Triumphant Thanks

Psalm 9: 1-20

A PRESBYTERIAN PSALTER - by Pastor Max A Forsythe

There in the title of the Psalm is a phrase which describes a tune which is no longer available. In the name of that tune "The Death of the Son" we would like to make something, but since we do not know if this refers to the death of Goliath, Absalom or the firstborn son of Basheeba our mouths must remain closed. What we can tell for certain is the fact that David the king has watched the great conflict between good and evil being waged and he has seen the sovereignty of God decisively vindicated by the defeat of Israel's enemies.

This psalm falls into two parallel parts, each part subdivided into three sections each. Verses one to six is a song of jubilant thanksgiving, verses seven to twelve contain a declaration of future faith and verses thirteen and fourteen close the first part in prayer. In the second part, verses fifteen and sixteen we are urged to pause and consider past judgments, then in the next two verses, David declares his trust in a future judgment before the second closing prayer in verses nineteen and twenty.

Let us begin with part one. The purpose of verses one to four are to praise the Lord for a recent manifestation of His righteous judgment in the defeat of His and David's enemies. I once knew a man who claimed to have an avenging angel who would keep him from harm and harass those who opposed him. This is not David's thought here at all. The God of heaven and earth is not about personal vendettas against the enemies of those who call on His holy Name. No indeed, we must make very certain that we are living the life of faith that we are called to. Like David, we may see God deal with those enemies who are personally His, those who would attack Him through those who are faithful to Himself.

There in verse one we see the phrase "all Your marvelous works" the words here includes a sense of miracles having been performed. And in verse three we see what David was describing. God's enemies fall and perish because God Himself is present. These enemies of David have come face to face with the Lord God Almighty and have stumbled and fled from Him alone. God has won the victory. And it is to His Name alone that praise is to be given. The Lord's actions are further described in verses five and six. Here we should note that those nations who opposed David's reign no longer have an independent existence. Truthfully, the Philistines, the Moabites, the Edomites and the rest are long long gone from the historic record. In verses seven to ten our thoughts are focused upon the Lord who indeed reigns and what He will do and provide for all those who seek refuge in Him. Here the Psalmist also looks towards the future and the promises made to those who turn to God.

"And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You."

It was these words that comforted the English writer John Bunyan in a period of despair during the desperate life he lived in and out of persecution. How often do some of us have periods of depression? How often there are times when things do not go our own way? How often do we reach our own limits of effort? How often does it seem that the world rushes on without even the slightest care for the ruler of the universe. I know that I have agonized over how desperate our society has revealed itself in the last year. Writers of the "great right wing conspiracy" who have gone out of their way to entrap the most "honest administration" in history have also felt the personal deflation of troubled times such as ours. One colonial writer once observed that he lived in times that try men's souls. So whenever we feel we are there, we would do well to remember David's words here just as John Bunyan did to find renewed faith and confidence in the sovereignty and power of our very own God. For this miraculous deliverance from despair David calls for songs of praise. See and Hear what the Lord our God has done! Do you understand what is going on here - the Lord is putting hope in David's heart, just as He does for us. Left to ourselves, we could readily surrender this fair land, the accommodating churches and all those enabling institutions and people who have labored year in and year out to bring our world to this low, low, low point in history.

We move on to part two of Psalm Nine. We immediately sense here that the victory, while complete over certain enemies is still limited by the existence of others. The prayer here takes account of the dangers still threatening and again turns in hope to deliverance. In David's prayer he asks for deliverance from closeness of death and hopes in the salvation provided by God. Yes, we are lifted up from despair to speak up and tell of all His praise in the gates of our city.

In comparison to David's hope, verse fifteen declares the fate of the nations. Then in verse sixteen we see how these nations have prepared their own fate. Like David we must remember that it is God who executes His judgment even though the wicked are ensnared by their own will. It is this mystery we must preach and teach to be faithful to God's holy Word. Both teachings are needed for the complete truth. With this high thought of orthodox theology, the Psalm pauses for contemplation. Yes, God is sovereign and just, but man is accountable for his own sin and punishment.

In the following verses we see the promised destruction of the wicked, and the comparison of the deliverance of those who are afflicted. Verse seventeen is utterly honest - "The wicked shall be turned into hell". And those who know their need of God's sovereign salvation will not be forgotten, and those who are poor in power, influence and material wealth shall not perish forever.

Then in the last verses David prays the prayer of the afflicted in all times: "Arise, O Lord, Do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged in Your sight, Put them in fear, O Lord, That the nations may know themselves to be but men."

Certainly a prayer for our times as well. There are humanists who believe completely in the triumph of man and who are working ever so diligently with that end in mind. It is well that we should pray the same as David. Instead of a worldly triumph, David asks that the nations be judged in God's own presence.

The last verse returns to the deliverance in the early part of the Psalm. There God acted mightily to deliver His own. There His might was revealed to cause terror. There, the multitude who assailed David ran headlong into the fact of the existence of our very own Lord and God. Again David asks let the nations realize that they are but men only. May this be our prayer for His enemies who oppose us because we give our allegiance to Him alone. Once I got in some trouble because I would because I was reading a book at a school pep rally. Another time I got in a similar trouble because I would not accept the authority of a liberal Presbytery and Seminary over that of the Word of God. Both groups were playing games, I suppose that the first group were harmless in their aspirations, but not the second.

When I was in Junior High I adopted a motto from the Fess Parker characterization of Davy Crockett. "Be sure you are right, and then go ahead." Years later I learned to change that to "Be certain that you know what God considers right, then do it." This is nothing more than what David is saying, the only difference is in the audience. Our contemporaries live for the sound byte, David's readers have to dig a little in His word to hear the very voice of God speaking when we are in despair. And having heard, we are to take heart, knowing that God is faithful and true. The times are in His hands and we must prepare ourselves to reflect His greater goodness and glory. Amen.

	Resources Used:
Kidner, Derek.	Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Psalms.
Kilpatrick, A.F.	The Book of the Psalms.
MacLaren, Alexander.	The Expositor's Bible: The Psalms.
Spurgeon, C.H.	The Treasury of David.
The Holy Bible, The New King James Version. Thomas Nelson Inc (1982, 1992)
Psm 009a	21 August 88 & 07 March 99

Reformation for Today ------ A Presbyterian Psalter