Ps. 92.8 (gazing at the future)

But you are / the One-Who-is-on-High
forever / O Yhwh. 

Structurally and thematically this verse is the center and heart of the psalm. And so we need to discern what it means for Yhwh to be the ‘one-who-is-on-high’. Firstly, we need to pay attention to the contrasting word “but”, which shows how this verse will contrast with the previous verse of the wicked-as-grass who will be destroyed forever. This is made more explicit by the use of the word ‘forever’ in both verses: the wicked are destroyed forever; Yhwh is the one-on-high forever. We can make a few tentative conclusions—first, Yhwh being ‘on high’ is a position of moral purity (or, holiness). It stands in utter contrast to the realm of the wicked (or, the ‘state of the wicked’). This is confirmed by the concluding verse of the psalm, when the righteous declare that Yhwh “is upright” and “in whom there is no wrong-doing” (vs. 15). The righteous are declaring an ‘on-high’ liturgy to Yhwh. Second, being ‘on-high’ is a position of authority or dominance. The wicked, although they ‘thrive’, just as the righteous do, their vitality is not long-lived; it is severed and destroyed. By contrast, Yhwh being ‘on-high’ dwells in a realm of ‘forever’ that is perpetual and enduring. In other words, Yhwh’s being ‘on-high’ places him in a realm that is not susceptible to the corruption, destruction and ‘scattering’ that is part of the (moral) realm of the wicked. This, also, is confirmed with the final declaration that Yhwh is a “Rock” (vs. 15). As fleeting as the wicked are as ‘grass’, is Yhwh immovable and solid as a ‘rock’. 

There are additional observations to make regarding the verses position in the psalm. We notice that that this verse is ‘surrounded’ by the wicked. The immediately preceding verse and the immediately following one concern the wicked, the enemies of Yhwh, and, importantly, their destruction. They are ‘destroyed forever”; they “perish” and they “scatter”. This ‘scattering’ is important as it points to something we have seen before in other psalms—that the centrality and ‘one-ness’ of Yhwh engenders a type of disintegration and a lack of integrity in the wicked. They ‘fall apart’ in his presence; they lose their central cohesion and strength when he turns toward them. Their internal state of rebellion and lack-of-integrity is made manifest, and ‘outward’, in the presence of Yhwh. 

This fact hints at a further observation—nowhere in this psalm are the wicked actively punished or destroyed by Yhwh. Their destruction is always in the ‘passive voice’: “it is to be forever destroyed” (vs. 7; by whom, or what?), “will perish…will scatter” (vs. 9). And, when the king’s horn is ‘raised up’, he never actually attacks. He only ‘gazes’ in triumph and ‘hears them scatter’ (vs. 11). However subtle, I think what we see here is the reality of Yhwh’s presence in the face of rebellion. Let me explain it this way—when Moses approaches the ‘burning bush’, the bush itself is not destroyed. Likewise, when Daniel and his friends are thrown into the Babylonia flames, they are not destroyed but walk in its flames “with a fourth…”. However, the Babylonian’s themselves are consumed and destroyed. This ‘flame’ seems to be a very good description of Yhwh’s presence. It is not actively seeking out the destruction of the wicked, but, in its presence, wickedness is destroyed. This is something Jesus says in John: “I did not come to judge the world….but, the world stands judge already by how it responds to me…”. In this way, in the presence of Yhwh, wickedness destroys itself. In a sense, Yhwh’s presence ‘enacts truth’ (or, it ‘enacts goodness’ or ‘enacts beauty’),and in this ‘enactment’ everything that is not aligned with it, is destroyed. So Yhwh does not need to move ‘outside himself’ and actively punish evil; he merely needs to ‘become present’ (thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (or, “On-High”). 

If we take this insight and align it with the fact that this psalm is a “Sabbath” psalm, then we can see an additional, more profound, layer of meaning in this verse. Standing at the center of the psalm, we could say that this is the ‘sabbath verse’ of the psalm. And, on the Sabbath, Yhwh ‘comes to his rest’ in the sense that his presence is fully present. For the Scriptures, every Sabbath was an ‘already but not yet’ participation in the ‘final Sabbath’, when Yhwh’ presence would be ‘all in all’. At that time, as we have just reflected on above, wickedness would ‘be judged’. And, crucially, Yhwh’s “forever On-High” would enact the “destroyed forever” of the wicked (vs. 7). In Genesis, there is no destruction that accompanies the Sabbath because there is no rebellion. Afterward, however, the Sabbath will always embody this dynamic of blessing and judgment, until the final “Sabbath of Sabbaths” (until, Revelation). 

This verse, then, points forward to that time—that final Sabbath when, in a conflagration of blessing and judgment the earth will be cleansed and Yhwh will be “all in all”. For those, the righteous, who are engaged in liturgy to Yhwh-On-High, it is not a question so much of ‘where’ are they, but ‘when’ are they. They exist in a type of suspended state between Genesis and Revelation. For us to ‘see darkly’ is to see darkly in time. To gaze upon Yhwh, and Christ on his throne, is to see the future, this Sabbath of all Sabbaths. It is a realty that is now present, most centrally, as in this psalm, in the Temple-liturgy (the Temple being, the body of Christ…). This is not gazing "into" the future but gazing at the future.