Praise the Lord!
Psalm 9:1–20
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart. Psalm 9:1
The tone of Psalm 9 is set by the first two verses, which declare David’s intention of praising God verbally, with words and in song, and with his whole heart. Here we need to apply David’s example to ourselves, for it is often the case that we do neither of these things. We do not praise God with our lips very much, if at all. And when we do, if we do, we praise him halfheartedly. In many churches the hymns are rather mumbled than sung, and no one under any circumstances actually praises God in words. It is more often true that Christians complain of how God has been treating them, carry on excessively about their personal needs or desires, or gossip. This should not be. Christian worship should be more like the exuberant worship of ancient Israel than it is.
Let me tell you about one thing I have started to do as a result of my study of the psalms. Recognizing that they are open in their praise of God (as well as emotive in their articulation of pain or grief), I decided to make a point every day of acknowledging God’s goodness in some area to some person. That does not seem like much. But when I began to think along these lines, I realized how much time frequently went by without my having praised God for anything. And I discovered something else. Once I had begun to make a point of acknowledging God’s goodness, I began to think of his goodness more often, and I actually developed a more positive and spiritual frame of mind. This is not mere psychological conditioning, though it works that way perhaps. It is actually a recognition (not always easy to achieve) that God is constantly active in our lives and that, as the apostle Paul put it, “in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Rom. 8:28 NIV).
Later in the psalm David appeals for mercy so that “I may recount all your praises” (Ps. 9:14). It is a way of saying that man’s chief end is not to enjoy this life or even to escape the punishment due us for our many sins, but to praise God.
“What is the chief end of man?”
You know the answer: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever” (Westminster Shorter Catechism, question and answer 1). And those are not separate things. To glorify God is to enjoy him, and the enjoyment of God always results in the praise of his people. We never come closer to our true and ultimate destiny as redeemed persons than when we do that, just as David has done so beautifully in this psalm. So praise the Lord! Praise the Lord always and with your whole heart!
Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865
Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.