Rhythems of the Righteous
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To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
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.
3 When my enemies turn back,
they stumble and perish before your presence.
4 For you have maintained my just cause;
you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.
5 You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;
you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;
their cities you rooted out;
the very memory of them has perished.
7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
he has established his throne for justice,
8 and he judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with uprightness.
9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion!
Tell among the peoples his deeds!
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. Higgaion. Selah
17 The wicked shall return to Sheol,
all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail;
let the nations be judged before you!
20 Put them in fear, O Lord!
Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah
1 Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,
and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.
4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;
all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
5 His ways prosper at all times;
your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”
7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
8 He sits in ambush in the villages;
in hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9 he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
he lurks that he may seize the poor;
he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 The helpless are crushed, sink down,
and fall by his might.
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;
forget not the afflicted.
13 Why does the wicked renounce God
and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
you have been the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
call his wickedness to account till you find none.
16 The Lord is king forever and ever;
the nations perish from his land.
17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
We’ve already done something unusual this morning in just the Scripture reading. We read both Psalm 9 and 10, and this morning I am going to preach on them both as well. The reason for this isn’t a lack of content to preaching in either Psalm 9 or 10. Rather we are covering both Psalms, because many believe that these two psalms actually belong together.
Many Bibles with footnotes make mention of this at the beginning of Ps 9 There are a number of reasons that commentators point out for taking these psalms together, and I think three of them are worth mentioning:
You won’t recognize this in your English Bibles, but in Hebrew, the two psalms form an acrostic poem that spans both chapters
What you will recognize in your English Bibles are the common words that are shared between the two psalms as well as the theme of God’s justice against the wicked
And you will see that the two Psalms together form a chiasm — which is a common feature in Jewish poetry that looks like this
A. Theme 1
B. Theme 2
C. Theme 3
B. Theme 2
A. Theme 1
And here is the structure of our Psalm this morning
A. Psalm 9:1-12
B. Psalm 9:13-20
C. Psalm 10:1-11
B. Psalm 10:12-15
A. Psalm 10:16-18
To help us better understand why these Psalms are better taken together than separately, let’s start right at the center of the chiasm - there at the beginning of Psalm 10. You can title these verses as David’s perplexity.
A. Psalm 9:1-12
B. Psalm 9:13-20
C. Psalm 10:1-11 David’s perplexity
B. Psalm 10:12-15
A. Psalm 10:16-18
Listen to David’s questions.
1 Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
David is troubles and confused by God in this verse and the following verses. The Lord is far away from David — even hidden from him while he is in trouble. We would expect men to run away from up in times of trouble — but this is not like our covenant keeping God to leave us in our hour of need.
He is supposed to be our very present help in times of trouble — but not for God is nowhere to be found.
And all the while, the wicked go on unpunished for theirs sins against God and against the poor.
I’m going to read through the first part of Psalm 10, and I think you’ll get a good idea as to why David is perplexed.
1 Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,
and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.
4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;
all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
5 His ways prosper at all times;
your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”
7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
8 He sits in ambush in the villages;
in hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9 he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
he lurks that he may seize the poor;
he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 The helpless are crushed, sink down,
and fall by his might.
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
I want the final words of the wicked to ring in your ears this morning — God has forgotten — he has hidden his face — he will never see it. And David just about agrees with the assessment of the wicked here in v 11
1 Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
So we are left asking; How should David — or any other saint for that matter, make it out of such a slough of despond?
If you recall from the Pilgrims progress — Pliable barely began his journey to the Celestial City before he fell into a great trial and gave up and returned to the City of Destruction
And there are many others who fall prey to such hardships — and it causes them to not endure in the faith.
Well, if we were to start here in Psalm 10, then most of the sermon would be left to counting the attributes of the wicked, and hearing their lies as well.
And I fear, that there are many professing believers who are in no better condition to face such a trial than Pliable was when he fell into the slough of despond. For some of you have come to Jesus, because of all the good gifts that he has to offer you.
Gifts like no more pain nor tears, unending joy, and eternal life. But all the while, you forget that he also promised that we would have troubles in this world.
And there are too many professing believers, who like the seed sown among the rocky ground, quickly sprout up with joy, only for the life to whither and die when the sun beats against it.
Christian: you will have troubles — you might even be in the midsts of trouble now. And Psalm 9 and 10 give you rhythms to apply to your life, so that you might endure in your faith when walk through the valley of death.
But these rhythms are best put into place immedietly, don’t wait for trial to come your way before you begin applying these Psalms. Don’t wait for the lies of satan to set into your heart before you begin allowing the Word to dwell richly in your heart.
You and I know that a person doesn’t just wake up one day and run a marathon well — but instead, they discipline their body and train so that when the marathon comes they will be prepared
Similarly, parents know this, and you kids know this as well -- you don’t just wake the day you turn 18 and decide to be an adult. Rather, like the marathon runner, it takes years and years of discipline and training a child so that when adulthood comes, they will be prepared ender the world without being dependent on their parents.
So too, the Christian does not wake up ready to face these trial. There is a kind of training we must go through — rhythms that should be put into practice — so that when the trials come our way, we might have the strength from God’s grace to endure in faith.
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Whatever trial you might be face, or you might be facing — know that you are not first one to walk that path. And further, God will give you a way of escape — and through Ps 9 God has given us way to escape the trial of Psalm 10 through David’s experience.
From our reading of Ps 10 so far, we might think that our Psalm is another psalm of lament. But if you go back to the beginning of the psalm, you’ll notice that it begins as a psalm of praise.
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.
A. Psalm 9:1-12 David’s praise
B. Psalm 9:13-20
C. Psalm 10:1-11 David’s perplexity
B. Psalm 10:12-15
A. Psalm 10:16-18
Before David ever felt abandoned by God — he personally experienced God’s deliverance — which in turn caused him to bubble up with praise for what God had done —
I want to recount what you have done! I want to exult in you!
And so, he does just that. — David recounts the wonderful things that God has done.
3 When my enemies turn back,
they stumble and perish before your presence.
4 For you have maintained my just cause;
you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.
This is an experience of God that David personally knows — it’s not enough for him to simply hear of the stories of old — but he has tasted and seen the goodness of God — specifically, he knows of God’s righteous judgment against the wicked.
And so he continues:
5 You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;
you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;
their cities you rooted out;
the very memory of them has perished.
As the King of Israel, David is well acquainted with the history of his nation. He knows that the land of Israel did not always belong to the Israelites. For before God’s people were there, it belonged to the Canaanites. But God rooted up their cities, and planted his choice vine there instead.
And the mighty Pharoah who once held Israel captive — what was his name again? No one remembers! For the Lord has blotted out his name forever and ever.
Yes, David’s personal experience are worth recounting. But so are the stories of God’s faithfulness and justice from before his time as well.
You see, these kings of the earth — they are here today and gone tomorrow — despite their great monuments and memorials, they are quickly forgotten. But the same cannot be said of the Lord and his throne.
7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
he has established his throne for justice,
8 and he judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with uprightness.
David wants us to know the attributes of our God — he is a king unlike any other — he is righteous in all of his judgments — and he alone will annihilate all wickedness. You see — other kings, presidents, and governors make promises to bring justice to the land — to make nation great again. But only God has the power to follow through with all of his promises.
Therefore, the wicked ought to fear God — but those who have been oppressed — they have reason to rejoice.
9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
Notice the phrase “times of trouble” here in v 9. It’s the same word that is used in David’s complaint in 10:1, where he says God has hidden himself in his time of trouble. But here, God is a stronghold for the oppressed in their time of trouble. If you notice the similarity here, you might get a good idea of how one handles the dark despair of Psalm 10.
What is the trouble of Psalm 10 compared to the foundation that is laid in Ps 9. V 10 says — those who know your name — put their trust in you — for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
David is in a dangerous place in Psalm 10? David is questioning the goodness of God — because the wicked say and believe that they are getting away with their sin. But there is a foundation laid here in Psalm 9. David knows God — he knows the Lord by name.
And we all ought to know the covenant name of God — the name that was proclaimed to Moses at Sini
5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
David knows the name of his covenant God.
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
Do you want to know how one endures great hardships? Do you know how one withstands the lies of the enemy? You need to know the name of the Lord — you need to know his attributes. And not with a mere knowledge is filed away in the brain. But a knowledge that gained from experiencing the goodness of God.
David’s knowledge of God is what caused him to praise the Lord back in v 1-2… and David is not content for this knowledge of the Lord to be kept to himself, and so he musters up the congregation to join him in praising God for his faithfulness.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion!
Tell among the peoples his deeds!
12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
David is doing more than leading Israel in song — he is teaching them about who God is. You can circle that last line, and draw an arrow to what the wicked have falsely claimed about God… David rightly says — “God does not forget the cry of the afflicted “— while the wicked say
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
Since God is just, we ought to praise Him and recount all of His deeds.
Since God is just, we ought to praise Him and recount all of His deeds.
Understand, that our praises are an overflow of knowing God. It doesn’t happen the other way around. David knew and experienced the goodness of God — and the result was praise.
Notice even the quality of his praise:
1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
He is loving God with all of his heart
This is what authentic praise looks like— it
Praise, is the bubbling up of passion after experiencing something wonderful
My three year old was praising his toast and jelly yesterday — because tasted in and delighted in its flavor!
I need to teach my son to have good manners — I need to teach him to share with his sister — but I do not need to teach him to praise what is praiseworthy, for the heart is made to worship that with is good
But worship is done, not just with heart — for we worship what we know, in spirit and truth— and David’s mind is engaged in his delight as he recounts all the the wonderful things that God had done
So what does this have to do with trusting God when it seems like he has left? — It has to do with v 10
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
Kids — do you ever wonder why you need to hear the same Bible stories over and over again?
Surely you already know that God helped David defeat Goliath
Surely you know that God delivered Daniel from the lions den
Surely you know that God worked through Moses to defeat Pharoah and his army
Surely you know that Jesus died and rose again for your sins
So why do you need to recount the works of God time and time again?
Because our God is worth praising with all of our heart
Because our God who has delivered us in the past will do it again — and you best not forget it
Which leads us right into the next section of the Psalm
A. Psalm 9:1-12 David’s praise
B. Psalm 9:13-20 David’s prayer
C. Psalm 10:1-11 David’s perplexity
B. Psalm 10:12-15
A. Psalm 10:16-18
Since God has shown himself to be a just King in the past where the righteous can take refuge — the David knows that he can go to the Lord again when he is danger.
Psalm 9:12 (ESV)
12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
Oh he doesn’t? Then I will cry to him in my affliction.
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.
Since David knows the name of the Lord, he knows that he can call upon the name of the Lord when he is in trouble.
It’s difficult for a man to have an audience with a king. Kings are busy, and they have a limited amount of time to oversee their entire kingdom. But such limits are not known by the King of kings. And his people know nothing about not being able to access his throne of grace.
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
When we pray — this is exactly what we are doing
This is what David is doing
But more notable is the the purpose behind God’s deliverance — It’s so that David may praise the Lord all the more.
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.
Surely the Lord hears our requests, but he loves nothing more than to put his glory on display. Oh that we would learn to pray like David — pray all things would happen for the sake of God’s name.
And then, as if David hadn’t recounted all that God has done enough, he reminds himself of what God has done in the past —
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. Higgaion. Selah
Once again, his prayers are stirred by knowing the character of God - namely his justice…
And so his confidence for the future is strengthened, because he knows that God is faithful, and he never changes. And so he anticipates God to act according to his prayer.
17 The wicked shall return to Sheol,
all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
And there again, he knows reminds himself, that the God’s people will not be forgotten.
In light of this, we should learn:
2. Since God is just, we can pray to Him because He hears our requests.
2. Since God is just, we can pray to Him because He hears our requests.
We praise God — not mindlessly — but we praise him based on what we know of God
And similarly in our prayer — our prayers are fueled by an experiential knowledge of God’s character. Often times, we may feel like our prayers are words that go to the wind. But they are not. Our prayers go directly to the ears of the Lord.
So pray to him at all times — he will disappoint you
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
And he won’t forsake you — because he will not forsake his glory
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.
This is the bedrock of enduring all of our trials — the foundation of our faith comes from knowing the character of our God. So when the wave of trials roll over David in Psalm 10 — he knows where to take refuge.
You see, the wicked question the character of God repeatedly.
4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;
all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
Why do the wicked believe these things of God?
The answer is found back in Psalm 9 — they have forgotten God
17 The wicked shall return to Sheol,
all the nations that forget God.
Such a small sin, so it seems. But forgetting God is the beginning to all kinds of other sins.
But David does not join in with the nations in forgetting God, rather he returns to what he knows
A. Psalm 9:1-12 David’s praise
B. Psalm 9:13-20 David’s prayer
C. Psalm 10:1-11 David’s perplexity
B. Psalm 10:12-15 David’s prayer
A. Psalm 10:16-18 David’s praise
12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;
forget not the afflicted.
This prayer parallels what that David knows of God from Psalm 9.
9:12 — [The Lord] does not forget the cry of the afflicted
9:19 — in light of this he prayed, “Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail
12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;
forget not the afflicted.
13 Why does the wicked renounce God
and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
you have been the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
call his wickedness to account till you find none.
David is on the brink of escape from this trial. He is on his way out of the slough of despond. For he remembers the name of the Lord. He knows that the Lord never changes. He knows that the Lord sits enthroned forever, and that his throne is established for justice…
And so he finishes not with perplexity regarding God’s character — but with praise in the confidence that the Lord will bring justice.
16 The Lord is king forever and ever;
the nations perish from his land.
17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
3. Since God is just, we don’t need to be despair when we are perplexed.
3. Since God is just, we don’t need to be despair when we are perplexed.
David was strengthened, in that he knew the name of God.
But David knew God through a veil. But we have an advantage today that David did not have. God has revealed himself to us through his Son by the Spirit. And so…
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.
Certainly, the cross of our Lord shows us this.
Yes, Israel praised Jesus in the triumphal entry, for they believed that he would put an end to their suffering
And they even cried out to him for deliverance when they were in trouble
But at the cross, Jesus’ disciples were left perplexed
But death did not have the last word, for God raised him from the dead
Picking up in v 7
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
We know this — for the Christian, death does not have the final word.
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
Brothers and sisters, if you are suffering
Cry out to him for help, for he hears you, and he will not forget you.
And once you have made your requests known to God — praise him, for he is the King forever, and he will do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed.