Psalm 9 (Part 2)

Psalm 9:1-2 - Here David sets the tone for Psalm 9.

There’s 4 key phases and elements to praise in these first two verses that deserves our attention.

First, it begins in our heart. vs.1a

• Praise always starts internally.  And this is usually where praise stops.  We feel it, we think it and we move on.
• I think that this would be defined as partial heart praise as opposed to whole heart as David prescribes here.
• Partial heart praise is fleeting because it’s an insufficient response to the ebb and flow of our ever changing circumstances.
• I believe that this is why praise most often dies out in us internally before it moves on to the next progressive step of praise which we’ll address in a moment.
• You have to allow praise to consume you, even in the hardest of times.
• More often than not this demands perspective.  This is why, the placement of this Psalm is so appropriate because Psalm 8 is all about perspective.

When you have a heart that, with the right perspective, is consumed with praise what naturally happens is phase two, vs.1b

• The next phase affects your words in relationship to the people around you.
• When was the last time that you couldn’t wait to tell someone something good that had happened to you?
• Understand that what David is saying here is that he’s so consumed with God’s goodness that he can’t help but express God’s goodness to the people around him.
• How does this work?  Do you just walk around and prattle on, putting a positive spin on everything you see?  That would be annoying and unrealistic.
• But think about the course of your day.  How many times do you either hear someone else bicker about their circumstance or do you yourself have the opportunity to bicker to someone else about your circumstances?
• What if, instead of just airing your grievances you began with praise?  What if your immediate response to any set of circumstances was praise first and then whatever else you might be thinking or feeling?
• Do you think that your conversations might change?  Is it possible that your outlook on circumstances would become inherently more positive?

The next phase that David takes us through in whole heart worship of God has to do with this very possibility . . . the idea that a change in our perspective and words will bring about a change in our attitude. vs.2a

• One of the things that I believe frustrates so many believers with some of the challenges that Paul brings forth in the New Testament is that many of Paul’s instructions (here namely, “Rejoice in the Lord always.”) are byproducts of doing 4 other things first.
• Prayer without ceasing, being a joyful giver, having a peace that passes human understanding... all of these things require that multiple smaller steps in other aspects of a persons life are taken.
• Do you want to be able to grasp, in this life, the reality of being about to rejoice in the Lord always?  It’s going to start by following the steps here in Psalm 9.
• The reality of our response to circumstance is that no matter what we are facing we each will choose how we respond to it.
• These are learned responses.
• We respond to stress the way that we have always responded to it from the time that we were children up through our present adulthood.
• We respond to disappointment, anger, grief, success, victory... the whole pantheon of human experience, in a learned behavioral way.
• So how do we change our response from whatever it is to a response of gladness and rejoicing?  Conscious effort and a whole lot of work in re-learning what we have trained ourselves to do.
• Our response to any set of circumstances is only ever out of our control when we allow our hard wired programming to take over our hearts, minds, our logic and reason.
• Begin by changing the heart... correcting your viewpoint, and then make a point of verbalizing your new perspective on a consistent basis.
• Only then will the hard work of modifying your emotional response begins to take place.

Which leads me to the final phase of whole heart praise that David discusses here in these first two verses of Psalm 9, vs.2b

• And here we have behavior modification.  Responding to circumstances with your actions.
• For David this response was song, which makes sense considering the fact that David was a musician and a poet.

 

Psalm 9 (Part 1)

Introduction:

We’re going to begin tonight with a little group participation.

What does it mean to praise God?  Let’s come up with a working definition...

Praise means “to commend, to applaud or magnify.” 

For the Christian, praising God is an act of humbling ourselves and centering our attention on the Lord with heart-felt expressions of love, adoration and thanksgiving. 

Ok... how do you praise God?

There are many actions involved with praise to God — verbal expressions of adoration and thanksgiving, singing, playing instruments, shouting, and then comes the two areas the Bible addresses on praise that make good fundamental Baptists like us wiggle uncomfortably in our pews . . . dancing, lifting or clapping our hands. 

However, true praise is not “merely” going through these motions. 

In fact, Jesus spoke about the hypocrisy of the pharisees, whose worship was only an outward show and not from the heart. (Matthew 15:8)  

Unpretentious praise and worship pleases the Lord . . . He delights in the love and devotion of His children. 

According to the scriptures, the various expressions of praise bring blessing to the Lord. 

He’s said to be eagerly awaiting the fragrance of our affections, all the while desiring to manifest His awesome presence and power in our midst. (John 4:23)

Ok . . . one more question with group participation and I’ll leave you alone.  How do you define the Psalms . . . what are the Psalms?

Part of the answer is that they are prayers.  Part of it is that they’re poems . . . but the primary purpose and definition of the Psalms is that they are hymns through which David or one of the other authors praise God.

The Psalms are hymns of praise.

Transition:

Now we begin this way tonight because up to this point in our reading of the Psalms there have been no chapters that are purely all about praise.

When we get closer to the end of the Psalms the majority of them are purely praise Psalms . . . but here at the beginning of it has been very different.

As commentator James Montgomery Boice points out, “The first two psalms are introductory.  The next psalms ask for help or deliverance or justice, all in varying ways.  The psalm closest to being a praise psalm thus far is Psalm 8, which begins and ends, ‘O YHWH, our Adonihu, how majestic is you name in all the earth!’  But even that psalm was chiefly a celebration of man’s place in the created universe . . .  Psalm 9 is the first psalm that is chiefly a song of pure praise.”

Life Patterns of Praise:

What I’d like to do tonight is discuss a life pattern of daily praise that I believe to be a necessity for a believer in their pursuit of a healthy and growing relationship with God.

We find this pattern here in Psalm 9 and it’s this: Each and every prayer of petition, request for help, or cry of anguish can and should follow a similarly themed prayer of praise.

And here’s what I mean by this in the way of an example: “Lord, thank you for the breath that you give to me each new day, I ask that with each new breath you would give me purpose and direction with my words and actions so that I might speak words of substance and truth and act in a way that brings glory and honor to you.”

Now that’s a generic, simple one.

But what if we applied this principle to all of our prayers?  Would it change what we prayed for?  Could it change our outlook on God’s goodness and on His activity in our lives?

Friends, I believe that if we were to acknowledge the goodness and provision of God more frequently in our lives we will see and understand His goodness more often.

I believe that we will, in fact, develop a more positive and spiritual heart and mindset.

Quick Exposition:

Let’s quickly look at how David does this here in Psalm 9 

vs.1-2 set the tone for the rest of the Psalm introducing David’s resolve to worship God. vs.1-2.

The rest of the Psalm can be broken down into two parts... part 1 contains praise for David and Israel’s past deliverance... the 2^nd part, which grows out of it, is petition for further deliverance.

What I’d like to do is read you the whole Psalm breaking down into categories of praise and petition and then well talk a little application.

Beginning in vs.3, vs.3-6 - David’s praise for past victory over the nation of Israel’s enemies.

vs.7-8 - David praises God for being a just Judge and for setting up His system of Justice in Israel.

This would have been especially significant to David as he was responsible for seeing that justice was done in civil matters.

vs.9-10 - David praises God for the refuge that He had given, in times past, from the wicked.

In vs.11-12 David draws the readers attention back to the necessity of praising God. vs.11-12

Only now, after having thoroughly and appropriately praised God for His goodness in dealing with enemies, doling out justice, and providing refuge from the wicked, does David begin to petition God for future deliverance.

vs.13-20

I think it’s important to notice the beginning of David’s petition here, vs.13.

Despite David’s intimate knowledge of and relationship with the Lord David never approaches God with any claims or ideas about his own worth or goodness.

David always approaches God as a sinner seeking mercy.

And why does David seek this mercy?  vs.14

The idea is best summed up by the puritans in the Westminster Catechism question 1 answer 1, namely “What is the chief and highest end of man? --- Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.”

Application:

Ok, application time.  What do your prayers sound like?  When was the last time praise was a priority for you?

Think about it honestly for a moment . . . what do you have to praise God for that might touch on the needs, the requests, that you have today?

And listen . . . this will take work.  When you’re sick you don’t spend your time thinking about the days that you were well.  When one part of your body aches your mind doesn’t immediately think of all the other parts that are functioning properly and without pain.

Friends . . . you have to train yourself to praise God.

Next week we’re going to come back to Psalm 9 and look at the instruction, the 4 phase plan that David has for training yourself to have a consistent response of praise in every situation.

Psalm 8:1-2

Introduction:

• Who hasn’t stared into the heavens on a clear night and wondered about the nature of God, the origin of humanity, and other weighty questions?
• This psalm reflects David’s musings about such things.

Vs.1

• In vs.1 David begins with an acknowledgment that all of creation is God’s.
• He says, “Oh YHWH (the primary name for God) our Adoneinu (designating God as master, controller, and caregiver)  how addir mecha (how mighty, powerful, and noble it is to simply speak your name) in all of the earth.”
• And then I love the next part... because in the remainder of vs.1 on into vs.2 David says that those who are observant see the majesty of God.  He says, “You need only look at the size and the order of Th. solar system to see a reflection of the Creator.”

Vs.2

• And then in vs.2 he tells us that the best way to see this reflection is through the eyes of young children.
• By the way... did you notice who were God’s warriors in the fight against His adversaries and enemies.  Infants and small children.
• Don’t let this statement escape you because in it I believe that we find one of the purest forms of faith in God that we could ever hope to see on this planet.
• Have you ever heard children argue with other children?  and in the course of their argument one of the children will say to the other one, “Well my dad says...”
• I think that this is perhaps one of the best definitions of faith, “My father said it, therefore it is true.”
• When you’re a child, relatively untainted by human skepticism, doubt, anxiety, anger issues and the likes, all you need is the word of a parent to confirm your ideas concerning truth and error.
• Let me ask you another question, when and why does this go away?  When do parents go from being omniscient to being foolish and shortsighted?
• Jr. High?  the when doesn’t really matter... why?  Why does this happen?
• It’s not TV’s fault, it’s not the current education system... it’s that parents aren’t perfect.  Parent’s don’t know everything about everything.  And so the time will come when a child finds out that their parents are fallen beings, not to be trusted or followed blindly and without question.
• But here’s the thing... God is the perfect parent.
• I can’t remember where I heard this but it’s stuck with me for years and years... it’s this idea that when God decided to call Himself the Father His PR person must have been out for the day.
• How many people cringe at the mention of their earthly father... those who have been abused, abandoned, berated or ignored.
• Even when you sit back and think about how culture defines the role of a father in a child’s life... financial provider, disciplinarian, handyman, protector... I mean, the source of love, family unity, always being around to help heal self inflicted wounds... that’s not typically the role that an earthly father would play.
• But what we have in God is the perfect example of how our earthly fathers are supposed to be.
• To my friends and family members who have a difficult time understanding and receiving God as their Father, for whatever reason they might have... I’m often compelled to challenge them to think of God as the Father that they always wished they had.