Today's Featured Psalm
Psalm 9

Read this Psalm

To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

1 I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
   I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you;
   I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

3 When my enemies turn back,
   they stumble and perish before your presence.
4 For you have maintained my just cause;
   you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.

5 You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;
   you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;
   their cities you rooted out;
   the very memory of them has perished.

7 But the LORD sits enthroned forever;
   he has established his throne for justice,
8 and he judges the world with righteousness;
   he judges the peoples with uprightness.

9 The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
   a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,
   for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

11 Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion!
   Tell among the peoples his deeds!
12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
   he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

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

Scripture taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Psalm Devotional
Praise for the Coming King

This psalm is about praise—praise for personal deliverance, God’s universal reign, and the mediatorial kingship of Christ.

The first two verses of this psalm teach us several things about worship. First, we learn that worship is a matter of the heart. As exclusive psalm singers, Reformed Presbyterians appropriately quote Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:19 as evidence to support this practice; but we must never forget that those texts include admonitions regarding our hearts as well as our lips. The heart represents the whole being of the worshiper. We must be diligent in keeping form and substance in balance.

Second, worship is redemptive-historical. The psalmist says that he will tell of God’s wonders. Our worship services should be patterned after the drama of redemption. They should tell of God’s wonders in the Person and work of Jesus Christ.

Third, our worship should be joyful. The psalmist says, “I will be glad and rejoice in you” (v. 2). Are you glad and joyful in worship? If not, why not? Ask yourself, “Whose responsibility is it to make me joyful in worship?” Is it the church’s, God’s, or does it come down to the state of my own heart?

Listen to this Psalm

Trust album art I Now Will Give Wholehearted Thanks (Psalm 9A)
The Book of Psalms for Worship | Trust
Zion album art Sing Praise to the Lord (Psalm 9B)
The Book of Psalms for Worship | Zion