Psalms
Chapter 92
This psalm is a song for the Sabbath day. It praises God for his great works and his deep thoughts, and it says that people who do evil may grow fast like grass but will not last. Good people are compared to palm trees and cedars, planted where God is and still bearing fruit when they are old.
Plain reading written for preteens. Clear and complete, at about a fifth grade reading level.
IT IS A GOOD THING TO GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD, AND TO SING PRAISES UNTO THY NAME, O MOST HIGH:
1It is good to thank the LORD, and to sing praises to your name, God Most High.
2To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,
2It is good to tell about your faithful love in the morning, and about how you keep your promises at night.
3Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.
3Sing with the ten-stringed harp and the lyre, and with the deep, steady sound of music.
4For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.
4LORD, the things you have done have made me glad. I sing for joy because of the work of your hands.
5O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.
5LORD, how great are the things you do! Your thoughts are very deep.
6A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.
6A man without sense does not know this. A fool does not understand it.
7When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:
7Evil people may sprout up fast like grass, and those who do wrong may seem to do well. But they will be destroyed forever.
8But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore.
8But you, LORD, are lifted high above all, forever.
9For, lo, thine enemies, O LORD, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
9Look, LORD, your enemies will die. Yes, your enemies will die. Everyone who does wrong will be scattered.
10But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
10But you have made me strong, like a wild ox with its horns lifted high. You have poured fresh oil on me.
In the Bible a raised horn means strength and honor, the way an animal's horns show its power. The KJV says "unicorn," but the animal meant is a wild ox. Pouring oil on someone was a sign of being chosen and honored.
11Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me.
11My eyes have seen my enemies fall. My ears have heard the cries of the wicked men who attacked me.
12The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
12Good people will grow strong like a palm tree. They will grow tall like a cedar tree in Lebanon.
13Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.
13They are planted in the house of the LORD. They will grow well in the courtyards of our God.
14They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
14They will still give fruit when they are old. They will stay healthy and green.
The KJV says the righteous will be "fat and flourishing." In 1611 that meant well fed and healthy, like a tree full of sap, not overweight.
15To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
15This shows that the LORD does what is right. He is my rock, and there is nothing unfair in him.
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