Psalm 9:1-2: Worshiping the Most High

Last night, I led a discussion at our worship team practice on Psalm 9:1-2. Maybe it will encourage you.

The first part of Psalm 9 gives us some very clear descriptions of what it means to worship God.

9:title – TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO MUTH-LABBEN. A PSALM OF DAVID.  Like most of the other Psalm titles, we don’t know for sure what the “muth-labben” was. Literally, it means “death of a son.” Most likely it was a specific tune that was well known to Ancient Israel.

9:1-2 – I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

Yahweh is called the Most High. Meditate on this. There is no higher being than Him.

Some key aspects of worshiping the Most High:

1. Wholehearted Thanksgiving (1a)

Worship should be filled with thankfulness to God that comes from a genuine heart.

2. Recounting His Wonderful Deeds (1b)

The Hebrew word translated “wonderful” has connotations of “astounding, extraordinary, and marvelous.” Worship includes speaking and reminding ourselves and others of the amazing things God has done. In the Old Testament, the primary focus was on how God saved Israel out of Egypt and delivered them from physical bondage and slavery. God’s greatest action on our behalf was in saving us sinners from certain doom and delivering us from slavery to sin and spiritual bondage and giving us eternal life in Christ. This is why we always sing at least one Gospel saturated song every Sunday at church.

3. Joyful Exultation (2a)

Worship should be filled with joy and gladness.

4. Songs of Praise (2b)

Worship should include music and singing that praises God’s name. His “name” is all that He is.

I want to share a helpful application from James Montgomery Boice:

“Let me tell you about one thing I have started to do as a result of my study of the psalms. Recognizing that they are open in their praise of God…, I decided to make a point every day of acknowledging God’s goodness in some area to some person. That does not seem like much. But when I began to think along these lines I realized how much time frequently went by without my having praised God for anything. And I discovered something else. Once I had begun to make a point of acknowledging God’s goodness, I began to think of his goodness more often, and I actually developed a more positive and spiritual frame of mind. This is not mere psychological conditioning, though it works that way perhaps. It is actually a recognition (not always easy to achieve) that God is constantly active in our lives and that, as the apostle Paul put it, ‘in all things God works for the good of those who love him.’ (Rom. 8:28).” (James Montgomery Boice, Psalms Volume 1, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994, p. 77). 

Will you apply this in your own life as I do in mine? Let’s praise God daily and remind others of His goodness.

Questions for Application:

1. Which of the 4 aspects of worship in these verses do you struggle with most? Why?