Ponder God’s Wonderful Deeds And Character In Times Of Trouble (Psalm 9)
We live in tumultuous times. The Federal Government is currently involved in a lawsuit with a Christian school over whether or not they have to allow biological males who believe they are females to live in dorms with females and vice versa. Christian adoption agencies have been in legal battles over the past few years concerning their stance on homosexuality. And I do not believe that this is the end of the road for all these things. I believe that our society is currently on the warpath and that Christians better ready themselves for the days ahead.
That may sound like a dire situation, and in some sense it is. But I want you to see that we don’t have to live this time and situation hopelessly. We know the Lord. And it is in times like these that we should ponder God’s wonderful deeds and character.
That is what tonight’s message is about. Ponder God’s wonderful deeds and character in times of trouble.
We see the culture winding up to bring us difficult times. And it is in difficult times that we ponder God’s wonderful deeds and character.
Rejoice In God’s Past Faithfulness (Psalm 9:1-6)
David begins this psalm with rejoicing. With his whole heart he gives thanks to the Lord (Psalm 9:1) and thinks through the wonderful things that God has done (Psalm 9:2). Both he and us have a lot of reasons to rejoice. I can list a plethora of reasons to give thanks. And life is much, much better as I recognize that fact.
David’s rejoicing and thankfulness moves to specific battles and wars that God gave David the victory in. It was in God’s presence that his enemies were destroyed (Psalm 9:3). It was not David’s doing but the Lord’s. God granted him these victories. God, the great judge found David’s cause just and gave him victory as He gave “righteous judgment” (Psalm 9:4). David understood that it was God Himself who gave him these victories. God was on His side and won the day and David rejoices in God’s past faithfulness.
David continues here to rejoice in God’s role as Judge. David has already said that God as Judge delivered righteous judgment and gave the victory (Psalm 9:4). Then he says that God “rebuked the nations”. God “made the wicked perish”. And He “blotted out their name forever and ever” (Psalm 9:5 ESV). Simply put, God’s victory over the wicked was total. And David rejoiced in this annihilation. David would even say,
“The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished.” (Psalm 9:6 ESV)
We do not know when this was written but it was most likely written after the ark was put in its rightful place. On a few occasions David mentions that the Lord is seated in Zion (Psalm 9:7, 11). This leads us to believe that these battles are probably those that led up to the ark being brought to Jerusalem. Regardless of the historical context, the meaning is clear. God had made an end of those David faced, and David understood completely that God had done this.
I want the unbeliever that happens upon this message to see think through God’s faithfulness to His people. Here it is evident among the people of Israel. God had routed their enemies utterly and completely. Now, I want you to look back across the history of the Church. God has been faithful to His people throughout the ages. This small band of followers that you see in the beginning of the Book of Acts grew to unbelievable proportions and has brought society out of the mire and into its current greatness.
God has been faithful to His people over and over. He has sat as Judge over the world and ruled in favor of the Church time and time again. Those who have sought to destroy the Church have found themselves rebuked time and time again. And as civilization after civilization has sought to destroy the Church we have continued to see the advance of the Church.
As G.K. Chesterton said in “The Everlasting Man”,
“At least five times…the Faith has to all appearances gone to the dogs. In each of these five cases it was the dog that died.”
If we open our eyes and look back to what God has done in the past we see very plainly that God has been with His people.
We also have many things to be thankful for personally. “Count your blessings name them one by one.” And if you are a Christian go ahead and begin that list with your salvation. God the Son took on human flesh so that He could live and die for your salvation and that should be enough to make you incredibly thankful and see that God is for you. And when we are thankful we can meet many of the hardships of this life with a good attitude. We can see it all through the eye of faith and see that God has been incredibly faithful to us in the past.
Let us be thankful for what God has done. And let us look back at what God has done in the past. Let us meet the present and future hardships understanding that many huge civilizations have stood against God’s people and fallen. When I do that I can see clearly that the Church will stand long after America dies no matter how America decides to treat the Church.
Patiently Trust The Righteous Judge To Defend You (Psalm 9:7-18)
As we look at the past we can say confidently with David,
“But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
He has established His throne for justice,
And He judges the world with righteousness;
He judges the peoples with uprightness.
The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
A stronghold in times of trouble.”
(Psalm 9:7-9 ESV)
So, we can rejoice in the fact that God is for us. But there is something that you notice in the very next breath. If God is a stronghold for the oppressed, then there are times when God’s people do not feel as if they are victorious. Those who are being oppressed by the wicked do not feel the power and might of God on their side in that moment. But Christians must trust that one day God will arise and judge those who oppress us.
The very next verse gives us a clue as to why these people who are oppressed can trust that they will be delivered. It is those who “know Your name”, that is know the nature and character of God, who trust in Him. It is those people who know who God is and how He operates in the world that put their trust in Him. But here’s the thing. You have to know God’s characteristics before the hard times come in order to lean upon Him when they do. You have to know that God is a righteous Judge who loves His people before persecution comes or you will not be able to lean on Him at that time. You need to know and understand that God is sovereign and in control of all things in order to trust that He will be able to make things right. God will not be thwarted and you have to know that before hard times come or you will not trust the Lord when the hard times. You have to know that God loves you with a special kind of love or you will not trust Him when the hard times come. It is those people who know God’s nature and character that will trust Him when things get difficult.
And as David starts to think about his own troubles he pauses to sing praises to the Lord, “who sits enthroned in Zion” (Psalm 9:11 ESV). All the people are to be told the deeds of the Lord. His praises should be sung at all times, even in the hard times and that is what David does here.
One thing that is interesting in the Psalm is that the phrase “who sits enthroned in Zion” usually has to do with the installation of the coming King, Jesus. It is very similar to Psalm 2:6 where that is most definitely the topic. And while I would not go so far as to say that this is exclusively about Jesus, I would say that it finds its fullest application in Christ who has been installed as King over all. And all the things that follow this declaration are ultimately true in Jesus who will one day come as Judge to make all things right.
The reason for all of this rejoicing amid trouble is because God, “avenges blood” and “does not forget the cry of the afflicted” (Psalm 9:12 ESV). Though the Church may face persecution and though many people face terrible hardships and even death amid their persecution we trust in the Lord who will not leave the guilty unpunished. We trust in the Lord who will avenge the blood of His saints. He will not forget the cries of those oppressed and He will bring down judgment upon them. And this is reason for comfort.
David then pleads for God to be gracious to him and rescue him. He understood that it was God who lifted him out “from the gates of death” in the past and he prays that it will happen again. And David’s purpose thenceforth will be to recount the praises of God to God’s people. Shouldn’t that be what we do when God rescues us? Shouldn’t this be what we do when God does big things for us? Shouldn’t we recount God’s glorious salvation to all that we can?
Now, David has what I would call an intense trust in the work of God who is the Righteous Judge. He trusts that God is already answering his prayers. He trusts that the current activities of those that would do him harm are sinking them to their destruction. Notice what David says about his enemies. The wicked “nations have sunk in the pit that they made” (Psalm 9:15). They have been caught in the “net that they hid” (Psalm 9:15). That is, they thought they were working for the destruction of God’s people but they were actually working for their own destruction. God is trapping them in their own traps, so to speak (Psalm 9:16). David believes that God is already at work destroying the enemies of God’s people. And God will eventually cast the wicked and “all the nations that forget God” into Hell (Psalm 9:17). Sheol can simply mean “the place of the dead” and there are places where that is the meaning. But here the place these people are headed is different than where the poor and needy go when they perish in the next verse. The context let’s us know that they are headed to a place of destruction.
God will, in the end, fight for the poor and needy (Psalm 9:18). It may seem like God took way too much time to bring about His justice to those who live through it. But we trust that God’s timing is perfect.
We do not know what situation led up to the writing of this hymn, but we do understand that it was a time of difficulty that followed tremendous victories brought about by the hand of God. And whatever gains government leaders think they make against the Church are short lived. The oppression of the Christian will not last long. The Church will not always be weak. There will come a day when Christ returns, and He will “strike down the nations” in fury (Revelation 19:15). He will not sit idly by. God will arise and defend His people.
There are times when it feels as if things are not going to work out in our favor. We know from experience that things go very wrong, and it can feel like God is not on our side. But here is what we need to do as believers. We need to trust that evil will not win in the end. We need to trust that God cares for us and will provide justice on our behalf. But sometimes we must wait very patiently amid a lot of troubles for our defender to come. One day He will make all things right. We know that God is a righteous Judge and we also know that His character is such that we can trust He will make all things right.
As a local church there very well could be difficult days ahead, but we must trust God and know that He will one day make all things right. God is on our side whether it feels like it or not in the moment.
God Arise And Fight For Me (Psalm 9:19-20)
David has pondered and thought long enough it seems. He has been moved to a complete trust in what God will do and asks for God to arise and bring His judgment. “Let not man prevail” is simply David pleading with God to come forth and have the victory because God is God and man is not. God will be victorious the moment He decides to arise. And David knows that.
David also prays for the humiliation of all those who oppress God’s people. “Let the nations know that they are but men!” (Psalm 9:20 ESV) Those who oppress God’s people are not as “in control” as they believe themselves to be. They are not the “deities” that they believe themselves to be. They are only people and when God decides to arise, He will utterly and completely humiliate them. They will be brought low.
Any leader that seeks to bring the Church low will their self be brought low. God will let them know their place in the world. They will be humiliated by the hand of God.
As we look around the globe we can see the Kingdom of Christ growing. It is truly an amazing thing to consider. Even though intense persecution is happening in many places around the globe and some societies are seeking to destroy Christianity by other means, the Kingdom is still on the march. More and more people are coming to faith in Christ across the globe and there is nothing that Satan can do to stop it. Christ reins supreme.
We do wait patiently amid hardships and trust God. But it is okay for us to pray for the humiliation of our enemies. In fact, there are times when it is good and right for us to pray that they be brought low and come to an understanding of God’s supreme nature and character as well as their lowliness.
Oh that God would drive some of our country’s leaders out into the field to eat grass like an ox until they understood that God was supreme and not them. Let us pray for God to arise and Judge those who seek to do harm to God’s people. Let us pray for God to arise and come to the aid of our brothers and sisters in Christ who suffer intense persecution across the globe. Let us pray for the day when God arises and makes all things right.
Conclusion
We see the culture winding up to bring us difficult times. And it is in difficult times that we ponder God’s wonderful deeds and character. Let’s be prepared for them when they come.
R. Dwain Minor