Psalm 9: Determined

Psalm 9 begins differently than the previous 6, rather than calling for God to do something, David tells God what he is going to do. The Moody Bible Commentary says that David begins by expressing his determination. There are points when our situations haven’t changed, and our requests haven’t been granted. Times when we are tempted to call our prayers “unanswered” and when our enemy wants us to believe that we’ve been unheard. There are moments where we say we’ve given everything to God, and yet, we seem to be holding on to what we think God should do more than remembering what God has done. These are times that call for determination, for a decision to continue, even to return to what we know, while we wait for what we hope.

In the middle of this Psalm we see that nothing in David’s situation had changed from the earlier Psalms. He is still surrounded by enemies, still considers himself afflicted, still counts himself among the oppressed, but rather than continuing to plead with God, he decides to talk to himself. This isn’t David giving up, believing the heavens had become brass or thinking that his prayers were not heard, this was David reminding himself of what he knew to be true.

David said, “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart . . .”. He determined he would be thankful for all God had done, while he waited to see what God would do. This wasn’t reverse psychology, David hoping that if he would be thankful in trouble that it would lead to trouble being removed. David was repositioning his heart, changing his gaze, lifting his eyes from those that surrounded him so that he could look clearly at the One who was holding him. A key to this isn’t only David’s decision to be thankful, but his determination to hold nothing back. “With my whole heart” means that he wasn’t going to give thanks with gritted teeth, not going to say, “hallelujah anyhow”. He wasn’t going to be thankful because “it could always be worse” or “others are in more difficult circumstances”. David was deciding to be thankful, he was going to lead his heart into thankfulness rather than following his heart into worry, fear, anxiety and self-pity.

“I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.” If you hear me speak or read my writing, you’ve heard me say that we’re a people who regularly forget what we should remember and remember what we should forget. David needed no help remembering his trouble but seemed to have easily forgotten God’s unwavering care. This was a man, who as a boy, killed a lion and a bear. He killed Goliath when all the other men of Israel cowered in fear. Women sang songs about his military exploits. And men that were cast out, overlooked and unwanted gathered around him as their leader. He was a king that had recorded unprecedented victories, power and adoration, all by God’s grace, but now that he was opposed and was facing difficulty, he had forgotten all that God had done. David decided not to be forgetful any longer, he decided that he could do something about his forgetfulness even if he couldn’t do anything about his circumstances. He decided, he determined, to “count his blessings”, to remember to tell himself about all the things that God had done.

David then made a decision that we often think is beyond us. I frequently have people tell me, “I can’t help how I feel”, but here David decides, “I will be glad . . .”. What if our gladness or sadness is determined by our decision? I’m not talking about pretending to be happy or refusing to acknowledge sadness or grief but deciding to give thanks with our whole heart and to recount and remember all that God has done and is doing even during difficulty and grief. What if determining to give thanks leads to the ability to choose gladness? I believe that gladness rises when thankfulness is chosen. Gladness increases when goodness is remembered. Gladness is often determined by where our gaze is set. This is why the Psalmist wrote, “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121) Where do we choose to look? What do we choose to be the dominant topic of our conversation? How do we choose to view our circumstances? Again, this isn’t pretending to be happy, it’s choosing gladness. What’s the difference? Gladness isn’t a denial of pain, it’s not an avoidance of grief or a rejection of reality, it’s simply a decision to trust God, to find joy in what God has done and to believe that “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death . . . You are with me”. David decided to be glad.

David wrote about it, but didn’t Jesus model this? Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Jesus, “who in view of the joy lying before Him endured the cross . . .”; Endurance is found in where we determine to set our gaze. Jesus didn’t avoid the cross, but He kept His eyes on the joy that came through the cross. He didn’t dismiss the pain, but He remembered the love of the Father. Jesus decided to stay with the Father even if it meant going through the cross. Today, we may be in places we don’t understand and situations that bring great pain. We can’t will those things to leave, we can’t even pray them away, but I believe we can determine where we place our attention, that we can decide to give thanks and remember the things God has already done. We’d all prefer an escape, but often the greatest joy is found when we endure. Are we willing to follow David’s lead and take a short break from pleading with God to change things and remind ourselves to change the way we’re looking at things? I often wonder how much my life and heart would change if I were determined to endure. . .