Psalm 9

By: Donovan Parker 

Psalm 9

I didn't get deep into Psalm 9 because the first two verses seemed to capture me.  

1 I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.

2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.

A couple things that stood out to me in these two verses were:

- with my whole heart

- sing praise to thy name

One of the things I'm learning about is praise and worship.  We know that praise is important, but how do we really grab God's attention with our praise?

We don't want to be so religious (I have to lift my hands, or wave at His presence, etc.) about our praise because it will become too routine and less meaningful. 

The Lord is after our hearts! So when the writer of this passage of scripture says "I'll praise you with my whole heart," it implies that a partial praise won't get it. This is something that I'm learning even now. God will really meet you where you are if you surrender your whole heart to Him. Soo many times, I've missed being in His presence to praise Him because I was preoccupied in my mind and in my heart. It seems more easy to have your head elsewhere with so many things going on around you - your mind can be conditioned based on your environment, but you won't just give your heart to anybody. You have it way more protected.  

Talk to God out of your heart. Be open with Him and really express yourself to Him.

Try giving your heart (emotions, feelings, etc.) to God completely and see the difference that it will make - specifically in your PRAISE. 

This brings me to the next thing that stood out for me. I will sing praise unto thy name. I don't really know the extent to which God honors our song, but there are a number of references that mention singing unto the Lord in the Bible.  I look at it like this, I'm not singing TO just anyone. Just like I'm not giving my heart to just anyone.  There is a difference in singing FOR someone and singing TO someone! When you sing TO someone you put more emotion and feeling into it - more of yourself. That is your heart!Focus on finding and developing those ways that you can fully give yourself to God. That is melodious to Him.  - meaning it's pleasing, sweet, and pleasurable to Him. Your life will become a joyful noise (something that attracts attention) that will make Him smile.

Continue to love and praise God. He will be pleased and honor you in return.

Prayer:

Dear Lord,

The things that we find in Your Word are just so heavy. It's amazing the things You reveal in simple phrases that we often read over.  First, Lord show us how to give our hearts and minds completely to you. Then Lord, we ask that You reward us for doing so that we can become conditioned to doing things Your way. Develop our song and reason to sing unto You Lord so that when we open our mouths our praise will be filled with melodious bursts of gratitude. Thank You for Your power and the marvelous works You do in our lives.

We love you and pray your continued blessings.

In Jesus' Name,

AMEN.