 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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 Question #1 - Who is God?
Psalm 8 is one of the psalms that just rises above others. This is not because it is more important than others, but probably because the economy of language which it uses to express the greatness of God. This psalm is such a blessing as it helps us to answer three important questions. Who is God? O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! The first question the Psalmist addresses is the one, “Who is God?” He answers it by addressing God Himself. O Jehovah, our Lord, is how he begins. Jehovah of course is the name by which God made Himself known to Moses and to Israel. The name is actually the statement, “I am that I am.” It is a statement of self-existence that is dependent on nothing or no one. God is! He has always been and He will always be. He is the self-existent One Who reveals Himself. When we speak in theological terms - and seek to describe an infinite (limitless) and eternal (timeless or outside of time) God, we almost instantly become a little uncomfortable. Ours is the day of self-expression and the ultimate autonomy of the self. One might even say the deification of the self. But there is a huge problem with our enthroning of self over ourselves. We are utterly dependent on other things. Our autonomy is an infinite overstatement. Take away air - we die. Take away water - we die. Take away food - we die. Alter the placement of earth either a little closer to the sun - we burn up. Alter it further away - we freeze. Allow something as microscopically minute as a virus (invisible to the naked eye) - we die. We are anything but autonomous. But our arrogance boasts of an imaginary independence. Would we like to know true autonomy? Jehovah, the self-existent One comes to mind. He has always been - and indeed is completely outside of time. He made time - and then chose to step into time (though utterly unaffected by it) so that we could grasp what He was doing as He created all that there is. He does not require anything to exist and to thrive. He is life and existence. Consider any of the millions of things we need to exist and thrive - and none of them apply to Jehovah. He exists in an infinite present tense viewing all of time and space as He is in it, through it, and unaffected by it. But He is referred to as more than just Jehovah in this passage. He is Jehovah our Lord. The word used here is Adonai. Adonai means Lord, Master, Maker, Owner. The self-existent God is also our maker, master, and owner. Here is where an understanding of God definitely will separate from how our culture views things today. It is hard to declare your own autonomy when you are just a creature made by God - owned by God - and in rebellion against the fact that you are ruled by Him as well. I can hear the howls, “I am not ruled by anyone! I am my own person, and I make my own choices!” Such as statement is as ridiculous as the claims made by the Jews to Jesus when He said if they sinned, they were slaves of sin. They cried then (as we do now), “We are Abraham’s children and not slaves to anyone!” If I were making of movie of this, I’d have a small contingent of the occupying Roman military walk by. They had been slaves to just about everyone! Babylon, Assyria, Persia, Greece, and now Rome. The fact is that we are owned by God. We should submit to His rule and reign - but we continue in Adamic rebellion even to this very day. What we may perceive as God’s inaction as to His rule and reign is actually mercy. We should be consumed for our rebellion - and yet mercy reigns daily - as well as grace, which is given so that rebellious sinners may come to repentance and faith and be delivered from the current status as “children of wrath.” The psalmist exclaims, “Oh Jehovah, our Master, Maker, and Ruler, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!” Saying that God’s name is majestic means that He is excellent, lofty, and above any other. There is no other name on earth - nor will there ever be one - that can match His name. They all fall infinitely short. His majesty is not even completely describable by appealing to the vastness and power of the heavens themselves. God has displayed His splendor above the heavens themselves. The word displayed means to set something somewhere - to place it. God, being the creator of all things, set the heavens and all their contents in place. But His own splendor (Hebrew word “hod” meaning vigor, authority, and majesty) is above the heavens. But this is not a stretch as the maker of something is always far greater than the thing made. Thus God’s vigor (physical power), His authority to set things where and how He commands, and the majesty, excellence, loftiness of it all is beyond the heavens themselves. The heavens are the scene where His splendor is seen - because earth is not a sufficient gallery for such things to be displayed. 2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease. Another way that the question, “Who is God?” is answered is by examining His strength. When you are omnipotent (all-powerful), which God is, you can display your strength any way you want. Yet, according to the psalmist, God manifests His strength through one of the weakest things on earth. Consider the following scenario. A battle royal is set between God and the greatest champions the world can gather. All the enemies of God, as well as all who desire revenge against Him for some perceived wrong are gathered. From the midst of this sea of earthly greatness and power the most muscular, the most powerful, and the most gifted of all fighters emerge - all ready for the ultimate fight of their lives. What an astounding crew of humanity stands before us. That is the corner of the enemies of God and those seeking revenge against Him. Then we turn our eyes to God’s corner. We can only imagine the colossus that will greet our eyes that is representative of God’s power. Then in shock we see a group of infants and nursing babies. They lie on the canvass and wiggle their hands and feet - unable to even get themselves upright. Yet what will shock us even more is the beat down that will be imposed upon the champions of mankind. God has established strength from the mouths of infants and nursing babes. Their dependence upon God is total and absolute. Yet it is this very weakness and utter dependence that will win the day. God will make the enemy and revengeful cease via the power He will display through absolute weakness. For God chooses the weak things of the world to shame the wise. He chooses the things that are not to shame the things that are. In the end when the bell rings - it will be the babes and nursing infants who will prevail. Why? Because God’s power is infinite - and He can and will win the day with the very weakest of things imaginable. This answers another aspect of the question, “Who is God?” He is the mighty and powerful one - infinitely mighty and powerful. There are none who can stand before Him. They are like chaff, which His wind blows away. All of mankind gathered together with all their strength and might are nothing - in fact - less than nothing before Him. Good to remember when we take flight into the fancies of our own autonomy and ability to establish our own will opposed to His. This is why later in the Psalm the writer seems to be gazing into the night sky and suddenly realizing how very small he is in light of this incredible God. Who is God? That is actually the most important question that we will ever ask. As A. W. Tozer so eloquently stated, the most important thing about us is what we believe about God. The psalmist in this 8th Psalm has not be exhaustive on such matters, but his brief praise of God goes a long way to dispel many false concepts and notions of just Who God is. |
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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