Psalms 9- Summary of Spurgeon Part 1

Verse 1
I will praise thee, O Lord.
It sometimes needs all our determination to face the foe, and bless the Lord in the teeth of his enemies; vowing that whoever else may be silent we will bless his name.

With my whole heart.
The words "With my whole heart," distinguish him from the hypocrites--the coarser, who praise the Lord for his goodness merely with the lips; and the more refined, who praise him with just half their heart, while they secretly ascribe the deliverance more to themselves than to him. I will show forth. it will not be casting pearls before swine if we make even the ungodly hear of the loving-kindness of the Lord to us.

All thy marvellous works.
Gratitude for one mercy refreshes the memory as to thousands of others. If we consider our own sinfulness and nothingness, we must feel that every work of preservation, forgiveness, conversion, deliverance, sanctification, etc., which the Lord has wrought for us, or in us is a marvellous work.

Verse 2
I will be glad and rejoice in you;
Gladness and joy are the appropriate spirit in which to praise the goodness of the Lord. Moloch may be worshipped with shrieks of pain, and Juggernaut may be honoured by dying groans and inhuman yells, but he whose name is Love is best pleased with the sanctified gladness of his people.
I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.
Songs are the fitting expression of inward thankfulness. We should do double the work which can be done if we be crushed and trodden down in soul. As the evil spirit in Saul yielded in olden time to the influence of the harp of the son of Jesse, so would the spirit of melancholy often take flight from us, if only we would take up the song of praise.

Verse 3
My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you.
We must be careful, like David, to give all the glory to him whose presence gives the victory.

Verse 4
For you have upheld my right and my cause; you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.
One of our nobility has for his motto, "I will maintain it;" but the Christian has a better and more humble one, "Thou hast maintained it." It is a rich comfort to remember that he who sits on the throne knows our hearts, and will not leave us to the ignorant and ungenerous judgment of erring man.

Verse 5
You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
God rebukes before he destroys.

Verse 6
Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy, you have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished.
In the light of the past the future is not doubtful. Since the same Almighty God fills the throne of power, we can with unhesitating confidence, exult in our security for all time to come.

Verse 7
The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment.
The eternity of divine sovereignty yields unfailing consolation. Are we not to understand the swiftness of divine justice. In heaven's court suitors are not worn out with long delays.

Verse 8
He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice.
Heaven's throne ministers judgment in uprightness. Partiality and respect of persons are things unknown in the dealings of the Holy One. How the prospect of appearing before the impartial tribunal of the Great King should act as a check to us when tempted to sin, and as a comfort when we are slandered or oppressed.
In this judgment tears will not prevail, prayers will not be heard, promises will not be admitted, repentance will be too late; and as for riches, honourable titles, sceptres, and diadems, these will profit much less; and the inquisition shall be so curious and diligent, that not one light thought nor one idle word (not repented of in the life past), shall be forgotten. For truth itself hath said, not in jest, but in earnest, "Of every idle word which men have spoken, they shall give an account in the day of judgment."

Verse 9
The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
There are many forms of oppression; both from man and from Satan. He is a high tower so impregnable, that the hosts of hell cannot carry it by storm.

Verse 10
Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Ignorance is worst when it amounts to ignorance of God. Knowledge is best when it exercises itself upon the name of God. Faith is an intelligent grace; though there can be knowledge without faith, yet there can be no faith without knowledge. Knowledge must carry the torch before faith. This confirmed Paul, Abraham, Sarah, in the faith. "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." 2 Timothy 1:12. God shines in with a light upon the understanding. A blind faith is as bad as a dead faith: that eye may as well be said to be a good eye which is without sight, as that faith is good without knowledge.
He never has utterly, finally, really, or angrily forsaken them that seek him. Let the poor seekers draw comfort from this fact.

The revelation ... of Christ ... deserves the severest
of our thoughts,the best of our meditations
and our utmost diligence in them ... What better preparation
can there be for [our future enjoyment of the glory of Christ] than in
a constant previous contemplation of that glory in the
revelation that is made in the Gospel.
~John Owen~
Meditations on the Glory of Christ.