November 11
Reading: Psalm 9
To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
1 I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
they stumble and perish before your presence.
4 For you have maintained my just cause;
you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.
5 You have rebuked the nations;
you have made the wicked perish;
you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;
their cities you rooted out;
the very memory of them has perished.
7 But the LORD sits enthroned forever;
he has established his throne for justice,
8 and he judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with uprightness.
9 The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.
11 Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion!
Tell among the peoples his deeds!
12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
13 Be gracious to me, O LORD!
See my affliction from those who hate me,
O you who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may recount all your praises,
that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in your salvation.
15 The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 The LORD has made himself known;
he has executed judgment;
the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.
Higgaion Selah
17 The wicked shall return to Sheol,
all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail;
let the nations be judged before you!
20 Put them in fear, O LORD!
Let the nations know that they are but men!
Selah
Remember that the LORD means Yahweh, the great “I Am.”
This Psalm begins (vss. 1-2) with a fourfold lifting up of Yahweh the Most High.
- I will give thanks with all my heart.
- I will retell all Your wonder provoking deeds.
- I will rejoice and exalt in You.
- I will make music to Your name.
How do you lift up the Lord in your life? Notice that all of these are actions that take a willful decision on the part of the person doing the praising. What do you intend to do to lift up the Lord? Because if you don’t you won’t.
Then David dives right into rejoicing over the righteous judgment of the Lord upon the wicked. (vss. 3-6) Notice how often in the Psalms David’s enemies are the Lord’s enemies. There is a lesson in this for all of us. Those who attack God’s people are attacking God. Just like you and I, He takes harming His children personally.
When I read here about God judging the nations I think about current events. We live in a nation and a world were most people care little about God, do not obey Him, and want Him to leave them alone. Most often they express this by saying that they do not believe in Him. We live in a nation that thinks it can do just fine while ignoring God. So, we build, invest, write opinions, make movies, win championships, and give ourselves awards. All He needs to do is send a little virus and our whole godless enterprise comes crashing down.
And then comes verse 7, “And Yahweh for ever will sit enthroned.” What a juxtaposition of the futility of man and the eternal reign of God! I think of Psalm 2 and God laughing at the raging of the nations. And, what does His justice look like?
vs. 8 Righteousness and perfect fairness
vs. 9 Security for the crushed and distressed
vs. 10 God’s presence with those who trust Him and seek Him
Then follows an appeal to God to rescue me from my difficulties so that I can continue praising Him. This is a good way to pray. But you can only pray it if praising God is your habitual way of living. You need to live out verses 1-2.
“Higgaion Selah” is a mystery. We don’t know what it means. I like to think that if “Selah” means a musical riff, like a guitar solo, “Higgaion Selah” is when the guitarist goes off leaping about guitaring on his guitar.
Why? It is exciting and a great comfort. The nations, all who care little for God, will be destroyed eventually. The Lord lives forever and will remember those who remember Him.
In this world where praises to God are rare, do you praise Him?
What do you need to do or stop doing to make your life more full of praise to Yahweh?