Recounting the Deeds of the LORD (Psalm 9)

Introduction

Please take out your Bible and turn with me to Psalm 9 our passage for this morning. Psalm 9. If you do not have your own Bible, we have some Red Bibles there in the Pew in front of you and you would be greatly helped by grabbing it and turning in it to Psalm 9 which can be found on page #531.

If you are visiting with us this morning or still newer here, this is what we do each Sunday morning. Someone, usually me, gets up here and we open this ancient book called the Bible and we read it and then we try and make sense of the passage and apply it to our lives. 

And while this might seem strange or even outdated to many, the reason we do this is because we believe the Bible composed of these 66 parts to be God’s revealed word to man. A word that is authoritative in telling us who God is and who we are as mankind, having been created by this God. We also believe that the Bible is sufficient. That is we believe that the Bible tells us what is necessary to be delivered from our sins and our exile from God. While some parts of the Bible might be a bit muddier and difficult to understand, this part we believe to be crystal clear. 

Because of these things then, we believe the Bible to be central to our Sunday Morning gathering. Like most Protestant churches, this is why we have the pulpit in the center, as the church is intended to gather around the word of God. A word that the Apostle Paul tells to Timothy, “is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16-17) 

Even this morning as we come to Psalm 9, we see this reminder. We see the reminder of who God is and what is the right response to who God is. 

We see that God is great and glorious from his mighty deeds and that the right response of weak, oppressed, helpless sinners is not to turn over a new leaf, it is not to do more, it is not to clean ourselves up more, it is to worship this God for who he is! Psalm 9 teaches us of the need to praise the LORD! 

This should not be that much of a surprise, though the truth of the matter is it is to many. For the whole of the book of Psalms is leading us to this place of praise! Praising the LORD for one who is blessed and does not stand, walk, or sit in the place of sinners and mockers. To praise the LORD that despite opposition from kings and peoples, his Anointed One will prevail and be seated on Zion (Ps 2). That despite affliction, praise continues to triumph as hearts are turned to rest in God and not the strength of man. Even in the Psalms of lament and sorrow, hearts are turned to praising and trusting in the LORD for comfort.

The book of Psalms, the Bible’s hymn book is about the praise of God! 

Beloved, it is then my prayer this morning that as we read and unfold Psalm 9 together, that our hearts will be strengthened in the midst of our present struggles, doubts, sorrows as we see who God is. And that in the midst of it all we would turn and give thanks and praise to our God!

Let’s hear then the word of the LORD from Psalm 9….

Main Idea: Praise be to God for his wondrous deeds, deeds of grace and justice.

The Praise of God

The Judgment of God

The Character of God

1. The Praise of God

Psalm 9 starts with this inscription: To the Choirmaster: according to Muth-Labben. A Psalm of David. This Muth-Laben is not clear and has been debated amongst Hebrew/Old Testament scholars. Theories tying it to different people and persons who opposed David. However, it is likely it is simply some ancient musical term, especially in its being put between to the Choirmaster and a Psalm of David. It is potentially even a key for the song of Praise that David gives to the LORD.

Praise that comes not because of the circumstances surrounding David, but because of who God is. For seemingly from what we have here in Psalm 9 is that David is recalling God’s past deliverances while anticipating future deliverances. In other words, the oppression, the affliction, the sorrows are not yet done. And yet, it is in the midst of this that David turns to praise the LORD with his whole heart. Look there with me at Ps 9:1-2…

Consider that phrase, “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart.” To give praise with the whole heart is to keep none of the heart back. As Charles Spurgeon put it, “Half heart is no heart.” 

David here in desiring to praise the LORD with his whole heart is a recognition that all glory and worth belong to the LORD alone. That nothing is to be held back from him. For in recounting the deeds of the LORD, David sees over and over again that it is the LORD who has acted. 

Just quickly working back through the whole of the Psalm we see this. We see that it is the LORD who has turned his enemies back (V.3), it is the LORD who has maintained his cause (v.4), it is the LORD who rebuked the nations (V.5), it is the LORD who rooted out his enemies (V.6), it is the LORD who rules (V.7), it is the LORD who judges with righteousness (V.8), it is the LORD who is a stronghold for the oppressed (V.9), it is the LORD whose name brings trust as he does not forsake those who seek him (V.10). It is the LORD who is gracious and brings salvation (V.13-14). It is the LORD who executes judgment (V.15-16). It is the LORD who does not forget the needy and poor (V.17-18). It is the LORD who prevails (V.19-20). 

David recognizes all these deeds of the LORD, and that he had nothing to bring to any of these. And therefore all glory and praise belongs to the LORD and to him alone!

And because of this, that David not only praises the LORD, but finds is greatest satisfaction and joy in the LORD. For this is what he is saying when he says, “I will be glad and exult in you.”

David gives his whole heart to the LORD in praise and finds his gladness and satisfaction in this God! 

If you have listened to John Piper much at all, you will hear him put it like this:

“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him, and we are most satisfied in him in worship.” —John Piper

That is the question though for us this morning. Do we find our gladness and joy and satisfaction in God to the point of giving our whole hearts to Him in praise? Do we find our gladness and joy and satisfaction in God to the point of giving our whole hearts to Him in praise?

Beloved, it is the wholeness of our hearts that God desires, it is our satisfaction and joy in him that he wants. Our offerings, our service, our church attendance are meaningless without our whole hearts being given to God in praise!

Point #1, the praise of God. Point #2, the judgment of God. 

2. The Judgment of God

While the praise of God is central and the main thrust here of Psalm 9, we are brought to deal with these deeds of the LORD. Deeds that first recount the judgment of God. Ps 9:3-4…

David’s praise and gladness and exultation in God is rooted in the judgment of God, how the LORD gives righteous judgment. 

Now, this idea of the judgment of God makes many cringe, maybe even some of you. For why believe in a God of judgment? Isn’t God a God of love anyway? And yet our Psalm here this morning, Psalm 9, confronts us with the truth that the Most High, the Covenant LORD, יְ֭הוָה, is one who judges. One who judges with righteous judgment. 

Longing for justice is not just some modern political movement. The call for justice is rooted here in the Bible and the very nature of God. God desires and carries out justice. Justice that will be carried out through his just and righteous judgment. The two go hand in hand. God’s judgment is the means of bringing about true justice.

Still in Ps 9:3-4, notice the justice that David praises God for bringing about. It is a righteous judgment that therefore brings about true justice. Justice against the enemies of David who have forsaken the ways of the LORD and wrongly pursued him. God brings justice and judgment against these by defeating them and turning them back, away from David.

True justice cannot be had apart from righteous judgment. A righteous judgment that is not rooted in mere opinion or cultural pressure. It is a righteous judgment rooted in God himself. A judgment that condemns wickedness and evil. Notice how David continues to describe this bringing about of God’s judgment, Ps 9:5-6…

Judgement is being brought about against the wicked. For it is they who God makes to perish. It is their names that God blots out forever and ever. It is these wicked who come to an end in everlasting ruins. It is the wicked who face God’s judgment and have their cities completely removed even down to their roots, ensuring of their lasting demise. It is these wicked who even the memory of them will fade away and be no more.

Justice and judgment is to be had, it is to be longed for, and it has and will be brought about by the Most High God as he is the ultimate judge. He is the ultimate judge of man, because it is he who created man in his image. It is this Most High God who created us and gave us dominion over his creation as we saw last week in Psalm 8. A task that we still have, but not in the pureness to which it was given to us.

As sin entered the world through the one man’s disobedience and now spread throughout the whole of creation, it has brought destruction because of its poison. A poison that has crept even into our very own hearts. And that poison has brought about such wickedness.

Wickedness in denying God as creator and therefore King who is to rule over his creation. A wickedness that is carried out in our making ourselves equal with God or even above God in determining what is good and evil, right and wrong. Wickedness that elevates ourselves above our fellow man. A wickedness that leads us from exchanging the truth for lies.

You see this is why many of the cries in our own days for justice are cries not for true and righteous justice. Because these cries for justice are mostly tied around various culturally driven ideologies. Ideologies that start not with God, but with man and our own view of how the world should look and go.

This was the case in David’s day as he was being pursued by his enemies. The same enemy that most assume to go back to Psalm 3. An enemy of David’s own son, Absalom. For Abasalom pursued after David, seeking to overthrow him. Absalom and those with him sought to bring about their own version of justice against David for what happened to the sister of Absalom, Tamar. A plot that unfolds in 2 Samuel 13-18. Tamar was raped by her half-brother, Amnon. An event that angered David. But this was not enough for Absalom. And Absalom then proceeds to kill his half-brother, Amnon. And then eventually conspires and plots against his father, David. This forces David to flee from Jerusalm for his life.

Absalom sought justice by his own means. A justice that was no true justice at all. For it was an endeavor filled with vengeance and rage. It was a wickedness that filled his heart rather than righteous judgment.

Beloved, beware any pursuits in the name of justice that do not first consider God. For there is no right justice apart from God’s righteous judgment against wickedness and sin. Nor let us be in despair in thinking that injustice and wickedness will prevail.

For not only does David here in Psalm 9 look backward to what has already happened, he looks forward in light of a very present truth. Ps 9:7-8…

Where the wicked will perish and be blotted out and forgotten, God will not. He will sit enthroned forever. This going back to Psalm 2 where God will be established and establish his Anointed King forever, despite the nations and peoples plotting and raging.

God’s throne and his justice will reign forever. The world will come before God and be judged with righteousness. This is taking place now, and will continue. God’s judgment will be carried out and will be final. A judgment that is a righteous judgment. Turn your attention down with me to Ps 9:15-16…

The snare of judgment that comes from the LORD upon these wicked is a judgment that is of their own doing, of their own evil.

God’s justice comes against these who have dug their own pits, caught in the nets that they have hidden and are caught in the snare of their own wickedness. Why? Ps 9:17…

The wicked forget God as they throw off his bonds and casts his cords away. For instead of being united to God and under God, they have rebelled against him as their King and in so doing, turned to their own hearts where the poison of sin sinks deeper and deeper until it fully ensnares them where there is no hope for escaping God’s righteous judgment.

They will come to recognize that their rebellion was foolish as they are men, and God well is God. Ps 9:19-20…

The fear of the LORD begins with the knowledge of God (Prov 1:7). And those who fear God will walk under him as their LORD and their King. But those who oppose this God and his people will not prevail, at least in the end. This then brings despair for the wicked, but hope for the righteous.

Hope that the injustice of evil will not last, that it will not endure. That its days are numbered before the one who sits enthroned forever and will bring about his justice through his righteous judgment. And all of this being a display of his perfect love. For as judgment comes, it comes as God hears the prayer of the oppressed, the weak, the helpless.

And this day has been appointed, it has been fixed through the one man, Jesus Christ. Acts 17:31…

Acts 17:31 ESV

31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

It is through the Risen Anointed King that this once for all judgment will come upon the earth. A King whose wrath will be kindled and consume all who fail to kiss him and serve him in allegiance, but bring blessing to all who take refuge in him. Blessing of glory and honor and rejoicing evermore.

All who come to take refuge in this Anointed King, King Jesus, have a secure hope. A hope that is able to endure through present afflictions because the hope is not grounded in circumstances, but in the character of the unchanging God. That is point #2 the judgment of God. Point #3 the character of God.

3. The Character of God

As David recounts the deeds of the LORD, יְ֭הוָה. He reflects on God’s character throughout. He has refected on the fact that the LORD brings judgment, but that it is a righteous judgment that brings about justice for the oppressed. We saw that in Psalm 9:4 “4 For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.”

Again in Psalm 9:5 “5 You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever.”

God’s judgment is a righteous judgment that comes against the wicked and is a result of their own doing, their own wickedness is what ensnares them (Ps 9:16).

But that is just one side of the character of God that David reflects on here in Psalm 9. For not only is God the just judge, he is the gracious LORD. Consider Ps 9:9…

The wicked are judged, David’s just cause is maintained in this deliverance, because the LORD is one who is a stronghold for those who are oppressed and to those in times of trouble.

This God found in the pages of the Bible is a refuge for all who come to him in their weakness, to those who seek him and trust him. Ps 9:10…

But look again what leads to this trust, to this seeking there in Ps 9:10…

They know his name. They know the name of the covenant LORD, יְ֭הוָה. A name that means I AM. And this is the name that the LORD has given himself to his people so that they may know him as the Covenant Keeping God. The one who does not break his promise. And it is this Covenant LORD who then is this stronghold for the oppressed in the time of their trouble. It is this Covenant LORD that trust is being placed in. It is this Covenant LORD that will not forsake those who seek him.

This greatly contrasts from the wicked. The wicked forget God and in the end find themselves forgotten. But those who seek God will not be forsaken nor forgotten. Ps 9:18…

There is hope for the needy, the poor, the oppressed, the weak as they remember God and seek after him. Those who call out to the LORD for his grace and mercy will find a God who answers and cares for them if they but acknowledge their weakness and their need. Ps 9:13-14…

The grace of God is not there for the put together. It is not there for the strong. It is not there for the prideful. It is not there for those who think they are are good. God’s grace is there for those who are oppressed and weak and afflicted and troubled and poor and afflicted.

God’s grace comes to understand their helpless estate and turn to the LORD. This is what we see in Ps 9:13-14. David is crying out to the LORD to be gracious to him. To see his affliction, and pleading that the LORD lift him up from his helpless state and to save him. And the result will be his turning to praise the LORD for his salvation.

The same salvation that is now offered not to just David and the faithful remnant of the Jews, but to all peoples, tongues, and tribes. A salvation for all who will recognize their own helplessness apart from God’s grace to us in Jesus. A grace that is able to bring hope to the hopless, relief to the afflicted, rejoicing to the sorrowful as we are delivered not merely from present circumstances, but from the bondage of sin and out from the curse of death itself.

This is the grace of God that he extends to all who seek after him and trust him. A trust that is rooted in his very character as the LORD, יְ֭הוָה. That is point #3, the character of God. 

Conclusion

Beloved, as we close out here in Psalm 9, then there is one major take away for us. We are a people invited into this same praise for the LORD that David has. Ps 9:11-12…

We are to recount the deeds of the LORD who sits enthroned in Zion as we speak both now and forever! And therefore this God will never change and continually be worthy of our praise as he continues to hear the cry of the afflicted, the tears of the sorrowful, the hope of the poor. He will continually be found by those who seek him and he will care for them. 

This is the God we are called to sing praises to! Therefore let us be a people who sing praises to this LORD! Not just for our own hearts sake, but to also make the praise of this God known to the peoples of the earth!

Praising God so that others may know him and join in on giving praise to the only God! Maybe even some of you this morning need to hear this praise of this God and join in! Friend, hear the reasons to praise this God and come join in! Come join in the chorus of those who will praise the LORD without ceasing! Come and praise the LORD who alone brings about his salvation by grace. Come and taste this grace and sing, friend! 

Let’s Pray….