The Doorkeeper

Psalm 92:9-15

9Your enemies, LORD, will surely perish;

all evildoers will be scattered.

10But you have made me as strong as a wild bull.

How refreshed I am by your power!

11With my own eyes I have seen the downfall of my enemies;

with my own ears I have heard the defeat of my wicked opponents.

12But the godly will flourish like palm trees

and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon.

13For they are transplanted into the LORD’s own house.

They flourish in the courts of our God.

14Even in old age they will still produce fruit;

they will remain vital and green.

15They will declare, “The LORD is just!

He is my rock!

There is nothing but goodness in him!”

John Emerich was a jolly old soul, a round man with rosy cheeks and wire glasses. Every December he played Santa Claus for the local grammar school—and he didn’t have to change his appearance very much.

And Sunday after Sunday he stood in the foyer of his Baptist church, greeting newcomers and hailing friends. He was the first one there and the last one to leave. Visitors remembered his contagious grin. Children loved his impish ways.

He saw his church grow from a handful of folks in a firehouse to a hundred in a renovated barn to three hundred in a brand-new sanctuary. He would never admit it, but he was a major reason for that growth. He was a cedar of Lebanon, a godly man flourishing in the house of the Lord.

A lot of churches have people like John Emerich, faithful servants who might as well be planted at the church door. If there’s a service, they’re there, welcoming all who come. Such people have a sweet spirit and a gentle servanthood that keeps them producing fruit “even in old age.”

Psalm 92 is designated as a song for the Lord’s Day, and fittingly it portrays godly people “transplanted” like trees “into the Lord’s own house.” That may give us all an occasion to thank God for the godly servants we’ve known, the John Emerichs of the world who reach out with a handshake and a happy word every Lord’s Day.

O happy servant, he,

In such employment found!

He shall his Lord with rapture see,

And be with honor crowned.

PHILIP DODDRIDGE

Notable Quotable

“When we see a noble palm standing erect and growing amid the dearth and drought of the desert, we have a picture of the godly man, independent of outward circumstances, who is made by divine grace to live and thrive where all else perish.

CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON

Thought to Ponder

What a wonderful psalm for senior citizens! We don’t retire from God’s work. If we live in him, we just get better and better.