Perspectives of Joy - Psalm 9

The Perspectives of Joyful People

Perspective one: “I will because you have.”

Verses 1-2: A call to wholehearted joy

Undistracted and undivided gladness in God

True joy has an inward-outward nature.

Inward: “give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart” “I will be glad and exult in you”

Outward: “recount all of your wonderful deeds” “sing praise to your name”

Jesus came to secure more than your fake smile. It’s the opposite of fake-it-till-you-make-it or smiling depression. It’s abiding, down-deep joy that spills out. Inward-outward joy in God is the essence of the New Covenant.

Gratitude stokes the fire of wholehearted joy.

(v. 1-5) “I WILL give thanks/recount all of your wonderful deeds/be glad and exult in you/sing praises to your name” because “YOU HAVE maintained my just cause/sat on the throne/rebuked the nations/made the wicked perish/blotted out their names forever and ever.”

The actions of God underline the attributes of God.

Gratitude leverages God’s past faithfulness as fuel for today’s passion.

It’s the antidote for today’s apathy, discontentment, and worry.

“recount all of your wonderful deeds” Cultivate wholehearted joy by practicing your gratitudes (naming specific ways you are thankful to God).

Our future is as certain as God’s reputation.

David knew God’s faithfulness in the past (Psalm 9:1-12). David needed God’s faithfulness right now (Psalm 9:13-20).

We know that He will because He always has. How can I know that God will see me through what I’m facing today? Because He saw me through what I was facing yesterday.

v. 4 “For you HAVE MAINTAINED my just cause; you HAVE SAT on the throne, giving righteous judgement.” v. 13-14 “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, that I may recount all your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in your salvation.”

His character has been consistent. His deeds have been wonderful.

Worry becomes anticipation.

Tell your worry how good God has been.

There is no joy for the person who can’t see past what they’re facing. There is only joy for the person who sees every disappointment in anticipation of how God will turn it for good.

Jesus showed us that. If there’s one word that sums up Jesus’ birth, it would be anticipation. But, it was anticipation rightly founded. And, because of that, we look to the future and Jesus’ return with an even greater anticipation. No one should be more optimistic about the future than a Christian.

So, the joyful person is able to say, “I will be thankful though my circumstances are hard. I will obey you today even though it feels like it will be the end of my life. I will look toward tomorrow with anticipation when it’s more natural to have dread. I will because you have. You have shown your goodness. You have established your trustworthiness. You have never let me down.”

Perspective two: “I will because you are.”

David is in a hard season as is clear in Psalm 10. He shifts his focus from what God has done to what God is doing right now.

v. 7 - God is unwaveringly sovereign. (He reigns)

Three different times David points out how God is enthroned forever.

The sovereignty of God is hope for joy in every circumstance.

David could rest even though he was on the run. The nations stood against David, but God stood for David. The nations will stand against Jesus, but God stands for Jesus.

Jesus: Born in a stable/Flees death to Egypt/Rejected by his people/Abandoned by his disciples/Crucified by his priests/forsaken by his Father/the Savior of the World ‘according to the definite plan of God’

So long as He is on the throne, there is hope for joy regardless of what you’re facing.

While we sleep, He reigns.

v. 7b-8 - God is unquestionably just. (How he reigns for joy)

You’ll notice that verses seven and eight are set as a contrast to verse six — Egypt/Babylon/Rome/America are all temporary, but the Kingdom of God endures forever.

God’s Kingdom: 1) Proves fools of those who sell out for cheap joy. 2) Vindicates those who live by faith.

Jesus is the dividing edge of God’s justice. He established God’s kingdom of eternal justice. How we respond makes his justice good news or bad for us.

v. 9 - God is unmatchably merciful. (How he reigns for joy)

David often hid in natural strongholds/high ground where he was hidden from his enemies, where he was able to stop running, where he was able to rest.

Ill: I watched a squirrel in my yard build a nest in a dead tree. I thought squirrels were smarter than that. He worked and worked bringing in straw, sticks, and leaves to build himself a refuge that would quickly blow down. We are tempted to seek refuge in the dead tree of this world.

We try to work for joy, running ourselves ragged.

God is our high ground; He lets us stop running and rest in his mercy.

So, the joyful person is able to say, “I will not worry about tomorrow. I will not try to vindicate my own name. I will not sell out for the cheap joy of what I can achieve or build or do. I will rest. I will hide myself in God. I will take refuge in his goodness and not mine. I will because you are. You are sovereign, and I’m out of control. You are just, and I am impotent. You are good, and I am tired. I will submit to your reign for my joy because you are, right now, bringing all things together for my good.”

“I will because you will.”

v. 10-11 - Wholehearted joy is meant to multiply.

v. 10 - It multiplies in you.

“And those who know your name put their trust in you.”

The more that you trust God, the more joy you will have regardless of what you’re facing.

The more of God that you know, the more you will trust God.

“Name” encompasses all of God’s attributes and reputation, all of who He is and all of what He’s done.

Discover God —> Trust God —> Greater Discovery of God —> Trust increased —> Joy more durable

God is taking each of us on a journey that we might know him more, and, thus, that we might have greater joy. None of you are joyful as you can be because none of you know God and trust him as much as is possible.

V. 11 - It multiplies through you.

“Tell among the peoples his deeds”

God is writing a story of his trustworthiness in your life, and it’s a story you’re meant to tell.

ILL: Harriet Tubman: When people discover a path to real freedom, they’ll send their lives spreading its fame.

Two-sided vision of the future:

The nations: Enemies to be vanquished ---> Receivers of Good News

David is pointing us toward Christ/toward a future Kingdom and a future reality.

v. 5 - The nations being blotted out forever because of their opposition to Christ. (never happened during the time of David)

v. 11 - The nations hearing the praises of God’s people and discovering his Name.

God is reaching the nations through the joy and trust of his people.

Joy: “I will be glad and exult in you. I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.” (You always have!)

Trust: “And those who know your name put their trust in you.” (You always will!)

Joy in God gives us the passion to go, and trust in the sovereignty of God gives us the confidence to go.

How will the nations know unless someone tells them? The good news is that the call on you to go is what you’re already passionate to do anyway. “Sing Praises!”

Jesus came that all peoples might have joy. Christmas has always been a call to missions.

Luke 2:10: “I bring you good news of great joy for all people.”

And, the joyful persons says, “I will sing your praises. I will spend my life seeking to know you more. I will go wherever you send me. I will because you will. You will always meet my needs. You will always increase my joy. You will always take me in. You will always save more. You will send Jesus again.”