Psalm 9:1 ¶ «To the chief Musician upon Muthlabben, A Psalm of David.» I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. 2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High. 3 When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence. 4 For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right. 5 Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever. 6 O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them. 7 But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment. 8 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. 9 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. 10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
David is praising God, as he often does. He is great example for
us.
Psalm 7:17 I will praise
the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of
the LORD most high.
Psalm 34:1 ¶ «A Psalm of
David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and
he departed.» I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually
be in my mouth. 2 My soul shall make her
boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. 3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt
his name together. 4 I sought the LORD,
and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 103:1 ¶ «A Psalm of
David.» Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy
name. 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and
forget not all his benefits:
Psalm 145:1 ¶ «David’s
Psalm of praise.» I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name
for ever and ever. 2 Every day will I
bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. 3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
and his greatness is unsearchable.
Psalm 146:1 ¶ Praise ye the
LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. 2
While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God
while I have any being.
It is interesting to me that a king could sing a prayer for the
oppressed seeing that kings often were in the business of oppressing the
politically weaker. This must be attributed to David’s humility and his humble
origins along with his persecution by Saul.
In verse one the mention of God’s marvelous works reminds me of;
1Chronicles 16:12 Remember
his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his
mouth…24 Declare his glory among the
heathen; his marvellous works among all nations.
Psalm 105:5 Remember his
marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his
mouth;
And verses like this;
Job 5:9 Which doeth great
things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:
Psalm 145:3 Great is the
LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
Romans 11:33 O the depth of
the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his
judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Ephesians 3:8 Unto me, who
am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach
among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
David’s praise at God’s deliverance is also noted elsewhere. The
most famous of David’s Psalms of deliverance was my father’s favorite Bible
passage, the beginning of which are sewn into pillows on my family room sofa.
Psalm 23 expresses David’s confidence in God. He will fear no evil.
Psalm 23:1 ¶ «A Psalm of
David.» The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for
his name’s sake. 4 Yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art
with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the
presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow
me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Verse 5 details the fate of those people who reject God’s
revelation of Himself. Another Psalm has;
Psalm 149:7 To execute
vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;
8 To bind their kings with
chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; 9 To execute upon them the judgment written:
this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.
In verses 6 & 7 David makes a powerful contrast between a
physical enemy that can destroy cities and the immortal God who lives forever
untouchable by man. It is quite a contrast between the destruction that men
impose on the earth and each other in their wars and the power of the God who
gives them breath.
David did not know when the end of the world was. But, we should
remember that Benjamin Franklin, in June of 1787, acknowledged that God rules
over nations in this time as well.
“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I
live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth - that god governs in the
affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice,
is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?”
And Abraham Lincoln, referring to the Civil War in March
of 1865 just before his assassination in his second inaugural address,
acknowledged the temporal judgment on nations.
Both [Union and
Confederacy] read the same Bible and pray to the same God and each invokes His
aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a
just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's
faces but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not
be answered ~ that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own
purposes. ‘Woe unto the world because of offenses for it must needs be that
offenses come but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.’ If we shall
suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which in the providence
of God must needs come but which having continued through His appointed time He
now wills to remove and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war
as the woe due to those by whom the offense came shall we discern therein any
departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God
always ascribe to Him. Fondly do we hope ~ fervently do we pray ~ that this
mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it
continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty
years of unrequited toil shall be sunk and until every drop of blood drawn with
the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword as was said three
thousand years ago so still it must be said 'the judgments of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.'
I contend that David was speaking about temporal and
earthly judgment as he, in the last verses of the passage, refers to God’s help
of the oppressed as when David speaks of salvation he is referring to physical
deliverance from danger.
Prophetically, these are potent lines, with verse 7
revealing a link to the Great White Throne judgment in Revelation.
Revelation 20:11 ¶ And I
saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and
the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand
before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is
the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in
it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were
judged every man according to their works.14
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
For me, personally, I can see the
thwarting of plans of people who regard themselves as your enemy. We ask God
for protection and we praise Him for it. We are told to pray for our enemies,
though, and we do ask for those who hate us to be saved. It is the Christians’
duty to pray for their enemy’s salvation. Jesus said to His disciples;
Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which
despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Psalm 9: 11 ¶ Sing praises
to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.
12 When he maketh inquisition for blood,
he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble. 13 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my
trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up
from the gates of death: 14 That I may
shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice
in thy salvation. 15 The heathen are
sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their
own foot taken. 16 The LORD is known by
the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his
own hands. Higgaion. Selah. 17 The
wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not alway be
forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.
19 Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail:
let the heathen be judged in thy sight. 20
Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to
be but men. Selah.
Again, David instructs that people should give praise to Jehovah
and states that God dwells with Israel, Zion. They are told to be evangelists,
to tell what God has done and is doing. One definition of a prophet is one who
foretells but a clever word play reveals another work of a prophet,
forthtelling. He tells his people, David does, to tell people of God’s work.
David is not rejoicing in his army, his weapons of war, or the bravery
of his men. He is praising God and calling Zion to do the same.
In verse 12 when God looks into, inquires about, makes inquisition
for blood shed He does not forget the please of the weak and lowly oppressed by
power.
For verse 13 see a similar prayer here;
Psalm 25:19 Consider mine
enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.
Then, the typical conditional promise in verse 14. I say
conditional because such promises reflect the nature of Israel’s conversion
process, with their obedience based on God’s fulfillment of promises He made to
them. See the events surrounding the covenant made with Abraham.
We are not called to say, “God, if you give me what I ask for I
promise that I’ll be faithful.” I doubt any conservative Christian, at least,
would consider basing their church attendance on how great things went for them
in the previous week. In fact, the worse things were the more likely they are
to plead for God’s mercy.
Truthfully, David’s plea is not quite as mercenary as I suggested.
He is saying that God’s protection against his enemies will allow David to
continue to praise God and to rejoice in the deliverance God gave him.
For verses 15 and 16 see these cross-references;
Psalm 7:15 He made a pit,
and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
16 His mischief shall
return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own
pate.
Psalm 35:8 Let destruction
come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into
that very destruction let him fall.
Psalm 37:15 Their sword
shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
Psalm 57:6 They have
prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit
before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.
Psalm 94:23 And he shall
bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own
wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.
Proverbs 5:22 His own
iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords
of his sins.
Proverbs 22:8 ¶ He that
soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.
In 17 David is talking about the nations of the heathen around him
but he is also stating a universal principle which we should mention in
reference to prophecy. Here is a king, a member of a privileged royal set of
people speaking about the expectation of the poor and understanding that the
heathen will learn that they are but fragile men. He is talking about Israel’s
enemies clearly. He prays that God will make apparent the frailty of the
nations around him. This, from David’s context, is a prayer for deliverance.
Prophetically we can see how in the Great Tribulation, the Time of
Jacob’s Trouble, the cry of the Jews will be for deliverance and mercy. Revelation,
chapter 12, is a good place to review. The nations that reject God and
persecute and murder Jews and Christians will suffer as per Jesus’ own prophecy
of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 in the series of prophecies He gave in
answer to the disciples’ question in Matthew 24. Read Matthew 24:1 through the
end of Matthew 25.
While when David is talking about the humble and the poor in this
passage, probably referring to the lower classes of society who suffer from
want and are easy prey, for us personally we can apply this to those humble
toward God and the poor in spirit. For the poor and humble as the meek see;
Isaiah 11:4 But with
righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of
the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the
breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
Isaiah 29:19 The meek also
shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in
the Holy One of Israel.
Amos 2:7 That pant after
the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the
meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my
holy name:
See the meek and lowly;
Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke
upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find
rest unto your souls.
But, with regard to linking the poor and humble to the poor in
spirit who are humble before God, which would be the best application of
the passage to the Christian today see the following where I have bunched
verses with contrite to show repentance in them and then verses with humble;
Psalm 34:18 The LORD is
nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite
spirit.
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices
of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not
despise.
Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith
the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in
the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite
ones.
Isaiah 66:2 For all those
things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but
to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and
trembleth at my word.
Matthew 18:4 Whosoever
therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in
the kingdom of heaven.
Mathew 23:12 And whosoever
shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be
exalted.
James 4:6 But he giveth
more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto
the humble…10 Humble yourselves in the
sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
1Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye
younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to
another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth
grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves
therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
Then, there is this;
Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the
poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
We can plead with God not only for mercy but for justice and
protection from those who hate us because we love Christ.
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