Prayer and Thanksgiving for the LORD’s Righteous Judgments - Psalm 9

 
Psalm 9 NKJV - Comments by Dennis Edwards

To the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Death of the Son.” A Psalm of David.

9 I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
² I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

David starts his prayer with praise. God dwells in the praises of his people. We enter into God’s presence with praise and thanksgiving. The Bible is full of passages proclaiming the goodness and importance of praising God. “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24. 

³ When my enemies turn back,
They shall fall and perish at Your presence.
⁴ For You have maintained my right and my cause;
You sat on the throne judging in righteousness.

David says that his enemies shall fall at God’s presence. A passage in the Gospels shows that this is so. Let us read from John 18:3-6.

“Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, comes thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.”

Jesus just spoke to the crowd that came to capture him and they fell to the ground. God’s presence within him made his enemies fall to the ground. Jesus was showing them he had power to withstand them if he so wished, but instead he gave himself up willingly that the plan of God should be fulfilled. "No man takes it (my life) from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." John 10:18. 

Jesus came that He might destroy the works of the devil. He destroyed the works of the devil through His death on the cross, He who was "slain from the foundation of the world." Revelation 13:8b. Jesus fulfilled God's plan and broke the curse that was upon us through sin, that through His death, both sin and death should be destroyed. Whosoever believes on Him shall be saved and have everlasting life, the gift of God to those that believe on Jesus.

⁵ You have rebuked the nations,
You have destroyed the wicked;
You have blotted out their name forever and ever.

⁶ O enemy, destructions are finished forever!
And you have destroyed cities;
Even their memory has perished.

The enemy with his wars and evil military might has destroyed cities.

⁷ But the Lord shall endure forever;
He has prepared His throne for judgment.
⁸ He shall judge the world in righteousness,
And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.

God will judge righteously. The peoples of the world desire a righteous judge who will judge the wicked and deliver them from his hand.

⁹ The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble.
¹⁰ And those who know Your name will put their trust in You;
For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Our hope is always in God, that He will save us. We are not strong enough to save ourselves. We don’t have the finances to go off and escape to some place of refuge far from the maddening crowd. Our refuge is in Him, that He will keep us and protect us and find us a secure dwelling place, safe from evil, safe within His presence.

¹¹ Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion!
Declare His deeds among the people.

God wants us to continue to be a witness to the nations, to declare the Gospel wherever we go, to sing of His mercies to all generations.

¹² When He avenges blood, He remembers them;
He does not forget the cry of the humble.

When his judgments come, He remembers those that are His and sets a mark on them for good. His angels go forth and protect His beloved. Psalm 91, amongst others, is filled with promises of His protection for those that love Him.

¹³ Have mercy on me, O Lord!
Consider my trouble from those who hate me,
You who lift me up from the gates of death,

It is only the Lord that sustains us and keeps us alive. We trust in His mercy to save us from those that hate us and wish us evil.

¹⁴ That I may tell of all Your praise
In the gates of the daughter of Zion.
I will rejoice in Your salvation.

Again, we praise God for the mercy He shows us, that we may sing of His goodness and declare His salvation to the nations.

¹⁵ The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made;
In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught.

The nations have indeed sunk down into iniquity. The United Nations, the World Economic Forum, The World Health Organization, etc., have been capture by the forces of evil. Let the net they have laid for the poor catch themselves, O Lord.

¹⁶ The Lord is known by the judgment He executes;
The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.
Meditation. Selah

Execute Your judgments in the earth, O Lord. Judge the wicked for his wickedness.

¹⁷ The wicked shall be turned into hell,
And all the nations that forget God.

Turn them into hell, O Lord, in Your righteousness, for they have indeed forgotten You. Let them feel Your righteous judgments.

¹⁸ For the needy shall not always be forgotten;
The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.

Let not the poor lose hope. Send Your judgments on the wicked, that the poor may see it and be comforted.

¹⁹ Arise, O Lord,
Do not let man prevail;
Let the nations be judged in Your sight.
²⁰ Put them in fear, O Lord,
That the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah

Do it, Lord. The time is at hand. Iniquity has exalted itself against You and against Your people. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, for our enemies are too great for us. They are rich and increased in goods. They oppress us and we lose hope. Arise, O Lord, save Your people who trust in You, that the nations may know that they are only men.