Why Man Cannot Win
Psalm 9:15-20
In verses 19-20 of our passage there are four key things mentioned that we will focus on in this sermon. They are “let not man prevail”, “let the heathen be judged in thy sight”, “put them in fear”, and that the nations may know themselves to be but men”.
1) That the nations may know themselves to be men (verse 20)
- When we look at what David says about man in Psalm 39:1-6, we see a drastic difference from the fact that man was originally created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-28).
- What happened? Sin, which leads to a different state of man than how he was created (Eccl 7:29 ; Psalm 106:39)
- This is why men need to be reminded that they are men and not gods. This should not surprise us when we look at how Satan tempted Eve with the phrase “ye shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:1-7).
2) Let the heathen be judged in thy sight (verse 19)
- God is known by his judgements (verse 16). It is the result of sin that brings God’s judgment.
- We may not like them and we may not understand them but they are righteous and true (Psalm 19:9 ; Psalm 105:7)
- The end result of sin is hell (verse 17)
3) Put them in fear (verse 20)
- God’s judgment should bring us to the fear of the Lord, which in turns brings us to God for his grace and mercy (Psalm 19:9 ; Ecclesiastes 12:12-13)
- But sadly for many this is not the case (Romans 3:9-18)
4) Let not man prevail (verse 19)
- The above facts point us to the conclusion that man cannot win. This is why Jesus Christ came and paid the ultimate sacrifice to save us from this sinful state.
- If we go back to Psalms 39:7 we will see that our only hope is God.
- Man has been trying to win, or get around this fact on his own for centuries, but the truth of the matter is that there is no hope for man outside of Jesus Christ (John 14:6)