Praise God for His Deliverance (Psalm 9).

* The Psalmist worships the Lord (Psalm 9:1-2).

* He does not speak proud words. He sees all things in the light of the holy God (Psalm 9:3-8).

* At the heart of this Psalm, there is a declaration of the character of God (Psalm 9:7-8).

* The majesty, righteousness and judgment of God - Have we lost these important aspects of God's character? Have we turned God into a sentimentalized 'god' of our own making? Let's not take God for granted. Let God be God. This is very different from insisting that God must be what we think He should be.

* We read about God's trustworthiness (Psalm 9:9-10).

* We praise God. We make it known that He is to be praised (Psalm 9:11-12).

* In our worship, we speak of God's judgment as well as His salvation. (Psalm 9:12).

* In our worship, we look to the Lord for mercy and, with joy, we praise Him for His salvation (Psalm 9:13-14).

* As well as emphasizing that God is trustworthy, we must also emphasize that He is not to be taken for granted by proud unbelief (Psalm 9:15-16).

* We must take seriously the radical contrast between the "wicked" and the "needy" (Psalm 9:17-18). Who are the "needy"? - Here, God's Word is speaking to us of the godly who recognize their spiritual need of the Lord's saving grace. By contrasting the "wicked" and the "needy", God is calling us to come to Him, in our need, and receive, from Him, his salvation.

* There are two prayers which we must pray. - We must ask that God will make it known that He is Lord (Psalm 9:19). We must ask that we will recognize that we are "but men" (Psalm 9:20). When we recognize that God is God and we are but men, we are ready to be led to the Cross where we learn of both God's hatred of sin and God's love for the sinner. Thus, we come to the point where we are able to share, with the Psalmist, in worshipping the Lord (Psalm 9:1-2). We worship God as those who have come to trust in Him as the God of our salvation (Psalm 9:9-10).

* Trusting in the Lord, the God of our salvation, our worship is heartfelt worship (Psalm 9:1). Trusting in the Lord, the God of our salvation, our worship is joyful worship (Psalm 9:2).

Conversion

" ... Will you ... come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, We are safe" - safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears My Name become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord" (Jeremiah 7:8-11). “God demands a conversion of the mind and heart as the basis of peace and security (cf. Is 26:3), not the superstitious veneration of a stone building or a traditionally sacred site” ( R K Harrison , Jeremiah ).

"In the beginning, God" (Genesis 1:1).

"In the beginning, God" (Genesis 1:1). Here, we are taken back to eternity, back to the eternal God. There is nothing beyond this. There is nothing beyond Him. "God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). He is the Lord of heaven and earth. The mention of heaven and earth in the Bible's opening verse sends our minds on from the beginning to the middle and the end of God's great Story of salvation. At the heart of this wonderful Story, there is Jesus Christ who came from heaven to earth for us. The Story moves on to the marvellous fulfilment of God's plan of salvation. The Lord Jesus will come to take us from earth to heaven to share with Him in the glory of eternal life.

Lord, we worship You in the place of worship ...

Psalm 48:1-14 Lord, we worship You in the place of worship – “Within Your Temple, we meditate on Your unfailing love.” Help us to go out from there, and play our part in seeing that Your praise “reaches to the ends of the earth” (Psalm 48:: 9-11). How will other people know of Your love, if we don’t tell them? How will they find their way to Your House, if we don’t invite them? When we share Your Word with others, help us to remember Your promise: “My Word … will not return to Me empty, but will … achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

Feasting on God's Word (One Year Bible)

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