LIVING IN ETERNITY PSALM 9 MAIN IDEA GOD S CHILDREN LIVE IN THE PRESENT; WHILE REMEMBERING THE PAST AND ANTICIPATING THE FUTURE. I. INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNITY WORSHIP (VS 1-2 / 11-12) We are encouraged to give thanks to God always. A. INDIVIDUAL WORSHIP (1-2) B. CORPORATE WORSHIP (11-12) II. STAYING IN A RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD (VS 3-4 / 13-14) Based on God s care for those who remained faithful to him in the past and his promises for the future; we need to stay firm in our love and commitment to God. A. GOD S CARE IN THE PAST (3-4) B. GOD S CARE IN THE FUTURE (13-14) III. SOMETIMES GOD ALLOWS EVIL TO BE ITS OWN JUDGMENT (VS 5-6 / 15-16) Just as there are physical laws built into nature; so are there spiritual laws built into life. A. GOD DOES NOT CLOSE HIS EYES TO EVIL. (5-6) B. EVIL OFTEN TURNS BACK ON ITS SOURCE (15-16) IV. GOD IS CONCERNED WITH JUSTICE (VS 7-8 / 17-18) God s expectation is that we care for one another; not exploit one another. A. GOD IS THE ONLY JUDGE THAT MATTERS (7-8) B. GOD IS CONCERNED FOR THE POOR (17-18) V. GOD REWARDS THE RIGHTEOUS AND PUNISHES THE WICKED (VS 9-10 / 19-20) There are eternal consequences to our present behavior. A. GOD CARES FOR HIS CHILDREN (9-10) B. GOD WILL JUDGE ALL OF HUMANITY (19-20)
Living in Eternity Psalm 9 I hope you don t get tired of me reminding us that we are studying poetry and this type of reading and interpretation is different than the type we would use to read and interpret straightforward narrative texts. One of the primary techniques used in Hebrew poetry is parallelism. In other words, we look carefully at the relationship between the lines in each strophe. However, if we look carefully, we can even see relationships and parallels between the strophes. I think I see that in this morning s text. But even further, there are often connections between the chapters and the Psalms. For example, most scholars believe that Psalms 9 and 10 were originally meant to be one Psalm for a couple of reasons. First of all, there is no subtitle in Psalm 10. Their belief is that the subtitle in verse 9 is meant to cover both Psalms. Secondly, both Psalms are alphabetic acrostics. In other words, if we were looking at the English Alphabet, Psalm 9 verse 1 starts with A and Psalm 10:17 ends with Z ; for the Hebrews, from Aleph thru Tau. Every other verse starts with the next letter of the alphabet. There are a couple of letters missing but in general the pattern holds true. Sometimes, like we found in our study through the Proverbs, scholars have found connections between whole sections. For example, in his commentary on the Psalms, Gerald Wilson believes that Psalm 7 thru Psalm 10 should be looked at as a unity. The common themes he finds are the need for humility, understanding our limitations as human beings, our personal and societal responsibilities, and God s love for His creation. In his commentary, he traces these themes carefully through Psalm 7 thru Psalm 10. My point here is that because this is poetry, we only do the poet justice when we look at all his linguistic connections and patterns. I hope you will start to use your poetic knowledge to study the Psalms differently in your own personal Bible study. As I alluded to earlier, I think I can see a pattern between the first and second halves of Psalm 9. I haven t read this anywhere, but it seems for me to fit. I struggled with titling this sermon. In one sense, I wanted to focus on the saying, What goes around comes around, and I toyed somewhat with the idea of karma. The reason those appealed to me is that there is a great deal concerning the fact that wicked people often end up becoming the source of their own pain and suffering. We have already seen this theme when talking about someone digging a pit to trap someone and then end up falling into the trap themselves. It s also important for us to avoid evil people and to make wise decisions. You also want to make sure you stay away from stupid as well. Two friends went hunting in the woods; one friend was not so smart; perhaps alcohol was involved. One of the friends fell down and didn t appear to be breathing and his eyes started to glaze over. Immediately his friend whips out his cell phone and calls 9-1-1. How can I help you? responded the operator? My friend is dead! What can I do? gasped the guy. The operator responded, Calm down. I can help you. First, let s make sure he s dead. There is a silence then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy said, Okay, what now? Page 2
Obviously this guy made a bad choice when it came to choosing a hunting partner. We are tempted to make bad choices if we don t keep in mind that God is always with us. When we find ourselves in difficult situations, it s easy for us to give up, get discouraged, or even compromise our beliefs; but we must remember these situations are part of life. We must remember that if we have given our lives to Christ in faith, then we are no longer bound by linear time as we have come to think of it. The main idea of this morning s text is this. GOD S CHILDREN LIVE IN THE PRESENT; WHILE REMEMBERING THE PAST AND ANTICIPATING THE FUTURE. Actually this is the way Phenomenologists view time. Their theory is that every moment in time retends the past and protends the future. That s just the technical way of saying that in every individual moment, we carry the past into it and anticipate the future. If we were to look at our lives as a symphony, every individual note contains all that came before it and anticipates every note that comes after it. One could say that the entire symphony was contained in each note. I know that s hard for us to get our minds around. But it seems as if the Hebrews lived in this idea of time. We have lost a sense of this because clock time seems to dominate our lives. We have forgotten what lived time is. I. INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNITY WORSHIP (VS 1-2 / 11-12) Verses 1-2 and verses 11-12 combine to describe individual and community worship. WE ARE ENCOURAGED TO GIVE THANKS TO GOD ALWAYS. In general, these two strophes seem to be caught up in remembering God s faithfulness in the past. Verses 1 and 2 describe the psalmist s individual worship. Every phrase starts with I will. The psalmist is caught up in praise, testifying to God s works, rejoicing and singing. This is unrestrained worship. His worship is focused on God s works, God s person, God s character, and God s love. I want to point out one more thing that we have studied before. In verse one we encounter the Name for God, YAHWEH; and in the last line God is referred to as Most High. This Name and Title are meant to unite this strophe. The psalmist is directing all his worship to YAHWEH Most High. In other words, for the psalmist, there is no god like YAHWEH. The God of the psalmist is personal, intimate, and loving. He is known by His personal Name. However, this personal, intimate and loving God is God Most High. There is no god more powerful or high. In fact there is no other god. Here is what causes the psalmist to break out in this unrestrained worship. The God and King of the entire universe has decided to focus His lovingkindness on the psalmist. In verses 11 and 12, the psalmist invites all of his community to join with him in corporate worship. If the community is going through a rough time or facing suffering of some sort, the poet invites them to first recall God s past faithfulness, love, and mighty works first. He encourages the congregation to sing praise to and worship YAHWEH Most High; only in these verses he invites the people to picture God as King sitting on the throne of heaven. He then encourages them to recall God s nature and character. God cares for the poor and for those who are His children. God will not let injustice and evil to prosper indefinitely. Although Page 3
we may be experiencing real difficulties and suffering in life, the psalmist reminds us that we ought to first worship God; remembering His faithfulness and love for us in the past. We have seen this pattern often in our study through the Psalms. Our first instinct when we face some difficulty is to focus on our situation and suffering. We focus on the injustice and the unfairness of it all. If we do this, the problem seems to get bigger and ultimately threatens to consume us. Instead, the poets encourage us to first turn our attention to God; and to focus on His love and faithfulness as He has cared for us in the past. If we can train ourselves to make our first instinct to worship, give thanks, and pray when faced with suffering; our focus will be on the greatness of God and our sufferings won t seem so big compared to God Most High. I hope you are starting to see the meaning and power behind the Names the psalmists use for God. The God we worship is powerful and personal; and He loves us. That s why WE ARE ENCOURAGED TO GIVE THANKS TO GOD ALWAYS. The Apostle Paul summed this type of attitude up nicely: 16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 / NLT). II. STAYING IN A RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD (VS 3-4 / 13-14) We stay connected to God in all circumstances through individual and corporate worship. In addition to worship, the psalmist encourages us to stay in a right relationship with God in verses 3-4 and 13-14. BASED ON GOD S CARE FOR THOSE WHO REMAINED FAITHFUL TO HIM IN THE PAST AND HIS PROMISES FOR THE FUTURE; WE NEED TO STAY FIRM IN OUR LOVE AND COMMITMENT TO GOD. The temptation we often face in difficult times is to either give up or give into worldly behavior. The challenge is to remember God s faithfulness in the past, His promises for the future; and use that for hope in our present sufferings. In verses 3 and 4, the poet recalls God s care in the past. If you want to understand the perspective of the psalmist, you should take time to read through the books of Joshua and Judges. These graphically illustrate how God has worked on Israel s behalf. They are books that contain detailed descriptions of God s miracles in battle. King David himself had experienced God s providential protection many times. I want to point out an important word in the first line of verse 3. We talked about the word shuwb before. It literally means to turn around. In applying it to our relationship with God, it means to repent. In other words, when we are sinning, we are going in the wrong direction. Repentance means that we turn around and start coming back to God. We have also seen this word to turn applied to God. In other words, because of sin a rebellion, God marked out a path of punishment and destruction. However, because of His great love, He often turned away from His wrath and chose to turn towards us in love. In this case, because of God s power, our enemies will turn away from us and run. We are reminded of the battles in Joshua and Judges where the enemies were confounded, their chariot wheels stuck in the mud, in panic the enemies started killing one another, and all sorts of other miraculous accounts. Page 4
In these verses the poet feels peace that he is right with God. In fact, he feels as if God has already judged him to be right and his enemies to be wrong. Now, he would patiently wait for God to carry out the execution of judgment. That s why he trusts in God s care for the future in verses 13-14. He now applies God s care in the past to his present predicament and invites God to deliver him for the future. He once again invites God to judge between him and his enemies. They are persecuting and even threatening his very existence. He is in danger of being killed. But in invites God to act so he will once again be able to praise God and publicly testify to God s power and goodness. I don t think enough about the past. I don t mean to think about the past as a way to blame our current problems on. I don t mean to go on an emotional archaeological dig to explain why we are all screwed up in the present. I don t mean to look to the past as an excuse for our present failures. We ought to look at all the blessings God has given us in the past, how He has protected us and cared for us. We often pray for things, and when we get them, we say thank You and move on. At least we say thank You. However, if we want to get strong in our faith and in our trust of God, we need to carefully look at how He has worked and how faithful He has been. Look at verses 13 and 14. He is talking about being persecuted by his enemies to the gates of death. He finds his strength in the gates of Zion. He rejoices in his salvation. In the poem this refers to a literal situation. But poetically, this is a nice description of our salvation story. Before we came to Christ in faith, the devil pursued us and our sin caused us to be dead; separated from God. However, Jesus stormed the gates of hell to rescue us. The very gates of hell were not strong enough to keep us separated from God s love. God saved us through the blood of Jesus. God rescued us and now we too can rejoice in God s salvation. That s why remembering what God has done for us in the past; should motivate us to remain strong in our faith. BASED ON GOD S CARE FOR THOSE WHO REMAINED FAITHFUL TO HIM IN THE PAST AND HIS PROMISES FOR THE FUTURE; WE NEED TO STAY FIRM IN OUR LOVE AND COMMITMENT TO GOD. III. SOMETIMES GOD ALLOWS EVIL TO BE ITS OWN JUDGMENT (VS 5-6 / 15-16) There are times when we go through difficult situations we don t feel as if God is with us. We get thrown when suffering comes our way. We have to remember that sometimes God allows evil to be its own judgment in as described in verses 5-6 and 15-16. JUST AS THERE ARE PHYSICAL LAWS BUILT INTO NATURE; SO ARE THERE SPIRITUAL LAWS BUILT INTO LIFE. Even though evil people reject God and act as if God doesn t exist, we are reminded in verses 5 and 6 that God does not close His eyes to evil. In these verses, we can t but help remembering Sodom and Gomorrah as examples. These cities rejected God and abused one another. They took advantage of one another, were not concerned about justice, and lived out every kind of perversion in life. God told Abraham that if he could find just 10 righteous people in the city, He would spare them. We know that God Page 5
sent down fire from heaven and completely destroyed the cities and everyone in them except for Lot and his family. No one knows where these cities are today. Even though the psalmist talks about these events in the past, there may be a hint of future eschatological judgment here. Yes, God has rebuked cities and destroyed them. In fact during their conquest of the Promised Land, God commanded the Hebrews to kill all living things and burn the cities to the ground as judgment for their wickedness. There will come a time in the future where God will gather all the nations before Him for judgment. The dead will be raised to face this final judgment. The righteous will receive eternal life in heaven with God forever and ever. However, the wicked will be cast into the Lake of Fire where they will be tormented forever and ever. That s why is seems so shortsighted to reject God so that we can live out our lusts for this world. Verses 15 and 16 point out the futility of this kind of lifestyle; evil often turns back on its source. We have all heard the phrase, What goes around comes around. It happens often enough in life that Eastern religions talk about karma. We have seen this theme emerge often through the Psalms so far. Evil people set traps to harm other people and often times God works it out so the evil people end up falling victim to their own greed, lust for pleasure, lust for wealth, and lust for power. We can look throughout history and even modern day countries and see them disintegrating because of greed, immorality, and self-centeredness. Modern people in almost every nation of the world, led by their politicians or people in power, have become so self-centered, self-absorbed, selfish, and immoral, that the entire world seems to be unraveling. The interesting point in these two verses is that God often judges without direct intervention. Most of us, while pursuing evil, will self-destruct. It s the same for organizations and countries. There are moral laws built into the universe. It s critical for God s people to know and live according to these laws. JUST AS THERE ARE PHYSICAL LAWS BUILT INTO NATURE; SO ARE THERE SPIRITUAL LAWS BUILT INTO LIFE. At the end of verse 16 we encounter another word that seems to be some sort of instruction for the musical performance. The word is haggaion. It usually refers to a low type of moan like the growl of a lion. It may indicate a pause for people to reflect and meditate at this point. And then the word is followed by the common break we have seen before, Selah. IV. GOD IS CONCERNED WITH JUSTICE (VS 7-8 / 17-18) In this next section, the poet is going to give us some insight into God s heart. Verses 7-8 and 17-18 illustrate that God is concerned with justice. There is little doubt about this all throughout the Bible. GOD S EXPECTATION IS THAT WE CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER; NOT EXPLOIT ONE ANOTHER. I m sure that you all probably remember the incident recorded at the beginning of the Bible when Cain killed his brother Abel. I want to read it to you because it illustrates a lot of the points we have been talking about: 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, Page 6
Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it. 8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, Let s go out to the field. While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, Where is your brother Abel? I don t know, he replied. Am I my brother s keeper? 10 The Lord said, What have you done? Listen! Your brother s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth. 13 Cain said to the Lord, My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me (Genesis 4:3-14 / TNIV). There are a couple of things we should point out here. Cain killed his brother because he was jealous. Abel pleased God but God rejected Cain s sacrifice. Instead of working harder, Cain felt he could simply get rid of his competition by killing him. Secondly, instead of ending up on top, this plan backfired on him and he disqualified himself to be accepted by God. He ended up being banished from God s presence forever. Truly we can see that what goes around comes around. Cain became the victim of his own evil plan. Here I want you to pay attention to his question to God, Am I my brother s keeper? He assumes that answer is no. However, God s answer to that question is, Yes, you are your brother s keeper! Jesus commanded us to love one another as He loved us. Jesus laid down His life for us. That s the kind of love we are called to. In verses 7 and 8 we are reminded that God is the only judge that matters. We can see how people, societies, and cultures make up their own rules for what is right and wrong. I know I have said this so many times before but I think it s important to say it and keep saying it especially in the times we live. I don t want persecution to catch us by surprise. Our society, culture, political system, and educational system is progressively and systematically becoming more anti Jewish and anti Christian every day. We should not let this take us by surprise. We should be aware; but not surprised and certainly not fearful. This too has been promised by God. People in positions of authority think they have control and the power to determine what is right and wrong. The psalmist reminds us in these two verses that YAHWEH is the King of kings and Lord of lords. YAHWEH will judge ultimate right and wrong. Therefore, we need to live our lives in a way that pleases God. I think Jesus gave us the best example when He came face to face with Pilate at His trial: 9 He (Pilate) took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, Where are you from? But Jesus gave no answer. 10 Why don t you talk to me? Pilate demanded. Don t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you? 11 Then Jesus said, You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. (John 19:9-11 / NLT). We must stop worrying about pleasing people in this world. We need to live to please God alone. That is one of the things I am working on at present in my life. Pleasing God should cause us to be loving to others. In verses 17 and 18 the poet clearly reminds us that God is concerned for the poor. We saw in our study through the Gospel of Luke that one of the major sins of unjust people and unjust Page 7
societies was their lack of concern for the poor. Again, we must remind ourselves of a couple of things. Some of these are not directly applicable to our society or countries around the world because Israel was a theocratic society. They were truly one nation under one God. However, that is not to say that God is not going to judge nations according to the way we care for the poor among us. Secondly, although societies and governments may not care for the poor, no one is stopping us from caring for the poor; especially the poor in our midst. God will judge us individually and as a church based on the way we love and care for one another. Jesus said that will be the key factor in which people will recognize that we belong to Him. Here is the way He phrased it: 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples (John 13:34-35 / NLT). If we want to know how we are doing as individuals and as a church we just need to ask ourselves at how we are doing at love. GOD S EXPECTATION IS THAT WE CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER; NOT EXPLOIT ONE ANOTHER. V. GOD REWARDS THE RIGHTEOUS AND PUNISHES THE WICKED (VS 9-10 / 19-20) At this point, the psalmist turns our attention somewhat towards the future. In verses 9-10 and 19-20, we are reminded that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked. THERE ARE ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES TO OUR PRESENT BEHAVIOR. As Christians, we are asked to live in faith; meaning that many of our rewards will be given to us in heaven. One of the things we asked to believe in is that God cares for His children as described in verses 9 and 10. The poet again resorts to military language here. Note the first line in verse 9 and the last verse in verse 10. God is a refuge. This refers to the high ground in military strategy. God holds the high ground. The high ground is easy to defend and it provides easy shots at the enemy below. Secondly, God is dependable. He does not forsake His children. Things may look bad for us but we must remember the worst thing our enemies, including the devil, can do is kill our bodies. Our eternal souls and resurrection bodies belong to God. The future we live for is the day that God will judge all of humanity as laid out in verses 19-20. This is a nice description of the end times when all the nations of the world unite and gather together to fight against God. At this Battle of Armageddon, the world will gather all its military might and weapons together to defeat God. But we know that God will terrify them and destroy them. In the end, everyone will bow before God. We have the opportunity right now to bow before God voluntarily and acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior. The other option will not be voluntary. Everyone will be forced to bow before King Jesus and acknowledge Him as Lord. As we live our everyday lives and go through all sorts of trials and sufferings we must remember that what we think, say, and do, matter. THERE ARE ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES TO OUR PRESENT BEHAVIOR. I know this concept is hard for us to understand. We are called to live every moment of our lives in eternity. We are to remember God s faithfulness and commands in the past while at Page 8
the same time anticipating the day we will enter heaven with Jesus; then live each moment in light of those truths. GOD S CHILDREN LIVE IN THE PRESENT; WHILE REMEMBERING THE PAST AND ANTICIPATING THE FUTURE. Lectio Divina We will close each Psalm with a time of silent reflection and meditation on the Psalm. You are all pretty familiar with this. I will prayerfully read the Psalm and a word or phrase will present itself to you to take before God. After 5 minutes of silent prayer and reflection, I ll close in prayer. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths; Psalms 9:1(TNIV) 1 I will praise 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. 4 For you have upheld my right and my cause, sitting enthroned as the righteous judge. 5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever. 6 Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies, you have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished. 7 The Lord reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. 8 He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity. 9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. 10 Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. 11 Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done. 12 For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted. 13 Lord, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death, 14 that I may declare your praises in the gates of Daughter Zion, and there rejoice in your salvation. 15 The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden. 16 The Lord is known by his acts of justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Page 9
Haggaion Selah 17 The wicked go down to the realm of the dead, all the nations that forget God. 18 But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish. 19 Arise, Lord, do not let mortals triumph; let the nations be judged in your presence. 20 Strike them with terror, Lord; let the nations know they are only mortals. Selah Page 10