You can find the message here
in Psalm number 9. The message, the message here
in Psalm 9. I've chosen for a title to this
psalm, found in verse 14, and I believe this sums up the believer's
life and the believer's experience. I will rejoice. I will rejoice. The Apostle Paul, when he writes
to the Philippians in chapter 4, I believe it's verse 4, around
in that area, he said, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again
I say, Rejoice in Him. We have so much to be thankful
for. Rejoice in, we do, by His grace,
we do rejoice in His salvation. What a great Savior we have.
mercy to sinners. So we do rejoice in His salvation. I believe the psalm and message
of this psalm, Psalm 9, is summed up in two things. God's righteous
judgment. He has prepared His throne for
judgment. The judge of all the earth, He
will do right, a righteous judgment. And then also we see something
else in this Psalm, His rich mercy. His rich mercy. Have mercy upon me, O Lord. He does, our great God, holy,
righteous, and just, but he yet delights to show mercy. Our great
God is both a just God and Savior, as it says in Isaiah 45. He is
both holy and yet most merciful. He is just and the justifier
of them who Look to the Lord Jesus Christ for all blessings,
all salvation. Now let's consider in Psalm 9
verses 1 and 2. Verses 1 and 2. And here we see
the believer's fourfold desire found in this phrase, I will. I will. This is the desire of
the new heart given in regeneration. For thy people shall be willing
in the day of his power. I will praise thee, O Lord, with
my whole heart. I will show forth all thy marvelous
works. I will be glad and rejoice in
thee. I will sing praises to thy name. Oh, he's the most high God. How high is he? higher than we
can even imagine. He's high in holiness, high in
every attribute of His blessed character. He is high, He is
holy in all things. Now let's look, there's four
things here found in verses one and two. He says, I will praise
thee, O Lord, with my whole heart. With my whole heart. Isn't that
the desire of the believer to praise God? Not with a half-hearted,
lukewarm, but with a whole heart. Turn over here to Psalm 138.
Psalm 138, verse one. I will praise thee with a whole,
my whole heart. wholehearted praise. This is
worship. Our Lord certainly is worthy
of all honor and glory and blessing. Psalm 138 verse 1, I will praise
thee with my whole heart, now watch
this, before the before the pagan, before the idolaters, I will
sing praise unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy
temple, praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth,
for thou has magnified thy word above all thy name. I will praise thee. And that
is what's involved in worship. True worship is to praise the
Lord, not just Not just in body, but he says here in heart, in
heart, wholehearted worship. And then he says, secondly, I
will show forth all thy marvelous works. Boy, that's a deep subject,
all his marvelous works. Let's find a few Psalms here,
Psalm 98.1. Psalm 98, 1, I will show forth His marvelous work.
I want to talk about His marvelous work of creation, His marvelous
work of providence, and His marvelous work of salvation, that work
He has done for us in Christ Jesus, that work He is doing
yet in us by His grace. Psalm 98, 1-0, singing to the
Lord a new song, for He hath done marvelous things. His works
marvelous. His right hand and His holy arm
hath won the victory, gotten the victory for us. His right
hand, His holy arm, hath gotten the victory for us. Find Psalm
1-11. Again, he talks about the works
of the Lord. How marvelous are thy works,
O Lord. Again, we read in Psalm 111,
Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord. Verse
1, With my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright and in
the congregation, the works of the Lord are great, sought out
of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is honorable. His righteousness endures forever.
He hath made His wonderful work to be remembered. The Lord is
gracious, full of compassion. His works are marvelous. His
works are wonderful. One other Psalm, Psalm 139, Psalm
139. So I will praise thee with my
whole heart, I will show forth or talk about all thy marvelous,
wonderful works. Psalm 139 verse 14, I will praise
thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, marvelous are thy works
and that my soul knoweth right well. marvelous are His works,
all that's involved in our salvation, it is marvelous, it is a great
mystery and it is most precious to you who believe He is precious.
And then He says thirdly, back in our text, verse 2, I will
be glad, I will be glad and rejoice in, now watch this,
I will be glad in thee in thee, and I will rejoice in thee, in
thee, his person. That's our rejoicing in Christ,
in Christ, His person. Not just in doctrinal facts,
although we delight in the truth, but this is rejoicing and being
glad, not just in doctrinal fact, but in Christ our Lord Himself. Not just in His sovereignty,
we delight in His sovereignty, but rather in our Lord who is
the sovereign. All power, he said, is given
unto me in heaven and earth. So we delight, we are glad, and
we do rejoice in him who is everything. And then fourthly, he mentions
this. I will praise, I will sing, praise, sing, to thee, to thy
name, O thou most high. I will praise and worship. He
is the most high God, and we do worship Him. I trust that
God will give us grace in our heart to worship Him in spirit
and truth, for He seeketh such to worship Him in spirit and
in truth. I know a lot of people in religion
today, they talk about a certain type of worship, and it usually
is involved with a lot of physical and emotional excitement. And
most of the time I would venture that there's very little or no
truth declared at all. He is nigh them who worship him
in spirit and truth. If there's no truth declared,
there has been no true worship. Spirit in spirit and in truth. I will worship thy name. Oh thou
most high We can never be worried about giving too much honor and
glory Unto the Lord Jesus Christ for his name is exalted above
every name God had given him a name Which is above every name
that at his name every knee shall bow Every tongue shall confess
that the Lord Jesus Christ that he is Lord to the glory of God
the Father Back in Psalm 7, verse 17, I will praise the Lord according
to his righteousness. I will sing praise to the name
of the Lord most high. In Psalm 8, verse 1, O Lord,
our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth. who has set thy glory above the
heavens. His name is called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. I did a study one time on the
names of the Lord Jesus Christ. Started with A, all the way through
the alphabet. You know, it's an exhaustive
list. Some of you have that Knaves topical Bible reference. Look
up under the names of the Lord Jesus Christ and it gives them
alphabetically. I preached a whole seven sermons
on the names of the Lord Jesus Christ found in the Word of God. It's an exhaustive study. You
can't wear it out. You can't exalt His name. You
can't say too much of Him. For His name, He is the Most
High God. I love to talk about our sovereign
king, our sovereign Lord. He's victorious over all enemies.
Look at verse 3. When mine enemies are turned
back, they shall fall and perish at your presence. Our enemies
are defeated enemies. I've jotted down this Psalm reference
here, Psalm 27. Turn over there. Verse 1, the Lord is my light
and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength
of my life, and whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even
my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they
stumbled and fell. Though a host should camp against
me, my heart shall not fear, though war rise against me. In this I will be confident. Now back to the text. When my
enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy
presence. The believer resting in the Lord
Jesus Christ, we can say with the apostle, thanks be unto God
who has given us a victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He has
defeated all our enemies. They fall and they perish at
his glorious, glorious presence. Verses 4 down to verse 6, let's
read these, and notice this phrase here, if you have something to
underline in your Bible, notice this is repeated, all that thou
hast done, verse 4, thou hast maintained my right, or my judgment
and my cause. Thou settest in the throne, judging
right. Verse five, thou hast rebuked
the heathen. Thou hast destroyed the wicked.
Thou hast put out forever their name. Thou has put out their
name forever and ever. Verse six, O thou enemy, destructions
are come to a perpetual end. Thou hast destroyed cities. Talking about the Lord. And their
memorial, their work, all they're doing is perished with them.
Thou hast. Thou hast done. These are the
repeated words that give us the definite and confident victory
of our Lord Jesus Christ, making us to know that we are more than
conquerors through him that loved us and washed us from our sin
in his own blood. It says in the Revelation, In
chapter 6, I think one of the key verses in that study about
the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, it says there in chapter
6, He went forth conquering to conquer. And He will prevail
over all enemies. He mentions six things here in
these few verses. Thou hast maintained my cause.
or made my judgment right." Now David here is talking about King
David, is here talking about all that God has done for him,
the cause of God and His truth. David is saying, you've maintained
that cause. David was a man after God's own
heart. David was a man anointed of God
and raised up to reign in Israel as God's king for 40 years. Thou hast maintained David's
cause was God's cause, cause of God, cause of truth. Second
thing we see, thou settest in the throne judging in righteousness. The scripture declares, shall
not the judge of all the earth do right? Over here in Psalm
89, if you'd like to mark this, Psalm 89 verse 14, Psalm 89 verse
14, thou settest in the throne judging right, or judging in
righteousness, shall not the judge of all the earth do right?
Psalm 89 verse 14, justice and judgment are the habitation of
thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before
thy face. God will judge in righteousness. The third thing we see in verse
5, thou hast rebuked the heathen. Thou hast rebuked the heathen. Thou hast destroyed the wicked.
Thou hast put out their name forever. Thou hast rebuked the
heathen. What does God rebuke the heathen
with? His truth, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel
of the, of the Lord Jesus Christ rebukes the man who would trust
his works, rebukes the man, the self-righteous man that would
trust his deeds. Thou hast rebuked the heathen
with the truth, the truth of the gospel. Fourthly, thou hast
destroyed the wicked. Thou hast destroyed the In David's
day, young David came up against Goliath. We know the outcome
of that battle. David put that stone in that
sling and hurled it toward Goliath. The giant landed in his forehead,
crushed his forehead, and David ran upon him, took his sword,
and cut off his head. Thou hast destroyed the wicked.
David had no power in himself, but the Lord enabled him, and
that is a glorious picture of the greater David, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who has cut off the head of the great enemy, crushed Satan's
dominion, Satan's power. Thou has put out their name forever
and ever. Thou hast destroyed the enemy,
his cities, their memorial, their work is perished with them."
In this final day of judgment, the believer will rejoice in
his righteous judgment as we read in Revelation 19 when God
judged the great whore and all the wicked, the believer in Christ
Jesus and those around the throne of glory, they cried, And they fell down and worshipped
God that sat on the throne saying, Amen, Hallelujah. We will say Amen, a righteous
Amen to God justly forever punishing the wicked. I had a friend of
mine years ago. I don't believe he understood
and knew the gospel, but he made this statement to me, and I didn't
know much at the time when he made this statement to me, but
I knew there was something wrong about it, what he was trying
to tell me. He told me when I die and I'm in glory, if God doesn't
save my son, if my son's not in glory, he said, I won't enjoy
heaven. And I said to him this, I said,
if your son's not in glory and God righteously judges him, you
will say hallelujah, amen to his condemnation. That's true. That's what he's saying here.
God, there'll be a righteous judgment. You see, glory is not
about being with mama. Glory is not about being with
daddy. Glory is all about Christ. Whatever
heaven is, it's Christ. It's being one with Him. It's
falling down and worshiping Him forever and ever and ever. And
these earthly relationships will pale into utter insignificance. I think we will know one another,
but that earthly relationship will just absolutely be meaningless
because we'll be so taken up with the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We don't have time for these
other things, nor will we have any interest in these other things. But look at verse seven back
in our text. But the Lord shall endure. The wicked will perish. Their memorials, all their works,
they'll perish. They'll perish with them. But
the Lord shall endure forever. For he hath prepared his throne
for judgment. He shall judge the world the
only way he can, in righteousness. He shall minister judgment to
the people in uprightness, in uprightness. The Lord shall endure
forever. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. His enemies
shall cease, they shall perish. His reign is from everlasting
to everlasting, thou art God. His throne is prepared for judgment. In this final and great judgment,
prayers will not be heard. Repentance will be too late.
Promises made will not be considered. You'll hear Him say, Depart from
Me, I never know, never knew you, you workers of iniquity. You see, He has prepared His
throne for judgment, and it is a righteous judgment. He will
judge the world in strict and absolute holiness, rigid righteousness,
with no leniency, with no compassion. Not in this day, a strict, holy,
righteous judgment due unto all not found in Christ Jesus. And the standard of that judgment
is found in Acts chapter 17. If you'd like to turn and read
this with me, or you can sit quietly and listen. In Acts 17,
Paul is preaching here to a bunch of philosophers who are very
intellectual, but they have no spiritual life, no spiritual
understanding, and he declares that God commanded all men everywhere
to repent, verse 31, because he has appointed a day, Acts
17, 31, in which he will judge this ungodly, unbelieving world
in absolute strict righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained."
That man he's talking about here is the God-man mediator, the
Lord Jesus Christ, "...who he hath ordained, whereof he hath
given assurance unto all men, in that he raised him from the
dead." No question who he's talking about, the Lord Jesus Christ. All judgment is relative to Christ. The Father judgeth no man, but
hath committed all judgment unto the Son. The second part of this,
verse 8, he shall judge the world in righteousness, but he shall
minister justice to the people in uprightness. Here I believe
he's talking about salvation given to his people. He will
judge and minister to the people in uprightness. His covenant
people have been judged already in Christ Jesus. There is no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. He shall minister
judgment to the people, definite article, in uprightness, in an
upright way. God dealt with our sin in holy
justice, spent upon the Lord Jesus Christ, fully spent upon
Him, and therefore there is no judgment left for those who are
in Christ Jesus. Look at verse 9. I like this.
The Lord also will be a refuge, the high place. He's our refuge. He's a refuge for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of trouble, a refuge for the oppressed, for
sinners. And he is our hiding place. He
is our hiding place. This is a refuge that he has
provided for us. We read of it over here in Isaiah
28. Turn over there. Isaiah 28. Remember those who said, we have
made lies our refuge and under falsehood have we hid ourselves?
I don't want to hide in a false refuge, do you? I want to hide
in that refuge that God has provided. The Lord is our refuge, a refuge
in times of troubles. I want to hide in that refuge
that he has established. Those cities of refuge are a
very good picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matter of fact,
those cities, each of their names have reference to the Lord Jesus.
I preached a message on that one time. Isaiah 28, verse 16,
Thus saith the Lord. Now here's the refuge that God's
provided. Here's the refuge that's safe
for us to run into and to hide in. Therefore thus saith the
Lord, behold I lay in Zion for a foundation of stone, a tried
stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth
on him shall not make haste. Look at verse 17. Here's that
judgment. Those not found in that Refuge that he has established,
those not found in, Christ that foundation, judgment also will
I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet. You block layers
know something about the line and the plumb bob. No variation
in that line when it's stretched tight. Hail, and the hail shall
sweep away the refuge of lies, and the water shall overflow
the hiding place and the covenant. with death that you have made,
that refuge of lies shall be disannulled, and your agreement
with hell shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge
shall pass through you, you shall be trodden down by it. The refuge
of lies will never stand. The refuge that God has provided,
oh, I tell you, that will stand. And it is a refuge for those
who are oppressed. It is a refuge for those who
are in trouble. This is one of my favorite scriptures.
Find Psalm 62. I like to call this psalm the
only psalm, Psalm 62, because the word only is repeated constantly. Psalm 62, 5, My soul wait thou
only upon God, for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock,
my refuge, my defense. I shall not be moved. In God
is my salvation, my glory, the rock of my strength, and my refuge
is in God. I trust in him. When? At all
times, you people. Pour out your heart before him.
Why? God is a refuge for us. Think about that. Think about
that. Oh, what a blessing we have,
this refuge that God has given for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord, back to the text, the
Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times
of trouble. Verse 10, they that know thy
name That name that's above every name, that high and holy name.
I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most high. They that know
his name, they will trust him. They will put their trust in
him. For thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Those that know thy name, Emmanuel,
God with us, Savior. Say with the Apostle Paul, I
know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded he's able to
keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. They
will put their trust in him, and he will not forsake those
that seek him in his word and in his gospel. Now, I want to
show you something here. I saw this years ago. I've never
forgotten it. Psalm 27. Talking about those
that seek the Lord. Turn to Psalm 27. Just a moment.
Psalm 27. They will put their trust in
Him, and He will not forsake those that seek Him in His Word
and in His Gospel. He said, All that the Father
giveth to me, they will come to me. Now Psalm 27, have you
got it? You with me? Look at verse 7.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice. Have mercy also upon
me, and answer me. When thou saidest, Seek ye my
face, my heart, said unto thee, Thy face, O Lord, will I seek. When he said, You seek me, that's
what they do. We don't need to beat up and
browbeat people, tell them to seek the Lord. We do declare
unto them they ought to seek the Lord, but when he said, Seek
him, my heart says unto myself, Lord, I will. I will seek your face, his person,
his beauty, the glory of God shined in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4, 6. Now back to the text. Look at
verse 11. The Lord, I will put my trust in thy name, for thy
Lord hath not forsaken them that seek thee. He never will. He never has. Now, can you sing
about that? Verse 11, sing praises to the
Lord, which dwelleth among his people. Zion is his people. He
said, where two or three are gathered in my name, I'm in the
midst of them. Do you understand that? When
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is declared, the angels
who hover about desire to look into these things. Sing praises
to the Lord. He dwells in Zion. You say, well,
I don't feel his presence. He didn't ask you to feel his
presence. He said, believe my word, I'm with you always, even
to the end of the earth. Sing praises to the Lord, which
dwelleth in Zion. Now look at the last part of
verse 11. Declare his doings. Declare among the people his
The Lord does dwell among His people. Sweet thought, is it
not? Declare His doings. This is what
we desire when we preach the gospel, is it not? Declare His
doings. Declare His doings. Here's a
reference to that. Turn to Isaiah 12. Declare His
doings. all that God has done and is
doing for us and for us and in us through the Lord Jesus Christ,
declare His doings. Isaiah 12 verse 4, and in that
day Shall you say, praise the Lord, this is a day of salvation
that God hath made. Call upon His name, declare His
doings among the people, and make mention that His name is
exalted. Sing unto the Lord, for He hath
done excellent things, this is known in all the earth. Cry out
and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One
of Israel, and He's in the midst of thee. So we read back here,
sing praises to the Lord which dwelleth in Zion, his church,
his people, and declare among his people his great doings. Verse 12, Psalm number 9, now
when he maketh inquisition for blood, talking about the inquiring
those who have stood for the gospel and who have given their
life for the gospel. He remembereth them. He will
not forget them. He forgeteth not the cry of the
afflicted. The Lord does remember His people. He will avenge His own elect
which cry unto Him day and night. Our Lord will not forget the
cry of His people. He does hear their cry. Now here's our cry, verse 13. And this sums up, I believe this
sums up prayer. Have mercy upon me, oh Lord.
That's it. That's what the man in the temple
that day, that publican cried that day unto the Lord, remember?
Lord, have mercy upon me, thee sinner. And the Lord said that
man went down to his house justified. You remember the publican? He
bragged on himself and was condemned. The Pharisee bragged on himself
and was condemned, but the publican condemned himself and was justified. Condemned himself, have mercy
upon me, thee sinner. Consider my trouble, which I
suffer of them that hate me. Thou that liftest me from the
gates of death, I will show forth thy praise in the gates of the
daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in thy salvation. Have mercy upon me, O Lord. That,
now watch this, have mercy upon me, O Lord, and consider my trouble of them
which trouble me and hate me. For this reason, that thou liftest
me from the gates of death, verse 14, that I may show forth thy
praise in the gates of Zion, I will rejoice in thy salvation. Thou hast lifted me from the
gates of death, what a glorious lift. In sin and despair, he
has lifted me in loving kindness. We sing that song, he lifted
me. With tender hands, he lifted me. He lifted me from the gates
of death. And given me life in Christ Jesus. Translated out of the kingdom
of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear son. What a glorious
lift. He's lifted me. That that. I may show forth thy praise in
the gates of the daughter of Zion, I will rejoice in thy mercy."
We must not overlook David's object in desiring mercy, it's
God's glory. Show forth thy salvation, I will
rejoice in thy salvation. Someone said this, Saints are
not so selfish as to look only to self. They desire mercy's
diamond, that they may let others see it flash and sparkle, and
may admire him who gives such priceless gems to his beloved. That I may show forth thy mercy, the daughters of Zion. and then
rejoice in thy salvation. Verse 15, 16, and 17. Judgment's
coming. The heathen are sunk down into
the pit that they have made. They're taken up with their own
trap. They've caught their own foot
in the net which they have laid. The Lord is known by the judgment
which he executes. The wicked is snared in the work
of his own hand. The wicked, verse 17, shall be
turned into hell. This is the ungodly wicked, the
unbelieving wicked shall be turned into hell, and the nations that
forget God. What sure destruction must fall
on the enemies of God and His Christ, the wicked and the nations,
the unbelieving wicked and the nations that forget God will
be judged eternally. Now watch this. The nations that
forget God, to forget God, forgetfulness seems like a small sin, but it
brings eternal wrath upon the man who lives and dies in it. Our Lord said, if you believe
not that I am he, you'll die in your sins. Now watch verse
17. The wicked shall be turned into
hell, and the nations that forget God will be judged The flip side
of that is this, Psalm 33, 12. Blessed is a nation whose God
is the Lord. and the people whom he hath chosen
for his own inhabitants, heirs of God, and joint heirs with
Christ, so long as our God is God, he will not and cannot spare
the guilty, except through one glorious way in which he is just,
and the justifier of him who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ."
The only way God can spare The guilty is his justice being satisfied
in Christ Jesus. Verse 18, for the needy shall
not always be forgotten. The expectation of the poor shall
not perish. Two words stand out here to me
in verse 18. You see them? Underscore them,
needy and poor. That's our lot. I need him for
I'm so poor in spirit. Blessed are those who are poor
in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of God. I am poor and needy,
David said in another Psalm, yet the Lord, the Lord thinketh
upon me. Find Psalm 40 verse 17. We'll look at a few of these.
I am poor and needy. We shall not be forgotten. Psalm 40 verse 17, But I am poor
and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me, Thou art my help, my
tarrying, O Lord, make Thou art my help, my deliverer, make no
tarrying, O my God. Psalm 70, turn there, Psalm 70,
I think there's another reference to that, I am poor and needy,
Psalm 70 verse 5, Look at verse 4 as well, Psalm
70, let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee.
Let such as love thy salvation say continually, continually,
let God be magnified. But I am poor and needy, make
haste unto me, O God. Thou art my help, my deliverer,
O Lord, make no tarrying. One more, Psalm 72, 13, I believe
it's another one. Psalm 72, look at verse 12. For
he shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also, and
him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy,
and he shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their
soul from deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood
be in his sight. I am poor and needy, yet the
Lord thinketh upon me. He will not forget his people. Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail. Let the heathen be judged in
thy sight. Verse 20, put them in fear, O
Lord. Put them in fear, O Lord, that
the nations may know themselves to be what they are, but men. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. The unbelieving wicked, the Lord
said, there is no fear of God before their eyes. Arise, O Lord,
and put fear, put the fear of God in their heart. I tell you,
that's when you call for mercy. That's when you call upon the
Lord, when He puts that reverential fear and awe of Him in your heart,
when He exalts Himself and enthrones Himself in your heart, that they
may know themselves to be what they are, sinners, sinners in
need of mercy.