Amen. Alright, well we're there in the book of Psalms and of course tonight we find ourselves in Psalm 9 and we've been making our way through the book of Psalms and this Psalm is a little bit longer than the Psalms that we've been dealing with up to this point. Up to this point we've been dealing with Psalms that have maybe 8 or 9 verses. This Psalm has 20 verses, so it's a little longer. Like I said, up to this point. I say up to this point because there are some Psalms that are much longer than this. But to this point in our study, this is the longest we've dealt with. And when it comes to this Psalm, Just by way of introduction, I want to let you know that there are five distinct themes that we find in this psalm. And I can list them off for you if you'd like to write them down for your notes. The themes in these 20 verses are the praise of God, the enemies of God, the judgment of God, the sheltered of God, and the remembered of God. Those are the themes. The praise of God, the enemies of God, the judgment of God, the sheltered of God, and the remembered of God. The problem with the themes, and they don't outline very neatly, is that the psalmist here, which we know is David, doesn't deal with praise, then enemies, then judgment, but he kind of intermingles. He goes back and forth between these different themes and I played with the outline and I decided that maybe the best thing would be instead of outlining it for you that we would just walk through the psalm together tonight verse by verse and as we travel through these verses I'll highlight for you when we come to one of these themes. But every single one of these verses falls under these categories. Praise, enemies, judgment, sheltered, and remembered. So we'll just do that tonight if that's okay with you. We'll just walk through this. It may be a little different than I normally do, but maybe with Psalms it's an appropriate way to study. We'll begin there in verse number one, Psalm 9 and verse 1. The Bible says to the chief musician upon Mothlobin, a psalm of David. I want you to notice that in verses one and two, we begin with this first theme, and it is the theme of praise. The theme of the praise of God. Notice how the psalm begins. The psalmist says, I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart. I will show forth all thy marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee. I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most high. And what we see in these two verses when it comes to the idea of praise and praising the Lord is that praise is an attitude. It is an attitude. that we have. Notice, if you notice there in verse one, he says, I will praise. Then he says, with my whole heart. It's not something that we're holding back. We're giving God everything. But then notice he says, I will show forth all thy marvelous works. So when we're talking about praising God, what does it mean to praise God? Well, one way that we praise God is by showing forth all thy marvelous works, by letting people know and by expressing the great things that God has done for us and the blessings that he has given us. That is part of praise. So we praise God with our whole heart. We praise him by showing forth all thy marvelous works. Notice verse 2. He says, I will be glad and rejoice. These are all aspects of praise. where we are glad in the Lord, we rejoice in the Lord, we show forth His marvelous works. He says there at the end of verse 2, And we learn in the book of Psalms, of course we know, that the book of Psalms is a song book and each one of these psalms is music. It's a psalm that's put to music meant to be sung to praise the Lord. We also know that this is a prayer book. These psalms are prayers as we've been seeing from the psalmist to God. But what we learn here is that singing is part of praise. Now, not all praise is singing. but all singing is praise. And I think it's important that we understand because the liberal churches today have made us think, you know, they call it praise and worship. And people have this idea that all singing is praise. And that's not necessarily the case. You can praise the Lord just by speaking about God and showing forth all His marvelous works. But that's not to say that singing doesn't have a place And I think as Christians, we need to be people who sing. We need to be people who enjoy singing, who do sing. And you say, well, I don't know how to sing. Just sing. I didn't grow up singing. Just sing. I'm not good at singing. The Bible says, make a joyful noise unto the Lord. And this is part of praising God. It's an attitude. We praise Him, we show forth His marvelous works, we're glad, we rejoice, we sing, and we show forth His praise. But then I want you to notice that another thing that pops out at me as we look at these two verses is that praise is not only an attitude, but it is also a choice. Because see, it's easy right after some major victory, right after some major prayer answer. You've been praying for something for a long time and God comes through and He does something for you. Right after something like that, it would be easy to praise the Lord. It would be easy to show forth His marvelous works. It would be easy to be glad and rejoice if you feel like everything's going your way and God's answering all your prayers and He's blessing you. But what we see in this psalm is that praise is not only an attitude of being glad, of rejoicing, of singing, of showing forth His marvelous works. But we also see that it is a choice. Notice what the psalmist says. Look at verse 1 again. He says, I will. He doesn't say, I feel like it. I'm in the mood for. I am just really excited right now and I'm going to praise the Lord. He doesn't say that. He says, I will praise Thee. And then he says, O Lord, with my whole heart. Notice again, in fact, if you don't mind marking in your Bible, maybe you can mark these words. He says there, after it says a Psalm of David, he says, I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart. You've got to underline those two words, I will. Then he says this, I will show forth all Thy marvelous works. You've got to underline those two words, I will. Then in verse 9, he says, I will be glad and rejoice in Thee. You've got to underline those two words. Then He says, I will sing praise to Thy name, O Thou Most High. You underline those two words, I will. He says, I will, I will, I will, I will. And what this teaches us is this, that praise is a choice that you and I make. You decide whether you're going to be glad and rejoice in the Lord. You're the one that decides that. Now today people have this mentality and they act like my happiness is somehow dependent on my circumstances and if you can make me upset and you can attack me and you can do things to me that are going to bother me. But here we see that the psalmist is making the decision. He's saying, I will do these things. It's a choice that I'm going to do. And by the way, just know this, happiness and contentment and gladness and rejoicing is a choice you make. And you say, well, I'm having a bad day, and I'm upset, and I'm grumpy. Well, then sing. I promise you, if you open up a hymn book and you just start singing praises to God, it's going to have an effect. If you're saved and the Holy Spirit indwells you, it's going to have an effect on your heart. In fact, one of the ways that we're taught in the New Testament to be filled with the Spirit of God is by singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and singing and rejoicing and being glad. in the Lord. It's a choice you make. Now, here's what I want you to see, and I want you to understand the context. He says in verse 1, I will praise. He says in verse 1, I will show forth all thy marvelous works. He says in verse 2, I will be glad and rejoice. He says in verse 2, I will sing praise to thy name. And you might be thinking, and I might be thinking, if we're reading verses 1 and 2, that David must have just got a raise. I mean, David must have just got that job he wanted. David must have just got that promotion. David must have just had something really good happen to him. But notice in verse 3, here's the context. He says, when mine enemies. And he says, look, even when we're dealing with enemies, even when we're fighting and being attacked by enemies, later in the psalm he's going to talk about how his enemies have made his life difficult. I want you to notice that David begins with this idea that I will praise. And look, you get to decide on Sunday morning, on Sunday night, on Wednesday night. You get to decide on Monday morning, and Tuesday morning, and Thursday morning, and Friday morning, if you're going to praise the Lord. to the decision you make. You can decide, I will praise the Lord, I will show forth all His marvels. You say, I don't feel like it. Start counting all the blessings. Start showing forth all Thy marvelous works. Start talking to yourself and talking to your God about all the wonderful things He's done for you, and start singing to Him, and you're going to find that you're going to be glad and rejoicing in the Lord. So we see that praise is an attitude and it's a choice. That's one theme. But then there's another theme and it's a theme of the enemies of God. We have the theme of the praise of God. We have a theme of the enemies of God. And that begins in verse 3. Notice what he says. He says, they shall fall and perish at thy presence. Now I want you to understand that later in the psalm, he's going to talk about how his enemies are making his life very difficult. So in verse 3, he's not saying that this has already happened, but he has this expectation, this prayer And he's saying, I know it's going to happen when my enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence. See, David is dealing with enemies, but he's praising the Lord as though his enemies have already turned back and as though they have already fallen and perished. But I want you to just notice in verse three this connection. And the connection is this, that our enemies are defeated not by us, Not by our intellect, by our devices, by our fierceness and boldness and courage and ability to stop them or ability to outwit them. David says, when mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish. And the idea is this, when that happens, it will be at thy presence. And the idea is this, that our enemies are defeated not at our presence, but at the presence of God. and when they stand before God. And this is something that we've seen in Psalms already, and I just want to highlight it for you. The idea is this, that our enemies are, and we're talking about reprobates and people who hate the work of God, they're really the enemies of the Lord. They're attacking us because they're attacking the Lord. We are the proxy. They're attacking the Lord through us. And notice that David understands this. He personalizes it. He says, my enemies, when mine enemies, but then he says they're going to be defeated at thy presence. So we see that the enemies of the Lord are defeated at the presence of God. Then in verse 4, we jump into yet another theme. This is the theme of judgment. And these themes are all going to start going back and forth here in a minute, but I want you to see it. We had the theme of praise in verses 1 through 2, and the theme of enemies in verse 3. Then in verses 4 and 5, we have the theme of judgment. Notice what David says. He says, and this is all connected because he's saying, I'm going to praise as though my enemies have already been defeated, because they're going to be defeated, not at my presence, but at thy presence. And he says, here's why I know that. Here's why I believe that. Here's why I can rejoice that I'm going to come out on top. Literally, at the rapture, you and I are going to come out on top on this thing. We can say that we've read the end of the book and we know how the story ends. How does the story end? It ends this way, with mine enemies being turned back, falling and perishing at the presence of God. That's how it ends. How do we know that? Here's how we know that. Verse 4, for thou hast. Now I want to highlight for you because in verses 1 and 2 I had you underline these words, I will, I will, I will, I will. But then I want you to notice what David does in verses 4 and 5, and again, if you don't mind marking in your Bible, underlining in your Bible, maybe you can mark these words. He says for, mark these words in your Bible, thou hast. He says, for thou hast maintained my right and my cause. Then he says this, thou saddest in the throne of judgment. And maybe you can underline those words. Thou saddest. He says thou hast. He says thou saddest. He says you have sat on your throne and it is the throne of judgment. He says thou saddest in the throne judging right. Look at verse five. Thou hast. Underline those words. Thou hast rebuked the heathen. Thou hast, underline those words, destroyed the wicked. He says, Thou hast, underline those words, put out their name forever and ever. Now I want you to notice that there's a connection here between verses 1 and 2 and verses 4 and 5. And the idea is this, that I can say I will because of what Thou hast already done. Because we know that God has already won the victory. We know that God has already maintained my right and my cause. Thou has saddest in the throne judging right. Thou has rebuked the heathen. Thou has destroyed the wicked. Thou has put out their name forever and ever. And He says, because I know that thou has, I will. I will praise thee. I will show forth all thy marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice. I will sing praise when mine enemies are turned back. They shall fall and perish, not at my presence, but at thy presence, because thou hast done all these things. Now what we can learn from verses 4 and 5 is this, that God takes sides, He takes side in human conflict. Notice again what David says. He says, thou has maintained my right and my cause. David says, I know that you have taken my side. Now we should be careful about being arrogant and assuming that God is on your side. We should never assume that God is on your side. But we can know that God is on our side when we are on His side. In the New Testament we're told, if God before us, who can be against us? You say, I don't want anybody to be against me. Then get on God's side and you'll be fine. And the idea is this. He says, look, I know that you have maintained my right. I know that you have maintained my cause. I know that you have judged right. And then he says, you've rebuked the heathen, you've destroyed the wicked, you've put out their name. And the idea is this, that God is paying attention to the conflict, to the spiritual warfare down on this earth, and God takes sides. He takes sides in human conflict. See, the agnostics today, they'll say, well, we believe in God, but we don't believe that God is interested in what's going on in human events. That's the position of the agnostics. They're not atheists. Atheists say they don't believe in God. And agnostics says, no, we believe that there is some sort of a God or higher being or creature that got this all going and got this all started. But what they believe is this, that God created the universe or God created us. He set this all in motion and then he just kind of stepped away from it. God is not interested in the events of mankind and God is not interested in what's going on on this earth. So though they say they believe in God, they can act like an atheist because they say God is not involved, God is not paying attention, God doesn't care. But the Bible tells us that God is very much involved in the events of mankind. and he judges and he looks down and he decides who's right and who's wrong and he takes sides in human conflict and that is the judgment of God. So we see the praise of God, verses 1 through 2. We see the enemies of God, verse 3. Then the judgment of God, verses 4 and 5. And then in verses 6 and 7, we come back to the enemies of God. Because remember, these themes, we're going to jump back and forth. It's a chapter that's not easy to outline, so I just decided not to outline it and just to point out to you the themes as we come to them. In verse 6 and 7, we get back to the theme of the enemies of God. Notice what he says in verse six. He says, O thou enemy. Now here, David in the Psalm begins to address the enemies. He says, O thou enemy. Destructions are come to a perpetual end. And what he's saying, the wording might be a little difficult, but if you look at it and think about it, I think it's clear that what David is saying is that what the enemies do is destroy. They are destructive. He says, O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end. And I think this is interesting to understand because sometimes I feel like people will get confused, you know, in the midst of battling, in the midst of the spiritual warfare. You understand that we are engaged in spiritual warfare. The Bible says, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. And sometimes people are a little confused, and they'll say, well, I see the men of God who are battling, and then I see what we call the enemies of God, and they are battling, and then they see us engaged sometimes in this conflict of spiritual warfare, and then they're just like, well, what's the difference? And what I would say to you is this, that men of God often have to fight. We talked about this in our Philemon series. If you get into the ministry, if you get into the work of God, I'm not talking about full-time ministry, I'm talking about all of us have to be in the ministry of reconciliation, of the things of God. What happens is, you start building, and then you end up battling. You don't go out looking for a fight, but as soon as you start getting people saved, as soon as you start discipling people, as soon as you start building a work for the Lord, as soon as you start taking a stand for the things of God, then the opposition comes and the opposition fights. We build, but we also have to battle because they want to battle when we build. The difference between the man of God, if you're ever confused, you know, well who's the good guy here? Who's the bad guy here? The enemy is not building anything. They only have one intention and it is to destroy. They want to destroy ministries. They want to destroy marriages. They want to destroy people's lives. They're not building anything. They're not helping anyone. They've got one goal and it is to destroy. Men of God oftentimes do engage in fights, do engage in spiritual warfare, but you know the difference when they're building and battling. And when they're battling as a result of building. You cannot build without battling if you're going to build something for God. The difference with the enemies of God, they're only interested in one thing, destruction. They're not getting anybody saved. They're not helping any marriages. They're not helping children be raised in the nurtured animation of the Lord. No, they've got one thing in mind, destroyed. And this is what David said, he says, He says, I know, enemy, that you have only one goal in mind, and it is to destroy. And David says, but I want you to understand something and realize that this is all in context. He says, I'm rejoicing. He says, I'm rejoicing because I know that my enemy is going to be destroyed at the presence of God. I know that that's going to happen because God is the judge. He judges righteously, and he looks down on the earth. He rebukes the heathen. And then in that context, David kind of turns his view towards the enemies. and he begins to speak to the enemy, and he says, O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end. And what he's saying is this, you're only interested in destroying, but destruction will come to an end. Destructions are come to a perpetual end. He says, and thou hast destroyed cities. Now for David, he's a king, so this is a kingdom. He says, you have destroyed cities. Their memorial is perished with them. You only are interested in destroying. You only are interested in destruction. You only are interested in bringing the kingdom down. He says, but here's what you need to understand. Destructions come to a perpetual end. There's nothing lasting about destroying. And then I want you to notice the context, because it's not us against them. It's them against God. Because David says, you're only interested in one thing, destruction. Destructions are come to a perpetual end. But then notice in verse 7, the compare and contrast. The compare and contrast is this, verse 7. But the Lord shall endure forever. Now I want you to notice, David doesn't say, O thou enemy, you're trying to destroy me. Destructions are going to come to an end, but I'm going to outlast you. I'm going to be here when you're done. You're not going to destroy me. He doesn't say that. Now David could say that, but what he says is this, O thou enemy, your destructions and your need to destroy, it will come to a perpetual end, compare and contrast, but the Lord shall endure forever. And the idea, again, that David is making clear is this. That our enemies are defeated at the presence of God. And when our enemies are defeated, our God continues. I'd like you to keep your place there in Psalm 9. That's obviously our text for tonight. But go with me, if you would, to the book of Hebrews. In the New Testament, if you go backwards from Revelation, you have Jude, 32nd and 1st John, 2nd and 1st Peter, James, and then the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter number 1, if you would. Do me a favor, when you get to Hebrews, put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there. We're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it. I'm going to just show you this one verse right now, but we're going to come back to Hebrews and I'd like you to be able to get to it quickly. Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 11. I just want you to see this idea that the Lord shall endure forever. David says, O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end. And thou hast destroyed cities, their memorials is perished with them. You have destroyed, but destruction eventually comes to an end. He says, but the Lord shall endure forever. Notice what Hebrews 1.11 says. It says about the enemy, they shall perish. And then it says about God, but thou remainest. And look, the truth of the matter is this, that what you and I need to concern ourselves with is not whether or not we can last. Maybe we can, maybe we can't. Maybe we can weather the storms of the attacks that come upon us and we can outlast our enemies and maybe we cannot. We know that obviously we're all going to die at some point if we don't live to the rapture and all of our ministries will come to an end. But our thoughts and our focus ought not be on can we outlast the destruction of the enemies, our thought and our focus ought to be that God will outlast the destruction of the enemies. That the Word of God will outlast. That the Word of God will last forever, and the Word of God is settled in heaven. So, they shall perish, but thou remainest. And they all shall wax old as doth a garment. Keep your place there in Hebrews if you would, and go back to Psalm 9. Psalm 9, look down at verse number 8 as we continue through this psalm. Now in verse 8, we come back to the theme of the judgment of God. And remember, these themes are all going back and forth. The enemies of God, now we're back to the judgment of God. Look at verse 8. Now, I'm not going to have you turn to other passages in Psalms. There's other verses in Psalms that talk about the fact that God shall judge the earth. Here we're told that He shall judge the world. The idea is that He shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness, that God judges the things of this earth, that God judges the things of this world. And it just reminds me, you don't have to turn here, but it reminds me of a very famous verse in John 16, where Jesus said these words about the Holy Spirit. John 16, eight, the Bible says, and when He, this is Jesus speaking about the Holy Spirit or the Comforter, He says that when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. And that's similar to Psalm 9, 8. And He shall judge the world in righteousness. He shall minister judgment to people in uprightness. So we see the theme there in verse 8 of the judgment of God. Then I want you to notice, in verse 9, we see a new theme that we've not seen yet, because we've seen the theme of praise, the theme of judgment, the theme of enemies. Actually, we saw the theme of praise, the theme of enemies, and the theme of judgment, and we've gone back and forth between those themes a little bit. In verse 9, we enter into a new theme that we've not yet seen, but it is the theme of the sheltered of God. Or you could say the refuge of God. Psalm 9 verse 9. The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed. A refuge in times of trouble. And what David is telling us here is that God is our refuge. He is the strong tower. He is the tower of salvation that we can run into, that we can run into for protection. Let's just run a few verses here in Psalms. Go to Psalm 32, if you would, and look at verse number 7. Psalm 32, verse 7. You say, where do I go in times of trouble? Where else could I go but to the Lord? Psalm 32 and verse 7. Notice these beautiful words. Thou art my hiding place. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble. Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. See when the enemy is attacking and when things seem difficult, this is not the time to run from God. This is the time to run to God. Don't hide. But hide in God, thou art my hiding place. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble, thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Go to Psalm 46, look at verse one, you're there in Psalm 32, just flip over to Psalm 46 in verse number one. Psalm 46 in verse one, this is a very well-known verse. The superscription says to the chief musician of the sons of Korah, a song upon Alamoth, Notice the Psalm, Psalm 46, verse 1. God is our refuge and strength. Look at these words. A very present help in trouble. In the New Testament, we've looked at it a lot. In Hebrews, we're told that we can enter into the throne of grace and that God assists us there. He suckers us there. He's a very present help in time of need. And we have access to His mercy, we have access to His strength, we have access to His grace. And look, the truth is this, that it might sound like spiritual talk to you, and you might think, oh, it's just religious talk. There's just something real about going to God, casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. And allowing God to be your refuge. Don't allow other things to be your hiding place, and other things to give you strength. But go to Him, Thou art my hiding place. The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed. A refuge, excuse me, in times of trouble. Go back to Psalm 9. Look at verse 10. In Psalm 9 and verse 10 we continue this theme of the shelter of God. And that would be you and I. We ought to be sheltered in God. We ought to be hiding in Him. He is a very present help in trouble. Look at verse 10. Psalm 9 verse 10. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee. We put our trust in God, for thou, Lord, has not forsaken them that seek thee. So we see here, there's a few things I want to point out. First of all is this, that God doesn't forsake those that put their trust in him. Aren't you thankful for that? Now here we're talking about times of trouble and persecution and spiritual warfare, but that applies to everything. That applies to salvation. That's eternal security. You put your trust in God, He's not gonna forsake you. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee. The word trust is used in the Bible interchangeably with the word faith or believe. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee, for thou, Lord, has not forsaken them that seek thee. God will never leave thee nor forsake thee. So we see that God doesn't forsake those that put their trust in Him. But I want to point this out as well, and it is this, that those that put their trust in God should seek Him. He says, and they that know thy name will put their trust in thee, for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them. We like that. But then he says this, that seek thee. And the question you need to ask yourself and I need to ask myself is this, do we seek God? Because the Bible says that those that put their trust in Him ought to seek Him. Now, there's a verse in Hebrews that's very similar to this. It's a well-known verse, but I want you to see it in Hebrews 11. I asked you to keep your place there. I hope you did that. Go back to Hebrews 11 if you would. We looked at verse 1, but now I'd like you to look at verse number 6. Hebrews 11 and verse 6. And I want you to notice the similarities between Hebrews 11, 6 and Psalm 9, 10. Because Psalm 9, 10 says this, And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee. Remember that the word trust in the book of Ephesians is used synonymously with the word faith and with the word believe. When we're talking about believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we're not talking about believe in his existence like somebody believes in the tooth fairy, but we're saying believe, put your trust in him, put your faith in him. So, Psalm 910, and they that know thy name will put their trust in thee, Hebrews 11 to 6, but without faith. That's trust. But without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe, that's trust, that's faith, must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently, tell me if this sounds like Psalm 96, seek Him. You say, I trust God. Good, I'm glad. I hope you do. I mean, it's the only way you can be saved is to put your faith in God. The question I have for you on a Wednesday night is not whether you're trusting God or if you're here tonight and you're not saved, you don't know that you're on your way to heaven, please don't leave here without letting us show you, you can place your faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation and you can be saved. You can put your trust in Him. I think probably most of you here in this room are already saved. The question I have for you is not are you trusting Him, the question I have for you is are you seeking Him? The Bible says, but without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder. You say, oh, that sounds good. I want the reward. Okay, well, here's the thing. He's a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. The access to God's power and the access to God's blessing is determined on how actively are you seeking Him. Because you're seeking something. You're going after something. you're engaged in the pursuit of something, why not make it be God? Why not make God the goal and make the presence of God and the relationship of God and a walk with God the number one thing in your life? So he says, and they that know thy name will put their trust in thee, for thou, Lord, has not forsaken them that seek thee. Now I want you to notice in verse 11 we come back to the theme of praise. Sing praises to the Lord which dwelleth in Zion. Declare among the people his doings. This is part of praise. Not just singing, but also declaring. Both are praise. We sing praises to the Lord and we declare among the people his doings. Now I want you to notice in verse 12. I think verse 12 is a very interesting verse. I'd like to take a little bit of time on it. Psalm 9 and verse 12, we now enter into a new theme. Because remember, there were five themes in this psalm. And the themes were praise, enemies, judgment, the sheltered, and the remembered. We dealt with praise, enemies, and judgment early on in the psalm. And then we recently entered into the theme of sheltered. But we've not yet seen a verse under the theme of remembrance. And it begins here in verse 12. the remembrance of God, or the remembered of God. Look at verse 12, Psalm 9 and verse 12. When he, this is referring to God, maketh inquisition, you know what the word inquisition means? It means to question, to investigate. When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them, he forgetteth not the cry of the humble. Now what is Psalm 912 telling us here? And I believe, and I think there's verses to back this up, and we'll look at some here in a minute, is that when blood is shed, when, for example, people are murdered, there are many murders that happen that are never solved. I mean, we live in this country and we think that with all the technology we have that every murder gets solved and you watch Dateline or whatever you watch and you think that. But the truth of the matter is there's lots of murders that happen that are never solved. The Bible says that God makes inquisition for blood. He looks into it. He questions it. So even when the case grows cold and the police and the detectives forget about it and they stop asking questions, the Bible says that God continues to ask questions. Even when others forget, God doesn't forget. He maketh inquisition for blood. And I think what the psalmist is showing us here is how just of a God, God is. That even if you knew of someone and if I knew of someone and if we've known of people throughout history that have been murdered and killed and nobody ever found out exactly who did it and what happened. At the end, God is the judge. And He maketh inquisition for blood. He remembereth them and He forgeteth not. Now let me prove this to you in another passage in the scripture. Go to Genesis chapter 4. First book in the Bible, should be fairly easy to find. I mean, we just read in Psalm 912 that God maketh inquisition for blood. He maketh inquisition for blood. Here we have an example of it. Genesis 4 and verse 9. In fact, we have an example of it in the very first murder in all of human history. Genesis 4 and verse 9, the Bible says, and the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not. Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, this is God speaking to Cain, what has thou done? And notice these words. The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. You know, in verse nine, when the Bible says that the Lord said unto Cain, where is Abel thy brother? You know what God was doing? He was making inquisition for blood. He was looking into a case. And when he gets a bad attitude and a bad response, I'm my brother's keeper, he says, what has thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And what we learn is that God inquires about those who have had their blood shed. And he does not forget. You and I may forget. Do you understand? You and I may forget and we may never even know the names of the thousands of children that were murdered today in abortion clinics in this country. But He remembereth them, He forgeteth not the cry of the humble. He will make inquisition for blood and He will bring justice. Go to Genesis 9, look at verse 5. In Genesis 4 we saw the very first murder in human history, then in Genesis 9 we see God's soul. He gives the, what we know today as the death penalty, the order for death penalty, but I want you to notice how God gives it. Genesis 9 verse 5. He says, and surely, this is God speaking to Noah and to all mankind. He says, and surely your, look at the word, blood of your lives will I require. Why does he say that? Because he made an inquisition for blood. And surely your blood of your lives will I require. And notice, it's not just, it's anyone that sheds blood. At the hand of every beast. So look, some animal out there, some mountain lion or some bear kills somebody and kills them. You know, if we know as human beings, if we know where that lion is or where that animal is, we know where that shark is, then we go kill it. At least we should go kill it. You should not allow an animal that has taken human life to live according to the Bible. But even if we don't, even if we don't know and we just don't know, God knows. And the Bible says that, he says, and surely your blood of your lives will I require at the hand of every beast will I require, and at the hand of man, and at the hand of every man's brother. That's Cain, right? Will I require the life of man, verse 6, whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he Man, and I think what the psalmist is trying to tell us, he's taking a very tragic situation, but maybe a common situation where someone might feel like My brother was murdered, my sister was murdered, my spouse was murdered, or my parents were murdered, my friend, my co-worker was murdered, and they don't know who did it, and it's not right, and it's injustice. And what the psalmist is trying to tell us is that God is a just God, and He, you can go back to Psalm 9 and 12, He maketh inquisition for blood. And others may forget, but He remembereth them, He forgeteth not the cry of the humble. Then in verse 13, we get back to the theme of enemies. Psalm 9, 13, he says, have mercy upon me, O Lord. He says, consider my trouble, which I suffer of them that hate me. Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death. And this is a common thing we see in the Bible. And here we see David, though he's already spoken victoriously about the fact that his enemies are going to die, they're going to fall, they're going to be forgotten, God's going to have victory. Here David lets us in on some personal feelings, and he's asking the Lord, have mercy upon me, oh Lord, consider. He says, please consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me. And I realize that for most people, maybe this doesn't really connect, but Sometimes you're going to have people that attack you and trouble you, and like David, you're going to say, Lord, have mercy. Consider my trouble, which I suffer of them, that hate me. Notice in Psalm 56, just real quickly, David says similar things. He says it all throughout the Psalms, but look at Psalm 56, in verse number one. Psalm 56, one, he says, be merciful unto me, O God. Be merciful unto me, O God. Why does David say this? Here's why. He says, Look at the words. He says, I will trust in me. And David is saying, look, sometimes it feels like it's just not going to stop. Man would swallow me up. He fighting daily oppressed me. Daily he swallowed me up. Many that fight against me. And David, which David, I mean, David is the toughest dude in the Bible. I mean, David is a manly man. He killed Goliath. He's one of the greatest warrior. I mean, probably the greatest warrior in all of the Bible. The leader of the mighty men. And here we have this tough dude who says, what time I am afraid. I will trust in thee." So you see that sometimes our enemies cause us to suffer, and when they do, we should trust in the Lord. The Lord should be our refuge. We should run to God. If you can make your way back to Psalm 9, look at verse 14. In verse 14 again, we get to the theme of praise. He says that I may show forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion, I will rejoice in thy salvation. And listen to me, you didn't buy it when I said it earlier, and I said, look, praising is a choice you make, and you can decide, and some of you are rolling your eyes, if you knew my situation. Listen to me, all I need to know is this, if you're saved, you can rejoice at any moment, because no matter how bad your life gets, you can always rejoice in thy salvation. And always rejoice in the fact that you're saved. That no matter how bad it gets here, it's only uphill, it's only up from here, literally up. And I'm not living my best life here. And that's a good thing. Psalm 9, look at verse 15. Then in verses 15 and 16, we are back to the theme of the enemies. I want you to notice what he says, Psalm 915, the heathen are sunk down. This is something that's already came up in Psalms and it's all throughout the Bible, but I just want to highlight it for you again. He says the heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made. So he says they made a pit and then they're sucked down in that pit. He says in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. He says they hid a net, they hid a trap and then their foot got stuck in that net. He said they dug a pit And then they sunk down in the pit. Look at verse 16. And what David is saying here is that when the wicked lay traps, they dig ditches for us to fall in, they lay nets to trap us in, they lay snares to catch us in. He says they're going to sink down in their own pit, they're going to have their own foot taken by their net, they're going to be snared by their own trap. Then he uses the word hegeion, which is not a word that we know. Most people believe it to be a musical term, and it probably is. And then he says sela, which is a musical term. But the idea is this, that the devices that our enemies use will come back upon them. Now, we've already seen this, but let me just read some verses for you. You don't have to turn here. I'll just read these for you. They're in Psalms. But in Psalms 7 and verse 15, The Bible says this, He made a pit and digged it, and has fallen into the ditch which He made. His mischief shall return upon His own head, and His violent dealings shall come upon His own pate. So here we read that He made a pit, He digged it, and then He's fallen into His own ditch. Psalm 35 8, Let destruction come upon Him at unawares, and let His net that He hath hid catch Himself, in that very destruction let him fall. So he set a net and he says, let his net that he hath hid catch himself. Psalm 57 6 says this, they have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They have digged a pit before me. into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves, Selah. So here, the psalmist says, they dug a pit before me, hoping that I'd fall into it, but into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. And again, the idea is this, that their devices, their traps, their attacks are going to come back upon them. And this is not only something that's taught In the Bible, I've already read several verses to you here from Psalms, but it's also something that's illustrated throughout the Bible. For example, don't turn anywhere, I'll just reference these, but if you remember in the book of Esther, Haman Remember Haman hated Mordecai and Haman built gallows to hang Mordecai on. He had not yet received permission to do it, but he built the gallows in anticipation that he would manipulate the king into hanging Mordecai. And what happens to Haman? He gets hung on his own gallows. How about Daniel? Remember Daniel? The presidents and the princes conspired to have Daniel thrown into the lion's den. And Daniel gets thrown into the lion's den. And the Bible says that an angel came and he shut the mouth of the lions. What happens at the end of the story? The president and the princes that conspired the plan to have Daniel thrown into the lion's den, they get thrown into the lion's den and are fed to the lion. This is the concept being taught in the Bible, that he made a pit and digged it and has fallen into the ditch which he made. So when they make attacks against us, we just need to believe and trust that it will come up, it will come against them The Bible says that his mischief shall return upon his own head. Then in Psalm 9 and verse 17, if you can go back to Psalm 9, 17, we get back into the theme of the remembered of God. He says this, the wicked shall be turned into hell. The wicked shall be turned into hell. I don't want to spend too much time on this because I'm preaching on the subject of hell this Sunday, but I want you to notice that the idea is this, that at the end of the day, no matter how bad it gets with our enemies, They go to hell and we don't. So there you go. The wicked shall be turned into hell. I think it's interesting that it doesn't say that the wicked go to hell, it says that the wicked are turned into hell. When you go to hell, you literally become part of it. The wicked shall be turned into hell and, look at this, all the nations that forget God. Now remember, there's this theme in the psalm about remembering and forgetting, remembering and forgetting, right? Remember he said, he said, other people forget, the shedding of blood. But the Bible says, he remembereth them, he forgeteth not the cry of the humble. In verse 12. Now, in verse 17, we, excuse me, in verse, in verse 17, he says, all the nations that forget God. Psalm 50 in verse 22, you don't have to turn there, it says this, now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. And look, you and I need to think about this verse, the wicked shall be turned to hell and all nations that forget God, because you and I literally live in a nation tonight that has forgotten God. And they want to forget God. They don't want to think about God. And they want to pretend like God doesn't exist. And for whatever it's worth, in the United States of America, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it was a Christian nation or whatever. But we do know that it was founded upon Christian principles. Look, go to Washington, DC. My family and I went to Washington, DC a couple of years ago. It's interesting, I mean, just carved into the monuments and carved into the buildings of this nation. It's just scripture. I mean, you go and look at the Lincoln Memorial, and they've got two big walls there inscripted. You've got famous speeches by Lincoln. Of course, you've got the Gettysburg Address, which is the most famous speech in human history outside of the Word of God. But then they have an address that Lincoln made on the day of his inauguration. I mean, you read it, and it's literally, it's like you're reading a sermon. I mean, it's like the President of the United States is preaching a sermon on the day of inauguration. And that's how it is. The Capitol has Bible verses, the Supreme Court. You cannot walk into the Supreme Court of the United States of America without walking past wall after wall after wall that it is inscripted in it. The Word of God, the Ten Commandments, all these things. And yet we live in a nation today that wants to forget God. And pretend like God isn't there. Well, I'm here to tell you that the wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God. All the nations that forget God what? All the nations that forget God are gonna get turned into hell as well. Look at verse 18, he says, the needy, remember this is the theme of remembrance, for the needy shall not always be forgotten. The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. God is gonna remember the needy. They might forget Him, the nations might forget God, but God's not gonna forget the needy. And then look at verses 19 and 20. Verses 19 and 20, we have the enemies of God and the judgment of God again as we finish the Psalm. Look at what it says. Psalm 9 and verse 19. Here's what David says. He says, Arise, O Lord. Talking about his enemies. He says, Let not man prevail. Let the heathen be judged in thy sight. Put them in fear, O Lord. And then he says this. And I think this would do us good. Because we live in verse 17. All the nations that forget God, that's us. I mean, it's not us individuals, but it's the nation we live in. And the response from David to that is this. addressing the Lord. Remember, these are prayers to God. Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail. Let the heathen be judged in thy sight. Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves. And then I just love this little phrase you got underlining in your Bible. He says that the nations may know themselves to be but men. You know what we should remember in these United States of America? that we're nothing but men. We're just human beings. We're just mortal beings. And we would do well not to forget God. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you. And we thank you for this psalm, these psalms, that remind us to keep our trust in you, to praise you, to run to you, that you're our shelter. They remind us that you remember, even when we forget, even when mankind forgets injustices, you remember. You make inquisition for blood. And Lord, I pray that you'd help us to learn these things. Help us to not be part of the people that forget God. And help us always remember this very humbling thought, and it is this, that we're but men. And the greatest of men is just a man. Let us remember that. Let us put our trust in the Lord. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. We're gonna have Brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song. Just wanna remind you