Rejoicing in the Lord

Psalms 9:1-20

Jim Davis

We tend to decipher the New Testament message through eyes of church doctrine handed down through history. We may lose sight of the message of the Old Testament from which the gospel is given birth. The Old Testament stories come to fruition in the gospel of Christ. We see the eternal principles of the New Covenant in living color as they came to life in the faithful of old. The stories breathe life into the spiritual teaching of the New Testament. Those stories breathe life into me. 

Believers of old relied on a practical theology. What they knew about God was learned through their experience of God. There were no syllogistic arguments defending their faith. It was just raw experience. When they couldn’t comprehend what God was doing, they didn’t hesitate to tell God so. Abraham couldn’t believe he and Sarah could have a child in their old age as God promised. Abraham minced no words with God concerning his doubts (Genesis 17:15-17). Moses questions why God’s anger should burn against those he brought out of Egypt (Exodus 32:9-14). Gideon doubts what God ask him to do. He asks for positive undeniable reassurance from God (Judges 6:36-40). Jonah gets angry with God. A whale swallowed him. 

The significance of these stories is undiminished by time, distance or cultural differences. These stories allow me to see, the thoughts, struggles, failures and personal growth of those struggling to know God. More importantly the stories give me a firsthand view of God. The stories enable us to validate our faith in God as we see how faith is built upon faith. Through hindsight the writers of Scripture constantly remind themselves of God’s faithfulness. As they look back they build on the faith of those who are long gone. God is always at the center. But it is the faith of others that encourages and inspires. 

Matthew opens his gospel to the Jews retracing the steps of the faithful back to Abraham. It enables us to see the road to the cross paved through the lives of Matthew’s genealogy.  As Stephen preached the gospel he retraced God’s steps through Abraham, Moses and the prophets to Jesus Christ (Acts 7:1ff). Retracing the message of God through the successes and failures of those we follow enables us to see life more clearly—to see God clearly. 

Rejoicing in the Lord

The book of Psalms allows us to see the emotional struggles of the faithful throughout Old Testament history. It gives us a dramatic view of the inner struggles of God’s people.  As we read the psalms we see the faithful experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. In Psalms 4 we hear the cries for relief in distress. In Psalms 5 we hear the pleading cry for God to hear the cry for help. In Psalms 6 the psalmist groans, as he feels forsaken by God. In Psalms 7 we see the psalmist determination to take refuge in God. In Psalms 8 the psalmist sees himself as the crowning work of God’s creation as God cares for him. In Psalms 9 he burst out into praise as he contemplates God’s deliverance. In Psalms 10 he cries, “Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” In Psalms 11 he vows to take refuge in God. In Psalms 12 he believes all the godly have perished and the faithful are no more—he feels so alone. In Psalms 13 he cries out, “How long O Lord? Will you forget me forever?”

We can identify with the emotions of their storm tossed lives. They make it all so believable. We know their battles are the same ones we face on a daily basis. We see them as they seek to allow God to come to life in their hearts. Reading through the psalms can become a surreal experience to the serious student.
    
Through all the emotional turmoil the writers rejoice in God.  

Psalms 9:1-11
9:1 For the director of music. To [the tune of] "The Death of the Son." A psalm of David.

I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonders. 
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. 

3 My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you. 
4 For you have upheld my right and my cause;
you have sat on your throne, judging righteously. 
5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever. 
6 Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy,
you have uprooted their cities;
even the memory of them has perished. 

The LORD reigns forever;
he 7has established his throne for judgment. 
8 He will judge the world in righteousness;
he will govern the peoples with justice. 
9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble. 
10 Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. 

11 Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done. 
12 For he who avenges blood remembers;
he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted. 

13 O LORD, see how my enemies persecute me!
Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death, 
14 that I may declare your praises 
in the gates of the Daughter of Zion 
and there rejoice in your salvation. 
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;
their feet are caught in the net they have hidden. 
16 The LORD is known by his justice;
the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. 
Higgaion. Selah  

17 The wicked return to the grave, 
all the nations that forget God. 
18 But the needy will not always be forgotten,
nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish. 

19 Arise, O LORD, let not man triumph;
let the nations be judged in your presence. 
20 Strike them with terror, O LORD;
let the nations know they are but men. NIV

It is hard to fathom the joy accompanying the psalmists in the mist of their troubles. At the core of all their troubles there is a deep-seated rejoicing. 

“I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonders. 
I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High” (Psalms 9:2).

We often miss the nuances of Scripture. Initially, in Psalms 9 we may think the writer is rejoicing over a recent victory or in anticipation of a victory or both. But he rejoices in God—in who God is—in what God does. He rejoices over God. He is not rejoicing over what God has done for him or what God has given him or what God is about to do for him. He is not seeking to manipulate God through his praise to get something from God. He is rejoicing over God. In spite all his troubles he is thankful for God. He is thankful to God because he is thankful for God. He rejoices in the fact that the Lord reigns. The fact that the Lord reigns gives him a never-ending joy despite his troubles. This is truest form of praise.

Psalms 9:6b-10
The LORD reigns forever;
he has established his throne for judgment. 
8 He will judge the world in righteousness;
he will govern the peoples with justice. 
9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble. 
10 Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. 

His overriding joy is in God. He is thankful—praising God for being who he is. He is thankful the wicked will be turned on their head. He is thankful that the needy will not be forgotten. He is thankful that evil men will not triumph. He is thankful for God’s salvation. This is merely the psalmist way of describing God. God’s actions are descriptive of God. This is who God is and it is why he does what he does. 

Rejoicing in God—rejoicing over God, celebrating God for who he is overrides whatever troubles we face.  

1 Samuel 2:1-2
"My heart rejoices in the LORD; 
in the LORD my horn is lifted high. 
My mouth boasts over my enemies, 
for I delight in your deliverance. 

2 "There is no one holy like the LORD; 
there is no one besides you; 
there is no Rock like our God. NIV

Psalms 35:10
10 My whole being will exclaim,
"Who is like you, O LORD?
You rescue the poor from those too strong for them,
the poor and needy from those who rob them." NIV

Isaiah 61:10-11
10 I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation 
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 
11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up 
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise
spring up before all nations.  

Rejoicing in God’s Joy

Tradition holds that psalm 9 was written as David contemplated the death of one of his sons. Imagine being driven to rejoice in God in such circumstances. This is worship in its truest form—discovering the overriding joy of the Lord come what may is what life is about. The children of Israel heard the word of the Lord read while in Babylonian captivity. Their captivity was the result of their rebellion against God. As the seventy years of captivity was coming to an end they were reminded of all the wonderful things God had done for their forefathers. They begin to weep as they hear their history read in the Scriptures. 

Nehemiah 8:9-11
9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, "This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep." For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. 

10 Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." 

11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, "Be still, for this is a sacred day. Do not grieve." NIV

The leaders turn the captives’ attention to the strength of the Lord, which was to be found in the joy of the Lord. Joy always brings strength. When we are downcast we are weak. When we are depressed we are helpless. Joy brings strength to our souls. The greatest strength comes when we realize God’s greatest joy is to salvage our lives. Knowing we can revel in God’s joy gives meaning and strength to our salvation. God is thrilled when we come to him with our doubts, struggles and failures. When we do so His joy becomes our strength.

In the book of Nehemiah we find the people of Israel doing what Isaiah prophesied they would do.

Isaiah 12:1-6
1 In that day you will say:

"I will praise you, O LORD.
Although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away 
and you have comforted me. 
2 Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation." 
3 With joy you will draw water 
from the wells of salvation. 

4 In that day you will say:

"Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done,
and proclaim that his name is exalted. 
5 Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world. 
6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
for great is the Holy One of Israel among you." NIV

We come to God because of who God is. Understanding who God is allows us to come to God with our failures. Angels in heaven rejoice with God when we bring our sinfulness to God. We may go through life thinking we have to right all our wrongs to appease God. Nothing could be further from the truth. The psalmist is coming to God because of who God is.  

Psalms 9:9-20
9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble. 
10 Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. 

11 Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done. 
12 For he who avenges blood remembers;
he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted. 

13 O LORD, see how my enemies persecute me!
Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death, 
14 that I may declare your praises 
in the gates of the Daughter of Zion 
and there rejoice in your salvation. 
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;
their feet are caught in the net they have hidden. 
16 The LORD is known by his justice;
the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. 
Higgaion. Selah  

17 The wicked return to the grave, 
all the nations that forget God. 
18 But the needy will not always be forgotten,
nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish. 

19 Arise, O LORD, let not man triumph;
let the nations be judged in your presence. 
20 Strike them with terror, O LORD;
let the nations know they are but men. NIV

I watched a documentary on hummingbirds. Of one species of hummingbirds, the males had much longer beaks than the females. The diet of the male and female was from the nectar of two different flowers. The flower the male exclusively fed on had a very long blossom. The flower blossom the female exclusively fed on was much shorter in length. It was intriguing that birds from the same breed and the same nest would develop different length beaks. The speculation was that the flowers the birds fed on influenced the birds to develop differently. As the blossoms grew longer so did the beak on the male bird. It was simply a natural process. 

Charles Darwin speculated that an animal’s dependence on a specific food source would alter the evolution of the animal. Changes in our natural world are ongoing. We see it all around us, but is it the result of the forces of nature? Does the flower influence the bird’s development? Does the bird influence the flowers development?

In it all I see God interminably manifesting himself through his creation. God is synchronizing the birds and the flowers to develop according to his design. He is forever creating, designing, redesigning and recreating the world around us as he fine tunes the beauty of this world to his own good pleasure. He is seeking to fine tune our lives to the beauty of his purpose. He does all of this because this is who God is. Why not look at all creation and rejoice over the Lord. Rejoice in who God is. This is what we find the faithful doing in the midst of all their troubles.

Psalms 8:1-7
8:1 For the director of music. According to gittith.  A psalm of David.

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory 
above the heavens. 
2 From the lips of children and infants 
you have ordained praise 
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger. 

3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place, 
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him? 
5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings 
and crowned him with glory and honor. 

6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet: 
7 all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field, 
8 the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas. 

9 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth! NIV

When we see God for who he is we can always rejoice over God. There is a lot of emotional turmoil and crying in the book of Psalms. Yet, the crying is coming from hearts that rejoice over God. Rejoicing in the midst of troubles is possible when you understand God for who he is. Who God is overrides everything else (Romans 8:18-36). 

We think of the cross in terms of what God has done for us. God has certainly done a great deed through the cross of Christ. But do we understand the cross speaks of who God is. God knew when man sinned that he would have to come into this world and die as I must die. When he created us he knew he would have to suffer the evil of this world just as we do. God came into this world through human flesh to experience what I experience. He would never ask me to go where he is unwilling to go (Hebrews 4:14-16). His purpose in the world could not be accomplished by asking us to do something he is unwilling to do. This is just who God is. It is who God is that makes it possible to do what Paul instructs us to do in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” 

Conclusion:

We can be thankful that God is God. He delivers us from our enemies, he will judge the world in righteousness and he will bring justice. All of this defines the God who created me. I am thankful for God being God.

Psalms 9:7-11
7 He has established his throne for judgment. 
8 He will judge the world in righteousness;
he will govern the peoples with justice. 
9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble. 
10 Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. 

11 Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done. 

The psalmist instructs us to praise God for what he has done—for God can only be understood through what he has done. When we understand what he has done, we begin to understand who He is. When we learn to rejoice in who God is, we can rejoice in every circumstance.

Habakkuk 3:16-19
16 I heard and my heart pounded, 
my lips quivered at the sound; 
decay crept into my bones, 
and my legs trembled. 
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity 
to come on the nation invading us. 
17 Though the fig tree does not bud 
and there are no grapes on the vines, 
though the olive crop fails 
and the fields produce no food, 
though there are no sheep in the pen 
and no cattle in the stalls, 
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, 
I will be joyful in God my Savior. 

19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength; 
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, 
he enables me to go on the heights. NIV