Psalm 9

A psalm of David.
¹ I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.
² I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to our 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; you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.
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 the enemy, you have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished.
⁷ The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment.
⁸ He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice.
⁹ The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
¹⁰ Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
¹¹ Sing praises to 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 cry of the afflicted.
¹³ O 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 the Daughter of 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 justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion. Selah
¹⁷ The wicked return to the grave, all the nations that forget God.
¹⁸ But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.
¹⁹ Arise, O LORD, let not man triumph; let the nations be judged in your presence.
²⁰ Strike them with terror, O LORD; let the nations know they are but men. Selah

As I read this psalm, I see a portrait of the reign of David written here.   The opening verses reveal three characteristics that David had in his life as he strived daily to walk in the way of the Lord; which should also be the characteristics that we have in our life as well.  These characteristics of praising the Lord with all our heart, telling of all his wonders, and being glad in the Lord and rejoicing in him should be the focus of our daily mediations.

This psalm not only portraits David’s rule but also the coming reign of Christ. The mystery of Christ is one that has consumed my quiet moments for most of my life.  How can Christ be King of kings and at the same time be my Savior who I can have a personal relationship.  This personal relationship is available to all who accept him as Lord and Savior.  In Psalm eight David ask the question of “what hat is man that Thou are mindful of him”.  In this psalm we see how man has taken the gifts that God has given to him and has used these gifts to set himself equal or above God.

This psalm has a promise for those who know him in verse ten: Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. Knowing the Lord and then trusting him is a promise that all Christians should embrace. In the sixty plus years that I have known Him and placed my trust in Him as a young boy He has never forsaken me.  Sometimes like the poem Footprints in the Sand that refers to a man that looks back on his walk with the Lord and sees several times when trouble was in his life there was only on set of footprints, I too have felt that way.  But the more I trust Him the more I see how He has carried me.  So, as you go along the journey of life trust in the Lord and lean not on our understand; but let the Spirit guide you in all understanding.  He will if you let him.  He is more loving than you can ever imagined.