Psalm 92:7

When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(7) This verse apparently introduces the statement of the truth which the sensualist does not understand, viz., that the prosperity of the wicked is only momentary, and will render their destruction all the more impressive. The Authorised Version is incorrect in introducing the second conjunction “when.” Literally, In the springing of the wicked like grass, flourish all the workers of iniquity to be destroyed for ever, i.e., the prosperity of an evil class or community gives an impulse to evil, and apparently for a time iniquity seems to have the upper hand, but it is only that the inevitable destruction may be more signal. For the emblematic use of vegetable life in the psalter see Note, Psalm 1:3-4.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 92:7-8. When the wicked spring, &c. — Many interpreters connect this with the preceding verse, thus: A brutish man knoweth not, &c., that when the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed for ever: “they are only nourishing themselves, like senseless cattle, in plentiful pastures, for the approaching day of slaughter.” Their present worldly prosperity is a presage and occasion of their utter ruin. But thou, O Lord, art most high for evermore — That is, they shall perish, but thou shalt endure, as is said in a like comparison, Psalm 102:26. They flourish for a season, but thou rulest for ever, to judge and punish them. So this verse is added by way of opposition to the former.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

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 the gospel, that being daily anointed by the Holy Spirit, we may behold and share the Redeemer's glory. It is from his grace, by his word and Spirit, that believers receive all the virtue that keeps them alive, and makes them fruitful. Other trees, when old, leave off bearing, but in God's trees the strength of grace does not fail with the strength of nature. The last days of the saints are sometimes their best days, and their last work their best work: perseverance is sure evidence of sincerity. And may every sabbath, while it shows forth the Divine faithfulness, find our souls resting more and more upon the Lord our righteousness.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

When the wicked spring as the grass - When they grow up as plants do; when they seem to flourish and prosper. Compare Psalm 90:5-6; Psalm 37:2, Psalm 37:35, Psalm 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 Psalm 73:16-20.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6. A brutish man knoweth not—that is, God's works, so the Psalmist describes himself (Ps 73:22) when amazed by the prosperity of the wicked, now understood and explained.

The Treasury of David

7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:

8 But thou, Lord, art most high for evermore.

9 For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.

Psalm 92:7

"When the wicked spring as the grass," in abundance, and apparent strength, hastening on their progress like verdant plants, which come to perfection in a day, "and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish;" flowering in their prime and pride, their pomp and their prosperity; "it is that they shall be destroyed for ever." They grow to die, they blossom to be blasted. They flower for a short space to wither without end. Greatness and glory are to them but the prelude of their overthrow. Little does their opposition matter, the Lord reigns on as if they had never blasphemed him; as a mountain abides the same though the meadows at its feet bloom or wither, even so the Most High is unaffected by the fleeting mortals who dare oppose him; they shall soon vanish for ever from among the living. But as for the wicked - how can our minds endure the contemplation of their doom "for ever." Destruction "for ever" is a portion far too terrible for the mind to realise. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, the full terror of the wrath to come!

Psalm 92:8

"But thou, Lord, art most high for evermore." This is the middle verse of the Psalm, and the great fact which this Sabbath song is meant to illustrate. God is at once the highest and most enduring of all beings. Others rise to fall, but he is the Most High to eternity. Glory be to his name! How great a God we worship! Who would not fear thee, O thou High Eternal One! The ungodly are destroyed for ever, and God is most high for ever; evil is cast down, and the Holy One reigns supreme eternally.

Psalm 92:9

"For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord." It is a wonder full of instruction and warning, observe it, O ye sons of men; "for, lo, thine enemies shall perish;" they shall cease from among men, they shall be known no more. In that the thing is spoken twice it is confirmed by the Lord, it shall surely be, and that speedily. "All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered;" their forces shall be dispersed, their hopes broken, and themselves driven hither and thither like chaff before the tempest. They shall scatter like timid sheep pursued by the lion, they will not have the courage to remain in arms, nor the unity to abide in confederacy. The grass cannot resist the scythe, but falls in withering ranks, even so are the ungodly cut down and swept away in process of time, while the Lord whom they despised sits unmoved upon the throne of his infinite dominion. Terrible as this fact is, no true-hearted man would wish to have it otherwise. Treason against the great Monarch of the universe ought not to go unpunished; such wanton wickedness richly merits the severest doom.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Their present worldly prosperity is a presage and occasion of their utter and eternal ruin.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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, 2 Peter 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,''

Geneva Study Bible

When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

7, 8. The tenses in Psalm 92:7 (cp. Psalm 92:10-11) do not merely express a general truth, but point to some particular event.

When the wicked did flourish as the herbage,

And all the workers of iniquity did blossom,

It was that they might be destroyed for ever:

But thou art on high for evermore, Jehovah.

The simile suggests the rapid growth and equally rapid ruin of the wicked. See note on Psalm 90:5. Their triumph is the preparation for their fall. Cp. Psalm 37:35 ff.; Psalm 73:18 ff.

The simple stately rhythm of Psalm 92:8—a single line—well expresses the contrast of the unchanging supremacy of Jehovah to the upstart pretentiousness of the wicked. They deify themselves, claiming all power in earth and heaven (Psalm 73:8-9), only to vanish and leave Jehovah’s sovereignty more openly manifested (Psalm 83:17-18).

There is an obvious reminiscence of this verse in 1Ma 9:23, “And it came to pass after the death of Judas that the lawless flourished and all the workers of iniquity sprang up.”

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 7. - When the wicked spring as the grass; i.e. "spring up" - "flourish" (see ver. 12). The difficulty is that which disturbed Job (Job 21:7-21) and Asaph (Psalm 73:2-15), viz. the prosperity of the wicked. The present writer, however, is not disturbed - he sees in their prosperous condition nothing but a prelude to their overthrow. And when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; or, "do blossom." It is that they shall be destroyed forever; literally, it is for their destruction forever (comp. Psalm 73:18-20). Psalm 92:7

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Upon closer examination the prosperity of the ungodly is only a semblance that lasts for a time. The infinitive construction in Psalm 92:8 is continued in the historic tense, and it may also be rendered as historical. זאת היתה (Saadia: Arab. fânnh) is to be supplied in thought before להשּׁמדם, as in Job 27:14. What is spoken of is an historical occurrence which, in its beginning, course, and end, has been frequently repeated even down to the present day, and ever confirmed afresh. And thus, too, in time to come and once finally shall the ungodly succumb to a peremptory, decisive (עדי־עד) judgment of destruction. Jahve is מרום לעלם, by His nature and by His rule He is "a height for ever;" i.e., in relation to the creature and all that goes on here below He has a nature beyond and above all this (Jenseitigkeit), ever the same and absolute; He is absolutely inaccessible to the God-opposed one here below who vaunts himself in stupid pride and rebelliously exalts himself as a titan, and only suffers it to last until the term of his barren blossoming is run out. Thus the present course of history will and must in fact end in a final victory of good over evil: for lo Thine enemies, Jahve - for lo Thine enemies.... הנּה points as it were with the finger to the inevitable end; and the emotional anadiplosis breathes forth a zealous love for the cause of God as if it were his own. God's enemies shall perish, all the workers of evil shall be disjointed, scattered, יתפּרדוּ (cf. Job 4:11). Now they form a compact mass, which shall however fall to pieces, when one day the intermingling of good and evil has an end.