Psalm 9. The reason Brother Dan read only
11 verses is because I prepared this message with the intention
of preaching or teaching all 20 verses. But I realized when
I got to verse 11, That's just about as far as we're going to
make it tonight. There's just too much ground
to cover, and so we'll deal with the other verses at a later date.
But Psalm 9, verse 1 through 11. And David opens this psalm with
a fourfold resolution. A fourfold resolution. Listen
to it. I will praise thee, O Lord, with
my whole heart. Two, I will show forth, I will
confess before everybody all thy marvelous works. Thirdly,
and I will be glad and rejoice, like Paul said, rejoice in the
Lord always, be God loves us and is cheerful, giver and worshipper. I will be glad. I will rejoice. And fourthly, I will sing praise
to thy name, O thou most high." Now, sometimes, sometimes it takes a great deal
of faith and determination to praise the Lord. to confess his marvelous works,
to be glad and rejoice, and to sing praises. Sometimes it takes
a lot of determination, especially when our bodies are pained and
hurt, or when our hearts are absolutely broken with sorrow. or when our disappointments overshadow
our appointments. It's not easy. Come on now, to
praise the Lord, and to be glad, and to make mention of his marvelous
works, his doings, and to sing. But these things we know in our
hearts. I know these things. I know these
things. I've been taught these things
by God's Spirit, and I know them, and I know there to be the occupation
of the believer. Only God, take the first one,
only God is to be praised. I know that, you do too. Only
God is to be praised. I will praise thee, O Lord, not
myself, not my friends. I will praise thee. I will praise
thee, O Lord, with my whole heart. I will praise thee, not half
a heart. Half a heart's no heart. Let the matter be settled in
the heart, somebody said, before the mouth speaks. I will praise
thee, thee, only thee, and I'll praise thee with my whole heart.
Not divided, but my whole heart. and all thy marvelous works,
I will attribute to thee all things, all things are of God."
All things. That's what the scripture says,
not, you know he doesn't say I will show forth thy marvelous
works, he said I'll show forth all thy marvelous works. They're
all thy works, all thy doings. And all things work together
for our good, we know that. to them who love God, who are
called according to his purpose. And we don't have to understand
the ways of God to believe they're his ways. We don't have to understand
his works to believe they're his works, because we know in
here that God moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform. What's that verse that says? fresh courage take, the clouds
you so much dread are big with blessings and will break with
mercy on your head. The bread may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower." God moves him in all his marvelous
works. We know that. I know that. Only
God's to be praised. He's to be praised with my whole
heart. for all of his works, all things
of God. And I will be glad, I'll be glad,
and I've said this again and again because I know it so. I won't particularly be glad
and rejoice over the present circumstances, but I'll be glad
and rejoice in the purpose for which the present is intended. Do you understand what I'm saying?
I rejoice in the purpose of God, in the will of God, in the perfect
plan of God for which these things are designed and of which they
are part. Be glad and rejoice and be satisfied. David didn't say, I'm satisfied.
He said, I'll be satisfied when I wait with our likeness. I'm
very unhappy, dissatisfied with a lot of things in me, aren't
you? But I'll be satisfied when I
wake with his likeness. And all of these things that
God brings to bear are to accomplish that purpose in which I will
rejoice and be glad. Right now, I'll be glad and rejoice
in his purpose. And then he says, I will sing
praise to thy name. Now, this is no particular name
by which God is called. We'll talk about that later.
But this is the God himself. I will sing praise to thy name,
O thou Most High. It's his nature, his perfection. He's God our Creator, worthy
of praise. He's God holy and reverent. That's his name. worthy to be
praised. He's a just God and a Savior
worthy to be praised. He's Jesus. That's a sweet and
blessed name. Call his name Jesus. You'll save his people from their
sins. I rejoice and be glad and sing praise to that name. His
name is called Wonderful Counselor. the mighty God, the everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. That's His character, the Creator,
the Holy One, the just Savior, Jesus, Savior. So I will. I will. That's my resolution.
I'll praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart. I'll show forth,
confess that All the works are your marvelous works, and I'll
be glad and rejoice in thee, and I'll sing praise to God himself,
to thy name, God himself, O thou most high God, I praise thee
in thy name. Now verse 3, I've looked at this
a little while, when my enemies are turned back, they shall fall
and perish at thy presence." Who are my enemies? Who are my enemies? When we read
these, David frequently talks about my enemies. When my enemies
are turned back, they'll fall and perish at thy presence. Now
if I can determine who my enemies are, then I can say of all my
enemies, three things, they turn back. They retreat from me. They fall, never to rise again,
never ever to rise again. They perish, perish, as wax melts
before a fire, they perish. All my enemies, what do you think? And all of this at his presence. when they behold his face, all
my enemies." Well, our enemies in this case are not people.
They're not people. I don't think there's anybody
here who wishes the wrath of God upon his enemies. I don't
believe there's anybody here that will say, I just wish that
every person that I have a conflict with will be turned back and
will fall and perish before God Almighty. I don't believe He's
about to say, we're just... Well, who are these enemies? Well, turn to Ephesians chapter
6. Here's the first answer. Ephesians chapter 6. We wrestle not against flesh
and blood. We wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities. powers against the rulers of
the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places. Those are my enemy. My enemy. That's Satan. Satan is my enemy. Sin is my
enemy. Self-righteousness is my enemy. Sin and iniquity separates me
from God. That's my enemy. Death is my
enemy. And God Almighty turned to 1
Corinthians 15. This will give you a clue to
this enemy business also. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 26. Verse 25. He must reign, that's
Christ. Let's read verse 24. Then cometh
the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God. Even the
Father, when he shall have put down all rule, principalities
and powers, rulers, the darkness, all authority, spiritual wickedness,
power in high places, he must reign till he puts all enemies
under his feet. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. That's the category we're talking
about here. spiritual enemies. Now God's
going to deal with all those that hate him and the wicked,
but David's talking about his enemies, my enemies. My enemies are turned back. They've
made the retreat at the presence of my Redeemer, my Lord, my Savior. My sins are put away. They fall, they perish at His
presence, at the presence of my Redeemer. Self-righteousness,
He's humbled us. Death is not our enemy anymore. Now when my eyes close in this
world and that which comes upon all flesh comes upon me, it just
ushers me right into His presence. is gain, Paul said. To me, to
die is gain. Not an enemy anymore. I can look
at it and say, Deb, where's your sting? Grave, where's your victory? You have no victory over me.
You've got no sting. You can't hurt me. My enemies
have turned away. They have fallen, never to rise. They're perished like the wax
melts before the sun at his presence. for the boy. Don't have any cause to fear. Verse 4, Thou hast maintained my right. This sounds sort of strange,
doesn't it? My righteousness, my cause. Thou hast maintained
my right. What is my right? Well, my righteousness is his
righteousness. Not my righteousness, it's his.
And his righteousness is now mine. He made us the righteousness
of God in him. And my cause is his cause, his
purpose and his kingdom. And he has, he purposed it, he
has, he sent his son to procure it. He has, by the defeat and
annihilation of my enemies, secured it. He has and will finish the
work in me which he has begun. He that hath begun in us a good
work shall finish it in the day of Christ Jesus. So the word
is vindicated. He has vindicated, maintained
my righteousness and my cause. That's right. He purposed it. He purchased it. He gave it to
me, the righteousness of Christ. He maintains it, and He'll finish
it. He has maintained, vindicated
my righteousness and my cause. It's His cause and His righteousness,
but it's mine too. That's what we're called in Jeremiah,
if you haven't noticed that. Let's look at it now. Jeremiah,
I believe it's 23. Yeah, Jeremiah 23. Look at this. Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah 23, verse 6. In his days Judah shall be saved,
and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is his name. whereby
he shall be called the Lord our righteousness, our righteousness,
our cause, our right." Now look at verse Jeremiah 33. You remember this, Jeremiah 23,
Jeremiah 33. But it's verse 16, verse 15 and
16 of Jeremiah 33. In those days, and at that time
will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto And he shall
execute judgment and righteousness in the land, and in those days
shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. This is the
name wherewith she, the church, his body shall be called the
Lord our righteousness. He'll maintain my righteousness
and my cause. He'll vindicate it. He will. Because he, thou sattest, look
back at Psalm 9. Thou sattest in the throne judging
right. He judges righteously. And this judgment, I've got to
ask you to turn to Acts 17. You see, in Christ, God's throne
is a throne of grace. from which he gives grace and
mercy to all who are in Christ. But in the life and presence
of that same person, for many people, that throne is not a
throne of grace, it's a throne of judgment. A throne of judgment. Now listen to this, Acts 17 31. God has appointed a day in which
he's going to judge the world in righteousness. Now that's
a joy to the believer. will stand before him clothed
in his righteousness. But that's a terror to the unbeliever. He'll judge the world in righteousness
by that man whom he hath ordained by Jesus Christ, whereof he hath
given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from
the dead. So he'll maintain our righteousness
and our cause because he sits on the throne. Judging, Christ,
our mediator, sits on that throne, judging righteously, and dispensing
grace and mercy to all who are in Christ. Verse 5, this is interesting. Notice the thous in these two
verses. Go back to verse 4. Thou hast
maintained my righteousness and my cause. Thou settest in the
throne judging righteously. Thou hast rebuked the heathen.
Thou hast destroyed the wicked. Thou hast put out their name
forever and ever." In verse 5 it says, before God destroyed the
wicked, he rebuked them. Verse 5 says, you have rebuked
the heathen. You have rebuked the heathen,
and now you'll destroy them. How many people, let me ask this
question. Think about it a little bit.
How many people in this world can plead total ignorance of
God? Of the fact of death and of the
fact of an accounting after death. It's upon them if the man wants
to die on their judgment. How many men and women can claim
total ignorance? Now remember that the heavens
declare the glory of God. And then the scripture says there's
a conscience. Excusing or accusing. Everybody has a conscience. And
the scripture says the law of God's written on every heart.
And the scripture says there's a light that lighteth every man
that cometh into this world. Every man. So there is a sense
in which God has rebuked the heathen. God always rebukes before he
destroys. The amount of life he gives,
that's God's business. But there's not a person on this
earth that does not have some warning from God. That's right,
according to the scripture. And in all these things, it's
what he does. Verse 4 says, he's maintained
our cause. He sits on the throne judging
righteously. He has rebuked the heathen. He
has destroyed the wicked. And he has put their name, put out their name forever and
ever. And I'll tell you this, the only
way that our righteousness can be maintained, our cause, our
future glory, established and maintained forever, it's for
God to do it all. God to do it. Isn't that true?
The only way our righteousness and our cause, now we, we believe,
but help my unbelief. We come to Christ and keep coming
to Christ, but can any of us say we love him with all our
heart, mind, soul, and strength? David said, I'll be satisfied
when I awake with thy likeness. Is there anything I can do to
promote that, or to accomplish that? So, my righteousness, my
cause, my glory, can only be established, dedicated, maintained
forever, if God Almighty does every bit of it. Thou hast maintained
my righteousness. And, listen to this. The wicked shall be destroyed,
all wicked. Someday even the remembrance
of the wicked will be no more. God, he says, has put out their
name forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. Now the only
one who can do that is God. Are you with me? He's the only
one who can totally totally annihilate evil. Even the remembrance of it, even
the name of it, even the, the doings of it. Boy, that's two powerful
verses. You've maintained my righteousness and my cause. I've
got a cause and a righteousness. I've trusted to you. He's going
to maintain it. But he rebukes the heathens,
and he's going to destroy the wicked. He's going to destroy,
annihilate completely, obliterate all wickedness. The last enemy
is death. And their name will be put out forever and ever
and ever and ever. That's awesome to me. And David
rejoiced in this. Look at verse 6. He actually
rejoiced. in the annihilation of the wicked. Even their memory of their names.
He said, O thou enemy, destructions have come to a perpetual end. God has destroyed cities. Their
memorial is perished with them. Their memory of them is perished
with them. David's rejoicing. Reckon we'll
ever be able to fully, completely rejoice in the destruction of
all people who know not Christ? Well, turn to Revelation 19.
Let's see what this says. Revelation 19. When the saved shout hallelujah,
while God destroys all of his enemies, all of them. It says in Revelation 19, listen
to this, and after these things I heard a great voice of much
people in heaven. And they were saying, hallelujah,
salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God.
Salvation, glory, honor, power to the Lord our God. True and
righteous are his what? Judgments. His judgments are
true, and more as much, they're righteous. They're right. He has judged the great whore,
that's the religious world, which did corrupt the earth with
her fornication. Yet the veins of the blood of
his servants at her hand, the martyrs, put to death. People
of God persecuted, harassed. wounded by religious people that
hate the sovereign almighty eternal God. God has judged them, God
has avenged the blood of every servant. And again they said,
hallelujah. And her smoke rose up forever
and ever, annihilated them, destroyed them. Burn them with the fire
of his wrath. And while the smoke of their
torment ascended up forever and ever, his people said hallelujah. Now listen to the next verse.
And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down
and worshipped God that sat on that throne, which is verity
and truth and righteousness. And they said so be it. Hallelujah. That's our text, Psalm 9. Verse 6, David said, O thou enemy,
destructions have come to a perpetual end. Thou hast destroyed cities
and their memorial, the memory of them is perished with them.
They're not even going to be remembered. But verse 7, but the Lord, now
put Spurgeon He said, in the light of the past, the future
is not in doubt. Put these three verses together,
7, 8, and 9. Verse 7 says, but the Lord shall
endure forever. Talk about the destruction of
the wicked, the annihilation of the wicked, forever and ever. Not even a memory, but the Lord,
he'll endure forever. He hath prepared his throne for
judgment. The eternality of God. Let me
read this. You don't need to turn to this.
I read this Sunday, a week ago. Our Lord said, I am Alpha and
Omega. I'm the beginning and the ending,
saith the Lord, which is, which was, which is to come, the Almighty,
the Almighty. And to the believer, that's a
comfort. Our eternal God, our sovereign
almighty God, that's a comfort. He can maintain my cause. But
to the unbeliever, that's a terror. He doesn't want an almighty God. He doesn't want an eternal God.
He wants a God he can manipulate, he can control. But now watch
this next verse. Listen to this, listen carefully. who endures, which is, which
was, which is to come, Alpha and Omega. He shall judge this
world in righteousness. What judgment are we talking
about here? He'll judge this world in righteousness. What
judgment are we talking about? Well, let's read about it in
Revelation 20. I do want you to turn over here. We're talking
about the judgment of the last day. We're talking about the
judgment of the great day. He's going to judge this world
in righteousness. He said in Isaiah, Isaiah 28,
while you turn to Revelation, let me turn over here and read
that Isaiah 28. Listen to this. He said, talking
about righteousness. Judgment also, when I lay to
the lion, righteousness to the plummet. God's going to judge
this world someday in righteousness. Now listen to Revelation 20,
beginning with verse 11. And I saw a great white throne,
and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the
heaven fled away, there was found no hiding place. I saw the dead, small and great,
stand before God. And the books were open. And
another book was open, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books, according to their
works, righteously. God will judge all men righteously. Now one of the old writers said
this about that judgment. In this judgment of that great
day, that last day, tears will not prevail. Won't have any effect. Prayers
will not be heard. Promises will not be consented.
Resolutions will not be entertained. Excuses will not be admitted. Repentance will be too late. The Inquisition will be so thorough
that as Christ said, not one idle word or foolish thought
will be forgotten. God will judge this world in
righteousness. The lion and the plummet. Think
about that. That's what he said over there
in Isaiah. But now let's go back to the text. In Psalm 9, verse 7, he talks about verse
6, the destruction of his enemies, even though my memories perish.
But the Lord God, Jehovah God, our Almighty, Eternal, Alpha,
Omega, Beginning, our God, will endure forever. Endure forever. And he's going to judge us well
in pure righteousness, in absolute righteousness. He's going to
minister judgment to the people in absolute uprightness. There'll be no plea, there'll
be no promises, there'll be no resolutions, there'll be no alibis,
no excuses. That's terrible. But here's good
news. The Lord will be a refuge for
the oppressed, for his people. He gives no quarter to the unbeliever,
but in the day of judgment, he himself will be the refuge for
the believer. He himself. Think about it. The
one on the throne. They cried for the rocks and
mountains to fall on them and hide them from the face of him
that sat on the throne. No believer ever cried to be
separated from Christ. He wants to be closer. And in
that day, when men and women are crying for the rocks and
mountains to cover them and hide them, he's going to hide us from
his wrath. See what I'm saying? He's going
to be a refuge, a refuge for the oppressed. He's
going to be a refuge in that time of awful, you talk about
trouble. He's going to be a refuge, a hiding
place. A man should be a hiding place from the storm, a covert
from the tempest. Water is in the dry and thirsty
land. Rock of ages cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy riven side which flowed be of sin the double cure, save
from wrath make me pure." There'll be no judgment to them
who are in Christ. We've already been judged at
Calvary. See, Calvary, Calvary is our judgment. That awful,
awful experience of our Lord on the
cross, He was under the wrath of God. Oh, what an awesome wrath of
God for our sins. That's where it was judged. That's
where sin is put away. And when we will be at the judgment,
but not as a subject, we'll be there as a witness. A witness. But we're going to
be hiding in the refuge, hiding in the Redeemer's side. left
for me, let me hide myself." Verse 10, "...and they that know
thy name will put their trust in thee." You know what the worst
ignorance in the world is? The worst ignorance in the world is the ignorance of God. That's
the worst ignorance in the whole world, is the ignorance of God. And the best knowledge in all
the world, if anybody gives you a choice, is to know Him. That's the best knowledge in
all the world, to know Him. Because they that know His name,
they put their trust in Him. They put their trust in Him.
Thomas Watson said this, writing on this, they that know
his name. You've got to know a man before
you trust him. You've got to know him before
you can trust him. Just necessary. You're not going to trust the
person unless you know him. And the more you know him, the
better you know him, and the more righteous his character,
the more you trust him. So Thomas Watson says faith is
an intelligent grace. He said, I know there can be
no knowledge without faith. How do you separate repentance
and faith? There can be no knowledge without faith. There can be no
faith without knowledge. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall they call on him
in whom they not believe? And how shall they believe in
him whom they haven't heard. Faith is an intelligent grace.
That's right. There'd be no knowledge without
faith. I know that. I've got to know
Christ. I've got to believe Christ to know him. There just can't
be any knowledge, no faith without knowledge. Paul said, I know
whom I have believed. And in Paul's conversion it says,
a light from heaven shined about him. He said, Who art thou, Lord? I'm Jesus, whom thou persecutest.
And he put them both together in Philippians 3, faith and knowledge. He said in Philippians, don't
trust my memory, let me read it. Philippians 3, verse 8. Yea, doubtless I count all things
but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. for whom I've suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but dumb, that I may win Christ
and be found in him." I've got to know him. I know whom I have
to leave. And he says here, they that know
my name. They that know my name. What
do you know about his name? Well, he's Jehovah Jireh, the
Lord will provide. Well, he's Jehovah Rapha, he's
the Lord that healeth us. He's Jehovah Shalem, the Lord
our peace. He's Jehovah Ray, the Lord my
shepherd. He's Jehovah Sid Kenu, the Lord
my righteousness. I know his name. And everyone
who knows my name will put their trust in me. They will. To whom shall we go? That's what
we say. Whom have I in heaven but thee?
Tell me, whom do I have in heaven but Christ? For whom do I have on earth and
desire but thee? Oh, Spurgeon brought a message
on this and had three point outlines, verse 10. He said, All important knowledge,
they that know thy name. That's the reason that I, the
elders, and other men who preach here are so careful to study
the scriptures, study the scriptures, find out what the old timers
have said, what others whom God has used have said, that you
might know his name. Because if you ever learn his
name, you'll trust him. It's an important knowledge.
Know his name. I know his name. And then the
second part Spurgeon had was a blessed result. They that know
thy name will trust in thee. It's just, you say, when will
I be saved? When you know his name. That's when. When will I rest in Christ, believe
in Christ? When you find out who he is.
You can't help but believe you find out who he is. He's the only holy one. He's
the only truth. He's the only way. He's the only
life. He's the only hope. He's the only high priest. He's the only redeemer. You know
his name, you'll trust him. And you can pull him and beg
him and coerce him and humiliate him and reward him and whatever
you want to do. But when they know his name,
they'll trust him. Scepter. Can't help it. Thy people
shall be winning in the day of thy power. You will, you'll trust
him. And you'll never trust anybody
but him. And you'll trust him with all
your heart, soul, mind, and strength. You'll trust him. That's the
result. Thirdly, Spurgeon said, here's
the reason. Sufficient reason. For Lord, thy Lord has never forsaken those
that seek him. He never will. Now I close with
verse 11. Sing praises to the Lord, you
which dwell in Zion. Declare among the people his
doings. You who dwell in Zion, you have
a twofold occupation. Sing praises to the Lord. Sing
praises to the Lord. and declare among the people
his doings, preach his marvelous works, saving grace. That's our two-fold occupation,
to praise the Lord and to preach the truth. Praising God and preaching his
doings are joined together and are the means of glorifying him.
Now let me show you something. It is remarkable absolutely remarkable
if you think about it. All the revivals, all the revivals
of gospel ministry, of grace, God refreshing, have been a revival
of two things, the spirit of song and the proclamation of
his works. Moses, Exodus 15, you want to
talk about that just a moment? Give me a minute or two more.
Moses came out of Egypt, and the Egyptians were drowned, but
Moses did a chapter 15 of Exodus. Then sang Moses and the children
of Israel this psalm. Woo! They began to sing. Unto the Lord, and spake saying,
I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously
The horse and the rider hath he thrown in the sea. The Lord
is my strength and my song. He's become my salvation. He's
my God. I will prepare him a habitation. My Father's God, I'll exalt him.