The first two verses of the psalm speak of the nature of God's reign, introducing four characteristics of God's kingly rule which are at the same time four important attributes of God. These are stated in strong poetic language, involving blatant repetitions in nearly every case, a particularly bold form of Hebrew parallelism.

At this point the psalm comes full circle, ending on the idea of the righteous praising God. It has been introduced as a song "for the Sabbath day.” So let me combine these ideas, asking, if you cannot praise God on the Lord's Day, if you find it tedious and troublesome, how are you going to keep on doing it into old age?

Dr. John Piper is the senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and he has written a book on the enjoyment of God which he calls Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. Picking up on the first answer of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, which I have just cited in yesterday’s study, Piper urges Christians to glorify God by enjoying him, for that is what God wants and it is both our greatest duty and pleasure.

So let me ask, does the thought of praising God seem boring to you? At least if you are asked to do it more than a brief sixty minutes on Sunday morning? If it does, you should recall that it is for this we were created. The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man?" It answers: "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever."

The last three verses of this psalm contain a confirming oracle of God in which the controlling pronoun switches from "you,” which dominated in verses 3-13, back to "I," as in verse 2. Only here the "I" is God himself. In these verses God adds his seal to what the psalmist has been saying. God promises three things to those who trust him.