Tonight we begin with the sixth Psalm. It is a Psalm that is entitled to the chief musician on Neginoth which is a stringed instrument and thought to perhaps be a lyre. Upon Sheminith, which in Hebrew is octaves. So its on a stringed instrument that is to be played in octaves. And it is a Psalm of David. It is a Psalm in which David is conscious of his guilt. He has done something wrong. He knows he’s done something wrong. He knows that he is deserving chastisement from the Lord. So he begins the Psalm with a petition to the Lord
Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger. Neither chasten me in your hot displeasure (6:1).
Its always great when my dad would chasten me after he had cooled down. IF when a parent, and unfortunately so often a parent grabs the child in the moment of emotion and the parent is still shaking with fear over what the child has done. They have done something, their life was in jeopardy, and you are so shook, you grab them, and quite often you overreact to the situation, and thus the punishment is quite often more severe than really the situation would dictate.
So David understanding human nature and carrying it over unto God. And of course God doesn’t do that, but we so often attribute to God our own feelings and emotions. He is saying,
O Lord rebuke me not in thine anger. Neither chasten me in your hot displeasure (6:1).
But instead he pleads for the mercy of God.
Have mercy upon me, O Lord for I am weak (6:2).
The confession, O Lord, Im just weak. Your servant is weak. You know I like to be a rock. I like to be strong. I like to think that I am strong, but I fail. I am weak. O Lord, mercy. The glorious thing the Bible says that the Lord knows our frame and he knows were but dust. Were the only ones that are fooled by ourselves. WE think that were a rock. And we think that we can handle it. Im sure that so often they say, Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. So often when we think, I can handle anything. Come on, Satan. Put up your dukes. Lets go at it. The angels are saying, Oh no.
David says, Mercy, Lord. Im so weak.
Lord heal me for my bones are vexed (6:2).
The effective sin upon the human body, in the thirty-second Psalm as David there is conscious of his guilt and is again talking about the forgiveness but his experience prior to the forgiveness when he was doing his best to cover his tracks and hide his sin. He spoke about the roaring that was in his bones. Here again he speaks about his bones that are vexed. Just the very inward part of his body, my life is affected by my sin.
My soul also is sore vexed [my mind is troubled, the conscience is just giving me a bad, I know Im guilty]. But thou O Lord, how long? [How long before you intercede? How long before you lift this burden? How long before Im freed from this heavy consciousness of my guilty? So the plea, ] Return O Lord, deliver my soul. O save me for thy mercies sake (6:3-4).
The Lord had promised to the children of Israel that he was doing it not because they deserved it, but because of His mercies and for His mercies sake. And sometimes for Abraham, not because of your righteousness, but for my mercy’s sake. So David is not really here pleading his just cause, he’s just casting himself on the mercy of God and asking Gods salvation for His mercy’s sake.
Then David said:
For in death there is no remembrance of thee (6:5).
There’s no joyful rejoicing and praise over in the graveyard tonight. In the cemetery.
In death there’s no remembrance of thee, in the grave who shall give thee thanks. If I go into hell (6:5).
The word translated there is Sheol, hell. There’s no praise services, no thanksgiving services there. So Lord, for your mercy’s sake, deliver me. I am weary with my groaning. He called it a hyperbole, its a figurative speech which is exaggeration.
For all night long I make my bed to swim. [My tears are so many that my bed is afloat in my room.] I water my couch with my tears. My eye is consumed because of my grief. [Red eyes, blurry eyes. They are like an older persons eyes who begins to get cataracts, cant see well.] It wax old because of mine enemies (6:6-7).
So he then turns from his plead towards God and he addresses the workers of iniquity.
Depart from me ye workers of iniquity (6:8).
The separation from the evil companions, those that would lead him into his rebellion against God. For he declares,
The Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord has heard my supplication (6:8).
Notice, He has heard, He has heard, and then,
He will receive my prayer (6:9).
The past work of God builds faith and confidence in the continued or future work of God. Paul the apostle said, Who has delivered us from so great a debt. Looking back, God has delivered us. Looking around, who doth now also deliver us. And we are confident that He shall yet deliver us. I look back, I see the hand of God. He’s been good; He’s delivered me. He’s helped me. He’s brought me this far. It gives me confidence for the future. If God has heard me, then I know that He will hear me. If God has helped me, then I know he shall yet help me. I don’t really worry about tomorrow, because Im confident in the past in what God has done and what He is doing and it gives me assurance for I know that God will not forsake the work of His hands. But he will perfect that which concerns me. So that continued work of God of which David now becomes confident because,
He has heard my prayer, he has heard the voice of my weeping. He’s heard my supplications and I know that he will receive my prayer. So let all of my enemies be ashamed and sore vexed (6:8-10).
I’ve been sore vexed because of my sin, now let them be sore vexed.
Let them returned and be ashamed suddenly (6:10).
Psalm 7
The seventh Psalm is a Shiggaion of David. Shiggaion by some, is declared to be praise and others say it is a loud cry. When you read the context of the Psalm, it sounds like its more of a loud cry than a praise. Which he sang unto the Lord concerning the words of Cush, the Benjamite. Now who is Cush the Benjamite? We don’t know. Saul was the son of Kish and so there could be a thing of Saul’s words against David when he was determined to destroy David. It could be this guy, Shimei, who when David was driven from Jerusalem by Absalom, ran along above David on the hillside throwing rocks at him and cursing him. Being a Benjamite and a follower of Saul, it could be that it is Shimei. The word Cush in Hebrew is black. And so the words of this black Benjamite, whoever he may be.
O Lord, my God, in thee do I put my trust (7:1).
Now here you have the combination of Yahweh my Elohim, Yahweh my God.
In thee do I put my trust. Save me from them that persecute me and deliver me (7:1).
So David is in trouble. He’s being persecuted and his prayers for salvation from the persecutors and for deliverance.
Lest he [this black Benjamite] tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces [my heart, my soul, this guy is ripping it in pieces with his words] while there is none to deliver. O Lord my God, if I have done this [if I am guilty of what he is accusing me of being guilty] if there be iniquity in my hands [if the charges that they are making are true] if I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me(7:2-4).
And this evidently was the charge they were making of David, that somebody was good to David but he rewarded him with evil. David then puts in a word for himself. He says, I have delivered him that is without cause my enemy. I haven’t done evil, I’ve actually helped those that were my enemy. But if Im guilty of what they say. They say that to reward evil for good is devilish. To reward evil for evil is beastly. To reward good for good is manly. And to reward evil with good is godly. Figure that one out. There’s a lot there. So if Im guilty of the things they are charging me of, he said,
Then let the enemy persecute my soul and take it. Ye let him just grind my life down into the earth. And lay my honor in the dust 7:5). [If Im guilty, then let him have at it Lord, and let him just wipe me out.]
But David knows he’s not guilty, and so he goes on and declares,
Arise O Lord in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded (7:6).
Lord, come on and defend me. Bring judgment against my enemies.
And so shall the congregation of the people compass thee about for their sakes, therefore, return thou on high. For the Lord shall judge the people; judge me O Lord according to my righteousness (7:7-8).
Now this is an interesting thing for David to say, and was no doubt early in his career. According to my integrity, he said, that is in me. Now, in this particular case, David is innocent of the charges. This black Benjamite is making false charges against David and its amazing how self-righteous we can become when people are making false charges against us. We can get this righteous indignation. That’s not so. That is a rotten filthy lie. We can get so righteously indignant over false charges.
These were false charges that were being made against David in this case. He’s asking for the Lord to judge according to the right. Lord you know the truth. Judge according to righteousness; my righteousness. And according to MY integrity. Later on in David’s career, after he had greatly fallen with Bathsheba, he tried to cover his guilt and was found out. In the fifty-first Psalm, which was written on that occasion, you don’t find David saying, Lord, judge me according to my righteousness. But David is saying, Have mercy upon me O Lord according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. For against thee, and thee only, have I sinned and done this great evil in thy sight. He really is calling for the mercies of God upon him.
I make it a point never to say, God, I want justice. I always say, God, I want mercy. My plea and my prayer is always for mercy, never for justice.
Then he goes on to declare concerning those wicked ones who had given him the problems.
Let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end. But establish the just. For the righteous God tries the hearts and the reins (7:9).
The Bible tells us that when we will be standing before the Lord in judgment that the secrets of the hearts shall be revealed. That our works will be judged of what sort they are. Jesus in the sermon on the mount, told us that we should beware how we do our righteous acts. That we should not do them with the motive of being seen of others and thus receive the praise of others. Take heed to yourself that you do not your righteousness before man to be seen of men. In other words, don’t let that be the motive of your heart. Then he gave illustrations. He illustrated it with the Pharisees, how they did certain acts of righteousness. How they gave; they gave with great ostentation so that everybody saw what they were giving to God. So that people would ohh and ahh over their gifts. He said, They have their reward. In their prayers, they would pray on the street corners, publicly, so everyone would know what men of prayer they were. It was a public show. So they received the acclaim and the applause of men. But Jesus said, That’s not good. Then you have your reward. So when you do your righteous acts, do them in secret before God. When you go in to pray, go in your closet and shut the door. When you give, don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is giving. Do these things as unto the Lord and before the Lord and of the Lord then you will receive your reward. The heart, the motive is the thing that God is going to judge.
Paul the apostle, in I Corinthians 13, tells about the things that people may do, but if the motive isn’t love, it will profit you nothing. Though I give my body to be burned, though I sell everything I have and give the money to the poor, if I have not love. And so when God judges us, the judgment will be according to the motive that prompted the deed. And the deed may be right, but the motive wrong. The Bible says that everything is naked and open before Him with whom we have to do. When God judges, hell judge the secrets of the hearts. He will judge the reins, that is those motives that direct the purpose of my life. The reason why I did it. The reins of course by which you guide. And by which the choices by which your life is directed.
My defense is of God which saves the upright in heart (7:10).
So I am trusting in God. He is my defense. It is a glorious thing to have God as your defense. And the Lord will defend His people. And I have learned that if I commit my ways unto the Lord, if I commit the situation to the Lord, the Lord will defend me. If I seek to defend myself, Hell let me. And Ill tell you, I have a weak defense when that happens. But the Lord will defend you, no weapon formed against you will prosper. This is the heritage of the children of the Lord and its so glorious to have the Lord as our defense.
God judges the righteous and God is angry with the wicked everyday. And if the wicked will not turn from his wickedness, God will sharpen his sword. [God is against the wicked, He will sharpen his sword] He has bent his bow [that is the arrow is drawn back, he is ready to let it fly.] He has made it ready and he is also prepared for him the instruments of death (7:11-13).
The Bible says, It is appointed unto man once to die. God is the one who established that appointment and the very cause of death. The instrument of death, God has ordained for the wicked. He has bent His bow, He has made it ready.
He ordaineth the arrows against the persecutors. Behold he trevaileth with iniquity [that is the wicked] He has conceived mischief and he has brought forth falsehood (7:13-14).
You have the figure there of a woman who is giving birth to a child. The wicked give birth to iniquity. They are conceived in mischief and they bring forth the fruit of falsehood.
The wicked has made a pit, he dug it and he has fallen into the ditch which he made (7:15).
As we move into the tenth Psalm, David prays that they might fall into the pit which they have dug. It is so interesting that in life God so often allows the wicked to be caught in their own snares. The very thing that they sought to trap or ensnare the child of God, they get caught up in it themselves. They set the trap and they step in it. I think of the case of Mordecai, the cousin of Esther. This fella Haman, who had such hatred toward him and had built this gallows, ninety feet high to swing him on. And of course the edict finally came down that Haman was hung on his own gallows. He fell into the pit that he had dug for others. And so often is the case of the wicked.
His mischief shall return upon his own head. His violent dealing shall come upon his own pate. [That is the top of his head.] I will praise the Lord (7:16-17).
So he first of all begins the Psalm asking God to justify him, he’s putting his trust in the Lord. He talks about those that are persecuting him falsely, the false accusations that are being made. So he asks the Lord to judge in righteousness on this, he speaks then of the judgment of God that he will bring upon the wicked and now having seen it all, he says,
I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness. And I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High (7:17).
Psalm 8
Notice this Psalm began with Yahweh, my Elohim, my God. Psalm eight begins with
O Yahweh our Adoni (8:1).
Now you’ll notice that the first Lord is all capital letters, which signifies that it is a translation of the Hebrew word for the name for God, Jehovah or Yahweh. The pronunciation is not exactly know, but they figured that it is probably Yahweh. Capital L and then the small ord in the Old Testament signifies that it is the word or title Lord which in the Hebrew is Adoni. It is the title of your master. The first one is the name of God, Yahweh.
O Yahweh, our Adoni, [He is our master, our Lord.] How excellent is thy name in all the earth (8:1).
What name? The name of Yahweh. In Proverbs we read, The name of Yahweh is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it and are safe. The name of the Lord, how excellent is that name. The Bible says concerning Jesus, which is Yeshua its a contraction compound. With this Ya of the name of God, the becoming one. Yeshua, he has become our salvation. It says that, God has given him a name that is above every name. That at the name of Jesus, or Yeshua, every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that Yeshua is the Lord. In the Hebrew it would be the Adoni, to the glory of God the Father.
How excellent is thy name in all the earth, who has set thy glory above the heavens. For out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies that you might still the enemy and the avenger (8:1-2).
When Jesus made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and the children were crying unto him, Hosanna, Hosanna, the Pharisees said, Lord, you better quite them, that’s blasphemy. And Jesus said, Have you not read in the scriptures that out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? How beautiful is the child. His expressions of praise and worship unto the Lord.
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained the strength. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers (8:2-3).
I always love this. I have a love for astronomy. When I consider thy heavens and the work of thy fingers, and that always impresses me. I look at that vast universe; I realize that our Milky Way galaxy is only one of the billions of galaxies. I realize that within our Milky Way galaxy, our star is one of the only medium-sized stars. I realize the orbits of the stars, the orbits of the planets, the orbit of the moon, the order of the universe. I realize the various densities of the planets. I look at Betelgeuse out there in the left shoulder of the constellation Orion and I try to fathom the size of that thing. I look at Arcturus and again the size of it, and the speed at which it travels, seventy miles a second. Some eighty times larger than our sun. And I marvel the work of his fingers.
It is impossible for our minds to conceive the infinite God. He is beyond the capacity of our minds to imagine. The circuits blow fuses when you try to bring God into the grasp of your intellect. Total impossibility. The Bible says that, He measured out the heavens with His span. The span is the distance between your thumb and your little finger. We talk about the universe being twelve billion light years in diameter. You ask God, Well, how big did you make the universe. He says, Oh There was a book written a while back, Your God is too Small. And however big you think God may be, its too small. He’s bigger than that.
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers. The moon, the stars which you have ordained (8:3).
There is nothing that will cause you to feel smaller than to sit out in the desert on one of those crystal clear nights and look up into that vast sky above you. And start to realize that you are looking out into that space, into that universe that is filled with galaxies that stretch out as far as can see with our telescopes, some twelve billion light years. If you traveled for twelve billion years on a ray of light, and you got out there, how do you know you’re at the end? How do we know that you’d be at the end? What lies beyond that? How far can you go beyond that? Where’s the sign that says, This is the end.
Consider thy heavens, the work of Your fingers. The moon and the stars, which thou has ordained. What is man (8:3-4).
Here we are down on this little planet we call the Earth, that is only some twenty-five thousand miles in circumference, eight thousand miles in diameter. Just a little speck of dust, not even the largest of the planets. Jupiter causes us to look like a dwarf. Uranus is huge. Here we are spinning around this little ball of fire we call the sun, which is some eight hundred and sixty-five thousand miles in diameter, and ninety-three million miles away. Just the right distance, incidentally, to support the life and the forms of life here on the earth.
When you look at the earth and your relationship to the earth, you are one of five billion and I fly over and I look at all the uninhabited land and yet, they say, the Earth is getting overcrowded. Well man, you haven’t flown over Arizona lately. I think when I look at that vast universe and realize that we are such an infinitesimally small part of it, the sun is just tucked off here in one little corner of the Milky Way galaxy. Here we are just this little planet orbiting around the sun. Here we are just this little life form on this planet, created by God. With the capacity that marvelous capacity to appreciate the God who created the universe. But what am I? Who am I? That the God who created and orders and governs that vast universe. Who am I that he should ever be mindful of me? That’s the amazing thing: that God thinks about me. But not just a passing thought.
David said, If I should number the Thy thoughts concerning me, they are more than the sands of the sea. I love the beach. I love to sit on the sand, watching the surf. Especially at sunset. I love to watch that big ball of fire as it looks like its being quenched as it drops into the Pacific Ocean. Then I love to just pick up hands full of sands and let them drop and form the little reverse cones. And as those grains of sand, I watch them fall, or Ill cup then open up my hand and let them fall through. And as those grains of sand are falling, if I would count the number of Gods thoughts concerning me, they are more than the sands of the sea. Then I look up the beach, and I love these wide beaches, Huntington Beach, good wide beach, lots of sand. Then I think, The Lords got to be thinking about me continually. But then he goes one step further. The Lord said, I know my thoughts towards thee, that they are good and not evil. So go down and sit in the sand and realize that as many grains of sand that you can see there on the beach, that’s how much God thinks good thoughts about you. Oh man that makes me feel secure. That God is thinking so many good thoughts about me, how fortunate I am. And so the Psalmist here:
What is man that you are mindful of him? Or the son of man that you should visit him? (8:4)
Now this is the second of the Messianic Psalms. Remember we told you that Psalm two was a Messianic Psalm. This is the second of those Psalms that is a prophesy of the Messiah. The next one that we come to will be Psalm sixteen. The next of the Messianic Psalms. But when did God visit man?
What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you should visit him?(8:4)
God visited man when Jesus Christ came and walked upon the earth. When Micah prophesied the birth place of Jesus, he said, And thou Bethlehem though thou be little among the provinces of Judah, yet out of thee shall come He who is to rule my people Israel, whose going forth has been from old, from everlasting. Or the eternal God is going to be born in Bethlehem. He’s ever existed, he’s existed from everlasting. And yet He’s to be born in Bethlehem. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God and all things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word became flesh, and He dwelt among us and we beheld His glory as the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth. But what is man that God should visit him? Who am I that God should visit me? Who am I that God should listen to my prayer? Who am I that God should love me? Who am I that God should desire that I should spend my eternity in the glory of His presence as He bestows upon me the riches of His grace? What is man that thou art mindful of him?
Then speaking of Jesus, and this is prophetic, because in Hebrews we have the commentary on this. In the commentary on this passage, it makes this applicable to Jesus.
For thou hast made Him a little lower than the angels (8:5)
We are told that the reason that he was made a little lower than the angels that he might die, for the suffering of death. As an angel, or as God, it could not be. So he made him a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death.
And you have crowned Him with glory and honor. You made Him to have dominion over the works of your hands. [Going back to Psalm 2 Ask of me and Ill give you the heathen for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.] Thou hast put all things under His feet (8:5-6).
The Bible says that though God has put all things under his feet, we do not yet see all things. But we see Jesus made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor. So He is now at the right hand as He awaits for the fulfillment of the promise, until God makes all of his enemies His footstool. Thus, this Messianic Psalm referring to Jesus and is quoted as such in the book of Hebrews chapter two verses six through eight.
All sheep, oxen [the things that have been put under His feet] ye the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, fish of the sea; whatsoever passes through the paths of the seas (8:7-8).
There are actually paths in the seas, the ocean currents, interestingly enough. Having declared all this, he goes back to the beginning. Just the awesomeness.
O Yahweh, our Adoni, how excellent is thy name in all the earth (8:9).
Psalm 9
This next Psalm is to the chief musician upon Muthlabben. The word Muthlabben literally means, the death of a son. It is thought that this is a reference perhaps to Goliath, the son of his mother. For some reason, many of the scholars believe that this is connected in some way to the death of Goliath. David is rejoicing over what God has wrought.
I will praise thee O Lord with my whole heart (9:1).
Half-hearted praise doesn’t really make it. My mother, and I don’t remember this, but my mother tells of when I was a little boy when I had the flu or one of those childhood measles or something. You know that fever and how miserable you are when you’re a kid and you’ve got a fever. Its just absolute misery. She came in and prayed for me. Anytime we ever had any cuts or anything else, wed always run to mom and she would pray. That went on up through high school. Any time anything would go wrong, wed just run to mom and ask for prayer. Evidently Id asked for prayer and she said, Lord, just touch Charles and heal him. When she was through, I said, Mom pray again and this time pray like you really mean it. With your whole heart, I don’t want a half-hearted prayer when Im sick.
I will praise thee O Lord with my whole heart; I will show forth all thy marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee; I will sing praise unto thy name O Most High (9:1-2).
Opens with this glorious burst of praise to the Lord, rejoicing.
When my enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence (9:3).
Its always a rejoicing time when God has given you victory over the enemies. When God has wrought his work in your life, Lord, I’m going to praise you with my whole heart.
Rejoice in thee, sing unto thy name O Most High. For when my enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence. For you have maintained my right and my cause; and you sat in the throne judging right. You have rebuked the heathen; you have destroyed the wicked and you have put out their name forever and ever (9:2-5).
Of course, this is ultimate judgment of God as God in justice and in His judgment will rebuke the heathen , destroy the wicked and put their name out forever and ever.
O thou enemy [now he turns and addresses those enemies of God] you that are enemies of God, destructions are come to a perpetual end. You have destroyed cities; and the memorial is perished with them. The cities you may have destroyed, but the Lord shall endure forever. [The eternal nature of God.] And he has prepared His throne for judgment. [You can read about the throne of judgment in the new testament, Revelation chapter twenty.] And he shall judge the world in righteousness (9:6-8).
This is a fact upon which I rest. There are a lot of things that I don’t know. Things that God has not told us. Questions are often times asked concerning people who have never heard of Jesus Christ, never heard the Gospel message. People who have died without ever hearing. Questions asked about children who have died, never knowing. Having not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, is there any salvation for them? I don’t know. I don’t know what will be Gods judgment in their cases. But this I do know, He shall judge the world in righteousness, and whatever God does will be righteous, it will be absolutely fair. And when I hear the judgment of God in these cases, Ill say, All right! That’s so perfect. He will judge in righteousness.
He shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness (9:8).
I think that today we are very prone to get a perverted sense of justice. Because we read some of the decisions that are coming from the courts and you think, That’s not fair. That’s not right. When we were in Honolulu a couple of weeks ago, there is a drug rehabilitation program there in Honolulu that had a girl who tested positive for AIDS. She was sharing her needles with the other people there in the drug rehab program and she was having sex with all of the fellas. The director of the drug rehabilitation program wanted to warn her sexual partners and those that were sharing her needles, that she had AIDS. But they went to court, and the judge said that they could not inform the others of her AIDS, for that would be violating her privacy and her rights to privacy. So she is systematically infecting all of them with AIDS. And they can’t warn them. What about their right to life? You say, There ain’t no justice. And as I look at some of the decisions. Well, a judge recently said that this gal, as a matter of fact, they awarded the suit to this gal, who was working for the Salvation Army and they discovered she was a witch when she was using their coping machine to copy off some rules for the witch covenant that she was in. They discovered she was a witch so they fired her. The judge ordered them to pay her all of her back pay and they got a judgment for a million dollars for wrongful termination. And you say, There ain’t no justice. Well, there will be. These judges will find out. Boy when they come to be judged, man.
For He shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed. He is a refuge in times of trouble (8-9).
How many times I have fled to the Lord, who is my refuge, my strength, an ever-present help in the time of need.
And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee. For thou Lord hast not forsaken them that seek thee (9:10).
Jesus said, Seek and ye shall find. The Lord will not forsake the person that is seeking him. And if you are truly seeking God, he’ll not forsake you. You will find him. And so he encourages,
Sing praises to the Lord which dwells in Zion. Declare among the people His doing [His glorious works, His power, His love.] When He maketh inquisition for blood, He remembereth them, He forgets not the cry of the humble. Have mercy upon me O Lord, consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me. Thou that lifts me up from the gates of death (9:11-13).
And so his plea now for Gods mercy and Gods consideration.
That I might show forth all your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion (9:14).
That gates for the places of public gatherings in the city of Jerusalem, as they are much today, there is a lot of commerce around the gates. He wanted to declare the praises of God there.
For I will rejoice in thy salvation. The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they have made. [I said that was in chapter ten; here it is in chapter nine, I was wrong.] In the net that they hid is their own foot taken (914-15).
Quite often they would dig these pits and then cover them over with branches and dirt and all, to trap the animals, and sometimes they would make them to trap people. They would dig these pits as sort of a protective defense around their places. And they would disguise, and you would step on them and boom, you go right down in. And sometimes you’d forget where you’d dug the pit. There would be times when people would fall into their own pit that they had dug to trap others. So he talks about,
The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made, in the net which is hid, their own foot is taken. The Lord is know by the judgment which He executeth, but the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. [this Higgalon is just sort of think about that or mediation is what it is literally] The wicked shall be turned into hell and all of the nations that forget God (9:15-17).
Would you say that our nation is on the verge of forgetting God? As far as the national life? Kids cannot sing Christmas carols in school, they’ve gone through all of the school books and systematically removed the name of God.
All nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten. The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail. Let the heathen be judged in thy sight. Put them in fear O Lord that the nations may know that they themselves to be but men (9:17-20).
God, just let them see that they’re not Superman. They’re just men. When God shakes the place, you know that you’re just dust; you’re not as big as you thought you were.
I like this, Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail. It reminds me of the prayer of Asah in II Chronicles around chapter thirteen. When a huge army of Ethiopians and Nubians were invading the land, over a million. He said that he was going to go out in the name of the Lord against this vast host. He said, Lord it doesn’t make any difference to you whether were weak or strong. Help us, O Lord, for in your name were going to go out against this enemy. Don’t let man prevail against you. That’s getting things in the right perspective. When I am on the Lords side, and I say that carefully. I didn’t say, When the Lord is on my side. Im not so interested in getting the Lord on my side, Im interested in getting on the Lords side. My side might be the wrong side, so I want to get on the Lords side. And so Asah sort of put himself on the Lords side. He said, Lord, in your name were going to go out against this host. Don’t let man prevail against you. Now I’ve got things in the right perspective. They’re not going to prevail against me. Though they’ve got a million man army, though they’re invincibly powerful as far as human standards are concerned. Hey Lord, were going out in Your name. Don’t let man prevail against you.
And so here, the Psalmist is declaring the same thing,
Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail. Let the heathen be judged in your sight. Put them in fear O Lord that the nations may know that they are just men (9:19-20).

Edited & Highlighted from “The Word For Today” Transcription, Pastor Chuck Smith, Tape #7170
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