 One of the most interesting things about the Psalms is that most of them are not purely praise. The average person, if asked what the Psalms are, would probably think that they are songs of praise to God. The Psalms are compositions of praise to God - but they are more than that. They are songs that were sung to God on a myriad of occasions involving just about every kind of emotion and situation. Psalm 9 is one of the psalms that fit this kind of description. It begins with praise to God, but then quickly turns to how God has delivered the psalmist from past situations of peril and danger - then does another turn to a prayer for God’s future deliverance. Let’s take a closer look at a Psalm that should give us great confidence in our God as the One who has delivered us - and who will deliver us because of His great mercy and compassion.
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders. I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. David begins with four “I will” statements that open this song to God. This should remind us that a true heart of worship is not an emotional thing - it is a choice. We are to choose to thank God. We are to choose to tell of all God’s wonders. We are to choose to be glad and exult in God. We are to choose to sing praise to the name of God Most High. These are not options for us - to be entered into when we feel like it. They are to be regular choices for the child of God who recognizes that Jehovah is worthy to be praised at any time and in any circumstance. David begins with giving thanks to Jehovah. Often thanksgiving for God’s blessings is a good way to start when we worship Him. Psalm 100 reminds us to enter His gates with thanksgiving - and then enter His courts with praise. Taking a few moments to consider what God has done should be enough to fill our minds with all the ways we should thank God. Take for instance the ground upon which you walk, or the air you are currently breathing. Who is responsible for that? God is, for He created it all. Then remind yourself that according to Psalm 139 you were knit together in your mother’s womb by His hand and formed by His mighty power. If this is not enough remind yourself that you’ve eaten food - or enjoyed a sunset - been amazed at the stars in the sky - or enjoyed the warmth of the sun. Yep - all by His hand and because of His provision. Then think of grander things like your salvation by His grace. The provision of righteousness through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ that has been gifted to you by God. Consider that you have a Bible in your hand or your home - something that has only existed since the printing press - and even then was often opposed and would result in punishment by an anti-God government (by the way there are still governments all over the globe who continue to see the Scriptures as dangerous - and as contraband). All these things are reasons to thank God. David also gives a qualifier in his thanks to God. It is with all his heart. This is not an exercise in “having” to say thank you to God - like you may have had to thank someone as a child being prompted by good parents. This should be an overflow of our hearts as we consider the riches of God’s kindness, goodness, and love. David’s next step is to tell of all God’s wonders. There are the wonders of His creation - which scientists will continue to examine and will never exhaust. There are the wonders of the heavens - stars, planets, solar systems, galaxies, asteroids, supernovas, and the wonders of a universe we can’t even measure yet. There are the wonders of the human body - for we are fearfully and wonderfully made. There are the wonders of this earth with its array of animals and plants - which we have not fully catalogued. There is the wonder of God’s mighty works and the miracles He has wrought among all the peoples of the earth. And if this is not enough - there is the infinite wonder of His person and attributes. He is holy. He is good, He is kind. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is to be feared. He is to be loved. He is to be gazed at with infinite wonder and amazement. And the list could go on as infinitely and eternally as both time and space could ever offer. Oh the wonders of His plans and purposes that could blow our minds. The wonder of a God who can know the heart of every person - their every word before it comes out of their mouth - and the motive that is behind their every action and attitude. Truly God is a God of wonders and how we should think on them and praise Him for them. David’s third choice is to be glad and exult in God. The word glad is the Hebrew word “samah” which means to rejoice, be joyful, to be glad, even to gloat over how God is the ultimate. The word has the idea of a state of happy and agitated rejoicing. What a fascinating concept that is to consider. We are to be glad in God! We are to choose to rejoice and be joyful - to be glad and to gloat over all other things (other stuff, other false gods, other worldviews, and even other reasons to be happy and glad). We are to choose to be in a state of agitation - but not agitated toward anger or resentment or frustration. No! There should be an agitation of our minds and thoughts to where we are almost over stimulated to rejoice and be happy in God and His plans and purposes for us. There is a second word used here, “exult.” The word is “alats” or “alas” which means to be jubilant in rejoicing. Strongs Concordance says that the word means, “to jump for joy, be joyful and rejoice.” Seeing these two words reminds me that praise and worship is a choice - and when we consider God’s deliverance both past and future - we should jump for joy in a gladness based in God’s infinite goodness and superiority over all things. The fourth and final “I will” David employs is that he chooses to sing praise to the name of the Most High. There is a single word for the phrase “sing praise” in the Hebrew. It is the word “zamar” which means to play an instrument or to sing with musical accompaniment to God using instruments like a harp, lyre, tambourine, cymbals, and even loud cymbals. The sound of singing to God with musical accompaniment on instruments is not only spoken of in the Psalms, it is commanded in many of them. The content of such songs is to praise the name of the Most High. The word “name” has the idea not just of any name, but that of a famous name. It is a name that when heard touts the fame of the one mentioned. Here it is the name of Elyon - the most High. The word indicates not just one who is high - but the very highest of all. The musical song praises Jehovah’s famous name - and sings of how He is highest of all - with none greater and all infinitely inferior to Him. David certainly kicks off this song of praise in high gear. Yet don’t mistake his words for a mere emotional outburst that lasts only as long as the music in the service keeps playing. What David is very clear about here is that whether he is in high spirits or feeling lower than a snake belly in a wagon rut - he chooses to praise God. This is a WILLFUL thing - not just an emotional one. Thus we can learn from him that any time is a good time to “I will” some praise to God. It is a choice we are to make - and make no mistake about it - we will not regret making that choice.
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 In the world of music we have types of music like country, rock, alternative, blues, and rap just to name a few. We also have kinds of songs like ballads, anthems, love songs, all with their various ways of communicating what is being said. The Psalm we are looking at today has the title, “A Shiggaion of David.” This musical term refers to a reeling, weaving, or veering. What it refers to is a type of song that expressed strong emotion that shifts from place to place as the psalm moves along its path. This particular psalm is one in which David first calls for help from the Lord – and then as he weaves his way along his emotionally charged cry to God – he eventually calls for God’s judgment
O LORD my God, in You I have taken refuge; save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me, or he will tear my soul like a lion, dragging me away, while there is none to deliver. Psalm 7:1-2 David’s call for help is very real. Saul was trying to kill him – so the words referring to a lion dragging him away and tearing him limb from limb is not an exaggeration. Although David refers to having his “soul” torn. That refers to the mental anguish that often accompanies times of stress and difficulty in our lives. He speaks of being dragged away while there is none to deliver him. He is being chased down and feels as if the lion’s breath is hot on his neck as he is being hunted. His call is for God to act as he takes refuge in the Lord. He cries out for “saving” – the word here speaking interestingly of being given space. How often have we faced difficulty and trouble and felt like everything is coming in on us. We feel a moral, mental, and even physical claustrophobia, as everything seems to be tightening around us. It is in those times when God offers us relief and grace to handle things. O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is injustice in my hands, if I have rewarded evil to my friend, or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary, let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; and let him trample my life down to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah. Psalm 7:3-5 But David’s cry for help is for more than just deliverance from his enemies. He also recognizes that often HE is his own worst enemy. That is why he also cries for God’s grace in discerning whether or not he has acted ungodly. He is concerned that his own heart may have acted unjustly. He may have treated a friend in an evil manner – or even plundered an enemy without cause to do so. His loves his Lord enough to ask for his own judgment if he deserves it. So when some freak out at David’s call for God’s judgment on the wicked later – they need to see that he began with himself before ever turning to their actions and attitudes. Oh that we would follow his example and examine our own hearts before calling for a spotlight to be shown on our detractor’s actions. Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries, and arouse Yourself for me; You have appointed judgment. Let the assembly of the peoples encompass You, and over them return on high. The LORD judges the peoples; vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me. O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; for the righteous God tries the hearts and minds. My shield is with God, Who saves the upright in heart. God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day. Psalm 7:6-11 David then cries for God’s action against the ungodly. We may struggle with this because we wrongly think that this is not godly. The reason many think this is because they don’t understand the justice and righteousness of God. The term used by theologians for these parts of psalms is that they are imprecatory. What this means is that they represent God speaking through the psalmist and describing what should be done against sin. Fortunately for us God exercises mercy and forbearance far more often than He does wrath and judgment. This does not mean He is not wrathful against sin and that judgment is not just in every case. It simply means He does not manifest that wrath in the moment of the sin. That should catch your attention because God is just – and His justice HAS to be satisfied. The judgment that sin deserves is ALWAYS meted out – for if it was not, then God is not just – or His justice is a joke. It might come as a surprise to some to know that every last bit of the wrath of God has been paid in full. It ultimately came upon His Son Jesus Christ on the cross. David calls for God to come in his anger against the way his enemies rage against him. He reminds God that He has appointed judgment – and that He will judge those who are guilty and vindicate those who have remained true to Him. He calls for God to save him – but bring upon the ungodly that are coming after him true righteous judgment. There is a phrase that should arrest our attention in verse 11. David reminds God that He is a righteous Judge – as well as a God who is indignant every day. This word, “indignant” means to be enraged and it is used with another word that refers to a kind of snorting with the nostrils in fury and anger. Note here that David reveals God as One who is indignantly enraged with the wicked. Too often we take the grace of God for granted and represent God as a tamed, benevolent grandpa who wouldn’t hurt a flea. But please know that God is holy and righteous. Because His righteous ways are ignored – and His holiness downplayed (or honestly even mocked by many) – His wrath hangs heavy over mankind with nothing holding it back but His infinite mercies. Were He to truly loose His wrath – it would consume us quicker than a toothpick thrown into the sun itself. But before one judges David for such language and requests – note that there is an alternative. If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts. Behold, he travails with wickedness, And he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood. He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, and has fallen into the hole which he made. His mischief will return upon his own head, And his violence will descend upon his own pate. I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High. Psalm 7:12-17 David absolutely prays for God to judge the ungodly. But note that he also offers an alternative. There is repentance – which by the way is the wise and humble response to God’s wrath. David offers it in a warning – with God making preparation for His wrath. He also warns about the foolishness of walking in wickedness and falsehood. God will bring that evil upon the head of the one who practices it – and those who love violence will see their own lives end in a violent fashion. But remember – God has been gracious enough not to respond in instant wrath – but has made a way by having His wrath fall on His Son – while offering us forgiveness. David ends this song singing of God’s righteousness and the worthiness of His name. Such a cry for God’s help and for His judgment is something we may not see much of today – and yet this prayer is perfectly in order before God. So what can we learn from this prayer and song of David? First we learn that we can call on God in those moments when it seems like the entire world is against us as we follow Him. But we do so making sure that we actually are living for Him. The second lesson is that God is a holy God and He is indignant every day with the sin and wickedness of this perverse fallen world. That doesn’t play well in our society today – but in all honesty it is not because God is as fault in the matter. Men continue to dishonor and disobey God daily. Regardless of what society now calls acceptable – God’s stance on sin has not and will not change. What we are reminded of then is to pray for people to repent. We are reminded to pray for men to repent before God’s arrows of wrath and released in all their fury. In the end it will not be the consensus of public opinion that will be lifted up – but His name and His righteousness. This is a sobering and true reminder to hold fast to Him and His ways regardless of what the world says or does to us. |
Pastor John LawrencePsalms for Life . . . God moved on several people to write the Psalms. This is a book of songs and poems written by people who were seeking to be devoted to God as they walked though their lives. This is a collection of songs and poems that express the true, wonderful, and often raw emotions that we have as we journey through life with God. I hope you will be blessed and encouraged as you read. But more than that I hope that these expositions and writings will help you to seek Him in the midst of the life you live in this world. It will be at times comforting and encouraging, while at others it will be challenging and awkward. Regardless of where you find yourself on this spectrum as you read, it will be a reminder that God invites us into His presence to truly walk with Him, know Him, and at times, pour out emotions of joy, sorrow, frustration, anger, and everything else you can imagine. He not only invites you to do this - He delights in it too! Hope you enjoy your journey! Archives
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