Many years ago, as a child, I learned to trust the Lord. Through the years, I have noticed that God regularly strengthens and renews my trust in him. Once again, God has updated my trust.
Recently my wife and I purchased a new house. We set aside a weekend to move some “less essential” items. God provided a great deal on a rental truck which was then upgraded to twice the size we expected. Naturally, we felt we had to fill the huge truck and that meant we could not unload it on the same day—not the safest option in a big city.
Before heading to bed, I checked the truck and remarked how it looked like a sitting duck, beckoning a break in. I committed the truck into God’s hands. The next morning the truck was waiting, untouched. God excels in watch care.
We drove to the new house and unloaded the truck, assisted by some welcome and unsolicited volunteers. God provided them also. Then we headed home.
Two days later, I returned with another truck load discovering that the garage door had been open the entire time—not the safest scenario in a big city. Not an item was touched. God was watching over the new house also. Praise him. I did not specifically ask for this help, because I didn’t know I needed it, but God gives marvelously full answers when our prayers are unwittingly short sighted. What a way to strengthen trust.
Psalm 9 presents a study of trust. The psalm writer’s approach to his difficult circumstances can help us greatly when we face challenges to our trust in the Lord.
Psalm 9 divides into two basic sections. The first section reflects on how our just God handles wicked behavior. The second section presents David’s plea for justice. The two sections each have three parts with similar themes: Praise for God’s activity, a review of wickedness and focus on the Lord’s justice. The central or climactic passage is verse 10 which delivers the core truth of this psalm: God faithfully responds to every person who trusts in him.
The first section of the psalm, verses 1-10, presents a lesson about the Lord that has been learned and now is recited in a moment of need. David remembered God’s activity toward the wicked. This memory prompted David to the outburst of praise that opens the psalm.
Praise is pledged to the Lord for his wonders. A “wonder” is an activity of God which draws the human mind to reflect on the event and learn about God. Creation is filled with wonders and so are our lives. Here David praises The Most High God (Elyon) whose wonders have joyfully shaped his life.
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In verses 3-6, the writer reveals his conviction that the wicked are eternally destroyed. He has seen his own enemies shrink away from his life, as a consequence of the trusted Most High’s presence.
Though he does not see into eternity, the testimony of human history is clear enough. The wicked have been soundly destroyed throughout history. The Lord’s activity against the wicked has been so decisive, they have not rebounded. In fact the Lord’s activity against the wicked has been so thorough even memory regarding these people has perished.
In our day, it is not uncommon to see roadside markers commemorating the deceased, to hear the words “we will not forget” or read a memorial notice in the newspaper. But what happens when those who pledge to remember also pass on? The Most High’s action against the wicked is such that they are completely destroyed and completely forgotten, for all eternity. These realizations lead David to describe the fate of the wicked in eternal terms in verses 5 and 6.
A review of the eternal demise of the wicked elicits reflection on the righteous judgment of the Lord. Mere consideration of the complete historic demise of the wicked draws out the points that the Holy One has prevailed with a judgment that will be lauded for all eternity. Verse 7 provides a high moment so far: the Lord reigns forever. He has no enemies to oppose him. Justice and righteousness will prevail forever because the Lord reigns forever.
Therefore the Most High becomes a place of refuge for the oppressed. David already has spoken of his enemies in verse 5. Now we find David reminding himself and us (1) that the Lord is a refuge and stronghold (v. 9), (2) that those who know the Lord trust in him (v. 10) and (3) the Lord responds to those who seek him (v. 10).
Verse 10 truly is the climactic point of the psalm. It provides the great truth that will influence the writer’s personal pleas in the second section of the psalm. Always fascinating are the great spiritual truths which Hebrew parallelism underscores.
Here trusting the Lord and seeking the Lord are interesting parallels. How is seeking trusting? How is trusting seeking? How do the two explain each other? The answers are rich and render challenging implications: my trust in the Lord must show itself as seeking the Lord. My seeking of the Lord must demonstrate trust.
The second section of the psalm, verses 11-20, presents a personal application of the lessons declared in the first section, especially the emphasis in verse 10. Having reminded himself of these matters, David now does what each person must do: make personal application of the rich revelation of God’s wondrous activity in our world.
Following the opening section, David introduces his petitions with praise. In verse 11, the heart is commanded to praise the Lord. The commands of this verse are not easily accomplished. Singing the Lord’s praises means proclaiming his just activity to the nations. Verse 12 gives the reason for the praise: God remembers the oppressed.
A tremendous use of the concept of remembering occurs in this psalm. The wicked are not remembered—not by their beloved ones, nor by the Lord. Above all, the wicked forget God (v. 17). In contrast, the Lord absolutely remembers. He does not forsake those who seek him (v. 10). He remembers to avenge the blood of the oppressed, and he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted (v. 12). He does not forget the needy (v. 18). Since God’s memory is so sharp, how should we live our lives?
Now the writer can speak of his enemies to the Lord. Guided by verse 10 to trust the Lord and having praised the Lord for his wondrous remembering of the oppressed, David spoke of his desperate position. David was persecuted severely, yet he confidently pleaded to be lifted up from the gates of death to the gates of Zion, the Most High’s dwelling place. David wanted to go from the place that forgets God to the place that remembers God. David thus requested a reversal of eternal fortune, salvation, which is a wonder and cause for joyous praise.
Verses 15-17 reflect on God’s work among the wicked, listing four ways they have met their end. The last of these displays cunning insight: the wicked return to the grave (v. 17). The activities of the wicked are dictated by death and after living to serve death, they return to death. All this happens because the wicked forget God (v. 17). The implied parallel is that people of the Living One “remember” him by seeking him and trusting him and thereby live by the principles of life found in him.
The author returns to the case of the oppressed, calling them “needy” in verse 18. A worldly understanding of the “needy” does not provide sufficient understanding of the term. The needy are not merely the poverty-stricken or malady-laden, though even these have the careful attention of God. Ultimately, in the Bible, the term “needy” points to spiritual poverty which is life without God (Matthew 5:3).
Even the wicked, who have harmed the needy, are themselves classed among the needy. Verse 18 declares that God answers the condition and circumstance of the needy, especially among those who seek him, as is encouraged in verse 10 and promised in Matthew 5:3.
Finally, in verses 19 and 20, the writer prayed and laid his plea before the Lord. The writer pleaded with confidence, as if saying, “Do in my life as you are doing elsewhere!”
The call for judgment and justice in the Psalms always has been a difficult matter to reconcile with the gracious God of the New Testament, but the call for judgment is not overstated here. The Lord already has been at work judging the wicked, so the author simply asks for similar relief in his life. And though the plea is to strike the wicked with terror (v. 20), the purpose is to remind them of their humanity and therefore their pending mortality.
These two points should be enough to draw the wicked to God, indeed some have made peace with the Eternal Judge who is just in every way. The positive parallel is to look back to verse 10 and find ways to apply its teachings to one’s life, remembering the two main observances of the psalm: (1) without God, we will be forgotten forever; and (2) with God, we will forever experience all we have trusted.
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