Tuesday 17th November

Psalm 9

1 I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. 2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High. 3 My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you. 4 For you have upheld my right and my cause, sitting enthroned as the righteous judge. 7 The Lord reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. 8 He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity. 9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.10 Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
 
I wonder when we come to praise God in song what is really in our minds. Sometimes, if it is a new worship song, we can be so focused on getting the words right that we lose the clarity of worshipping God.. At the opposite extreme we can be so engaged in the music of a familiar worship song that the words themselves cease to register and it is very much a case of being on automatic pilot. The danger then is that our enjoyment becomes the objective.  In this case David the author of the psalm is filled with praise because of God’s wonderful deeds and his praise comes from the heart.

The events that have led to this outburst of praise are set out in the rest of the psalm but are summarised in verse four “You have upheld my right and my cause”. God has stepped in on David’s side and will, in time, bring to book those who have attacked him. A second reason for praise is in verse ten “…you Lord have never forsaken those who seek you.”

Thankfully in our generation and in the west we are seldom in the position of someone threatening our life though from time to time we may be in the unfortunate position of people saying things about us that are untrue. That in itself can be hard to take and we feel very much at their mercy and unable to defend ourselves. While that is something we may just have to bear at the very least those who trust in Christ know the truth of verse ten that the Lord has never forsaken those who seek him.

​It was Forrest Gump, who in the1994 film of the same name said “My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get”. Some experiences will be pleasant and others distasteful or even threatening.  If we don’t know what lies ahead for ourselves our families or our nation especially in these uncertain time at least take comfort in the fact that the Lord does and whatever the circumstances of life he has never forsaken those who are sincere in their discipleship or in seeking him and that is the constant witness of God’s word and of those who love and serve him.  Reason enough for heartfelt praise. Don’t you think?