Psalm 92:10
“Assurance of Personal Vindication”Psalm 92:10–11
Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain
Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain
Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain
Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain
Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain
- וַתָּרֶםva·Ta·remand you have raised upH7311Conj-w ¦ V-Hiphil-ConsecImperf-2msVerb Hiphil Consecutive Imperfect 2nd Singular Masculineוַandתָּרֶםyou have raised up
- כִּרְאֵיםkir·'Eimlike a wild oxH7214Prep-k ¦ N-msNoun Singular Masculine Absoluteכִּlikeרְאֵיםa wild ox
- קַרְנִיkar·Nimy hornH7161N-fsc ¦ 1csNoun Singular Feminine Construct with suffixקַרְנִhornיmy
- בַּלֹּתִיba·lo·TiI have been anointedH1101V-Qal-Perf-1csVerb Qal Perfect 1st Singular common gender
- בְּשֶׁמֶןbe·She·menwith oilH8081Prep-b ¦ N-msNoun Singular Masculine Absoluteבְּwithשֶׁמֶןoil
- רַעֲנָןra·'a·NanfreshH7488Adj-msAdjective Singular Masculine Absolute
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Hebrew, not the KJV's wording. Why?
This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Hebrew word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Hebrew word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “the LORD” where the gloss reads “Yahweh”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.
Words in [ ] are added by the English.
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Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Psalm 92:7–15. He set out his notes in a four-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.
The psalmist had said (Psalm 92:4) that from the works of God he would take occasion to triumph; and here he does so.
I.He triumphs over God's enemies (Psalm 92:7, Psalm 92:9, Psalm 92:11), triumphs in the foresight of their destruction, not as it would be the misery of his fellow-creatures, but as it would redound to the honour of God's justice and holiness. He is confident of the ruin of sinners,
1.Though they are flourishing (Psalm 92:7): When the wicked spring as the grass in spring (so numerous, so thickly sown, so green, and growing so fast), and all the workers of iniquity do flourish in pomp, and power, and all the instances of outward prosperity, are easy and many, and succeed in their enterprises, one would think that all this was in order to their being happy, that it was a certain evidence of God's favour and an earnest of something as good or better in reserve: but it is quite otherwise; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever. The very prosperity of fools shall slay them, Proverbs 1:32. The sheep that are designed for the slaughter are put into the fattest pasture.
2.Though they are daring, Psalm 92:9. They are thy enemies, and impudently avow themselves to be so. They are contrary to God, and they fight against God. They are in rebellion against his crown and dignity, and therefore it is easy to foresee that they shall perish; for who ever hardened his heart against God and prospered? Note, All the impenitent workers of iniquity shall be deemed and taken as God's enemies, and as such they shall perish and be scattered. Christ reckons those his enemies that will not have him to reign over them; and they shall be brought forth and slain before him. The workers of iniquity are now associated, and closely linked together, in a combination against God and religion; but they shall be scattered, and disabled to help one another against the just judgment of God. In the world to come they shall be separated from the congregation of the righteous; so the Chaldee, Psalm 1:5.
3.Though they had a particular malice against the psalmist, and, upon that account, he might be tempted to fear them, yet he triumphs over them (Psalm 92:11): "My eye shall see my desire on my enemies that rise up against me; I shall see them not only disabled from doing me any further mischief, but reckoned with for the mischief they have done me, and brought either to repentance or ruin:" and this was his desire concerning them. In the Hebrew it is no more than thus, My eye shall look on my enemies, and my ear shall hear of the wicked. He does not say what he shall see or what he shall hear, but he shall see and hear that in which God will be glorified and in which he will therefore be satisfied. This perhaps has reference to Christ, to his victory over Satan, death, and hell, the destruction of those that persecuted and crucified him, and opposed his gospel, and to the final ruin of the impenitent at the last day. Those that rise up against Christ will fall before him and be made his footstool.
II.He triumphs in God, and his glory and grace.
1.In the glory of God (Psalm 92:8): "But thou, O Lord! art most high for evermore. The workers of iniquity who fight against us may be high for a time, and think to carry all before them with a high hand, but thou art high, most high, for evermore. Their height will be humbled and brought down, but thine is everlasting." Let us not therefore fear the pride and power of evil men, nor be discouraged by their impotent menaces, for the moth shall eat them up as a garment, but God's righteousness shall be for ever, Isaiah 51:7, Isaiah 51:8.
2.In the grace of God, his favour and the fruits of it,
(1.)To himself (Psalm 92:10): "Thou, O Lord! that art thyself most high, shalt exalt my horn." The great God is the fountain of honour, and he, being high for evermore, himself will exalt his people for ever, for he is the praise of all his saints, Psalm 148:14. The wicked are forbidden to lift up the horn (Psalm 75:4, Psalm 75:5), but those that serve God and the interest of his kingdom with their honour or power, and commit it to him to keep it, to raise it, to use it, and to dispose of it, as he pleases, may hope that he will exalt their horn as the horn of a unicorn, to the greatest height, either in this world or the other: My horn shalt thou exalt, when thy enemies perish; for then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, when the wicked shall be doomed to shame and everlasting contempt. He adds, I shall be anointed with fresh oil, which denotes a fresh confirmation in his office to which he had been anointed, or abundance of plenty, so that he should have fresh oil as often as he pleased, or renewed comforts to revive him when his spirits drooped. Grace is the anointing of the Spirit; when this is given to help in the time of need, and is received, as there is occasion, from the fulness that is in Christ Jesus, we are then anointed with fresh oil. Some read it, When I grow old thou shalt anoint me with fresh oil. My old age shalt thou exalt with rich mercy; so the Septuagint. Compare Psalm 92:14, They shall bring forth fruit in old age. The comforts of God's Spirit, and the joys of his salvation, shall be a refreshing oil to the hoary heads that are found in the way of righteousness.
(2.)To all the saints. They are here represented as trees of righteousness, Isaiah 61:3; Psalm 1:3. Observe,
[1.]The good place they are fixed in; they are planted in the house of the Lord, Psalm 92:13. The trees of righteousness do not grow of themselves; they are planted, not in common soil, but in paradise, in the house of the Lord. Trees are not usually planted in a house; but God's trees are said to be planted in his house because it is from his grace, by his word and Spirit, that they receive all the sap and virtue that keep them alive and make them fruitful. They fix themselves to holy ordinances, take root in them, abide by them, put themselves under the divine protection, and bring forth all their fruits to God's honour and glory.
[2.]The good plight they shall be kept in. It is here promised, First, That they shall grow, Psalm 92:12. Where God gives true grace he will give more grace. God's trees shall grow higher, like the cedars, the tall cedars in Lebanon; they shall grow nearer heaven, and with a holy ambition shall aspire towards the upper world; they shall grow stronger, like the cedars, and fitter for use. He that has clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. Secondly, That they shall flourish, both in the credit of their profession and in the comfort and joy of their own souls. They shall be cheerful themselves and respected by all about them. They shall flourish like the palm-tree, which has a stately body (Song of Solomon 7:7), and large boughs, Leviticus 23:40; Judges 4:5. Dates, the fruit of it, are very pleasant, but it is especially alluded to here as being ever green. The wicked flourish as the grass (Psalm 92:7), which is soon withered, but the righteous as the palm-tree, which is long-lived and which the winter does not change. It has been said of the palm-tree, Sub pondere crescit - The more it is pressed down the more it grows; so the righteous flourish under their burdens; the more they are afflicted the more they multiply. Being planted in the house of the Lord (there their root is), they flourish in the courts of our God - there their branches spread. Their life is hid with Christ in God. But their light also shines before men. It is desirable that those who have a place should have a name in God's house, and within his walls, Isaiah 56:5. Let good Christians aim to excel, that they may be eminent and may flourish, and so may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour, as flourishing trees adorn the courts of a house. And let those who flourish in God's courts give him the glory of it; it is by virtue of this promise, They shall be fat and flourishing. Their flourishing without is from a fatness within, from the root and fatness of the good olive, Romans 11:17. Without a living principle of grace in the heart the profession will not be long flourishing; but where that is the leaf also shall not wither, Psalm 1:3. The trees of the Lord are full of sap, Psalm 104:16. See Hosea 14:5, Hosea 14:6. Thirdly, That they shall be fruitful. Were there nothing but leaves upon them, they would not be trees of any value; but they shall still bring forth fruit. The products of sanctification, all the instances of a lively devotion and a useful conversation, good works, by which God is glorified and others are edified, these are the fruits of righteousness, in which it is the privilege, as well as the duty, of the righteous to abound; and their abounding in them is the matter of a promise as well as of a command. It is promised that they shall bring forth fruit in old age. Other trees, when they are 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 is their best work. This indeed shows that they are upright; perseverance is the surest evidence of sincerity. But it is here said to show that the Lord is upright (Psalm 92:15), that he is true to his promises and faithful to every word that he has spoken, and that he is constant to the work which he has begun. As it is by the promises that believers first partake of a divine nature, so it is by the promises that that divine nature is preserved and kept up; and therefore the power it exerts is an evidence that the Lord is upright, and so he will show himself with an upright man, Psalm 18:25. This the psalmist triumphs in: "He is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in him. I have chosen him for my rock on which to build, in the clefts of which to take shelter, on the top of which to set my feet. I have found him a rock, strong and stedfast, and his word as firm as a rock. I have found" (and let every one speak as he finds) "that there is no unrighteousness in him." He is as able, and will be as kind, as his word makes him to be. All that ever trusted in God found him faithful and all-sufficient, and none were ever made ashamed of their hope in him.
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Remember the calf in Exodus, which they fashioned through idolatry, which Moses beat to powder and gave to the people to drink. In a manner similar to that calf, he will utterly destroy all Lebanon and the practice of idolatry prevailing in it. “And as the beloved son of unicorns.” The only-begotten Son, he who gives his life for the world whenever he offers himself as a sacrifice and oblation to God for our sins, is called both Lamb of God and a sheep. “Behold,” it is said, “the lamb of God.” And again, “He was led like a sheep to slaughter.” But, when it is necessary to take vengeance and to overthrow the power attacking the human race, a certain wild and savage force, then he will be called the Son of unicorns. For, as we have learned in Job, the unicorn is a creature irresistible in might and unsubjected to human beings. “For you cannot bind him with a thong,” he says, “nor will he stay at your crib.” There is also much said in that part of the prophecy about the animal acting like a free person and not submitting to humans. It has been observed that the Scripture has used the comparison of the unicorn in both ways, at one time in praise, at another in censure. “Deliver,” he says, “my soul from the sword … and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns.” He said these words complaining of the warlike people who in the time of passion rose up in rebellion against him. Again, he says, “My horn shall be exalted like that of the unicorn.” It seems that on account of the promptness of the animal in repelling attacks it is frequently found representing the baser things, and because of its high horn and freedom it is assigned to represent the better. On the whole, since it is possible to find the “horn” used by Scripture in many places instead of “glory,” as the saying, “He will exalt the horn of his people,” and “His horn shall be exalted in glory,” or also, since the “horn” is frequently used instead of “power,” as the saying, “My protector and the horn of my salvation,” Christ is the power of God; therefore, he is called the Unicorn on the ground that he has one horn, that is, one common power with the Father.
..."But mine horn shall be exalted like the horn of an unicorn" [Psalm 92:10]. Why did He say, "like the horn of an unicorn"? Sometimes an unicorn signifies pride, sometimes it means the lifting up of unity; because unity is lifted up, all heresies shall perish with the enemies of God. And "mine horn shall be exalted like an unicorn." When will it be so? "And mine old age shall be in the fatness of mercy." Why did he say, "my old age"? He means, my last days; as our old age is the last season in our lives, so the whole of what the body of Christ at present suffers in labours, in cares, in watchings, in hunger, in thirst, in stumbling-blocks, in wickednesses, in tribulations, is its youth: its old age, that is, its last days, will be in joy. And beware, beloved, that you think not death meant also, in that he has spoken of old age: for man grows old in the flesh for this reason, that he may die. The old age of the Church will be white with good works, but it shall not decay through death. What the head of the old man is, that our works will be. You see how the head grows old, and whitens, as fast as old age approaches. Thou sometimes dost seek in the head of one who grows old duly in his own course a black hair, yet you find it not: thus when our life shall have been such, that the blackness of sins may be sought, and none found, that old age is youthful, is green, and ever will be green. You have heard of the grass of sinners, hear ye of the old age of the righteous: "My old age shall be in the fathers of mercy."
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This verse
The psalmist trusts God to raise his strength and honour like the horn of the wild ox and to anoint him with fresh oil, a favour that comes to him new again and again.
“But my horn shalt thou exalt”
The “But” turns from the wicked, who are destroyed for ever, to the psalmist’s own hope. The horn, qeren, is his strength and honour, and God is the one who raises it (rûwm).
“like the horn of an unicorn:”
The re’em, most likely the aurochs or wild ox, a byword for untamed strength. The KJV’s “unicorn” likely follows the Greek monokeros, “one-horned”.
“I shall be anointed with fresh oil.”
Anointing marked kings and priests as set apart and blessed by God. “Fresh” (raʻănân) is the word for green and flourishing, oil that is new, a favour that keeps coming.
Passage studyPsalm 92:10–11
The LORD Lifts Up and Vindicates His Servant
Summary
After singing of the wicked who spring up like grass and are destroyed for ever, the psalmist turns to himself and to what God will do for him. The LORD will lift up his horn, his strength and honour, like the horn of the wild ox, and anoint him with fresh oil. And he will see and hear God’s judgment come on the enemies who rise up against him. These two verses give us a believer’s confidence that God strengthens, renews and in the end vindicates those who trust him, and they look ahead to Christ, the One God has exalted and anointed above all.
Where these verses stand in the Sabbath psalm
Psalm 92 is the only psalm headed “A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath day”, and it is a song of worship that thinks over who God is and what he has done. It opens with a call to praise the LORD for his goodness and faithfulness (Psalm 92:1–3). Then it sets two kinds of people side by side. The wicked spring up like grass, only to be destroyed for ever (Psalm 92:7), while the righteous flourish like the palm tree and the cedar of Lebanon and go on bearing fruit (Psalm 92:12–15). Between the two pictures stands the LORD himself, exalted on high for evermore (Psalm 92:8).
Verse 10 opens with “But”, turning from the short-lived success of the wicked to the psalmist’s own hope. These are the most personal lines of the psalm. Its teaching about God’s justice is spoken here in the first person, as what the psalmist expects God to do for him, even in a world where evil often looks as if it is winning. The same contrast between the passing prosperity of the wicked and the lasting strength of the righteous runs through the Psalms, from the two ways of Psalm 1 to the prayer for justice in Psalm 7 and the settled trust of Psalm 46, where God is his people’s refuge and strength.
God lifts up the horn of his servant
“But my horn shalt thou exalt.” The Hebrew word for horn, qeren, pictures something that projects, and in Scripture the horn stands for strength, power, dignity and authority. It is often tied to kings, warriors and strong animals, since a bull or a wild ox with strong horns was the very picture of untamed might. A king’s horn is his rule, a nation’s horn is its might, and a man’s horn is his honour and his victory.
The verb rûwm means to be high, to rise or to raise. So when God exalts the psalmist’s horn, he raises him in standing, makes him strong and gives him victory over his adversaries. The psalmist says “shalt thou exalt”, and so the strength and honour he expects come straight from the LORD, as a sign of God’s favour and protection. It fits verse 8. The LORD is exalted on high (Psalm 92:8), and the God who is high lifts up his servant. Hannah used the same picture when she prayed, “mine horn is exalted in the LORD” (1 Samuel 2:1).
What is the unicorn in this verse?
The KJV’s “unicorn” stands for the Hebrew re’em, a powerful wild animal of the cattle kind, most likely the aurochs, a great wild ox now extinct. It was known for its immense strength, its formidable horns (usually two) and its untamable nature. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, rendered the word monokeros, “one-horned”, and the KJV translators, working with what was known in their day, likely followed that rendering when they chose “unicorn” for a uniquely powerful horned beast. Modern translations usually say “wild ox” or “wild bull”. Scripture uses the strength of this animal as a picture elsewhere too (Numbers 23:22).
Whatever the exact animal, the meaning of the line is plain. God will give the psalmist a strength like the raw power of the mightiest beast he knew, a strength far beyond what he could gather for himself, so that he can stand against any opposition.
Anointed with fresh oil
“I shall be anointed with fresh oil.” Anointing with oil set a person apart for God. Kings were anointed, as Saul was (1 Samuel 10:1) and David after him (1 Samuel 16:13), and so were priests, as Aaron was (Exodus 29:7), and at times prophets. It marked a person as appointed by God, blessed by him and given his Spirit for his service. Oil had everyday uses as well. It was used for healing, offered to guests as a welcome, and worn as a sign of joy and plenty, which is why people in mourning went without it. In Psalm 23:5 the anointed head goes with a cup that runs over.
The word “fresh”, raʻănân, comes from a root meaning to be green. It describes what is verdant, flourishing and vigorous, and said of oil it means oil that is new, the opposite of oil gone stale. Freshly pressed olive oil was better than old or rancid oil. So the psalmist expects God’s favour to reach him new and full of life, again and again, keeping him from drying up.
Scripture ties oil to the Spirit of God, the source of life and power. Isaiah’s servant says, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me” (Isaiah 61:1). Under the new covenant every believer has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him from the moment of faith (Romans 8:9), and “fresh oil” is a fitting picture of his presence, power and joy renewed in our daily lives, for living rightly, for serving well and for facing hard things. God’s grace is a spring that keeps flowing, always new, and Jesus spoke of rivers of living water flowing out of those who believe in him (John 7:38).
Seeing and hearing God’s justice
“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.” Verse 10 prepares for this one. The God who strengthens the psalmist will also deal with those who have risen against him, and the psalmist expects to see it happen.
The two halves of the verse run in parallel, eye with ears, seeing with hearing, enemies with the wicked. The eye, ʻayin, is the organ of sight, and it can also stand for perception, understanding and what a person knows at first hand. The ear, ʼôzen, is the organ of hearing, and here it takes in the news of what God has done. Together they make the psalmist a direct witness of God’s justice by sight and by report, so that his vindication is complete and beyond doubt.
His enemies are called by the word shûwr, a foe, one who lies in wait. “The wicked” comes from the verb râʻaʻ, which covers being bad and doing evil, and can also mean to displease or to begrudge. Here it names people whose ways are evil and who “rise up against me”, aggressors who have taken the first step against him. They may be personal adversaries, enemies of the nation, or anyone who defies God’s moral order and opposes his people by violence, deceit or oppression. Kings and righteous men in Israel often faced enemies at home and abroad, and their safety rested on God’s favour. The righteous, even when oppressed, waited with confidence for God to put wrongs right, and they expected to see his justice done in the open.
What does “my desire” mean?
The words “my desire” are supplied by the KJV translators to make the sense clear in English. The Hebrew reads more briefly, “Mine eye also shall see on my adversaries, and mine ears shall hear of those who rise up against me.” The translators understood that what the psalmist would see and hear was the outcome he longed for, God’s justice prevailing over his enemies and the righteous being upheld.
Is the psalmist wishing harm on his enemies?
The psalmist is longing to see God’s righteous judgment carried out and his people vindicated, and his confidence rests on the LORD’s justice and power. God’s law forbade Israel to take revenge (Leviticus 19:18), and God says that vengeance belongs to him (Deuteronomy 32:35), which Romans 12:19 says again to believers: “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”
So the verse teaches patience. The LORD is slow to anger and great in power (Nahum 1:3), and the righteous wait for his time and his way of setting things right. “Wait on the LORD” (Psalm 27:14), and another psalm promises the one who waits and keeps his way, “when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it” (Psalm 37:34). Leaving judgment with God frees his people from the burden of vengeance, and this is how a longing for justice sits beside the call to love our enemies. The psalmist will see the outcome, and God is the one who brings it.
Christ, the exalted and anointed One
Both verses come to their fullest meaning in Jesus Christ. He is the horn God has exalted above every other. All power in heaven and on earth is given to him (Matthew 28:18), and after his resurrection and ascension God highly exalted him and gave him the name at which every knee shall bow (Philippians 2:9–11). He is the Anointed One, the Messiah, to whom God gives the Spirit without measure (John 3:34). At Nazareth he read Isaiah’s words about the Spirit’s anointing to preach good news to the poor, heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free, and declared them fulfilled in himself (Luke 4:18–19). Exalted to the right hand of the Father, he has poured out the Holy Spirit on his church (Acts 2:33), and that is the fresh oil all who are in him receive.
The hope of verse 11 is fulfilled in Christ’s victory over the last enemies, sin, death and the devil. By his cross and resurrection he disarmed the principalities and powers and triumphed over them openly (Colossians 2:15), and he must reign until every enemy is put under his feet (1 Corinthians 15:25). We live between the victory already won and the final judgment still to come. When he returns as the faithful Judge on the white horse (Revelation 19:11–21), all who have risen against God and his people will meet his justice, and his people will share in his triumph.
Strength, renewal and justice from the LORD
These two verses show us a God who lifts up the weak and makes them strong, who keeps his favour coming new to those who trust him, and who sees every wrong done to his servants and will answer it in the open. The psalmist speaks in the first person, so the hope of the whole Sabbath psalm becomes one believer’s own expectation. In Christ that hope is ours as well. His horn is exalted, his Spirit is poured out on his people, and his enemies are already beaten and will be put under his feet, so that our vindication rests safely in the hands of a just God.
Psalm 92:10 This verse
“But my horn shalt thou exalt”
The “But” turns from the wicked, who are destroyed for ever, to the psalmist’s own hope. The horn, qeren, is his strength and honour, and God is the one who raises it (rûwm).
“like the horn of an unicorn:”
The re’em, most likely the aurochs or wild ox, a byword for untamed strength. The KJV’s “unicorn” likely follows the Greek monokeros, “one-horned”.
“I shall be anointed with fresh oil.”
Anointing marked kings and priests as set apart and blessed by God. “Fresh” (raʻănân) is the word for green and flourishing, oil that is new, a favour that keeps coming.
Psalm 92:11
“Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies,”
The psalmist expects to be an eyewitness (ʻayin) of God’s justice on his foes (shûwr). “My desire” is supplied by the translators for the outcome he longs for.
“and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked”
The second line matches the first, with hearing (ʼôzen) beside seeing, so that the news of God’s judgment reaches him by every means.
“that rise up against me.”
The wicked (râʻaʻ) are the aggressors here. The psalmist leaves their judgment with God, to whom vengeance belongs (Deuteronomy 32:35).
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