Pay Back Series

Psalm 9: 1 – 20

Pay Back

1 I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. 2 I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. 3 When my enemies turn back, they shall fall and perish at Your presence. 4 For You have maintained my right and my cause; You sat on the throne judging in righteousness. 5 You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever. 6 O enemy, destructions are finished forever! And you have destroyed cities; Even their memory has perished. 7 But the LORD shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment. 8 He shall judge the world in righteousness, and He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness. 9 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. 10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You. 11 Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people. 12 When He avenges blood, He remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the humble. 13 Have mercy on me, O LORD! Consider my trouble from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death, 14 That I may tell of all Your praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in Your salvation. 15 The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made; In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught. 16 The LORD is known by the judgment He executes; The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Selah 17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. 18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten; The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. 19 Arise, O LORD, do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged in Your sight. 20 Put them in fear, O LORD, that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah

As we begin our study I would like to ask you a question, ‘what is the hardest thing for you to do?’ I am sure you are now going back and forth in your thinking. You have an idea and are now quickly changing your mind, aren’t you? In fact this is a pretty tough question.

Looking over today’s Scripture I was moved to think of something that is hard for all of us to do? It is very hard to rejoice and praise our Holy El Elyon – The Lord Most High – when things are not going so well. Will you agree with me on this point? If you are one who says that you can and do, then in all sincerity, I admire you for your wonderful character. You are in good company for David, a man after the Lord’s heart does this throughout the Psalms that he penned. Look at how he starts out.

‘I will give thanks to O LORD with my whole heart; I will show forth all your marvelous works. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O you who are Most High.’

David begins with a cry of worship and praise to Adoni Father God. He declares his gratitude for what God has done for him, for His marvelous works on His behalf, and especially (as is revealed later) because that in itself is a reflection of what Adoni Yahweh will finally do for all the righteous. He declares further that he will therefore be glad and exult in The LORD, and sing praise to His name as the Most High.

I want to offer you something that will greatly help you through tough times. In will not cost you anything except for one thing and that is you have to pray for me every time you use it. The tool I used which has encouraged me when things are gloomy is my list in which I titled, ‘Great things my God has done for me.’ There have been some great things that our Precious Lord has done. Every time He has done something spectacular for me, I wrote it down on a list. I check this list often to help me remember that God has not forsaken me. I encourage you to do the same.

Look at David’s opening words, ‘‘I will give thanks to The LORD with my whole heart.’ This was what the psalmist was determined to do whatever the circumstances, for he could look back on past blessings and knew that however dark it might sometimes seem, the future was safe in God’s hands. Whatever our situation this must also be our first concern, a whole-hearted giving of thanks to Adoni Yahweh our God. However bad our situation there is always something to give thanks for. So let us determine to do so. ‘With my whole heart.’ It is good for us too to examine ourselves to ask whether our praise also is from our whole heart, or just perfunctory.