July 20, 2017
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Reading along with us in the first 30 chapters of Psalm? Here’s today’s reading:
Psalm 9 (ESV)
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… Continue Reading
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God is involved with us as individuals as communities and as a species
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.❤️
Despite the constant presence of evil and wickedness in the world, including the repeated targeting of his own life, David’s faith in and love for God didn’t waver. In this psalm, we see why — he trusts that God is going to judge the wicked, righteously, and in His own time.
I have a natural bent toward wanting (demanding) justice, and even seriously entertained the idea of joining the police force at one time. But while I would bring down swift, heavy justice on those who I deem guilty, with no grace shown for disrespect, disorder, or disobedience to the law or my authority, God’s justice is truly RIGHTEOUS, and without the infection and affliction of sin. He is patient, all-seeing, all-knowing, and merciful. And good thing, because we would all be condemned to death NOW, and then eternal separation from Him in hell. Imagine if the only judgment that awaited us was according to our own own righteousness? Who could stand before His throne? Not one of us. Not a single one of us. I’m so thankful for Jesus!!
“But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
he has established his throne for justice,
and he judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with uprightness…” Psalm 9:7-8
I love how this Psalm, like so many, point out and thank God for His treatment of David’s enemies (overcoming them and judging them for their evil), and yet on the other hand God being a refuge for the oppressed. God does not often deal as swiftly with people’s evil or stop them from doing what they do, but He is always available for those who cry out to Him, ie, the ones suffering from the evil.
That is what leads David to the praise in verse 1 and 2. What does it mean to you to thank God with your whole heart? How often do we find ourselves recounting His deeds? Do we consider it a burden or a privilege to praise Him?