ample justice will be done to all. See Psa 73:16-20.
Poole -> Psa 92:7
Poole: Psa 92:7 - -- Their present worldly prosperity is a presage and occasion of their utter and eternal ruin.
Their present worldly prosperity is a presage and occasion of their utter and eternal ruin.
Gill -> Psa 92:7
Gill: Psa 92:7 - -- When the wicked spring as the grass,.... Out of the earth, as they do, and are of the earth earthly, and become numerous as spires of grass, and look ...
When the wicked spring as the grass,.... Out of the earth, as they do, and are of the earth earthly, and become numerous as spires of grass, and look pleasant and beautiful for a while, as that does; but, like it, weak and unstable, and of a short continuance:
and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; in the health of their bodies; not being afflicted as other men, and their eyes standing out with fatness; while a Job, an upright man, is smitten with boils from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot: in wealth and riches, in which they increase often to such a degree, as to think of pulling down their barns, and building greater, to put their substance in; in their progeny and offspring, having a numerous issue; as well as in their cattle, and the standing of them, and in other stores; likewise in their power and authority, grandeur and glory, being set in high places of honour and profit, though slippery ones: these are the godly, who are "wicked" at heart, and show it by their wicked works; who are continually committing sin, it is the course of their conversation, and yet prosper in the world; which is sometimes a stumblingblock to God's people, and a hardening of sinners, who consider not that
it is that they shall be destroyed for ever they are like brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, and as lambs and other creatures are nourished and fattened for the day of slaughter, 2Pe 2:12, and as land is manured and cultivated, and grass springs up and flourishes, that it may be, when grown, cut down, and become the fodder of beasts, or the fuel of fire; so the prosperity of the wicked issues in their ruin, and is an aggravation of their damnation; their destruction is of soul and body in hell, and is an everlasting one; the Targum is,
"and it shall be that God shall destroy them for ever,''

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Psa 92:1-15
TSK Synopsis: Psa 92:1-15 - --1 The prophet exhorts to praise God,4 for his great works;6 for his judgments on the wicked;10 and for his goodness to the godly.
MHCC -> Psa 92:7-15
MHCC: Psa 92:7-15 - --God sometimes grants prosperity to wicked men in displeasure; yet they flourish but for a moment. Let us seek for ourselves the salvation and grace of...
Matthew Henry -> Psa 92:7-15
Matthew Henry: Psa 92:7-15 - -- The psalmist had said (Psa 92:4) that from the works of God he would take occasion to triumph; and here he does so. I. He triumphs over God's enemie...
Keil-Delitzsch -> Psa 92:7-9
Keil-Delitzsch: Psa 92:7-9 - --
Upon closer examination the prosperity of the ungodly is only a semblance that lasts for a time. The infinitive construction in Psa 92:8 is continue...
Constable: Psa 90:1--106:48 - --IV. Book 4: chs. 90--106
Moses composed one of the psalms in this section of the Psalter (Ps. 90). David wrote t...

Constable: Psa 92:1-15 - --Psalm 92
In this psalm the unknown writer praised God for the goodness of His acts and the righteousness...
