Tuesday 3 March 2026

Psalm 9:1-11

Background
This passage is from a letter Paul is writing to mentor a young church in Corinth. In verse 13, he quotes Psalm 116 "I believed and so I spoke."

Paul has been talking in this letter to the Corinthians about how he has often felt crushed and close to death. His life is tough and he is tempted to feel very discouraged. This was also the situation of the psalmist centuries earlier. And yet the psalmist says he called on God in his distress and God heard him and restored his life. The psalmist’s testimony is enshrined in the Scriptures.

Faithful Jews like Paul would have known the psalms by heart. The psalms provided a vocabulary and imagery to learn, express and illumine what it is to believe in God and to have faith. The Corinthians would also understand the allusion. The psalmist’s experience is confirmed in Paul’s experience, and he gladly testifies to it.

Verse 14: Just as God has raised Jesus from death, so God will raise us also and bring us into Christ’s presence.

Verse 15: All Paul’s difficulties and God restoring his life (and hope) have been for the sake of witnessing to the truth of the gospel to the Corinthians. The more that people like Paul give heartfelt thanks and testimony to how God has restored them to life, the more God is glorified and the more the world is shaped as God intends.

Verse 16: So do not be discouraged. Your body may be getting frailer, your life with other people may be full of challenges, but your inner nature, your new life in Christ, is renewed day by day and grows stronger. Christ’s life will not be life on your own terms, but its value is infinitely more precious than any life you could have fashioned for yourself. It is mysterious and to be treasured.

Verse 17: Temporary difficulties prepare us to value and have capacity for "this eternal weight of glory beyond all measure."

Verse 18: What is ‘seen’ passes, but the undergirding reality of God’s love is eternal.

To Ponder:

• Is there a psalm that helps you to live your faith? What does it express and how does it shape you?
• Do you have a story about how you have come to accept the new life that God has given you, which perhaps you wouldn’t have exactly chosen, but now you value as infinitely precious?
• In what ways do you have a discipline of giving thanks to God for your restored life?
• How does the fact that God doesn’t let you live your life on your own terms affect you?

Prayer
Wonderful God, we thank you for the mysterious gift of being alive in Christ and the deep joy that can bubble up in us from that gift. Help us to offer our afflictions to you, that in your wondrous power you can use them to bring your life to the world. With love. Amen.

Bible notes author: The Revd Jenny Ellis
Jenny is a supernumerary Methodist minister. She facilitates a mindfulness community based at her local surgery and also online. She also leads quiet days and contemplative study days.