Weds 2 September - Psalm 9
Psalm 9
1 I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.3 My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you.
4 For you have upheld my right and my cause,
sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.
5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
6 Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,
you have uprooted their cities;
even the memory of them has perished.7 The Lord reigns for ever;
he has established his throne for judgment.
8 He rules the world in righteousness
and judges the peoples with equity.
9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.11 Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done.
12 For he who avenges blood remembers;
he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.13 Lord, see how my enemies persecute me!
Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may declare your praises
in the gates of Daughter Zion,
and there rejoice in your salvation.15 The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;
their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
16 The Lord is known by his acts of justice;
the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.
17 The wicked go down to the realm of the dead,
all the nations that forget God.
18 But God will never forget the needy;
the hope of the afflicted will never perish.19 Arise, Lord, do not let mortals triumph;
let the nations be judged in your presence.
20 Strike them with terror, Lord;
let the nations know they are only mortal.
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Meditation on Psalm 9
Some combine Psalm 9 and 10 as one. We limit ourselves to Psalm 9 but when you read Psalm 10, you may sense that Psalm 9 focuses on God, whilst also looking at how God deals with the wicked, whereas Psalm 10 focuses on man and how, in all his thoughts, ‘there is no room for God.’
One thing stands out in both – the Sovereign LORD ‘reigns for ever’ and ‘the LORD is King for ever and ever.’
Verses 1-2 What a great way to start a Psalm. Notice that ‘giving thanks’ is not a half-hearted response.
What about ‘your wonderful deeds?’ What are the wonderful deeds the LORD has done in your life – and continues to do?
The LORD is the focus of our praise as we ‘rejoice’ in Him.
We might not be able to sing in church but we can sing in our own homes!
Verses 3-6 Why do David’s enemies ‘turn back’?
What happens to the wicked?
The LORD has dealt with them and continues to do so.
How can He do that?
Read verse 4 – ‘you sit enthroned as the righteous judge’. This takes us back to Abraham’s statement of confidence, when he said, ‘Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ (Genesis 18:25)
When you read Psalm 10 you might think that the opposite is true but by the time you get to the end of that Psalm you can have confidence in the LORD because ‘in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells.’ (2 Peter 3:13)
Verses 7-10 We also have this confidence as we remind ourselves again that ‘the LORD reigns forever’. He is on the throne – He always has been and always will be. No-one can take His place. The devil tried but failed. The devil still tries, through individuals and through nations but he will fail.
Again, we have this confidence in Him because ‘He rules the world in righteousness’.
But the LORD also looks after the individual – you and me. How, you ask? ‘He is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble - He has NEVER forsaken those who seek Him.’
Verses 11-12 No wonder the Psalmist pauses at this point and encourages us to ‘sing the praises of the LORD’.
Here is also a call to mission verse 11 – ‘proclaim among the nations what He has done’.
How mission-minded am I? Do I pray for those among the nations who tell of His wonderful deeds?
Verses 12-14 David comes back to remember that he is in the thick of a battle and he prays to the LORD for mercy and deliverance. We need to pray for our brothers and sisters across the nations who are persecuted for their faith in the LORD. He longs, through his prayers, that others will also rejoice in the LORD’s salvation.
Verses 15-18 The nations are not doing themselves any favours. They have dug themselves a hole and continue to dig. They are trapped by ‘the work of their hands’. There will be ultimate judgment for the nations who ‘forget God’.
Are we, as a nation, in danger – have we forgotten God?
Verses 19-20 The Psalmist ends with a ‘but God…’ He will not forget those in need and those who are afflicted. His prayer is that the nations will realise that the LORD is the Lord – there is no other.
Let us take refuge in Him.
(Roger Purdom)
Daily Readings
Thursday 3 September - Psalm 10
Friday 4 September - Psalm 11
Saturday 5 September - Psalm 12
Sunday 6 September - Psalm 13
Monday 7 September - Psalm 14
Tuesday 8 September - Psalm 15