The Occasion of
Psalm 9
Psalm 9
intrigues me. There are plenty of other interesting
psalms throughout the Bible, of course. And
some of those psalms are interesting because they actually tell us the reason why
they were written. The very beginning of
Psalm 51, for example, says that it was written by King David after he repented
of his sin of committing adultery with Bathsheba. Psalm 92 was written by someone to be read on
the Sabbath Day. Psalms 120-134 are
labeled “songs of ascents” - possibly written for the people to sing as they
“ascended” the hill up to the temple for worship. Psalm 9 has a small explanation at the
beginning as well, but it has always peaked my interest for what we don’t know about it. We know a few details: like many psalms it
was also written by King David. And like
many psalms it was given to the director of music for the choirs to sing. And like many psalms the words were written
to a specific melody. But that’s what
intrigues me. As you can see in your
bulletins, the tune that this psalm was written to was called, “The Death of
the Son.”
Was this
David’s own tune that he wrote? He was a
talented musician, after all, and so he could have written it. Plus, he had once lost an infant son to death. Remember that the product of his adultery
with Bathsheba was a little baby boy and the Lord promised that the child would
die because of David and Bathsheba’s sin.
And although David prayed and pleaded for his son’s life, God took him
away anyway. And so was this melody
based on that incident? We don’t
know. We don’t even know if David wrote
this psalm before or after that happened.
Or maybe David used a melody that someone else had already written. But if so, why would he use something entitled
“The Death of the Son”? If you saw that
title to a piece of music, what kind of music would you expect it to be? Probably a little melancholy, probably in a
minor key, something a little slower, something maybe even a little depressing
like Chopin’s famous funeral march. But
that’s what is so interesting: Psalm 9 is not a depressing psalm at all. Listen to how David begins this song: “I will praise you, O LORD, with all my
heart; I will tell of all your wonders.
I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O
Most High.”
That
doesn’t seem to fit with a melody entitled “The Death of the Son” at all! Was David actually praising God for the death
of his son? Well, in a very real way,
David did praise God when that tragedy happened. David stopped fasting and lying on the ground
in sackcloth as he had been doing. Instead
after his son died he got up, ate, and “he
went into the house of the LORD and worshiped” (2 Sam. 12:20). We don’t know if this is the occasion that
prompted David to write Psalm 9 or not, but it fits. David did
worship the Lord at the death of his son.
Because David understood that he could thank the Lord not only for the
“good” things that happened to him in this life, but for everything. Even death.
We Complain about
the “Bad”
We are
just hours away from Thanksgiving Day.
The annual nationwide festival each year when we as Christians officially
thank the Lord for what he has done and what he has blessed us with. And as you sit around your kitchen table
tomorrow or as you lie in your bed recounting all of the things that you want
to thank the Lord for, what kinds of blessings will you bring to mind? Your family?
Your home? Your job? Your health?
Your city? Your country? Your congregation? And you should thank the Lord for all of
those blessings! Those are great gifts
from your Lord that should be acknowledged every day! But how many difficulties are you going to
thank the Lord for tomorrow? How many
problems, how many troubles, how many unpleasant situations are you going to
thank your Lord for on Thanksgiving Day?
If
you’re like me, you probably are more apt to complain about those things than
to thank God for them. If you’re like
me, you’re more likely to whine about the difficulties and the troubles. If you’re like me than you’re not going to
thank the Lord for those things - certainly not on Thanksgiving! Because those things bother me and make my
life difficult. Those things produce a
lot of stress and cause unneeded anxiety.
Why would I thank the Lord for those things? Why would I praise his name for the problems
that plague my life?
Why
not? God is in control of the problems
too, isn’t he? God is in charge of the
difficulties and the troubles as well, is he not? Doesn’t he promise to work those things out
for our good? Doesn’t he guarantee that
whatever he allows and whatever he sends our way will prove to be beneficial
for us in the end? So why shouldn’t we
thank the Lord for those things we might categorize as “bad”? Or are we that naïve as to limit God’s power
only to the “good” things that happen on this earth? Are we that ignorant as to limit God’s love
only to the pleasant things in our lives?
Are we that selfishly picky as to limit God’s grace and his mercy and
his compassion only to those things that we like? “Thanks for what I have asked for, Lord, but
I don’t want that other stuff you give me.
Thanks but no thanks. You can
keep it!” “But this is what is good for
you,” the Lord says in his Word. “Yeah,
well I don’t care.” “But this is how I
am stretching your faith,” the Lord says in his Word. “Yeah, well it’s not worth it.” “But this is how I am protecting you and
guiding you and guarding you,” the Lord says in his Word. “Yeah, well I don’t like it. Just give me the ‘good’ things and leave me
alone.”
We Can Thank
God Even for the “Bad”
Sometimes
the “bad” things are the “good” things.
Sometimes what we don’t like is exactly what we need. Even the most horrible disasters. Even the most challenging difficulties. Even death.
Even death! Even death is in the Lord’s hands! Even death is used by our God for the good of
those who love him! Think of what Job
did at the death of his children in the Old Testament reading: he praised his
God. Think of what Jesus did at the
death of his friend Lazarus in the New Testament reading: he praised his Father. Think of what David says here to the tune of
“The Death of the Son”: “I will praise
you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will
sing praise to your name, O Most High.”
Think of what your God did for you at the death of his only Son: he
covered your sinfulness with his Son’s blood; he buried your guilt in that
one-man catacomb; he canceled the punishment that awaited you because he had laid
that punishment on his dead child. And
now you praise him for it! You actually
praise your God for the Death of the Son!
In fact, that’s what we thank our Lord for every week: for the Son’s suffering,
for the Son’s cross, for the Son’s sacrifice, for the Son’s death. The death of God himself was worked out for
your eternal benefit! And so think of
what he can do with the much smaller problems and troubles in your life
now? Even those that you can’t seem to
handle. Even those that don’t seem to go
away. Even those that end in death. Even in death God works things out according
to his will. Even in death God
demonstrates his love. And he has proven
that through the death of his Son.
Thank
your Lord for that tomorrow. Not just
for the death of his Son, but for everything else that he does. Because sometimes the biggest blessings come
through the worst situations. You might
not see them, you might not feel them, you might not think you are benefitting
from them at the moment, but you can be sure that your Lord has your best interests
in mind no matter what he does. Job knew
that. Martha knew that. David knew that. And so do you. You know that no matter what happens, you
have every reason to sing with David every day: “I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your
wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in
you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” Thank you, Lord, not just for the “good”
things, but for the bad. Not just for
the things I like, but for the things I don’t.
Thank you Lord, for everything. Amen.
Posts
