Mind Meld of A Different Kind

PSALM 9:1-10
For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be sung to the tune “Death of the Son.”
I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.
I will be filled with joy because of you.
I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.
My enemies retreated;
they staggered and died when you appeared.
For you have judged in my favor;
from your throne you have judged with fairness.
You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have erased their names forever.
The enemy is finished, in endless ruins;
the cities you uprooted are now forgotten.
But the LORD reigns forever,
executing judgment from his throne.
He will judge the world with justice
and rule the nations with fairness.
The LORD is a shelter for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of trouble.
Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, O LORD, do not abandon those who search for you.

Notes and words
We normally do not pay any attention the notes at the beginning of the Psalms. The words often give short statements about the tune the Psalm was sung with or a brief note about the setting and authorship. While some of these notes give us a context in which to view the Psalm most of them offer extraneous information we cannot fully appreciate.

Today’s Psalm appears that way at first glance. “For the director of music to the tune of The death of a Son.” A Psalm of David. We do not have the sheet music for the Psalms, but I can’t imagine the music for The death of a Son was lively and fast. I would imagine more clarinet wailing and somber oboes than cymbals and big brass.

David was certainly aware of how a song composed to honor and remember a son who died should go. He had lost more than one son; the child born from his adulterous affair with Bathsheba, Absalom, Amnon, all sons of David who died. But if we look at Psalm 9 it is full of praise to God for His justice and righteousness. The music may have been melancholy but the words are uplifting.

God is just like that, turning our mourning into dancing joy, exchanging our grief for his blessing. What an amazing God we serve. The God who takes a sin wrecked life and transforms it into something beautiful and life-giving. We serve the God who in our worst nightmare can bring us to a place of celebrating His faithfulness. I’m glad we have the musical notes for this Psalm; they bring a whole new understanding to the richness of God’s love.

Heavenly Father, I exalt you for you are faithful even in the toughest situations. I long to be so intimate in my relationship with you that even the darkest of days is flooded by your goodness and grace bringing a song of praise to my lips. I love you. - Dan Jones

Justice
Judging fairly is difficult. I’m a parent. And we parents know the challenge of making fair decisions for our kids. Inevitably the accusation, “Unfair!” gets leveled at even the best parent. I manage employees and volunteers. Leaders who combine integrity with a keen self awareness wrestle with making just judgment calls.

If only we had God’s abilities! Perfect knowledge. All wise. Knower of past and future. Perfect love. Then we could always, without fail, make fair decisions.
Even then, others would accuse us of injustice unless they too had the same abilities and could fully understand the decisions.

David struggled to understand God. Some days he cried out in dismay at God’s seeming injustice. Today he praises God’s perfect justice. Yet, in both praise and lament, this poet affirms God’s rule, God’s justice, and God’s goodness.

Eternal God, I will praise you with all my heart whether or not I understand you. Even when injustice seems to reign in the world, I will still declare the truth of your just rule. - Mike Leamon