Psalm 9 - I Will Recount Your Wonderful Deeds

1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

3 When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before  your presence.
4 For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.

5 You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished.

7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice,
8 and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.

9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

11 Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds!
12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

13 Be gracious to me, O Lord! See my affliction from those who hate me, O you who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may recount all your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in your salvation.

15 The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion.  Selah

17 The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God.

18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

19 Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you!
20 Put them in fear, O Lord! Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah

     David begins his Psalm by describing his need to praise God. Notice that David demonstrates praise to God in three ways:

(1) Singing – of course the Psalms themselves are hymns that are just full of praise. David says He will sing praise to His name.

(2) Telling of God’s Wonders. Do you tell others about God and who He is and what He has done? This is perhaps one of the most overlooked forms of praise of our God today. How much do you “recount all of His wonderful deeds” to others?

(3) With All of His Heart  - We cannot be well pleasing to Him unless we give our all to Him. How many times have you been in a worship service and you weren’t worshipping God? You weren’t thinking about the words of the songs we’re singing, you’re not taking the Lord’s Supper in a worthy manner, you’re not paying attention to word of God being proclaimed. Your mind is a million miles away. Is that worshipping God with all your heart? We need to do a better job.

   David also describes in this Psalm the reason why he is praising the Lord. Read the Psalm and you will see four reasons that David gives:

                (1)   Because God Gives Victory Over Enemies (vs. 3-6)

                (2)   Because God Rules And Is Just (vs. 7-8)

                (3)   Because God Gives Refuge From The Wicked. (vs. 9-10)

                (4)   Because God Will Not Overlook Sin. (vs. 11-12)

   We know that David gives God the praise for all these things because he has already written Psalms ABOUT these things. Reading this Psalm I couldn’t help but think back to the last 8 Psalms we have read. You will find these themes contained in them. For example, think about God as a refuge. David has describe God as a refuge in Psalms 3,4,5, and 7. As we said in the introduction to Psalms, you want to pay careful attention to the repetition in the Psalms. How many don’t consider this? God is the place to go for protection and escape from all of life’s difficulties and tragedies. With God on our side we can endure anything that life throws at us.

   Finally, verse 10 is the key verse in this Psalm. “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” Trust the Lord! Do you? Maybe a better question to ask is, do you KNOW the Lord? Because in order to trust Him you have to know Him. Therefore, if you do not trust God, then you do not know Him.

“Not a burden we bear, Not a sorrow we share,

But our toil He doth richly repay;

Not a grief or a loss, Not a frown or a cross,

But is blest if we trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way,

To be happy in Jesus, But to trust and obey.”