Let's now open our Bibles to Psalm chapter nine. Psalm chapter nine, we're continuing our study through a portion of the Psalm, our series called Summer Through the Psalms, where we break from our whatever teaching series we may be going into the summer and take 10 weeks in the summer and teach through Psalms consecutively. So we're doing one through 10 this summer, Lord willing, next summer, 11 through 20, until we finish the book, Lord willing, many years from now. And so our text is going to be Psalm chapter 9. If you don't have a Bible, we do have Bibles available at the back. I'd encourage you to grab one, maybe even keep one if you are in need of a Bible yourself. As you guys are opening up to Psalm chapter 9, a few introductory remarks. You know, as we kind of survey the landscape of religions or beliefs about God, there are three prominent beliefs about God in our society today outside of Christianity. I think of these three views or thinkings about God. The first is what we call atheism, which is just the simple declaration that I don't believe there is a God. Secondly is this idea of being an agnostic, and that is, I don't know whether or not there is a God. I'm kind of open to both, but nobody could really be sure one way or the other. And then another position is a position called deism. A person who would call themselves a deist would believe that, yes, there is a God, because that's the only logical explanation for the world as we see it, that there must be a creator. But to call someone, to call yourself a deist does not necessarily make you a Christian. Because typically what's associated with deism is yes, I believe that God created everything, but he's no longer active or involved in his creation. That he's kind of wound up the clock and now it's just running independently of himself. And so as I think about these three views, these popular prominent views about God in our society outside of the church, I wonder which one may affect people in the church or have the most ramifications for those who are in the church. Is it atheism? Well, yes, atheism can be a danger to the church in that people sometimes leave the faith to become atheists, that they no longer believe there is a God. This has happened. If you've been in church, you probably know somebody in which this has happened, and your heart ought to ache over such things. But in general, this is still a small minority of people. Agnostics, in many ways, are my favorite, because to me, they are the harvest field that we get to talk to, that these are people who don't say that there isn't a God, that there might be a God, and so these are the people that I like to talk to. I like to share the gospel with them. They are a viewpoint of opportunity in my mind. But the one that I find troubling is deism, because I think this is the one that actually makes it into the church oftentimes. That deism and its beliefs affect many Christians in the church today. That there are many Christians who live as if God, yes, made everything, but is not active in his creation, or not active in their life personally. There are many Christians who live deistic lives, acknowledging that there is a God, but living as if that God has no relevance or involvement in their life today. What does Christianity teach? What does the scripture teach? And what are we gonna learn from Psalm 9 this morning? Well, first and foremost, if you didn't know already, there is a God who created everything and he created you. And he is intimately involved in his creation and wants to be intimately involved with you through a relationship. We know that he's involved primarily because of his commitment to deliver his people from their sins. We've talked about this already this morning, that Christ, who is God forever, the second person of the trinity, entered into his creation. That's how intimately involved he is with it, so that he could live and die and be our savior. But God has always been involved in his creation through deliverance. And this has always been the case and ought to be the source of our daily praise before God, remembering and looking forward to the many ways in which God delivers his people. And so as we look at Psalm 9 today, we're really gonna break this up into two points and it splits the Psalm in half almost perfectly. Verses one through 10, we're gonna see that we should daily praise God as we remember his past deliverances. And verses 11 through 20, we'll see that we should daily praise God as we trust in his future deliverances. And so with those introductory remarks, I would invite you to please stand for the reading of God's word, if you are willing and able. I will read verses one through 20, and at the end, there'll be a simple call and response on the screen for us to participate in together. So hear now the word of the Lord this morning. Psalm chapter nine, to the choir master, according to Muthleben, a Psalm of David. I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart. I will recount all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you. I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence. For you have maintained my just cause. You have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment. You have rebuked the nations. You have made the wicked perish. You have blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins. Their cities you rooted out. The very memory of them has perished. But the Lord sits enthroned forever. He has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness. He judges the people with uprightness. The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name, who put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. Sing praises to the Lord who sits enthroned in Zion. Tell among the people his deeds, for he who avenges blood is mindful of them. He does not forget the cry of the afflicted. 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, that I may recount all your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in your salvation. The nations have sunk in the pit that they made. In the net they hid, their own foot has been caught. The Lord has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. The wicked shall return to shield all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever. Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail. Let the nations be judged before you. Put them in fear, O Lord. Let the nations know that they are but men. Selah. This is the word of the Lord this morning. Let us say together. May God apply its truth to our lives. Thank you, you may be seated. And so let us dive into this rich psalm as we study the psalms this summer. The first thing that we see in this passage or that I want you to see in this passage is in verses one through 10, we see that we should daily praise God for his past deliverance, his past deliverance. Daily praise God as we remember his past deliverance. Look with me at verses one through two in particular as we think about this. That this is the attitude that David had and the attitude that you and I must also have in Christ Jesus. Notice this repeated phrase, I will, I will, I will. Verses one and two, I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart. I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad in you, or I will be glad and exult in you. I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. As we think about praising God for his past deliverances, I want us to first understand that we must be determined to praise God daily. This must be a decision that you consciously make, that just as David says over and over and over, I will praise God, I will give thanks, I will exalt, and yes, I will sing your praises. To praise God, quite honestly, often takes an intentional decision on your part. God's spirit is involved in this. He changes your heart, gives you a desire to praise, but nevertheless, we must intentionally decide that I will be a daily worshiper of the Lord. For sure, God is always worthy of our praise, whether we feel like it or not. However, our will, our emotions to praise God are not always there. That if we relied only on our desire to praise God when we should, honestly, we would not praise God as often as we should. In fact, none of us could ever praise God as often as we should. But the idea here is I don't want us to wait until the motivation and the emotions are there. This must be a conscious decision. And this is something that's dangerous in all aspects of our life, but more so with regards to our worship, that if we always waited until we felt like doing something, many of the things that we need to do would never get done. Would you agree? I think a good example, really in my own life, you can see how often I give in to my emotional desire to do these things, but We know that if we let our emotions guide other aspects of our life, then there are many things that we won't do that we often should do. Exercise is a good example of this. Talk to anybody who is in good shape or exercises quite a bit, how often they feel like doing it. Maybe they feel like doing it more often than you do, but there are always days in which like, ah, the emotions aren't there. The desire is not there. But the difference between somebody who is usually in shape and healthy and someone who is out of shape is this mentality. I will exercise three times a week. even when I don't feel like it, even when sleep sounds better, even when my body is aching, even when I can think of other, more tempting, more desirable things to do, I will do this. I will exercise. Now talk to anybody who is in good shape, and they'll tell you that if you can develop that mindset of I will exercise, I will do this activity, even though my emotions tell me not to, if you can live that way and tell yourself to do that, you will find that it gets easier over time. That you may have started off never wanting to do these things, and now, through that mind change, you actually find yourself actually wanting to do these things more and more. There's still days when you don't, but it gets easier over time. In the same way, just as an I will attitude towards exercise results and more motivation, more exercise, more healthy living, so too, the more we say, I will praise the Lord, the more we will do it, and the more we will want to do it, that our emotions often play catch up in this situation. This is what I see first and foremost with regards to David, of building this mindset of I will praise the Lord. I want you to think of some personal applications for this, both personal and then we'll think of some corporate applications, that God is worthy of your praise, your devotion, your worship, personally. And worship, honestly, is rather simple. It could really be boiled down to three things, read, pray, and sing. that we are to read God's word on a regular basis, to study it, to review it, to memorize parts of it, to study materials such as question and answers, to grow in our knowledge of it. And so make a plan to read, to spend time in prayer and fellowship with God, and yes, to even sing praises to God. And if you're going to will this to happen, you need to have a plan. Are you gonna do this in the morning? Are you gonna do this in the evening? Pick a time. Are you gonna do it on a lunch break or some other time? But if you don't have a plan, you don't have a time, then you don't have the attitude of I will praise the Lord. What you're relying on now is your emotions. It's at this time of the day I feel like worshiping God and so I'll open my Bible. But if you have that attitude, if I will praise the Lord because He's worthy, because of what He's done, we will make a plan to do it. Because if you don't make a plan, your emotions kick in and other things take over. Sleep takes over. I don't want to wake up, so I'll stay in bed. Entertainment takes over. I'll scroll social media or I'll be watching television. Responsibilities get in the way. I have to go to work. I have to finish this project. or even family members sometimes get in the way. I need to take care of this kid, or I need to do this for my spouse. Part of having that attitude of, I will praise the Lord, means you have a plan on when you will do that personally. But this isn't just something that we're to do personally, it's something that we do together, corporately. One of the best ways to grow in this mindset is to have accountability and fellowship with other believers. Just in the same way, if you're struggling to have that mindset of I will exercise, one of the best things you can do is build accountability. Put some money down on the line, get a gym membership, hire a personal trainer, someone to motivate you and hold you accountable. In the same way, we can corporately apply these things through our fellowship and our gathering together on the Lord's day, such as today. That part of praising God is gathering with his people. And so you could say, I will praise the Lord and I will worship him at church. I will gather with his people. Coming to church is part of this mindset. Preaching to the choir here, because you're all here presently. But you know what these barriers can be when your emotions aren't there. You're tired, you've had a long week. Getting everybody together and ready to come to church is exhausting, you're overworked. Maybe there's a project at home that feels more pressing, that I need to finish this yard project or this house project, and church is gonna take too much time. Speaking to many of the parents in this room, you know that sometimes the most challenging thing to be here to worship God, to praise God, is to get your kids ready for church. It can be difficult, but if we have this mindset that God is worthy of our praise for all that he's done in our lives, then we could have more of the attitude of we're not just gonna go to church when it's convenient or when it's easy, but this is something that we do because we love the Lord. And so we need to develop this attitude of I will give thanks, I will praise God, I will exalt him, and I will sing. But what are we praising God for? Well, there are many things to praise God for, his character, his attributes, who he is, but one thing highlighted in this psalm and many scriptures is God's acts of deliverance, that we praise God, we have this attitude because he is a God who delivers his people from their troubles, from their enemies, This is what David recounts in these verses, and this is so important for us to do. It's easy to praise God when things are going well, but if we can develop this habit of praising God for his past deliverances, we can continue to praise God even when things are going bad, when we experience suffering. And we do this by remembering his past actions. So look at verses three through four with me and see what David remembers and what he is remembering with regards to God's deliverances in his life. Verse three. When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence. For you have maintained my just cause. You have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment. David has had many enemies in his life, and God has delivered him from them over and over and over again. We don't know the exact context in which this psalm was written. Sometimes we're told through those introductory remarks the occasion for which this psalm was written. But really, we can think of all the events in David's life with regards to God delivering him from his enemies. When I look at verse 3, it says, When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence. This very well could be David acknowledging his enemy of his own son, Absalom, who led a revolt to steal the kingdom from him and take David's life, that when there finally was a battle between their two armies, Absalom literally turned away and fled and was caught by his hair in a tree as he ran away, which ultimately led to his demise. We can see that maybe this is what David is referring here, that as his enemies turned back, They stumble and perish before your presence. That David did not deliver himself this salvation, this victory with regards to his rebellious son Absalom, but that this was what God did, how God delivered him. And this was something that David was accustomed. We know that when David was younger and he was in the field with the sheep, that he had confidence in the Lord because God had delivered him from such wild beasts like lions and bears. He used this past knowledge of God's deliverance when facing a literal giant in Goliath, that he did not fear this mighty warrior because he knew what God had done in the past. David also would run for his life from King Saul, whom he never betrayed, whom he never revolted against, was always faithful, and yet Saul, out of his jealousy, sought his life. And David, again, never taking matters into his own hands, had his enemies delivered by Saul falling on his own sword. So David was confident in even present trials as he remembered and reflected back and praised God for his past deliverances in his life. And so if David has done this, many in the scriptures have done this and ought to do this. In fact, we're told to remember God's deliverances over and over and over. And so let me think with you with regards to the Bible's record of past deliverance that God has worked, not just for David, but for his people. Let's read verses five through six of this psalm. He says, you have rebuked the nations, you have made the wicked perish, you have blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins. Their cities you rooted out, the very memory of them have perished. I want you to think about as we look at the story of the Bible and God's people, particularly in the Old Testament, the nation Israel. Israel throughout pretty much all of its existence has never been the most powerful nation in its region and often was at the mercy of other larger more powerful nations in its history. You may know the best example of being Egypt as Israel was literally enslaved in Egypt, but God rescued and delivered them. And the people of God are told over and over throughout Old Testament narratives to remember this act of deliverance that God worked for his people and have confidence even in your present trials and continue to praise God. There are other acts of deliverance that I think of in my mind as the people of Israel come out of Egypt and they're going into the land and they say, oh my goodness, the people living here are so mighty and strong, we could never overtake them. And in some ways, yes, they're right. They could never overtake them, but God could deliver. And he did. Think of the story of Jericho, where their grand military plan was to march around the city walls and let God cause them to come crumbling, and God delivered his people. We think of even other warring nations later in the Old Testament, the nation of Assyria, that would afflict God's people, a much stronger, more powerful nation. And yet God still preserved and delivered his people from even a mighty nation like Assyria. The same with Babylon and a nation like Persia. And then as we come into the New Testament, we think of the mighty hand of Rome upon God's people. But I would say that God has even delivered his people from all of these. God delivered his people from all of these great powers. I want you to think about where these nations stand today. How powerful is the mighty Pharaoh of Egypt today? Not powerful at all. He's been brought, as we've talked about here in this scripture, to everlasting ruin. The nation of Assyria is no more, in many ways Babylon is no more, Persia is no more, Rome is no more, their memory has been wiped out, there is no enduring people left, but God's people still remain. And I think chiefly, God's people, the church. Which includes those who have trusted in Christ, who may be Jewish, but it also includes all those who have believed in Jesus, that we are all the seeds of Abraham, children of Abraham, through Christ Jesus in our faith. that every mighty nation will fall. God will blot out every nation, their name forever and ever. The very memory of them will perish except for one, God's people and God's kingdom. Even our own country, the United States, will not last forever. a God's kingdom will. And let us put our trust in Him and His deliverance and praise Him for His mighty work. And so we see how God has delivered David personally, how God throughout the Old Testament has delivered His people. But now let me ask you a question. How have you experienced God's saving deliverance in your life? Because God is building a kingdom by delivering people from their afflictions. He is mindful towards the afflicted, which includes all of us. All those other nations, we can contrast. He's blotted them out. The very memory of them has perished because the Lord sits enthroned forever. But God's kingdom lasts forever. Verse nine, the Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Verse 10, and those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. How has God delivered you in your life? Well, I hope, first and foremost, that you've experienced deliverance from your sins, that you've put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. There is no greater deliverance from no greater enemy or no greater plight than deliverance from the consequence of your own sin, that you would put your faith and trust in Christ. Let him bear your penalty so that you can receive his reward. But friends, we're not deists. That's not all that God has done. God is still intimately involved in your life and has provided for a variety of needs in your life. And we can have faith that he will continue to do so. We read earlier, but it's worth reading again, Romans 8, 31 and 32. Think about the God who deliver us from our sins. How much more would he be willing to do as well? Verse 31, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be as against us? He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Are you looking to God to deliver you from your afflictions, your earthly troubles? Maybe it's a continued battle with sin. God can deliver you. Maybe he has already delivered you from past sins that used to plague and dominate your life to the point that you felt enslaved to them. Remember those acts as you battle current sins in your life. Maybe you've gone through trials of suffering. Maybe you've experienced great grief or depression. And God met you and encouraged you, either through his word or through a trusted Christian friend, how whatever means he did it, it was his deliverance in your life. So now when you face more suffering, more misery, more trials, we can look back on that and have faith and praise God even still. And we can help one another in this as we think about this repeated phrase first said in verse two, I will recount all of your wondrous deeds. Not some of your wondrous deeds, all of your wondrous deeds. I'll find reasons to praise you and encourage others through those. I'll say it again, we're not deists. We believe that God exists and that he is involved in our lives. His spirit dwells within us. You know, I actually had a friend growing up who would often ask this question, what has God been doing in your life lately? Because at that time, I didn't have the practice of thinking this way, of praising God, remembering his deliverance. I always thought that question was weird and uncomfortable, and I didn't like it when they asked it. But in many ways, I appreciate it now. that I wish that I would ask this question of you more often in conversation, not the small talk of how was your week, or how's work going, or this, that, or the other, but that myself and you would ask each other this question, what has God been doing in your life lately? and it gives opportunity for us to tell of his wondrous deeds and praise him for the acts of mercy and deliverance that he's given us in our lives. Maybe some of us can share how God's been teaching us a lot through his word, or that God has really been convicting me of this sin that I was blind to for many years, and now I'm working towards repentance on that. These would be good and honest and wonderful conversations to have as the people of this local church. We need to praise God for his deliverances, his past workings in our life. We can do that through our testimony, through what we're learning from his word, God's amazing acts of grace in our life, or even just evidence of growth and repentance and walking in righteousness. Let's now turn to this second aspect of verses 11 through 20. We've reflected on God's past deliverance and how important that is, but we should also praise God trusting in his future deliverances as well. David makes this shift in verse 11. And he has this idea of we are boldly trusting the future with regards to the Lord, that our future belongs to him, and that we can trust that based on his past actions, we know with a level of certainty that God is going to continue to work in these ways in our life. How many of you have ever doubted that the sun would rise tomorrow? Not many of you. Why? Some of you might just recall your education and learning about the solar planets, the rotation of the sun, and how this all works, but I think most of your knowledge is not based on what you read in a textbook, but through your experiences, that the reason why we don't doubt that the sun is gonna rise for us is because we've seen it happen every day. In the same way, when we develop this habit of reflecting on God's deliverance and praising him for it on a regular basis, we can know and trust in God's future acts of deliverance in our life as well. We learn it through scripture. We learn from verses such as verse 12 that he does not forget the cry of the afflicted. We can know that, but when you are afflicted and you experience God's grace and his attention and his personhood, You know that to be all the more true. It's not one or the other, it's both and. But as we think about our future, we do have to acknowledge the feeling that it feels like God has forgotten us or that it really does look like the wicked prosper in this world sometimes. That part of our deliverance sometimes is the hope of judgment for those who are wicked, who are seeking to afflict us or just causing affliction in the world in general. And it can just seem like their way is the prosperous way. Their life seems to be going great. Here I am suffering. Here I am afflicted. And they are living the dream with every comfort and worldly pleasure there is. We can have this attitude of calling the Lord to act. The attitude that I see in verse 19, you hear David as the psalmist cry out, arise, O Lord, as if God was sleeping. But arise, O Lord, let not man prevail. Let the nations be judged before you. They seem to be prospering. One of the things that I observed in this passage that was also reflected in some of my study is this pattern that comes up very often in the Bible. of the righteous sufferer who then enters into glory, that first there is this suffering, but that suffering pales in comparison to the later glory or vindication that is given. We see this pattern typified in much of the Bible, the prophets, but in no place is it more clear than the life of Jesus, that he is the righteous one who suffered for sin, but now has been exalted above every name. And this is the pattern that, yes, even as us, as New Testament Christians walk in, the righteous sufferer who trusts themselves for future glory and vindication. I think of Hebrews chapter 12, verse two, speaking of Jesus, it says, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Jesus suffered more than anybody has ever suffered here on this earth. He suffered eternal punishment over and over and over again for all those who would believe. It would be tempting for any mere human to turn away from that, but it says, for Christ, the God-man, he endured that suffering, the suffering of the cross, the suffering of the wrath of God, because there was a greater joy that awaited him. There was a joy that helped him endure that suffering that would make all of this pale in comparison, and this is how we are to live in this world as well. Point you to James chapter one verses two through four. Count it all joy, my brothers. When you meet trials of various kinds, you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. That through our suffering, through our enduring, through our hoping in this promised future that we have in Christ, we are being made like Christ and will share in his joy and fellowship with him. And so it may look like the wicked are prospering, but there will come a time of judgment. We experience suffering now, which is temporary, to an everlasting joy. They have temporary happiness to an everlasting punishment because of their rejection of God. So one of the things we see David do is acknowledge God's judgment is coming for the wicked who do not repent and turn to him. that this, in some ways, is the future that you and I put our hope in and actually praise God for, that the wicked will be punished, that God is a just God. Sometimes judgment, as we see in this passage, comes through the hands of the wicked themselves. It's interesting, in the life of David, it's in some ways just a realization that I had right now, that his greatest earthly enemies actually destroyed themselves. that Saul, the one, the king that pursued his life for much of David's early life, would die by his own sword. His son, who later in life would lead a revolt and try to kill him, would die because his hair got caught in a tree. With those things in mind, listen to what verses 15 and 16 say about the fate of the wicked, that although they seem prosperous now through their ill-ought gains, we see in verse 15, the nations have sunk in the pit that they made. In the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught. The Lord has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. The sinful means by which they are seeking to prosper are ultimately going to lead to their ruin, which is why you and I should not be jealous or longing after what they have. We have something far greater. Their end is destructive, eternal suffering. And God, in many ways, in his almost poetic justice, allows them, gives them over to the means of their own hand. This isn't just true back then, but we see passages like Romans 1 verse 24 that talk about this same form of judgment that God gives us over to our sinful desires when we reject him. And that in and of itself can be a form of his judgment. Romans 1 24, therefore God gave them up to the lust of their heart, to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves. You think that there's life and pleasure in this way of living? Fine, have it and find how empty it is. And not only that, there is wrath awaiting you for your rejection of God and his goodness. There is an ultimate judgment, not just these earthly judgments of poetic justice, but we see an ultimate judgment. Look at verse 17 of Psalm 9. The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God. That place Sheol is the Old Testament idea of the place of the dead. We would simply use the word hell to understand it. that their ultimate fate is not an everlasting joy with the Lord, but everlasting separation and judgment from a holy and righteous God. And we're not necessarily to take joy in these things, in the destruction of the wicked. God himself in his scripture says, I take no delight in the destruction or the death of the wicked, but I would rather see them repent and believe. But it does indeed help us to live with purpose. It helps us live a life that leads to greater happiness as we hope in God. Sin is enjoyable for a time. If it wasn't, then nobody would do it. However, when you chase after fulfillment or happiness through sinful means and not through the Lord, you will be left wanting and you will face judgment as a result. But God promises something better than what this world has to offer. So don't live for these things. It's fitting to use an illustration earlier about exercise and next another one about gluttony. But I think of one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving. And our family, particularly my wife's side of the family, as we get together for Thanksgiving, they're all amazing cooks and they're cooking all day long. And I look forward very much to that Thanksgiving meal with the turkey and the gravy and the mashed potatoes. It is my absolute favorite. But the problem is, because we love food so much, we're cooking all day long, and so there's appetizers and other things to tempt you all throughout the day. That this cheese dip looks amazing, if I would eat some of that, or this cheese platter, or we like cheese. There's a lot of cheese things, a lot of dip, a lot of wonderful things to eat, but oftentimes I have to tell myself that although these things are good, there is something far better waiting for me. And if I spend too much time eating all these appetizers, I will not have room or the ability to partake in the much better, more joyous feast. And so I'm willing to not partake of those things for something that is far greater. And friends, sin promises us delight. It promises us good things. And in the moment, it can feel great. but there is something far better out there for you. Fellowship with God, eternal fellowship with God, to be with Christ face-to-face and to sit at His banquet table, which will probably put our family's banquet table to shame. This is the attitude that we have as we look to God's future deliverance, that there is judgment coming for sin, but there's also a promised reward for faith and faithfulness. And the only way we can live this way is if we do two things. We must know that God's judgment is real. Verses 19 and 20 make this clear of this verse. Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail. Let the nations be judged before you. Put them in fear, O Lord. Let the nations know that they are but men. Judgment is real. Judgment is coming for all those who do not put their faith and trust in Jesus, which is why, first and foremost, if there's anybody here who is not trusting in Jesus, I would implore you to know Jesus as your Savior. But this is useful for us as Christians as we live as well, because if these things are not true, and we are living a life of suffering, which Scripture teaches us to live for a greater glory, and these things are not true, and we don't really believe them, And we ought to be pitied because all of this makes no sense. These are not just my words, these are the words of the Apostle Paul as he recounts his own suffering and why he's willing to bear so much shame in his life. And if none of this was real, if Christ has not really died and was raised, then all of this is in vain. Hear from 1 Corinthians chapter 16 verses 17 through 19. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then also, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. If we're living this way for no reason, then we ought to be pitied. We really should be living like everybody else, if this is all you get in this world. But we know that that is not true. God's judgment is real and so are his rewards. That's the second thing, know that God's rewards are real. Verse 18 of our psalm, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever. God remembers his people, delivers his people, will deliver his people, and we can trust in these things and live a life based on these things, this future hope. I'll turn to 1 Corinthians again, chapter 9, verses 23 through 25, Paul describing how he lives. I do it all for the sake of the gospel. that I may share with them in its blessing. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Running is an endurance sport. It's hard. You must push through the pain in the same way. Our faith is an endurance test, that we are to run this run of faith, enduring many trials, many afflictions, much suffering, just as Christ was rejected, so we will be rejected in this world. But at the end of this race is a prize. And it is Christ. And we must run and pursue that with single-mindedness, knowing that we are turning away from God's wrath and judgment because we've trusted in Christ. But not only that, we are running towards Him who is our reward. And friends, it is so worth it. That's why Paul says, I do all of this for the sake of the gospel that I may share with them in its blessings. All the suffering that we endure in this world will not compare to the eternal joy that we will receive when we are with Christ who is our prize. And so we must daily praise God. Remember his past deliverances and let that be the fuel and the hope that you need to endure the suffering that you have as you look towards his future deliverances. Maybe real specific acts in your life, deliverance of sin, suffering, but also the ultimate deliverance of being with him when he calls us home, or better yet, when he comes to make all things new. Let's close this message by reflecting on verses 13 through 14, and let this guide our prayer as we close this time of preaching. Verses 13 and 14. Be gracious to me, O Lord. See my affliction from those who hate me. Oh, you who lift me up from the gates of death, that I may recount all your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion, I may rejoice in your salvation. Let us pray. God, we pray that you would indeed be gracious to us. You already have in Christ Jesus through forgiving us of our sins, but Lord, we look to your grace and mercy each day as you help us endure this world, this broken world full of sin, even some of the brokenness in our own life because of our own sin. Be gracious to us, O Lord. We know that you see every affliction, every suffering, and you hear your people when you call. We have a great hope in Christ that we will indeed be lifted up, that we do not have to fear the gates of death. But God, would you also just tell people of this wonderful hope that we have in Christ as well, that we would recount all your praises, and that we would rejoice together in our shared salvation in Christ Jesus. We thank you with all of our heart, and it's in Christ's name we pray, amen.