The God Above All

Psalm 9:1-10

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be sung to the tune “Death of the Son.”

1I will thank you, LORD, with all my heart;

I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.

2I will be filled with joy because of you.

I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.

3My enemies turn away in retreat;

they are overthrown and destroyed before you.

4For you have judged in my favor;

from your throne, you have judged with fairness.

5You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;

you have wiped out their names forever.

6My enemies have met their doom;

their cities are perpetual ruins.

Even the memory of their uprooted cities is lost.

7But the LORD reigns forever,

executing judgment from his throne.

8He will judge the world with justice

and rule the nations with fairness.

9The LORD is a shelter for the oppressed,

a refuge in times of trouble.

10Those who know your name trust in you,

for you, O LORD, have never abandoned anyone who searches for you.

In our day conquering heroes are greeted with ticker-tape parades. But when King David returned home from a triumphant battle, he wrote a psalm praising God for his successes.

In verse 2 of this psalm, David extols God as Elyon, “O Most High.”

In the Bible, God is often called Most High when other nations or peoples are involved. Melchizedek, king of Salem, blessed Abraham in the name of God Most High (Genesis 14:20). Balaam prophesied to the Moabite king in the name of the Most High (Numbers 24:16). Daniel in Babylon worshiped God as the Most High (Daniel 4:24).

Other nations claimed to have their gods, but David and others recognized that the God of Israel is Elyon, the Most High above all others. That’s why this God can give victory. That’s why he is worthy of praise. That’s why those who know his name—not just know it in their heads, but know it by experience in their hearts—put their trust in him.

As you face the world today, put your trust in Elyon, the Most High above all gods. He reigns forever and is a refuge in times of trouble.

The God of Abraham praise, who reigns enthroned above,

Ancient of everlasting days, and God of love.

Jehovah, great I AM, by earth and heaven confessed:

We bow and bless the sacred name forever blessed.

THOMAS OLIVERS

Fascinating Fact

This psalm, when combined with Psalm 10, is the first of the acrostic psalms (see the devotional for April 14, “The Acrostic Psalms”). That is, each verse of these psalms begins with the succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

Bible Networking

Contrast the “I wills” of verses 1 and 2 in this psalm with the “I wills” of Isaiah 14:12-14.