Psalm 9 | Celebrating the Goodness of God

Today’s theme: “Celebrating the Goodness of God.”

Long psalm with one major theme: Thanksgiving.

Why thanksgiving is important? We are not prone to be thankful. We tend to complain and compare.

Three areas of thanksgiving in Psalm 9

I’m going to divide the sermon into three sections. After each section we will respond with a song.

Thank you LORD (YHWH) for all the wonderful things you have done in my life

Ps 9:1“1 I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

David is overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness that the only appropriate response is to thank the LORD with all of his heart.

Charles Spurgeon said it best, “Half heart is no heart” (Tresury, 97).

One way to express thanksgiving is through singing.

Ps 9:2 “2 I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”

Ps 9:11 “11 Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds!”

Ps 9:14 “14 that I may recount all your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in your salvation.”

All told, the Bible contains over 400 references to singing and 50 direct commands to sing. The longest book of the Bible, the Psalms, is a book of songs. And in the New Testament we’re commanded not once, but twice, to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to one another when we meet (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). Bob Kauflin

Why sing praises to God?

Singing praises to God centers my perspective on God.

Ps 150:2 “2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!”

Ps 35:28 “28 Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long.”

Singing praises to God leaves no room for complaining and comparison.

Ps 103:2-4 “2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,”

Singing praises to God paves the way for God’s power to be displayed.

2 Chronicles 20:20-22 “20 And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” 21 And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.” 22 And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.”

Acts 16:25-26 “25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.”

Thank you LORD for all the wonderful things you have done in my life.

Response through singing : The Goodness of God

Thank you LORD (YHWH) for being a shelter in times of trouble

Ps 9:9 “9 The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

Treasure these words! Let them be a comfort to you: God has promised to be a shelter for you in times of trouble.

In ancient times, the word stronghold (Heb misgab) was used to describe a high place that would offer security from the enemy. Thus it is translated as “stronghold, fortress or refuge.”

2 Samuel 22:3, “my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge.”

Ps 18:2 “2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Ps 46:7 “7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

Back to our passage...

Ps 9:9 “9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.”

The implications:

When trouble seeks to bring me down, God lifts me up.

When the enemy seeks to oppress me, God protects me.

When fear seeks to destroy me, God’s peace surrounds me.

When discouragement seeks to paralyze me, God fills me up with hope.

Ps 9:10 10 And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”

Those who know God’s name. God’s personal name is YHWH.

David addresses God by his personal name YHWH. (throughout this chapter)

Gerald Wilson, “the divine name recognizes that Yahweh is the God who is and continues to be. (Psalms, 120)

God’s personal name, YHWH, reveal that our God is, was, and always will be.

Ex 3:13-14 “13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ””

In rabbinic interpretation, it makes sense that the three times the word appears reflects the three tenses: past, present, and future.

He was. He is. He forever shall be

Regarding this passage, Rabbi Isaac taught:

“God said to Moses: ‘Tell them that I am now what I always was and always will be’; for this reason is the word eh-yeh (I am) written three times”

Gerald Wilson, “The name offers to God’s people a powerful promise of continuing divine presence in their lives. “I will be!” says Yahweh, and that is not a promise to be taken lightly. In the immediate context of Exodus, Yahweh promises to be with Moses, to speak through him, and to be with Israel as they flee and travel to the Promised Land. Throughout Israel’s history, God’s people acknowledge the constant and consistent presence of Yahweh in their midst—both in blessing and in punishment. Thus, one thing that Yahweh means by revealing his name to Israel is that he will “be with” his people from now on and into the future. (Psalms)

That’s why David declares, “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”

Biggest lie: Your pain and your trials is a sign that God has forsaken you.

The temptation: to despair

Application: Run to God for refuge.

Response through singing: Rock of Ages

Thank you YHWH for personal deliverance

David found himself in a situation that required God’s deliverance.

Ps. 9:12-16 “12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted. 13 Be gracious to me, O Lord! See my affliction from those who hate me, O you who lift me up from the gates of death, 14 that I may recount all your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in your salvation. 15 The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught. 16 The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.

David found himself in a situation that required God’s deliverance with his mighty hand.

“I will recount of your wonderful deeds.”

The word translated wonderful, “pala˒ (פָָּלָא, 6381), “to be marvelous, be extraordinary, be beyond one’s power to do, do wonderful acts.” Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary

The verb is found for the first time in Gen. 18:14: “Is any thing too hard (wonderful, NRSV) for the Lord?”

Pala˒ is used primarily with God as its subject, expressing actions that are beyond the bounds of human powers or expectations. This idea is well expressed by the psalmist: “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” (Ps. 118:23).

Example: Deliverance from Egypt was the result of God’s wondrous acts:

Ex 3:20 “20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.”

The way God going to show his wonders was through judgment.

Ex 6:6 “6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD (YHWH), and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.” (10 plagues & the crossing of the Red Sea)

After the crossing of the Red Sea, Moses led the people into a song.

Ex 15:9-11 “9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’ 10 You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters. 11 “Who is like you, O LORD (YWHH), among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?”

There are times when God will put us in situations that are beyond our control in order to show us his wonderful deeds as our deliverer.

The story of the exodus is a foreshadow of the gospel of Jesus. God delivers his people from a state of helpless affliction caught between the reality of their sin and the sea of God’s justice and wrath. This was accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The greatest act of deliverance took place at the cross where Jesus delivered me from my sin and the punishment that I justly deserved. Jesus is my deliverer!

He has also delivered me from other situations that were beyond my control. All I can say is, “God did it!”

Therefore,

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