Psalm 92 – Psalms Of Pesukei Dezimra Of Shabbat By Rabbi Gail Diamond

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Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem

תהילים צ״ב:א׳-ט״ז

(א) מִזְמ֥וֹר שִׁ֗יר לְי֣וֹם הַשַּׁבָּֽת׃ (ב) ט֗וֹב לְהֹד֥וֹת לַיהוָ֑ה וּלְזַמֵּ֖ר לְשִׁמְךָ֣ עֶלְיֽוֹן׃ (ג) לְהַגִּ֣יד בַּבֹּ֣קֶר חַסְֽדֶּ֑ךָ וֶ֝אֱמֽוּנָתְךָ֗ בַּלֵּילֽוֹת׃ (ד) עֲ‍ֽלֵי־עָ֭שׂוֹר וַעֲלֵי־נָ֑בֶל עֲלֵ֖י הִגָּי֣וֹן בְּכִנּֽוֹר׃ (ה) כִּ֤י שִׂמַּחְתַּ֣נִי יְהוָ֣ה בְּפָעֳלֶ֑ךָ בְּֽמַעֲשֵׂ֖י יָדֶ֣יךָ אֲרַנֵּֽן׃ (ו) מַה־גָּדְל֣וּ מַעֲשֶׂ֣יךָ יְהוָ֑ה מְ֝אֹ֗ד עָמְק֥וּ מַחְשְׁבֹתֶֽיךָ׃ (ז) אִֽישׁ־בַּ֭עַר לֹ֣א יֵדָ֑ע וּ֝כְסִ֗יל לֹא־יָבִ֥ין אֶת־זֹֽאת׃ (ח) בִּפְרֹ֤חַ רְשָׁעִ֨ים ׀ כְּמ֥וֹ עֵ֗שֶׂב וַ֭יָּצִיצוּ כָּל־פֹּ֣עֲלֵי אָ֑וֶן לְהִשָּֽׁמְדָ֥ם עֲדֵי־עַֽד׃ (ט) וְאַתָּ֥ה מָר֗וֹם לְעֹלָ֥ם יְהוָֽה׃ (י) כִּ֤י הִנֵּ֪ה אֹיְבֶ֡יךָ ׀ יְֽהוָ֗ה כִּֽי־הִנֵּ֣ה אֹיְבֶ֣יךָ יֹאבֵ֑דוּ יִ֝תְפָּרְד֗וּ כָּל־פֹּ֥עֲלֵי אָֽוֶן׃ (יא) וַתָּ֣רֶם כִּרְאֵ֣ים קַרְנִ֑י בַּ֝לֹּתִ֗י בְּשֶׁ֣מֶן רַעֲנָֽן׃ (יב) וַתַּבֵּ֥ט עֵינִ֗י בְּשׁ֫וּרָ֥י בַּקָּמִ֖ים עָלַ֥י מְרֵעִ֗ים תִּשְׁמַ֥עְנָה אָזְנָֽי׃ (יג) צַ֭דִּיק כַּתָּמָ֣ר יִפְרָ֑ח כְּאֶ֖רֶז בַּלְּבָנ֣וֹן יִשְׂגֶּֽה׃ (יד) שְׁ֭תוּלִים בְּבֵ֣ית יְהוָ֑ה בְּחַצְר֖וֹת אֱלֹהֵ֣ינוּ יַפְרִֽיחוּ׃ (טו) ע֭וֹד יְנוּב֣וּן בְּשֵׂיבָ֑ה דְּשֵׁנִ֖ים וְרַֽעֲנַנִּ֣ים יִהְיֽוּ׃ (טז) לְ֭הַגִּיד כִּֽי־יָשָׁ֣ר יְהוָ֑ה צ֝וּרִ֗י וְֽלֹא־עלתה [עַוְלָ֥תָה] בּֽוֹ׃

Psalms 92:1-16

(1) A psalm. A song; for the sabbath day. (2) It is good to praise the LORD, to sing hymns to Your name, O Most High, (3) To proclaim Your steadfast love at daybreak, Your faithfulness each night (4) With a ten-stringed harp, with voice and lyre together. (5) You have gladdened me by Your deeds, O LORD; I shout for joy at Your handiwork. (6) How great are Your works, O LORD, how very subtle Your designs! (7) A brutish man cannot know, a fool cannot understand this: (8) though the wicked sprout like grass, though all evildoers blossom, it is only that they may be destroyed forever. (9) But You are exalted, O LORD, for all time. (10) Surely, Your enemies, O LORD, surely, Your enemies perish; all evildoers are scattered. (11) You raise my horn high like that of a wild ox; I am soaked in freshening oil. (12) I shall see the defeat of my watchful foes, hear of the downfall of the wicked who beset me. (13) The righteous bloom like a date-palm; they thrive like a cedar in Lebanon; (14) planted in the house of the LORD, they flourish in the courts of our God. (15) In old age they still produce fruit; they are full of sap and freshness, (16) attesting that the LORD is upright, my rock, in whom there is no wrong.

Psalm for Shabbat

1. Reading exercise Read Psalm 92 in Hebrew and English. How do you see this Psalm connecting with Shabbat?

2. Activity Review the Hebrew text of the Psalm. Which words are synonyms? Which words are repeated?

3. Setting What locations are mentioned in the Psalm? How do images of nature add to the Psalm?

4. Structure Scholars have suggested that this Psalm follows a chiastic structure (a-b-c-d-c-b-a type pattern). Can you find such a pattern in the Psalm? Is a particular verse central?

5. Biblical references:

Examine the following parallel passages:

Verse 3: Psalm 89:3, Deuteronomy 32:4, Psalm 119:148

Verses 3-10: Deuteronomy 7:9-10

Verse 6: Isaiah 55:7-9

Verse 8: Psalm 90:6, Psalm 103:15-16

Verse 11: I Shmuel 2:1, Deut. 33:17

Please comment on at least one of these parallels discussing the Hebrew language and its relationship to our Psalm.

Rabbinic references:

If you can, please read the Midrash from Midrash Tehillim. It explains the reason this Psalm is attributed to Adam HaRishon as well as the construction of the first two verses of the Psalm.

מדרש תהילים צ״ב:ב׳

ר’ לוי אמר כשאדם הראשון עבר על ציוויו של הקב”ה, ישב עליו בדין לספק לו, כיצד אתה מוצא בערב שבת נברא אדם, בשעה ראשונה עלה במחשבה, שניה נמלך במלאכי השרת, שלישית כינס עפרו, רביעית גיבלו, חמישית עשאו גולם, ששית רקמו, שביעית נפח בו נשמה, שמינית העמידו על רגליו, תשיעית צוהו, עשירית חטא, אחת עשרה נידון, שתים עשרה נתגרש, בא ליתן לו איפופסין, נכנס השבת ופינו משם,… בא יום השבת נעשה לו סניגור, ואמר לפני הקב”ה רבון העולמים בששת ימי המעשה לא נענש אדם מעולם, ובי אתה מתחיל, זו היא קדושתי, וזו היא מנוחתי, ובשביל השבת ניצול אדם מדינה של גיהנם, כיון שראה אדם כחה של שבת] בא אדם לומר לשבת הימנון אמר לו השבת לי אתה אומר הימנון, אני ואתה נאמר הימנון להקב”ה, הוי טוב להודות לה ‘.

Midrash Tehillim 92:2

Rabbi Levi said, “When the first man transgressed the commandment of the Kadosh Baruch Hu, He sat in judgment to punish him. What was the outcome? You find that on Erev Shabbat, man was created: In the first hour he was conceived in thought, in the second hour He consulted with the angels, in the third hour He gathered his dust, in the fourth hour He kneaded the dust, in the fifth hour He made him into a form, in the sixth hour He put the flesh on him, in the seventh hour He breathed into him a soul, in the eighth hour He stood him on his legs, in the ninth hour He commanded him, in the tenth hour he sinned, in the eleventh hour he was judged, in the twelfth hour he was thrown out. God came to sentence him but Shabbat arrived and God expelled Adam from there… Yom Shabbat came and became his defense attorney, saying before the Kadosh Baruch Hu, “Master of the universe, in the six days of creation, no one suffered punishment at all, and you begin with me? Is this my holiness? Is this my rest? And for the sake of Shabbat, Adam was saved from Gehinnom. When Adam saw the power of Shabbat, he was about to sing a hymn to Shabbat but Shabbat said to him, “To me you sing a hymn? Let’s you and I sing a hymn to the Kadosh Baruch Hu, let it be ‘tov lehodot lashem…’”

6. Difficult words/phrases 

Verse 4: עלי- a poetic way of saying על;

הגיון may be related to הגי or הגה a sound made by lions and doves (?), in Isaiah 31:4, 59:11. This rare word appears only 4 times in Tanach, Psalm 9:17, Psalm 19:15, and Lamentations 3:62.

Verse 10: יתפרדו this verb appears four times in the התפעל Job 4:11, Psalm 22:15, Job 41:9.

Verse 12: שורי this word does not appear elsewhere in the Tanach. See Psalm 59:11, Psalm 5:9, 27:11 for שוררי. Appears as a verb שור or שר in Even Shushan concordance, with meaning of to watch. Sometimes our verse is translated, watchful foes.

Verse 13: ישגה root שגה – rarely occurs as a verb with this meaning. See Job 8:7, Psalm 73:12. Thought to be related to adjective שגיא found in Job (Hebrew), and Daniel and Ezra (Aramaic).

7. Prayer and liturgy This Psalm is the only Psalm that has the day mentioned in the Psalms title. Returning to the first question on this page, how does this Psalm celebrate Shabbat for you?

8. Spiritual issues questions for reflection and discussion:

What do verses five and six mean to you personally?

9. Conclusion Which line of the Psalm do you find most meaningful? Why?