Psalm 9

Preached at Cornerstone Church in Cascade, IA on September 6, 2015

Open your Bibles to Psalm 9. As we begin today, I would like to remind everyone what the Bible is. The Bible is God’s revelation of who He is to humanity. The Bible is a book about God and for us. Too often we forget this.

As we have discussed last week, the heavens declare God’s glory, and the sky proclaim his handiwork. By this we mean that when you look at Creation is screams of a Creator. Arguing that creation and all of its beauty, harmony, and order exists because of chance is a denial of the billions of pieces of observable evidence that God is there. Theologically we call the knowledge of God through Creation, general revelation. It is the revelation that is from Creation.

Many people in their pursuit of the knowledge of God rely predominately on general revelation. Many people seek to understand God by sitting in a tree stand, or taking a walk in the woods, or a pilgrimage to the Mountains. If this is your main way of knowing God, then you are taking great risks with your sanctification. In fact, general revelation is many times where we see Satan getting a foothold in your life and making a wreck of your faith. Why? Because God’s general revelation is general. Its purpose is not to reveal to you the specifics of who God is, its purpose is to declare God’s existences. So what or how has God chosen to reveal the of who He is? The Bible.

1 Corinthians 2:11 says, “no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” It is the Spirit of who knows God. Then in 2 Peter 1:20, “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit revealing to us the realities of who God is. It is the Inspired Scriptures that gives us a right understanding of the Maker of the Stars that we read about last Sunday. It is the Living Word that reveals to us such truths that cuts us to the heart. It is the Holy Bible that enlightens our hearts to see God the way He truly is and keeps us from worshiping counterfeit gods. It is God's Word that anchors us in absolute truth. So with that said, let us read from this awesome book and discover together who our God is as stated in Psalm 9.

• Psalm 9 – “To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.1I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. 2I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. 3When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence. 4For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment. 5You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever. 6The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished. 7But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, 8and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness. 9The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. 10And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you. 11Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds! 12For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted. 13Be gracious to me, O LORD! See my affliction from those who hate me, O you who lift me up from the gates of death, 14that I may recount all your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in your salvation. 15The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught. 16The LORD has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah 17The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God. 18For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever. 19Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you! 20Put them in fear, O LORD! Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah”
  
  

Intentional Praise

The first thing I want to draw your attention to is David’s intentionality in this Psalm. As the Psalm begins, it is as if David is working himself up to worship, as if he is reminding himself as to what he is doing.

• Psalm 9:1-2 - “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. 2I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”
  
  

Why does David need to say this to begin the Psalm? Why doesn’t he just start praising Him instead of talking about praising him? I can’t be for sure, but I wonder if it is because David’s knows the weakness of his sinful flesh. Perhaps David knows that if he is not intentional about his praise, his worship will fall flat. Perhaps some of you can relate. I know that I can.

If we are honest, Church has a risk of becoming routine. We meet at set time, in a set place, and we have our set expectations. Every Church has their liturgy. We know that around 10:00 we all funnel into the sanctuary and I say, “Welcome to Cornerstone Church, we are glad you are here. Why don’t we all stand and sing our first song…” And then away we go.

The question we should ask ourselves is, “Are we ready to worship?” Are our hearts prepared to praise the God of the Universe? Or are we risking worshiping God in vain? Are we at risk of going through he motions, playing church? If so, we must fix this for Jesus had some very harsh words towards false worshipers.

• Matthew 15:8-9 – “You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:8’This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9in vain do they worship me,’”
  
  

So how do we fix this problem? The same way David does in Psalm 9. We are to preach to ourselves. Before we sing praise to the name of God, would must remind ourselves of all the wonderful deeds that God has done in our lives. We must bring them to our minds and to our hearts. We must turn our eyes to gaze upon the greatness of our God. We should not assume that real worship just happens.

One way that we could do this is to come to Sunday School. Spend time studying God’s Word with your brothers and sisters in Christ from 8:30-9:30 every Sunday. Another way is to grab a couple people and find a space in the Church and be in prayer together, thanking God for all that he has provided. Yet another way could be to come into the sanctuary and find your place a couple minutes before service begins and close your eyes or open your Bible and draw near to God. God promises if we draw near to Him, he will draw near to us. Or another way could be to wake up earlier and have a time of devotion to the Lord. Let us choose to be intentional in our praise.

Enthroned Forever

At this point, some of you may ask the question, “What shall we recount? What shall we remind ourselves about God?” To answer that, perhaps we should look at what David considered. When reading this Psalm you see a reoccurring view of God by David.

• Verse 4 – “you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment
  
  
• Verse 7 – “But the Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice”
  
  
• Verse 11 – “Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds!”
  
  

David, as he sets his mind of God, sees him sitting on a throne. David places a crown on the head of God as he recounts who He is and what He has done. This view of God being on a throne is a very common one in the Bible, even Jesus frequently speaks of the throne of His Father. But what is interesting is that almost every time someone has a vision of God in Heaven, He is sitting upon his throne. Let me read the four most familiar visions.

• Isaiah 6:1 – “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.”
  
  
• Ezekiel 1:26-28 – “And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. 27And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. 28Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.”
  
  
• Daniel 7:9 – “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.”
  
  
• Revelation 4:2-6 – “At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.”
  
  

What I think is interesting is according to John 4, God is Spirit. God doesn't take any tangible form. He is not a creature, and he doesn’t need a place to sit. He does not necessarily need a throne, per se. Having said that he frequently reveals to us an image of him upon a throne. Why? What is God attempting to convey to us about himself? What attribute of God is He revealing?

When we think of a King what comes to mind? A Kingdom. A king is not a King if he does not have land or a people. Regarding both of those things, land and a people, the Kings relationship with them is one of authority. The King is the highest authority over his Kingdom. There is no check or balances for a King. Whatever the King desires, he gets. If the King wants all the trees cut down, then so it is. It the King wants to send you into battle, then so it is. Another word that we could use to describe a King is the word Sovereign. A King is the Sovereign, one with ultimate and complete authority over all things in his kingdom.

So what attribute is God revealing to us every time He speaks of sitting on his throne? He is revealing His sovereignty. His complete and unchecked authority over all things. And by all things, I mean all things. The Sun, the moon, the stars, the Earth, the nations, you and me. Everything, whether you believe it or not, is under the sovereign rule of God.

We Reject the Ruler

Now for those of you who just went through the evangelism class over the last three weeks we know that even though God is the ruler, we all reject the ruler. Every person who has ever been born of man has rejected the one who is enthroned forever. Instead of doing things his way, we try to do things our way without Him and we make a mess out of ourselves, society and ourselves.

• Romans 3:10-12 - “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12All have turned aside; “
  
  

This is what David is talking about in Psalm 9. Verse 17, “ the nations that forget God.” The world as a whole has rejected God. They are enemies to God and all those who are associated with God. Humanity has rebelled and is attempting a coup on the sovereign God of the Universe. The nations are guilty of treason, and God will not let this rebellion occur without judgment. Verse 19, “Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you!” Every nation and and every person will stand before the throne of God and God will judge them with righteous judgment. For those who are guilty, the punishment is not just a slap on the hand.

• Psalm 9:5 - “ You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever. 6The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished.”
  
  

The rejection of the Sovereign Lord of the Universe leads to perishing, being blotted out, ruin, and being forever forgotten, and this judgment is not unfair, it is righteous.

God is infinitely Holy and Awesome. He provides us with everything, even our own existence. Rejecting him, forgetting about him, disobeying Him deserves a punishment that matches the rebellion. And this judgment is coming for all mankind. Once again, as we have been studying in our evangelism class Hebrews 9:27 says, “Man is destined to die once and face judgment.”

Put Them in Fear

This destiny of judgment may occur today, and yes, it is my intent to cause in some of you a fear of this judgment day of the Lord, for this was one of the purposes of Psalm 9.

• Psalm 9:20 - “Put them in fear, O LORD! Let the nations know that they are but men!”
  
  

David was praying that God would cause people to fear this coming day of judgment. Why? So instead of blindly walking into the throne room of God, they would see their rebellion for what it was, foolishness, and seek the grace of God that is mentioned in verse 13. This grace is of course the salvation that only comes through the Son of the King, Jesus Christ.

Too often our soft American Christianity wants to leave out judgment and punishment. Too often we see this as too uncomfortable to tell our loved ones about the coming wrath of the Sovereign Lord. But if we leave out the warning of the coming day of the Lord, we are basically participating in hospice care for Hell. We are basically enablers, for we are leaving out the reason why they would need to turn to Christ. You don't need a savior if you do not need saved.

Instead what we must do is to warn people. To tell them about God's authority, and our rebellion, and his coming judgment. We must speak of death and judgment and Hell. We must love them enough to tell them the truth, and then we must tell them about Jesus Christ, the only means to get right with this Sovereign God. The one man who did not rebel against God. The one man who lived a perfectly holy life. The One Man who was also the Son of God, and who took our place and died on the cross and took the punishment from God that we deserve. Jesus who not only died for us, but was raised from the dead and was made ruler of this World and who offers forgiveness and eternal life to all those who rely on his death and resurrection and submit to His lordship.

And for those who God does give a fear of him to, who have ears to hear, and turn from their rebellion and to Jesus Christ they can join in the celebration of Psalm 9 and say, “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. 2I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”