Psalm 92:1-3 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“1It is good to praise the LORD,
and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High,
2to proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning
and Your faithfulness at night
3with the ten-stringed harp
and the melody of the lyre.”

I love to sing. I think I sang from birth on up (smile). My mother and father both had beautiful voices, and my mother played the piano beautifully, too. I majored in music education and voice in college and I did a lot of singing most of my life. But in my old age my voice has started to go, and so I have not been singing as much as I used to sing. So I need to sing more, even if the old voice gives out. For it is good for me to sing unto the Lord and not to just talk to Him. But I praise Him with my voice even if not in singing.

But praising the Lord is not just about repeating a bunch of the same words over and over in worship of Him. It is singing songs about who He is and what He has done for us, but including what He requires of us in the way of word and thought and deed. I love most of the old hymns, for they are so full of biblical truth and encouragement to us in our walks of surrender to our Lord in obedience to Him, in our praises of Him for what He has done for us in delivering us from our slavery to sin so we can now serve Him.

Psalm 92:4-7 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“4For You, O LORD, have made me glad by Your deeds;
I sing for joy at the works of Your hands.
5How great are Your works, O LORD,
how deep are Your thoughts!
6A senseless man does not know,
and a fool does not understand,
7that though the wicked sprout like grass,
and all evildoers flourish,
they will be forever destroyed.”

Even in the darkest times we need to be joyful and glad in the Lord. We need to keep smiling, and even laughing (keeping it morally pure). We need to enjoy life (in a proper manner), even if we are going through dark valleys and trials which are testing our faith and our perseverance. And we should be thankful to the Lord even for our trials which are for our good. Yes, it is perfectly okay for us to cry and to be sad and to mourn over the evil, which is going on in the world, but we must keep rejoicing in the Lord, as well.

But we should not be so caught up in the “everything has to be happy” crowd to where we fail to recognize and to talk about the serious things of God and of the teachings of the Scriptures. For there are many people in this world, even many who profess faith in Jesus Christ, who are living senseless lives in disobedience to our Lord in deliberate and habitual sin against God, and who are headed straight to hell, but on a false promise of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. And they need to hear the truth spoken!

Psalm 92:8-11 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“8But You, O LORD, are exalted forever!
9For surely Your enemies, O LORD,
surely Your enemies will perish;
all evildoers will be scattered.
10But You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox;
with fine oil I have been anointed.
11My eyes see the downfall of my enemies;
my ears hear the wailing of my wicked foes.”

Now, when I read this, the thought that came into my mind is that the person who wrote this was not raising himself up above others. He was not speaking pridefully to try to prove that he was better than others who were not where he was spiritually. He was thankful to the Lord for rescuing him out of the darkness and for bringing him into the light of the truth of the gospel of our salvation. And he was thankful to the Lord for calling him to His service, all because of God’s grace and love and mercy. Glory to God!

But he was also someone who grieved over the sins of others and their separation from God because of their sins. He was grieved in knowing that this would mean for them eternal separation from God in the pit of hell. He was not rejoicing in their demise. But he was sober and sad and mournful over the reality that so many people, because they will not obey God, and so they continue to be evildoers, that they will perish in their sins. For when he heard the wailing of the wicked, he felt that. It grieved him in his spirit.

Psalm 92:12-15 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

12The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13Planted in the house of the LORD,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
14In old age they will still bear fruit;
healthy and green they will remain,
15to proclaim, “The LORD is upright; He is my Rock,
and in Him there is no unrighteousness.”

This is the encouragement for us who walk by faith in Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands, by the grace of God, in the power of God, and by the mercies of God. By faith in our Lord we will grow to maturity in our walks of surrender to Him if we remain in Him and in His word in following our Lord wherever He leads us. Even in our old age (I am 76 years old), if we remain true to God and to His word, we will bear fruit in keeping with repentance for the kingdom of God and for the salvation of human lives.

For, as the servants of the Lord, called of God to His service, we are to be His messengers in taking the truth of the gospel of our salvation to the people of the world. But we must teach the truth that Jesus taught that if anyone would come after Him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self), and follow (obey) our Lord in life practice. For if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord, we will not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God. Please take this to heart!

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

It is Good to Praise the Lord
An Original Work / August 1, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Video Talk on the Same Subject

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You