A Certain Stronghold - Psalm 9:1-20

Psalm 9 A Certain Stronghold 2019-07-07 The Lord is a stronghold to those who trust in him. It was about 3 o’clock in the morning on a gravel road off of Hwy 20 in Idaho. It had been drizzling rain for nearly an hour and now, with my sleeping bag beginning to soak through, I decided that sleep was no longer worth waiting for. I stuffed my sleeping bag into its sack, transferred a sleeping Joel into the cab of the ’52 Ford truck, loaded our gear in the truckbed, and started off down the highway toward home. It was dark. It was rainy. The windshield wipers on the truck seem to work superbly well, but only when it isn’t raining. The best I could get was the occasional smear across the windshield, temporarily blurring everything beyond. I could make out the fog lines on the roadside and the frequent signs warning of deer crossing. Of the more than 2,300 miles we traveled, these were the ones that had me the most concerned. It wasn’t driving up and over Powder River Pass at 9666’ elevation or driving into the city streets of Omaha with a wheel stud missing on the front wheel. No, not being able to see, and expecting that a deer was going to jump from the roadside and ambush the truck at any moment, was stressful. We rely so much on sight, don’t we? Being able to see down the road to know what’s coming, seeing the balance in our bank account to know our financial standing, seeing our children making wise decisions so we can be confident about their future. But what about when we can’t see so clearly? What about when fog settles into life and you can’t see a clear path ahead? Your employment is in jeopardy or uncertain, that relationship you treasure seems to be on shaky ground, your health is questionable, your children are struggling. Do you turn to wonder and worry? Do you fret and try to come up with your own fix? Scripture Passage: Psalm 9:1-20 In our Psalm this morning we find hope and help. David presents us with a beautiful example of faith on display. Faith that doesn’t know how things will turn out, but that can look to God’s character and be encouraged. Faith that can’t see forward through the fog, but can look back to God’s faithfulness in the past and be confident in the future. The Lord is a stronghold to those who trust in him. Praise (vv.1-12) 1. Praise vv.1-2 “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart…” - Isn’t this always a good starting place for our interaction with God? To give him our whole hearts in thanks to him. David says he will recount all of God’s wonderful deeds. This means there was thought and attention given to make note of God’s wonderful deeds. 1. What an amazing commitment of time! David is fully rejoicing and finding gladness in God. “O Most High” stresses “his strength, sovereignty, and supremacy.” 2. Do you have trouble, like I do, with staying focused in prayer or in praise? Here’s some help from David in Psalm 9-10. These two Psalms are laid out, more or less, in an acrostic pattern. That means that the lines or sentences move through the Hebrew alphabet. It would be like us starting with the letter A and giving praise to God for something that starts with A, then moving on to B, then to C, and so on. This could even be a good way to redeem time on car rides during summer trips (Stasaks if you’re listening!). 2. Deliverance vv.3-6 “When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence.” - Notice in these verses that all this work of triumph over the enemy is attributed to the Lord. He keeps saying, “You, Lord have done this.” 1. vv.5-6 The enemies are only temporary. When we were prepping our homesite we had tree stumps that needed to be taken out. It wasn’t enough to cut down the tree, but the stumps, roots and all, had to be removed. With a little heavy equipment we plucked them right out. 3. Justice vv.7-10 “But the LORD sits enthroned forever…” - The Lord cannot be plucked out, uprooted, and brought to ruin. He is eternal, enthroned forever, permanent, immutable. In contrast to the temporary nature of our enemies, God is eternal and his throne endures. 1. Isn’t this encouraging in a day and age like ours, where everything seems to be changing at an everincreasing rate? Technologies change, political powers change, beliefs and mores and values of society change. But the Lord’s throne doesn’t change, won’t be plucked up and rooted out. He has and does and will continue to judge with righteousness and uprightness. There’s no question if something one day is right in God’s eyes and wrong the next. His standard is set and sure. 1. Perhaps this unsettles you somewhat, this idea of God judging the world with righteousness and people with uprightness. Is the idea of standing before God a terror for you? If you don’t have Jesus as your advocate and defender, it should terrify you. But there is hope… 2. vv.9-10 we have the Lord also as our defense. We flee to him for rescue and safety as a stronghold, a refuge in difficulty. We don’t depend on ourselves, or our ability to see through the fog, or our ability to muscle things out, or our ability to do all things right. 1. Notice in v.10 that knowledge of God is linked with trust in God. Knowledge of God will only serve to strengthen our trust in God, because the more we know him, the more we realize he is utterly and totally worthy of our trust. We have the promise of Hebrews 13:5 “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 4. Praise vv.11-12 “Sing praises to the LORD…” - These two verses bookend this first part of Psalm 9. What a privilege we have, and what a joy we share, as we sing praises to the Lord. God has made music for this purpose and end, that it might be a reflection of hearts lifted to him, redounding in praise to him. Transition: The next half of this psalm moves from a focus on praise to a focus on prayer Prayer (vv.12-20) 1. vv.13-14 “Be gracious to me, O LORD!” - Isn’t this a right and natural response to praise of God, and a good example for us in how our interaction with God should progress? When we consider God’s works and ways, his wonderful deeds, his eternal throne and enduring justice, that we are brought to a place of recognizing our need for his grace. Like Isaiah cried out when he saw the glory of the Lord fill the temple, “Woe is me! (Isaiah 6:5), so David cries out, “Be gracious to me, O LORD!” 1. This is a cry of dependence on God, of recognizing God’s power and ability and our own weakness and inability to save ourselves. This is a gospel cry! We saw earlier that God judges with righteousness and uprightness. There is a day when every person will stand before God’s throne of judgement. On what basis do you stand before him? Will you plead innocence? No, you know yourself too well for that. Will you plead goodness? The standard is perfection; too high for you to attain. The only hope we have is the grace that is found in Jesus Christ. He died, taking the full weight of God’s wrath upon himself, so that we don’t need to. He rose from the grave as our forerunner, that we who have trusted in Christ for salvation will one day be raised. 2. vv.15-18 “…the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.” 1. Proverbs 5:22 “The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.” 2. Psalm 7:15–16 “He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends.” 3. I’ll give you a contemporary example of this from an article I read this week. Tim Challies earlier in the week linked to an article on Eternal Perspectives Ministry’s website, which is the ministry associated with Randy Alcorn. There, Randy Alcorn tells of an $8.2 million dollar judgement against him back in 1991. He was pastor of a church in Gresham and on the board for a pregnancy resource center. He began going to abortion clinics in the area to participate in peaceful protests on behalf of the unborn. He was arrested and, after appearing in court, was ordered to pay over $20,000 to the abortion clinic for the business they lost as a result of his protests. He refused to pay, so the court ordered his wages to be garnished. He resigned his position at his local church to avoid the garnishing of his wages. Then another court judgement came involving another abortion clinic, and this time the judgement was for $8.2 million dollars! Doesn’t this seem like the enemy is winning? He started a new ministry, Eternal Perspectives Ministry, and was paid minimum wage in order to avoid the garnishing of his wages. Not only that, but all of his royalties from the books he wrote and sold were given away. The court order was in place for 20 years, and guess how much money his ministry has given away over the course of that time? Just over $8.2 million dollars! 4. Don’t look only to what you can see! Look to God! Take him at his Word and trust in him. Things may look dire and depressing, but there’s hope in God. The fog is probably thick where you are and you can’t see through. Trust in God! Trust him with your children. Trust him with your health. Trust him with your finances. Trust him with your job. Trust him with your relationships. Trust him with your plans. Trust him with your fears. Trust him with your enemies. Trust him with all of your eternity! 3. vv.19-20 The psalm ends with a prayer, bookending this second half of the psalm in a way similar to the first half. It’s a prayer that focuses rightly on God’s will, not man’s. 1. When we try to prevail it tends only to further trouble. It’s like getting a bigger and bigger wrench to tighten a bolt until it finally snaps, then our troubles have only multiplied. 2. We need instead to walk in dependence and godly fear. Our sight is limited; we are but men. But God is God, and he is to be known, feared, trusted. Conclusion: “The better God is known, the more He is trusted. Those who know Him to be a God of infinite wisdom will trust Him farther than they can see Him.” - Matthew Henry y l i m Fa 23-25 Table Talk July 7, 2019 GOD’S TRUTH The Lord is a stronghold to those who trust in him! Family Discussion 1. How is your memory? Do you memorize things well? Can you recall specific details of an event no one else seems to remember? How about that Scripture passage or list of math facts you’ve worked on memorizing? How well do you think you remember? 2. Have you ever considered why God has given us such keen memories? What good does the ability to remember do for us? 3. What about what God has done, can you quickly remember His deeds? Do you often recount them (discuss what recounting actually is)? Why is remembering and recounting God’s deeds good for us? Good for others? 4. When you remember and recount all of God’s deeds, do you give thanks to Him? Practice these things as a family. Recount the deeds of God to one another. Give thanks!! Read the Scriptures in the Table Reading throughout the week. Be encouraged by the goodness, greatness, holiness and faithfulness of God every day! Key Verse “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your deeds.” Psalm 9:1 ESV TABLE READING Lead your kids into God’s Word... 1. Psalm 9:1-2, Psalm 19, Isaiah 40, Isaiah 43:1-7, Isaiah 53, Ephesians 1:1-14 Scripture Memory: Psalm 1:5-6 “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” - Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (ESV)