The Worshiper

We’ve got ourselves a good news/bad news situation. The bad news is that many people believe Psalm 9-10 go together—that they should be read as one psalm, studied together as one psalm, preached as one long psalm. The good news is that I disagree. I think there’s plenty to work through in Psalm 9 that I’m going to split them up.

All God’s people say, “Whew!” “I really thought he was going to preach both psalms this morning…can you imagine how late we’d be to lunch if he preaches any longer than normal?”

I thought long and hard about preaching the two psalms together, but I don’t see the reason, quite. So with that, and because I love you, we’re going to take Psalm 9 and Psalm 10 separately.

If you have your Bible (and I hope you do) please turn with me to Psalm 9. If you are able and willing, please stand for the reading of God’s Holy Word:

Psalm 9 NIV

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” A psalm of David. 1 I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. 2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High. 3 My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you. 4 For you have upheld my right and my cause, sitting enthroned as the righteous judge. 5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever. 6 Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies, you have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished. 7 The Lord reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. 8 He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity. 9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. 10 Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. 11 Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done. 12 For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted. 13 Lord, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death, 14 that I may declare your praises in the gates of Daughter Zion, and there rejoice in your salvation. 15 The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden. 16 The Lord is known by his acts of justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. 17 The wicked go down to the realm of the dead, all the nations that forget God. 18 But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish. 19 Arise, Lord, do not let mortals triumph; let the nations be judged in your presence. 20 Strike them with terror, Lord; let the nations know they are only mortal.

May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word!

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I’ve always wanted to be a “The”. You know, “The Hulk”, “The Finisher”, “The Man”, “The Fridge”, something.

David is what we all should be. David could well be known as “The Worshiper.” That’s who he is; it’s what he does. He spends as much time as anyone recorded in the Bible worshipping the Lord.

Here’s the thing, though: we are all “The Worshiper”, it’s just a matter of what we’re worshipping. We are made to worship; we are born-worshippers. We will worship something, someone, and if we can’t settle on either of those, we will worship self.

Guaranteed.

You are “The Worshiper”; it just depends upon what you’re worshipping...

Have you ever thought about what it is you worship? I hope you have. It’s so crucial to a life well-lived that we identify our idols, smash our idols to pieces, repent of our idolatry, and turn to the Lord.

He will share His glory with no other. He is a jealous God—holy and righteous and jealous.

You are the worshipper.

It interesting, this is a psalm of David, set to a particular tune, for the director of music.

We’ve seen this before in our “Psummer in the Psalms”.

The implication of this title being that David wrote this song as something true of himself and applicable to situations of those belonging to the assemblies of the Lord’s people.

Psalm 9 uses some first-person pronouns—I, my, me—no doubt these are speaking about David, the psalm’s author. But this is also, likely, the reality of the collective people of Israel.

It’s like when we sing: “I sing because I’m happy” and sing it together. We mean we. Or, “I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene” and sing it together; we mean we.

These psalm lyrics are ours. They belong to us. David’s words—Holy Spirit inspired words—are our words.

We are the worshipper of Psalm 9.

The worshiper worships the Lord:

For Past Acts (Psalm 9:1-6)

Sometimes the only thing we can think to praise God for is something that happened way back.

Sometimes what we’re going through is so difficult that we can’t begin to see what the Lord is doing for us and in us and through us; sometimes we have to look back.

It might be to an event, a rescue, a happy time where the hand of God is clearly seen and unmistakably felt.

David starts his song with praise and rejoicing:

Psalm 9:1–2 NIV

1 I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. 2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.

David’s singing his heart out. This is personal for him—I, my, I, I , I. David is praising the Lord wholeheartedly. He’s spreading the news about God. He is glad in God. He’s singing the song the Lord put in his heart.

And, at least initially, David’s not singing about something the Lord is doing currently; he singing about past acts:

Psalm 9:3–6 NIV

3 My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you. 4 For you have upheld my right and my cause, sitting enthroned as the righteous judge. 5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever. 6 Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies, you have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished.

This is in the past—all of it. David’s enemies had turned back from pursuing him; they stumbled and perished, and why? Because the Lord took charge and set everything right.

And so David praises the Lord for all this that has happened.

The Lord rebuked the nations. He destroyed the wicked. He blotted out their name. He uprooted their cities, so much so that even the memory of his enemies had perished.

That’s how long ago this act took place—the act for which David is singing and praising the Lord—so long that memory can’t recall his enemies exactly, but can’t forget the Lord’s acting on his behalf.

The worshiper worships the Lord for His past acts.

What has God done for you in the past for which you can praise Him still?

Maybe this is something from way, way back? Maybe it’s been a while since you’ve sensed the Lord at work in your life, but you can still remember what He did way back then.

Sometimes worship requires us to look in the rear-view mirror, squint our eyes, and see what took place there so very long ago.

What has God done for you in the (recent or distant) past for which you can praise Him still?

[Congregational Sharing]

>Worship the Lord for past acts and:

For Present Works (Psalm 9:7-14)

David sings next about the Lord’s present work in the world. David knows that God is at work, but not just in the past; He is at work TODAY. We have an active and involved God—who reigns and rules and judges; a God enthroned in Zion.

David makes this statement of this fact and then a declaration of praise; the worshiper worships the Lord for His present works:

Psalm 9:7–8 NIV

7 The Lord reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. 8 He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity.

Psalm 9:11 NIV

11 Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.

In verses 7-14, David is saying something like:

“My deliverances, my victories, are simply mini-demonstrations of where everything is headed, not naturally, but because Yahweh is the Just King and will put things right at the last.”

David can count on the Lord in the present; he knows that ‘though the wrongs seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.’

It’s the grand assurance of the presently-working God that He never forsakes those who seek Him; He never forgets those who cry out in their affliction:

Psalm 9:10 NIV

10 Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 9:12 NIV

12 For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.

In your seeking, in your suffering, in your affliction, you are not abandoned.

I like to be honest, in church especially: Life, at times, just kind of stinks. Life is filled with loss and heartache, so much so that, often times, the bad seems to outweigh the good. And sometimes that’s reality.

But all is not lost. The Lord is at work, presently, at this moment, currently, right now—He will never leave you or forsake you. He remembers what you’re going through; your afflicted cries are not ignored.

Like a salve for the soul, these may be the very assurances some of you need rubbed into your pain this very moment.

Psalm 9:9 NIV

9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

I love the way Eugene Peterson translates these verses:

Psalm 9:9–10 The Message

9 God’s a safe-house for the battered, a sanctuary during bad times. 10 The moment you arrive, you relax; you’re never sorry you knocked.

Sometimes what we need at the moment, in the present, is just a safe place to land—rest and comfort in the Lord is just what we need. And the Lord provides.

All I have needed the Lord is providing. The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing.

David sings of the Lord’s present and future mercy:

Psalm 9:13–14 NIV

13 Lord, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death, 14 that I may declare your praises in the gates of Daughter Zion, and there rejoice in your salvation.

David makes a plea for mercy; he appeals to the merciful God. And all of this so that, so that, so that David can declare the praises of the Lord, so that, so that, so that (verse 14) he can rejoice in God’s salvation.

For David, it all comes back to praise.

The worshiper worships the Lord for His present works.

Consider His present works, even on a grand scale: He keeps the world in ordered existence. He keeps our planet from careening out of orbit and flying into the sun; keeps it tilted at just the right angle so we don’t fry or freeze to death.

Consider His present works: new morning mercies. That breath you just took. And that one. And that one. And that one.

There are so, so many present works of God, it’s hard to keep track. But we must. We must.

We must do our level best, like David, to worship the Lord for what He is doing at the moment, in the moment He’s working.

What is God doing in the present that calls for your praise?

[Congregational Sharing]

>Worship the Lord for past acts, present works, and:

For Perfect Justice (Psalm 9:15-20)

This is nothing new to the psalms or to us, especially if you were here (and awake) last week. God is Just. He’s a God of Justice. His justice is perfect, always right, always on time.

David, as you know, has a history with his God—a past and present history; in his experience, God is the One who delivers his people from trouble.

Far more, that deliverance is typical of God; it’s typical of what Yahweh will do at the last.

The Lord will mete out His perfect justice as He sees fit:

Psalm 9:15–18 NIV

15 The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden. 16 The Lord is known by his acts of justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. 17 The wicked go down to the realm of the dead, all the nations that forget God. 18 But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.

This is the sure and certain justice of God. The Lord is known by His acts of justice. This is true.

There is justice for the wicked—justice for the wicked and unfading hope for the afflicted.

The world might seem upside-down here and now, but trust and believe that (1) the Lord Yahweh is at work and that (2) His justice is perfect and perfectly timed.

Psalm 9:19–20 NIV

19 Arise, Lord, do not let mortals triumph; let the nations be judged in your presence. 20 Strike them with terror, Lord; let the nations know they are only mortal.

God’s perfect justice helps us to put God, our enemies, and our problems in perspective.

God is on His throne.

Our enemies have no power over Him; they will not triumph.

And our problems—whatever they are—will come undone; everything sad will come untrue, because the Righteous Judge is with His people.

In 1863, early in the battle of Gettysburg, some Union forces under the command of General Slocum were marching toward the firing line once more. Most of the force had been in this situation before—they were veterans. But this time, something about the Confederates’ rebel yell unnerved them; they were on the edge of panic.

They were passing by a small cabin by the roadside and in front of it was the little old lady who lived there. She sensed the dread and unease of the troops, and as the ranks filed past, she kept on repeating: “Never mind, boys—they’re nothing but men.”

One soldier commented that those words—that reminder—helped them to shake off their panic and make them into brave soldiers once again.

The perfect justice of God, the fact that God will judge the quick and dead, the knowledge that God is over all should bolster our faith, calm our fears, and set our feet to marching boldly on.

This is what we must remember: mere mortals, mere men cannot stand and will not stand against the Holy and Just God.

The worshiper worships the Lord for His perfect justice.

How can we praise God for this attribute, for His perfect justice?

We know that He will set all things right. He will correct all wrongs. He will wipe every tear. He will not let evil run rampant. He is not sitting idly by.

What’s more, we know that God in His all-knowingness understood all of us would have to stand before His throne and face His justice.

The problem being, all of us, every single one of us are asking for it. Our sinfulness has purchased for each of us a one-way ticket to hell; our sins earned us that.

But God, in His grace, gave us His Son to make us right again with Him. Jesus stood condemned in our place; He took the punishment we deserve, and He offers us eternal life through His death.

We, like David, must offer our praise to God for His works—past, present, and future. And we know, even when we’ve been praising Him for 10,000 years, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun.

I want to be known as “The Worshiper.” “The Worshiper” and nothing else.