Post by arete on Aug 18, 2014 20:14:13 GMT
Introduction:
Many Christians seem to understand the concept of being saved by grace, but they have missed the concept of being sustained by grace (James D. Mallory, Jr.) The psalmist this morning does not miss his need to be sustained by grace. After praying out his grief over his situation and praising God for who God is and also for what he has done, the psalmist now turns to petitioning God for grace to sustain him in his grief and to steer him to trust God with every outcome…
Context:
Last time in Psalm 9, we looked at the first portion of this lament psalm. Remember, a lament is a psalm that expresses grief of one’s condition and includes the lament, a statement of trust in God and an affirmation of praise to him. Psalm 9 is an individual lament psalm, combining prayer with praise and telling of God's just rule over the nations. The first 12 verses followed an unusual pattern of praise, lament, statement of trust and then praise. The final verses move from the standard lament to personal petition to God in light of the first part of the psalm.
Body – Psalm 9:13-20 – ESV
13 Be gracious to me, O LORD!
See my affliction from those who hate me,
O you who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may recount all your praises,
that in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may rejoice in your salvation.
15 The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 The LORD has made himself known; he has executed judgment;
the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah
17 The wicked shall return to Sheol,
all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail;
let the nations be judged before you!
20 Put them in fear, O LORD!
Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah
Cry for Grace vv. 13-15
The psalmist cries out for God to be gracious to him (v. 13a). This is always an appropriate prayer. We are always in need of God’s grace. It is his grace that restrains his hand from giving us what we deserve. We claim that grace through Jesus Christ and only him.
1. He wants God to see him (v. 13b). This may seem odd. Doesn’t God see everything? Yes, he does. But the Psalmist is asking for God to take notice that enemies of God are afflicting him and he is asking that God move on his behalf to end the affliction
2. He knows God is his Deliverer (v. 13c). The idea of being lifted up is to be delivered to a safe place – to be put in an ark or on a solid rock. God is the one who delivers us even from the gates of death to eternal life
The psalmist looks forward to praising God for his deliverance (v. 14a). He contrasts the gates of death with the gates of Zion – God’s holy hill.
1. He will praise God before and with all of God’s people (v. 14b). Zion is where God’s people live in God’s presence. The psalmist wants to join his voice to theirs in earthly and heavenly praise to God. He wants to sing about God seeing and delivering him from evil men & affliction
2. He will rejoice in God’s salvation (v. 14c). This is more than salvation from evil men, but is also salvation to God and his presence. The psalmist takes great joy that God is his Savior.
3. The psalmist contrasts his position with his enemies’ (v. 15). Enemies of God are their own worst enemy. The psalmist gets grace and not his due punishment for sin because God has saved him. The enemies of God remain in their wickedness. Every evil they pursue adds to their misery. Even when evil men seem to prosper, their continued evil is God’s judgment on them.
Illustration:
Let weak Christians know that a spark from heaven, though kindled under green wood that sobs and smokes, yet it will consume all at last. —Richard Sibbes
Application:
Grace is the answer for every affliction. You have been or will be afflicted or are being afflicted now. You have also been the afflicter. Revenge is not the medicine you need; grace is. No matter the trial, no matter how weak you feel in the face of affliction, grace is the answer. Grace does not come from the church, the pastor or the elders, no, we are in as serious need of grace as any other man. You need grace & there is but one source, God in heaven & there is no one between you & him, but Jesus Christ. There is no doubt; you need grace more than oxygen & food & water & shelter. Grace is free to you from God because its great price has already been paid by the same Jesus who saves & extends God’s grace to man. You need grace. Pray to God for it. He alone can give it & he gives it lavishly.
Call for Judgment vv. 16-18
God has not been silent concerning his enemies (v. 16). There is no excuse left for anyone to claim ignorance of God’s existence or his standards.
1. God has made himself known (v. 16a). The psalmist does not go into how God has done this. He assumes we know that creation itself declares a Creator. God has made himself known to man and makes himself known to his enemies by his judgments.
2. God has handed down judgment (v. 16b). This idea focuses on a legal trial and absolute justice. God’s judgment will be totally right and based on total truth.
3. God has visited his enemies own evil upon themselves (v. 16c). God’s judgment of evil is that evil men pursue more evil. Evil actions are judgment. It means that wicked persons only add to their wickedness and compound their judgment. Their evil schemes bring them low.
The enemies of God forget God and pay the price (v. 17). As evil men pursue evil, they forget that they must answer to God one day. They assume that since he does not punish them, but permits their evil, he is either powerless or absent. But God does exact punishment – one day they will enter their grave, Sheol, and only hell awaits.
The helpless and needy will not be forgotten by God (v. 18). Why contrast the poor and needy to the wicked? The poor and needy are often the victims of wicked men and evil nations. Also, the poor and needy know their helplessness unlike wicked men, and turn toward mankind’s only help – their Creator. God will remember and care for the poor – and the hope here that cannot perish is the hope found in the blood of Jesus Christ.
Illustration:
Sinners, like those that are mad, destroy themselves with foolish lusts, and yet at the same time decieve themselves with foolish hopes; and they are, of all diseased persons, most enemies to their own cure. Matthew Henry
Application:
Delayed judgment does not mean God is pleased. We sometimes wonder at how wicked persons seem to prosper and flourish. We can really wonder if it makes our affliction flourish and grow. Or sometimes we allow ourselves to dabble in sin and when God doesn’t discipline us we try to convince ourselves it’s okay. Evil compounding on itself is judgment and punishment. Sin brings only evil and death. When sins compound, the death and destruction grows too. Understand that evil men are receiving their punishment and at the same time do not let God’s discipline on you grow in secret sin, but repent and pray for mercy and grace.
Confidence in God vv. 19-20
The psalmist speaks a command to God…but not really (v. 19). The way the final two verses are written is in an imperative, or command. However, it is a special way in the psalmist’s language to emphasize that he knows God will do this because God has done, is doing, and will do this because it perfectly reflects God’s nature and person.
God will arise against his enemies (v. 19a). Let that sink in…God standing up from his throne in his full immensity and with all of heaven at his command. The same power that spoke everything into existence now bent toward an enemy…does that sound at all pleasant?
1. God will prevail over man (v. 19b). Sinful man cannot win. The created cannot hope to thwart his creator. Sin cannot win. The devil cannot win. Nothing can stand against God. Only those who stand with God will not be crushed when he rises up.
2. God will judge the nations (v. 19c). He is judging them now, but one day comes when he judges the world and ends evil once and for all.
God will strike fear in his enemies (v. 20a). Those who tried to forget him will now have cause to fear him. The cause was always there, but now there will be no escape from the terror.
The enemies of God will be put in their place (v. 20b). Men are finite, mortal creatures. God is the eternal all powerful creator. In other words God is god, and we aren’t.
Illustration:
A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:6-8 ESV)
Application:
God can be fully trusted to act like God. That may sound like a ridiculously obvious statement. Unfortunately, it is not always so obvious. People often claim to have faith that God will do something, but that “something” is not guaranteed by his word or his nature. People claim that God won’t or wouldn’t judge something as sin because of how they “feel” about it as opposed to what God has said. Be oh so very careful putting words in God’s mouth. Remember, God will prevail. His word will prevail.
So What Do We Do with This Now?
You need grace and lots of it every moment of every day. Remember the quote at the start of the sermon: Many Christians seem to understand the concept of being saved by grace, but they have missed the concept of being sustained by grace (James D. Mallory, Jr.). There is an endless supply of grace from God through Jesus Christ. Grace is not just for salvation, but for our continued growth in Christlikeness. You need it. You know where to get it.
Without grace, there is only judgment. God withholds his grace from wicked men and they sin all the more. The most wicked amongst men are the most to be pitied for the absence of God’s grace and presence is hell.
God can be trusted to extend grace and to execute judgment. That is the whole reason the psalmist turned to God with this petition. He knows God is completely trustworthy to shower grace on his child and to visit justice on his enemies.
Trust God this morning for the grace you need today and every day. Exercise care to not take his grace for granted. Rejoice in his grace. Praise his name among his people for it. Proclaim it to all men. Pray for it for yourself, your family, your friends, and your neighbors…
Benediction
"And now I commend you to God and to the message of his grace, a message that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified." (Acts 20:32 NRSV)
Many Christians seem to understand the concept of being saved by grace, but they have missed the concept of being sustained by grace (James D. Mallory, Jr.) The psalmist this morning does not miss his need to be sustained by grace. After praying out his grief over his situation and praising God for who God is and also for what he has done, the psalmist now turns to petitioning God for grace to sustain him in his grief and to steer him to trust God with every outcome…
Context:
Last time in Psalm 9, we looked at the first portion of this lament psalm. Remember, a lament is a psalm that expresses grief of one’s condition and includes the lament, a statement of trust in God and an affirmation of praise to him. Psalm 9 is an individual lament psalm, combining prayer with praise and telling of God's just rule over the nations. The first 12 verses followed an unusual pattern of praise, lament, statement of trust and then praise. The final verses move from the standard lament to personal petition to God in light of the first part of the psalm.
Body – Psalm 9:13-20 – ESV
13 Be gracious to me, O LORD!
See my affliction from those who hate me,
O you who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may recount all your praises,
that in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may rejoice in your salvation.
15 The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 The LORD has made himself known; he has executed judgment;
the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah
17 The wicked shall return to Sheol,
all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail;
let the nations be judged before you!
20 Put them in fear, O LORD!
Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah
Cry for Grace vv. 13-15
The psalmist cries out for God to be gracious to him (v. 13a). This is always an appropriate prayer. We are always in need of God’s grace. It is his grace that restrains his hand from giving us what we deserve. We claim that grace through Jesus Christ and only him.
1. He wants God to see him (v. 13b). This may seem odd. Doesn’t God see everything? Yes, he does. But the Psalmist is asking for God to take notice that enemies of God are afflicting him and he is asking that God move on his behalf to end the affliction
2. He knows God is his Deliverer (v. 13c). The idea of being lifted up is to be delivered to a safe place – to be put in an ark or on a solid rock. God is the one who delivers us even from the gates of death to eternal life
The psalmist looks forward to praising God for his deliverance (v. 14a). He contrasts the gates of death with the gates of Zion – God’s holy hill.
1. He will praise God before and with all of God’s people (v. 14b). Zion is where God’s people live in God’s presence. The psalmist wants to join his voice to theirs in earthly and heavenly praise to God. He wants to sing about God seeing and delivering him from evil men & affliction
2. He will rejoice in God’s salvation (v. 14c). This is more than salvation from evil men, but is also salvation to God and his presence. The psalmist takes great joy that God is his Savior.
3. The psalmist contrasts his position with his enemies’ (v. 15). Enemies of God are their own worst enemy. The psalmist gets grace and not his due punishment for sin because God has saved him. The enemies of God remain in their wickedness. Every evil they pursue adds to their misery. Even when evil men seem to prosper, their continued evil is God’s judgment on them.
Illustration:
Let weak Christians know that a spark from heaven, though kindled under green wood that sobs and smokes, yet it will consume all at last. —Richard Sibbes
Application:
Grace is the answer for every affliction. You have been or will be afflicted or are being afflicted now. You have also been the afflicter. Revenge is not the medicine you need; grace is. No matter the trial, no matter how weak you feel in the face of affliction, grace is the answer. Grace does not come from the church, the pastor or the elders, no, we are in as serious need of grace as any other man. You need grace & there is but one source, God in heaven & there is no one between you & him, but Jesus Christ. There is no doubt; you need grace more than oxygen & food & water & shelter. Grace is free to you from God because its great price has already been paid by the same Jesus who saves & extends God’s grace to man. You need grace. Pray to God for it. He alone can give it & he gives it lavishly.
Call for Judgment vv. 16-18
God has not been silent concerning his enemies (v. 16). There is no excuse left for anyone to claim ignorance of God’s existence or his standards.
1. God has made himself known (v. 16a). The psalmist does not go into how God has done this. He assumes we know that creation itself declares a Creator. God has made himself known to man and makes himself known to his enemies by his judgments.
2. God has handed down judgment (v. 16b). This idea focuses on a legal trial and absolute justice. God’s judgment will be totally right and based on total truth.
3. God has visited his enemies own evil upon themselves (v. 16c). God’s judgment of evil is that evil men pursue more evil. Evil actions are judgment. It means that wicked persons only add to their wickedness and compound their judgment. Their evil schemes bring them low.
The enemies of God forget God and pay the price (v. 17). As evil men pursue evil, they forget that they must answer to God one day. They assume that since he does not punish them, but permits their evil, he is either powerless or absent. But God does exact punishment – one day they will enter their grave, Sheol, and only hell awaits.
The helpless and needy will not be forgotten by God (v. 18). Why contrast the poor and needy to the wicked? The poor and needy are often the victims of wicked men and evil nations. Also, the poor and needy know their helplessness unlike wicked men, and turn toward mankind’s only help – their Creator. God will remember and care for the poor – and the hope here that cannot perish is the hope found in the blood of Jesus Christ.
Illustration:
Sinners, like those that are mad, destroy themselves with foolish lusts, and yet at the same time decieve themselves with foolish hopes; and they are, of all diseased persons, most enemies to their own cure. Matthew Henry
Application:
Delayed judgment does not mean God is pleased. We sometimes wonder at how wicked persons seem to prosper and flourish. We can really wonder if it makes our affliction flourish and grow. Or sometimes we allow ourselves to dabble in sin and when God doesn’t discipline us we try to convince ourselves it’s okay. Evil compounding on itself is judgment and punishment. Sin brings only evil and death. When sins compound, the death and destruction grows too. Understand that evil men are receiving their punishment and at the same time do not let God’s discipline on you grow in secret sin, but repent and pray for mercy and grace.
Confidence in God vv. 19-20
The psalmist speaks a command to God…but not really (v. 19). The way the final two verses are written is in an imperative, or command. However, it is a special way in the psalmist’s language to emphasize that he knows God will do this because God has done, is doing, and will do this because it perfectly reflects God’s nature and person.
God will arise against his enemies (v. 19a). Let that sink in…God standing up from his throne in his full immensity and with all of heaven at his command. The same power that spoke everything into existence now bent toward an enemy…does that sound at all pleasant?
1. God will prevail over man (v. 19b). Sinful man cannot win. The created cannot hope to thwart his creator. Sin cannot win. The devil cannot win. Nothing can stand against God. Only those who stand with God will not be crushed when he rises up.
2. God will judge the nations (v. 19c). He is judging them now, but one day comes when he judges the world and ends evil once and for all.
God will strike fear in his enemies (v. 20a). Those who tried to forget him will now have cause to fear him. The cause was always there, but now there will be no escape from the terror.
The enemies of God will be put in their place (v. 20b). Men are finite, mortal creatures. God is the eternal all powerful creator. In other words God is god, and we aren’t.
Illustration:
A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:6-8 ESV)
Application:
God can be fully trusted to act like God. That may sound like a ridiculously obvious statement. Unfortunately, it is not always so obvious. People often claim to have faith that God will do something, but that “something” is not guaranteed by his word or his nature. People claim that God won’t or wouldn’t judge something as sin because of how they “feel” about it as opposed to what God has said. Be oh so very careful putting words in God’s mouth. Remember, God will prevail. His word will prevail.
So What Do We Do with This Now?
You need grace and lots of it every moment of every day. Remember the quote at the start of the sermon: Many Christians seem to understand the concept of being saved by grace, but they have missed the concept of being sustained by grace (James D. Mallory, Jr.). There is an endless supply of grace from God through Jesus Christ. Grace is not just for salvation, but for our continued growth in Christlikeness. You need it. You know where to get it.
Without grace, there is only judgment. God withholds his grace from wicked men and they sin all the more. The most wicked amongst men are the most to be pitied for the absence of God’s grace and presence is hell.
God can be trusted to extend grace and to execute judgment. That is the whole reason the psalmist turned to God with this petition. He knows God is completely trustworthy to shower grace on his child and to visit justice on his enemies.
Trust God this morning for the grace you need today and every day. Exercise care to not take his grace for granted. Rejoice in his grace. Praise his name among his people for it. Proclaim it to all men. Pray for it for yourself, your family, your friends, and your neighbors…
Benediction
"And now I commend you to God and to the message of his grace, a message that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified." (Acts 20:32 NRSV)
