Psalm 9 pt 2
The Persecuted Believer


Ps 9:5-6
5 Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.
6 O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.

This section of the Psalm describes the wicked as history knows them at the time of David’s writing and as history shall know them ultimately. The intent is to compare them with the Lord in the next section. The wicked have never ultimately prevailed although it has seemed at times like they might. The judgment of God has ground them all to dust, sometimes after seemingly glorious victories. He has surprised them at the peak of their power (Pharaoh and Belshazzar) and reduced them to nothing. Regardless of what enemy the saint faces, he can know with certainty that the testimony of history will ultimately catch up to every enemy of the truth.

Ps 9:7-8
7 But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.
8 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.

How can one even imagine that the eternal purposes of God shall be thwarted? The court is already prepared in which all the wicked shall be judged. He will not only punish the wicked but He will uphold the upright, the righteous. Their labor and their cause will not be lost. How can it be?

Ps 9:9-10
9 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

On this assurance and confidence, then, the oppressed who seek after God are never with a champion and a refuge. They trust in Him and He does not forsake them. Even when His purpose leads them to the loss of all things on this earth, nothing is really lost.

Mark 10:29-30
29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,
30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. (KJV)

Such an encouraged saint must not hesitate, then, to engage the enemy even when the enemy seems to have all the advantage. The advantage is in perception only, it is not real.

Ps 9:11-12
11 Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.
12 When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.

The humble and the downtrodden are encouraged to sing praises to God, to declare His works to their acquaintances and even to their enemies. He does not forget. He always remembers His people. Therefore, there should be no hesitation to praise Him.

Ps 9:13-14
13 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:
14 That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.

This does not mean that the trouble and the suffering are not real or that there is no danger from the enemies. Neither does it mean that the saint pretends that they do not exist. Nor is it wrong for the saint to enumerate his troubles before the Lord. All these are allowable so long as they are done in faith, with confidence in the ultimate victory of good over evil. The Lord can give victory from the jaws of certain death (witness the three Hebrews and Daniel) so the saint should never think that any victory of the wicked is total or permanent.

I am told that in the German prison camps of WWII many prisoners committed suicide and some took their own lives the day before rescue arrived. What a sad story!

The saint is also to have a purpose for which he seeks deliverance, a purpose which goes beyond himself, the desire to be a witness to others of the glory of God.

Ps 9:15-16
15 The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
16 The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.

The omnipotence of God is demonstrated in the way that He deals with the wicked. He allows them to build the snares which will ultimately catch them. They will have a part in their own defeat and judgment. He turns their purposes back on themselves and frustrates their ultimate victory by undermining their plans.

Ps 9:17-18
17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.

We see here that David has the ultimate destruction of the wicked in view. All who do wickedly, all who refuse to acknowledge God, will be turned into Hell. But the poor and the needy (witness the Beatitudes) will be remembered by God, though some only at the Great Judgment. However, their hope will be finally realized and that in splendor and great glory.

Ps 9:19-20
19 Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.
20 Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.

But the saint may safely pray for deliverance sooner rather than later. He may be rightly jealous for the honor of God in his own time. There is nothing wrong with his desire that the wicked be shamed now through God’s deliverance, and many have across the ages just like they were in Philippi when the earthquake delivered Paul and Silas.

— April 10, 2020