◄ Psalm 9:3 ►














Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Praise For The Destroyer's Destruction
Psalm 9:1-20
C. Clemance
The title of this psalm is obscure. Its archaisms cannot now be satisfactorily explained. And even a reference to the most learned expositors may possibly only increase the confusion. The title, indeed, is very suggestive. It reads, "Upon the death of Labben." Walford regards "Muth-labben" as the name of a musical instrument. For this we can find no warrant. The word muth, which is equivalent to "death," seems to put us on a line of thought which is, at any rate, in harmony with the entire psalm. If we grant (as appears from the whole tenor of the verses) that the reference is to the death of some enemy, by whose plots and snares the people of God were imperilled, the whole song reads naturally enough. Whether we read "Labben" as a proper name, or read it "of the Son," or regard the psalm as referring to the death of Goliath of Gath, is of no consequence as regards its general meaning or spiritual significance. Delitzsch, indeed, says, "This psalm is a thoroughly national song of thanksgiving for victory by David, belonging to the time when Jahve was already enthroned on Zion (ver. 14), and therefore to the time after the ark was brought home." He asks," Was it composed after the triumphant extermination of the Syro-Ammonitish War?" Hengstenberg remarks, "The relation which David had in view when he composed this psalm for public use was that of the Church of God to its external enemies." Note: It is a fitting occasion for sanctuary-song when God's people are delivered from threatening perils. Many English hearts would send up such a shout of praise as we find here, over England's deliverance from the Spanish Armada. The joy, however, was not in its destruction, but in Britain's safety. For a pulpit exposition of the psalm, we have five lines of thought presented to us.

I. WE HAVE HERE SHOWN US IN WHAT PERIL GOD'S PEOPLE HAD BEEN PLACED. Although we cannot be sure to what specific events this psalm refers, yet several phrases therein show us the kind of peril to which the writer alludes, and thus put both expositor and preacher on the line for usefully and helpfully dealing therewith on any special occasion when unusual perils beset the Church of God. E.g.:

1. Enemies (ver. 3).

2. Oppression (ver. 12).

3. Murder (ver. 12).

4. Deceit (ver. 15).

Four formidable terms, surely - sufficiently typical of perils which have had to be confronted again and again in the history of God's Church, whether from paganism, or from the papacy, or from mere worldly hostility to goodness and truth.

II. GOD HAD WROUGHT A GREAT DELIVERANCE FOR HIS PEOPLE. The psalm is, owing to this deliverance, one of triumph and joy.

1. It was so illustrious as to be altogether marvellous, yea, miraculous (ver. 1).

2. God had manifested his judgments (ver. 7).

3. He had rebuked the nations (ver. 5).

4. Had brought guilty cities low, and even blotted them out (ver. 6).

5. Had shown himself as the Goel, the Avenger of innocent blood (ver. 12).

6. Had manifested his remembrance of the poor and of the oppressed (ver. 12).

7. Had made the devices of the wicked to recoil upon themselves.

These are but so many illustrative forms of the way in which God's providence is ever working in the world, even now, under the administration of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Head over all things to his Church.

III. SUCH DELIVERANCES HAD THROWN GREAT LIGHT ON GOD'S CHARACTER, WORKS, AND WAYS. They had shown:

1. How truly there is a throne high above all the scheming and plotting of men (ver. 7)!

2. That under the sway of that throne judgment is administered for all who are oppressed.

3. That this judgment is manifested in vindicating right and putting wrong to shame (vers. 7, 8).

4. That such glorious and gracious government reveals the lustre of God's everlasting Name. All providential dealings are disclosers of God. "Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord."

IV. A SONG OF GRATITUDE, TRIUMPH, AND TRUST IS HEREBY AWAKENED. The very beginning of the psalm is an outburst of thankfulness (ver. 1). The psalmist gathers from deliverances already effected, a ground of trust in God for future days (vers. 9, 10). Judgments already brought to pass prove that God will not let evil deeds slumber in everlasting forgetfulness, and that he will not let the cry of the humble and downtrodden remain for ever unheard (ver. 12). Yea, more. They prove the glorious truth which is triumphantly proclaimed in ver. 17, "The wicked shall return to Sheol, and all the nations that forget God." Few verses, indeed, have been more violently twisted than this to make it suit the exigencies of mediaeval theology. It has been repeatedly dealt with as if it were a sentence on the wicked of everlasting woe. The question of future punishment is dealt with clearly enough in other parts of the Word of God. But it is not that which is intended here. The verse means - God will not suffer wicked people or nations perpetually to oppress the Church. In a little, in his own good time, they shall return to the dust whence they came, and enter the invisible realm of the dead. That this is the meaning intended is shown by the verse which follows (ver. 18; cf. also Psalm 37:10). Cheer up, ye poor, despised, and oppressed people of God! Your Vindicator liveth. He will bring you forth to the light when your foes shall have vanished from the scene.

V. THE GRATEFUL SONG OVER MERCIES PAST IS FOLLOWED BY A PRAYER THAT MERCIES YET NEEDED MAY BE VOUCHSAFED.

1. Although there had been a marked deliverance, yet the affliction from which the psalmist had suffered still left its scars upon him. Hence the prayer in vers. 13, 14. The oppression and the oppressor may be speedily removed, but the depression thereby caused lasts long after. And only the . prolonged bestowal of grace to help in time of need will ever be sufficient to meet the case.

2. The future security of the world depends on the manifestation of the Divine presence and power; in counteracting the base designs of men, in asserting the right, and avenging the wrong (ver. 19).

3. This can only be done, perhaps, by such judgments as will make the nations tremble, and so will cause them to feel their utter impotence in the grasp of the mighty God (ver. 20). Note: The remarks, applicable to so many psalms, should not be overlooked here.

1. That we have here, not words of God to man, but words of man to God. Hence they may or may not be models for our imitation. Anyway, no inspiration in prayer can rise above the level of the revelation which had been granted where and when such prayer was offered.

2. Although, in every country and age, prayer from the heart must be limited by the measure of light in the conscience, yet a gracious God will answer it, not according to its limitation or imperfection, but according to his infinite wisdom, his boundless love, and his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

3. The Divine answers to such prayers as we find in the psalm, although they bring deliverance to the righteous, will bring terror and confusion to the wicked. The destruction of Pharaoh's host is the salvation of the hosts of the Lord. - C.

Biblical Illustrator
For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.
Psalm 9:18
Good cheer for the needy
The value of a text depends very much upon the man to whom it comes. The song of the troubadour was very charming to Richard, because he knew the responsive verses. The trail is full of meaning to the Indian, for his quick eye knows how to follow it. So will those who are spiritually poor and needy eagerly lay hold on this promise. It is literally true that the needy are remembered of God. In bitter times He will so order governments that they shall look with peculiar interest upon the poor. In text we have —

I. TWO BITTER EXPERIENCES ENDED.

1. The needy shall not always be forgotten by former friends and admirers; in arrangements made and plans projected; in judgments formed and in praises distributed; in help estimated and reliance expressed. Such are usually left out of our calculation, forgotten as a dead man out of mind. But this will not be always so.

2. "The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever." You have been disappointed, in your natural expectation from justice, gratitude, relationship, age, sympathy, charity, etc.; in your confidence in man; in your judgments of yourself; in your expectations of providence.

II. TWO SAD FEARS REMOVED.

1. Not forever shall you be forgotten. You shall not meet with final forgetfulness. Nor in the day of severe trouble. In the night of grief and alarm for sin. In the hour of death.

2. Nor shall your expectation perish. Your weakness shall not frustrate the power of God, nor your sin dry up the grace of God. Your constitutional infirmities shall not cause your overthrow.

III. TWO SWEET PROMISES GIVEN.

1. You shall not be overlooked by the Father, Son, or Holy Ghost.

2. You shall not be disappointed. Peace shall visit your heart, sin vanquished, and an abundant entrance into glory. Then, hope in God.

( C. H. Spurgeon.).

Why standest Thou afar off, O Lord?
Psalm 10
A theological difficulty, a haughty impiety, an earnest prayer
D. Thomas, D. D.
I. A THEOLOGICAL DIFFICULTY. — "Why standest Thou afar off, O Lord?" Some great enormity was now under the eyes of David. We know not what. He had witnessed many such scenes. They have a tendency to suggest that God is indifferent. Even Christ felt this. "Why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Why does not God interfere? We cannot fully answer the question, but we may consider —

1. That God respects that freedom of action with which He has endowed man.

2. The sufferings which the wicked inflict upon the good are often disciplinary. Faith rests itself deeper.

3. There will be a period of retribution, "For all these things God will bring thee into judgment."

II. A HAUGHTY IMPIETY. "The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor. See this impiety —

1. In its conduct towards men. It is cruel — "persecutes." It is fraudulent — "his mouth is full of deceit and fraud," both in speech — "under his tongue," etc., and practice — "he sitteth in the lurking places," etc.

2. In its conduct towards God.There is here —

1. An expressed contempt for the Eternal. "For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire," etc.

2. A practical disregard for the Eternal, "God is not in all his thoughts." He is without God.

3. An awful calumny on the Eternal. "He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten me." Haughty impiety indeed.

III. AN EARNEST PRAYER. Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up Thine hand. He desires —

1. A merciful interposition on behalf of the good. "Forget not the humble." Piety ever breathes its prayers to heaven for such.

2. A righteous interposition against the wicked. "Break Thou the arm," etc. "Seek out his wickedness," etc. We cannot justify this part of David's prayers, which were often as imperfect as many parts of his conduct.

IV. AN EXULTANT FAITH. "The Lord is King forever and ever." David believed —

1. In the perpetuity of God's Kingdom.

2. In His attention to human entreaties. "Lord, Thou hast heard the desire of the humble."

3. In His vindication of the right. "To judge the fatherless," etc. The wicked man is in an especial sense "the man of the earth." Sprung from, living by and for it, and it only.

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

Man's cry for a solution of the felt distance of his Maker
J. Parker, D. D.
There are many other passages which express the same sentiment (Jeremiah 14:8). This cry implies —

1. That the distance is unnatural; and

2. Undesirable. Hence the question, How can this distance be explained? There are three sources to which alone we can look for light.

I. HUMAN PHILOSOPHY. It may theorise thus —

1. That God is too great to allow of close connection with Him. This is the Epicurean view. But no true thinker can accept it.

2. That the cause of the felt distance is God's method of agency. This is mediatory and uniform; not direct, but indirect. He stands concealed behind the machinery of the universe. But this no satisfactory explanation. He acts mediatorially in heaven, and yet all there feel His presence. And there is uniformity in heaven also, but neither does that hinder the realisation of His presence.

II. SPECULATIVE THEOLOGY. This says that man by sin has offended God, and hence God has in anger withdrawn from men, and will not return until His wrath is appeased by sacrifice. But this explanation fails —

1. Because inconsistent with the immutability of the Divine character. He cannot pass from love to anger, from the placid to the furious. It is impossible.

2. And inconsistent also with the moral excellence of God. Can what is unamiable with man be right with God? I trow not.

III. DIVINE REVELATION. It teaches that we by our sin have departed from God. The sinner is the prodigal son. Now,

1. This is a satisfactory solution. When we have sinned we feel God distant from us, and, moreover, indignant with us. So He appears to the sinful mind. In reality God is near him and loves him infinitely. But the Bible often presents God as He appears to the mind, as it speaks of natural objects as they appear to our senses. And

2. It is a vital solution. Knowing the cause is indispensable to its removal. And this the Bible teaches.

(J. Parker, D. D.)

People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Backward, Broken, Enemies, Face, Fall, Haters, Overcome, Perish, Perished, Presence, Stumble, Stumbled, Turn, Turning
Outline
1. David praises God for executing judgment
11. He incites others to praise him
13. He prays that he may have cause to praise him

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 9:3

     5186   stumbling

Psalm 9:1-6

     8644   commemoration

Library
Dilemma and Deliverance
Now, this morning, in addressing you, I shall divide my text into three parts. First, I shall note a certain fiery dart of Satan; secondly, I shall point out to you heaven's divine buckler, as hinted at in the text--"Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee;" and then, in the third place, I shall notice man's precious privilege of seeking God, and so of arming himself against Satan. I. First, then, I am to dwell for a little time upon A CERTAIN FIERY DART OF SATAN WHICH IS CONSTANTLY SHOT …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860

Joy in Salvation
"I will rejoice in thy salvation."--Psalm 9:4. I DESIRE to continue the topic of the morning, only we will look at another side of the same important matter. We spoke this morning, as you have not forgotten, upon these words, "Your own salvation." I trust most of us--would God I could hope all of us--were earnest about our own personal salvation. To those who are earnest this second text will be the complement of the first. They desire that their own salvation shall be secure; it is their own salvation …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 62: 1916

Cry we Therefore with the Spirit of Charity...
26. Cry we therefore with the spirit of charity, and until we come to the inheritance in which we are alway to remain, let us be, through love which becometh the free-born, not through fear which becometh bondmen, patient of suffering. Cry we, so long as we are poor, until we be with that inheritance made rich. Seeing how great earnest thereof we have received, in that Christ to make us rich made Himself poor; Who being exalted unto the riches which are above, there was sent One Who should breathe …
St. Augustine—On Patience

A Few Sighs from Hell;
or, The Groans of the Damned Soul: or, An Exposition of those Words in the Sixteenth of Luke, Concerning the Rich Man and the Beggar WHEREIN IS DISCOVERED THE LAMENTABLE STATE OF THE DAMNED; THEIR CRIES, THEIR DESIRES IN THEIR DISTRESSES, WITH THE DETERMINATION OF GOD UPON THEM. A GOOD WARNING WORD TO SINNERS, BOTH OLD AND YOUNG, TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION BETIMES, AND TO SEEK, BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, TO AVOID, LEST THEY COME INTO THE SAME PLACE OF TORMENT. Also, a Brief Discourse touching the …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

But Concerning True Patience, Worthy of the Name of this virtue...
12. But concerning true patience, worthy of the name of this virtue, whence it is to be had, must now be inquired. For there are some [2650] who attribute it to the strength of the human will, not which it hath by Divine assistance, but which it hath of free-will. Now this error is a proud one: for it is the error of them which abound, of whom it is said in the Psalm, "A scornful reproof to them which abound, and a despising to the proud." [2651] It is not therefore that "patience of the poor" which …
St. Augustine—On Patience

Jesus, My Rock.
When the storm and the tempest are raging around me, Oh! where shall I flee to be safe from their shock? There are walls which no mortal hands built to surround me, A Refuge Eternal,--'Tis JESUS MY ROCK! When my heart is all sorrow, and trials aggrieve me, To whom can I safely my secrets unlock? No bosom (save one) has the power to relieve me, The bosom which bled for me, JESUS MY ROCK! When Life's gloomy curtain, at last, shall close o'er me, And the chill hand of death unexpectedly knock, I will …
John Ross Macduff—The Cities of Refuge: or, The Name of Jesus

"Because of his Importunity. "
"Nov. 19 [1846].--I am now led more and more to importune the Lord to send me the means, which are requisite in order that I may be able to commence the building. Because (1) it has been for some time past publicly stated in print, that I allow it is not without ground that some of the inhabitants of Wilson Street consider themselves inconvenienced by the Orphan-Houses being in that street, and I long therefore to be able to remove the Orphans from thence as soon as possible. (2) I become more and …
George Müller—Answers to Prayer

The Desire of the Righteous Granted;
OR, A DISCOURSE OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN'S DESIRES. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR As the tree is known by its fruit, so is the state of a man's heart known by his desires. The desires of the righteous are the touchstone or standard of Christian sincerity--the evidence of the new birth--the spiritual barometer of faith and grace--and the springs of obedience. Christ and him crucified is the ground of all our hopes--the foundation upon which all our desires after God and holiness are built--and the root …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Heart's Desire Given to Help Mission Work in China.
"Sept. 30 [1869].--From Yorkshire L50.--Received also One Thousand Pounds to-day for the Lord's work in China. About this donation it is especially to be noticed, that for months it had been my earnest desire to do more than ever for Mission Work in China, and I had already taken steps to carry out this desire, when this donation of One Thousand Pounds came to hand. This precious answer to prayer for means should be a particular encouragement to all who are engaged in the Lord's work, and who may …
George Müller—Answers to Prayer

Introduction. Chapter i. --The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers.
St. Hilary of Poitiers is one of the greatest, yet least studied, of the Fathers of the Western Church. He has suffered thus, partly from a certain obscurity in his style of writing, partly from the difficulty of the thoughts which he attempted to convey. But there are other reasons for the comparative neglect into which he has fallen. He learnt his theology, as we shall see, from Eastern authorities, and was not content to carry on and develop the traditional teaching of the West; and the disciple …
St. Hilary of Poitiers—The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers

Trials of the Christian
AFFLICTION--ITS NATURE AND BENEFITS. The school of the cross is the school of light; it discovers the world's vanity, baseness, and wickedness, and lets us see more of God's mind. Out of dark afflictions comes a spiritual light. In times of affliction, we commonly meet with the sweetest experiences of the love of God. The end of affliction is the discovery of sin; and of that, to bring us to a Saviour. Doth not God ofttimes even take occasion, by the hardest of things that come upon us, to visit …
John Bunyan—The Riches of Bunyan

The Care of the Soul Urged as the one Thing Needful
Luke 10:42 -- "But one thing is needful." It was the amiable character of our blessed Redeemer, that "he went about doing good," this great motive, which animated all his actions, brought him to the house of his friend Lazarus, at Bethany, and directed his behavior there. Though it was a season of recess from public labor, our Lord brought the sentiments and the pious cares of a preacher of righteousness into the parlor of a friend; and there his doctrine dropped as the rain, and distilled as the …
George Whitefield—Selected Sermons of George Whitefield

Letter xix (A. D. 1127) to Suger, Abbot of S. Denis
To Suger, Abbot of S. Denis He praises Suger, who had unexpectedly renounced the pride and luxury of the world to give himself to the modest habits of the religious life. He blames severely the clerk who devotes himself rather to the service of princes than that of God. 1. A piece of good news has reached our district; it cannot fail to do great good to whomsoever it shall have come. For who that fear God, hearing what great things He has done for your soul, do not rejoice and wonder at the great …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

King of Kings and Lord of Lords
And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, K ING OF K INGS AND L ORD OF L ORDS T he description of the administration and glory of the Redeemer's Kingdom, in defiance of all opposition, concludes the second part of Messiah Oratorio. Three different passages from the book of Revelation are selected to form a grand chorus, of which Handel's title in this verse is the close --a title which has been sometimes vainly usurped by proud worms of this earth. Eastern monarchs, in particular, …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

The Knowledge of God
'The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.' I Sam 2:2. Glorious things are spoken of God; he transcends our thoughts, and the praises of angels. God's glory lies chiefly in his attributes, which are the several beams by which the divine nature shines forth. Among other of his orient excellencies, this is not the least, The Lord is a God of knowledge; or as the Hebrew word is, A God of knowledges.' Through the bright mirror of his own essence, he has a full idea and cognisance …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Justice of God
The next attribute is God's justice. All God's attributes are identical, and are the same with his essence. Though he has several attributes whereby he is made known to us, yet he has but one essence. A cedar tree may have several branches, yet it is but one cedar. So there are several attributes of God whereby we conceive of him, but only one entire essence. Well, then, concerning God's justice. Deut 32:4. Just and right is he.' Job 37:23. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

A Preliminary Discourse to Catechising
'If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled.' - Col 1:23. Intending next Lord's day to enter upon the work of catechising, it will not be amiss to give you a preliminary discourse, to show you how needful it is for Christians to be well instructed in the grounds of religion. If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled.' I. It is the duty of Christians to be settled in the doctrine of faith. II. The best way for Christians to be settled is to be well grounded. I. It is the duty of Christians …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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