It Is Good to Give Thanks

It is a good thing to give thanks to the LORD,to sing praises to your name, Most High,

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

The psalm opens with a simple claim: it is a good thing to give thanks to the LORD and sing praises to his name. It calls God the Most High. Thanks is presented as something good in itself.

Also read Hebrews 13:15, Psalm 107:21-22, Psalm 33:1, Psalm 82:6

to proclaim your loving kindness in the morning,and your faithfulness every night,

To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,

The thanks has a daily shape. Loving kindness is proclaimed in the morning and faithfulness every night. The day is framed by praise at both ends.

Also read John 1:17, Lamentations 3:22-23, Acts 16:25, Psalm 42:8

with the ten-stringed lute, with the harp,and with the melody of the lyre.

Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.

Also read Psalm 149:3, Psalm 33:2, Psalm 57:8, 2 Chronicles 23:5

For you, LORD, have made me glad through your work.I will triumph in the works of your hands.

For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

This is the personal reason for the song. The LORD has made the speaker glad through his work, and he will triumph in the works of God's hands. The joy is a response to what God has done.

Also read Psalm 145:6-7, Psalm 126:3, Zephaniah 3:14-16, Isaiah 61:2-11

How great are your works, LORD!Your thoughts are very deep.

O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.

The speaker marvels at the scale of God's works and the depth of his thoughts. How great are your works, LORD. The next verse says not everyone sees this.

Also read Psalm 139:17, Psalm 36:6, Isaiah 55:8-9, Ecclesiastes 7:24

A senseless man doesn’t know,neither does a fool understand this:

A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.

The senseless man does not know, and the fool does not understand. What they miss is spelled out in the next verse. Knowing God's ways is treated as a kind of wisdom.

Also read Isaiah 1:3, Psalm 49:10, Proverbs 24:7, Psalm 75:4

though the wicked spring up as the grass,and all the evildoers flourish,they will be destroyed forever.

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:

This is what the fool misses. The wicked may spring up like grass and seem to flourish, but they will be destroyed for ever. Their success is compared to grass, which springs up quickly.

Also read Malachi 3:15, Proverbs 1:32, Jeremiah 12:1-2, Psalm 37:38

But you, LORD, are on high forever more.

But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore.

Also read Acts 12:22-24, Psalm 93:4, Psalm 83:18, Psalm 102:26-27

For behold, your enemies, LORD,for behold, your enemies shall perish.All the evildoers will be scattered.

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

Also read Psalm 89:10, Psalm 1:4, Isaiah 17:13, Ezekiel 5:12

But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox.I am anointed with fresh oil.

But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.

The speaker describes what God has done for him. God has exalted his horn like that of the wild ox, and he is anointed with fresh oil. The raised horn of a wild ox is a picture of strength.

Also read 1 Samuel 2:10, 1 Samuel 2:1, Numbers 23:22, Psalm 75:10

My eye has also seen my enemies.My ears have heard of the wicked enemies who rise up against me.

Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me.

The speaker says his eye has seen his enemies and his ears have heard of the wicked who rise up against him. The verse stands between his own exaltation in verse 10 and the flourishing of the righteous in verse 12.

Also read Psalm 112:8, Psalm 91:8, Psalm 59:10, Psalm 37:34

The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree.He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

The righteous are compared to two trees. They flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. These are set against the grass of verse 7.

Also read Isaiah 65:22, Isaiah 55:13, 1 Kings 4:33, Psalm 72:7

They are planted in the LORD’s house.They will flourish in our God’s courts.

Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.

The trees are planted in the LORD's house and flourish in God's courts. Their growth comes from where they are rooted.

Also read Isaiah 61:3, Psalm 135:2, Romans 6:5, Psalm 100:4

They will still produce fruit in old age.They will be full of sap and green,

They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;

They still produce fruit in old age and stay full of sap and green. In this psalm's picture, age does not end growth.

Also read John 15:2-5, 1 Chronicles 29:1-30, Ezekiel 47:12, Psalm 1:3

to show that the LORD is upright.He is my rock,and there is no unrighteousness in him.

To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

The last verse gives the purpose of that flourishing: to show that the LORD is upright. The speaker calls him my rock and says there is no unrighteousness in him.

Also read Romans 9:14, Psalm 62:6, Zephaniah 3:5, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7