July 30-31, 2005

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Job 11:1-15:35; Acts 19:13-20:16

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters,

This study is being posted a day late, yesterday was a bit weird, I apologize for that.

Psalm 9

1     I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart;

I will tell of all Your wonders.

     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 You.

     4     For You have maintained my just cause;

You have sat on the throne judging righteously.

     5     You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked;

You have blotted out their name forever and ever.

     6     The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins,

And You have uprooted the cities;

The very memory of them has perished.

     7     But the Lord abides forever;

He has established His throne for judgment,

     8     And He will judge the world in righteousness;

He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.

     9     The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed,

A stronghold in times of trouble;

     10     And those who know Your name will put their trust in You,

For You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.

     11     Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion;

Declare among the peoples His deeds.

     12     For He who requires blood remembers 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,

You who lift me up from the gates of death,

     14     That I may tell of all Your praises,

That in the gates of the daughter of Zion

I may rejoice in Your salvation.

     15     The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made;

In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.

     16     The Lord has made Himself known;

He has executed judgment.

In the work of his own hands the wicked is snared.     Higgaion Selah.

     17     The wicked will return to Sheol,

Even all the nations who forget God.

     18     For the needy will not always be forgotten,

Nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever.

     19     Arise, O Lord, do not let 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.

NASB95^[1]

As I read through this Psalm, I noticed some interesting patterns.  Consider the following thoughts:

Verses 1-2:  Contain four "I will" statements.  David puts his attitude and his determined standing at the beginning of the psalm.  He was first intentional of giving thanks to the Lord, then telling of His wonders, rejoicing in the Lord, and finally to sing Prsie to the Lord, the God of all.

Verse 3:  A statement of the condition that David was facing at the time.  His prayer was that his enemies would turn back and that they would fail before the Lord.

Verses 4-6:  Six "You have" statements.  David considers what God has already done:  God has already maintained David's cause, already sat on the throne and judged the world, rebuked the nations, destroyed the wicked and wiped them out from the face of the earth.  God had already destroyed great cities, some of them completely forgotten.  David recognized the working of God in the history of Israel, he remembered the way that God wiped out the wicked, destroyed entire cities, and demonstrated that He would not tolerate sin. 

Verse 7:  A statement that God lives forever, and that He sits on the throne righteously judging the earth.

Verses 8-9: Three "He will" statements, speaking abut the times when God will execute judgment upon the world.  God will also be a stronghold to the oppressed and to those in trouble.  So we have two statements regarding what God will do, He will judge, and He will be there when people need Him.

Verse 10-12  David makes a statement in these verses that inidcate that God will be there for people who need Him.  This is a statement of truth on David's part.

Verses 13-14  David indicates that He will follow the Lord, and as a result of the victory, he will be a witness to all the world about what God has done for him.  David saw the Lord as a literal and a spiritual source of his salvation. 

Verses 15-20 In a final prayer, David turns the nations over to the Lord.  This is a sharp contrast to the way that the psalm started out where David committed to totally following the Lord.

I found this Psalm to be rather difficult to study.  It seemed to switch gears right in the middle, going from a poetic comparison to disassociated thoughts concerning the righteousness of God, a refuge in God and the judgment of the wicked.  I wonder as David wrote this Psalm if the heat was turned up and he abandoned the original pattern for a more desperate prayer to God. 

When we are in trouble, at first we may logically think it through, but as the trouble increases, or panic increases.  David set the example for us, when trouble increased, he increased his focus on the Lord.  He never did deviate from the four "I wills" that he opened the chapter with. 

I am going to cut the study short today.  If you have any comments, be sure to write in.  Also, I combined two days, Saturday and Sunday together in this Psalm in order to keep the studies shorter.

On August 15th, I am going to start some on-line courses to finish my degree.  Once I start that, I expect to be shortening the studies to a few verses.  This may be better because perhaps a shorter study will be easier for people to follow.  I will be shortening the studies up to that date, and trying different things to see what works better.  Please bear with me as I learn new methods.

Father, guide each of us, be our refuge, and place a desire in our hearts to share what You have done in our lives.

In Him,

Joe Turner.