Praise The Lord! Series

SERMON OUTLINE:

Personal Praise (vs 1-3)

Powerful Protection (vs 4-10)

Petition Praise (vs 11-14)

Persuaded Providence (vs 15-20)

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

• In 1666, disaster struck St. Paul's Cathedral,

• When a devastating fire swept through London,

• And destroyed the building.

• Britain turned to Sir Christopher Wren,

• One of its most famous architects,

• And commissioned him to design a new cathedral.

• Wren's plans for the new St. Paul's Cathedral were ambitious,

• He aimed to create a masterpiece,

• That would rival the great cathedrals of Europe.

• He incorporated many innovative features into his design,

• Including a large dome that would become,

• One of the most recognizable features of the London skyline.

Wren's vision became reality in 1710,

• When the new St. Paul's Cathedral was finished.

• It took him thirty-five long years to complete this task,

• And when it was done,

• He waited breathlessly for the reaction of the Queen.

• After being carefully shown through the structure,

• Queen Anne summed up her feelings for the architecture,

• In three words.

• Quote: Queen Anne.: “It is awful; it is amusing; it is artificial.”

• You might have expected Sir Christopher Wren,

• To be heart-broken and depressed by those words,

• But he wasn’t!

The reason being language has changed down the years:

• In 1710 the word awful meant “awe-inspiring,”

• The word amusing meant “amazing,”

• The word artificial meant “artistic.”

• What to our ears might sound like devastating criticism,

• “It awful; it is amusing; it is artificial.”

• Was in that time, words of measured praise.

• “Awe-inspiring, amazing, & artistic.”

• TRANSITION: In this Psalm #9

• We have some ancient words,

• And these words have lost none of their meaning!

INTRODUCTION: Two things to note:

First:

• If you were to ask most people what a Psalm is.

• They would probably say; ‘A hymn of praise’.

• And that would be a good answer.

• And yet none of the previous Psalms (#1-8):

• Contain much praise,

• None are what we might call purely hymns of praise.

• Such as we find towards the end of the book i.e. Psalm 150.

• The closet that comes to praise is Psalm 8:

• But even that Psalm was mainly,

• A celebration of man’s place in the created universe.

Note:

• Psalm 9:

• Is the first Psalm that is chiefly a song of pure praise.

• i.e. Verses 1-12: Contains praise for past deliverance.

• i.e. Verses 13-20: Contains prayer for future deliverance.

• David, the Psalmist,

• Is so confident is his prayers will be answered,

• That his requests almost seem to also be praise.

Second:

• In the Greek and Latin versions of the Bible.

• And in Roman Catholic tradition,

• Psalms 9 & 10 are joined as one Psalm.

• Most English Bibles and in the Protestant tradition.

• These two psalms are separated.

Ill:

• The reason they are joined together by some scholars,

• Is that together, they almost…but not quite,

• Form an acrostic of the Hebrew alphabet.

• I say almost, because three Hebrew letters are missing,

• Which for me spoil that idea,

• And also, two letters are reversed, so, it doesn’t quite fit.

• TRANSITION:

• At some stage, the compilers of the book of Psalms,

• Must have decided,

• That a better division than the acrostic idea.

• Was to divide it by content.

• The first (#9) being a psalm of praise,

• The second (#10) being a lament.

(1). Personal praise (vs 1-3).

“I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart;

I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

2 I will be glad and rejoice in you;

I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.

3 My enemies turn back;

they stumble and perish before you”.

Note:

• A well-known English idiom is,

• ‘Give yourself a good talking to.’

• Idea is to psych yourself up, put yourself in a positive mind.

• Well, the Psalmist does that here.

• Notice that verses 1-2,

• David the psalmist uses the expression “I will” four times.

• He is commanding himself to do four things.

• i.e. Verse 1a: “I will give thanks.”

• i.e. Verse 1b: “I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.”

• i.e. Verse 2a: “I will be glad and rejoice in you.”

• i.e. Verse 2b: “I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.”

• And the reason for his fourfold praise is found in verse 3:

• He has seen his enemies turn away in retreat,

• And they are overthrown and defeated!

Notice: David uses a special name for God in verse 2: