PRAISE AND LAMENT
September 7, 2019 | Psalms 9–10
DEVOTIONS
This Month’s Issue
In the preface to his commentary on the Psalms, John Calvin describes the book in this way, “I have been accustomed to call this book . . . ‘An Anatomy of all the Parts of the Soul,’ for there is not an emotion of which anyone can be conscious that is not here represented as a mirror.” The Psalms are a true reflection of the life we experience in a fallen world.
You, LORD, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry.
PSALM 10:17
Psalms 9 and 10 belong together as one psalm in two parts. Psalm 9 is the first half of an acrostic that runs through Psalm 10. David begins with a rousing call to give thanks to the Lord (9:1–2). He calls on people everywhere to rejoice because the Lord has defeated his enemies, established justice, and been a refuge for the poor and oppressed (9:3–10). The Lord reigns and “does not ignore the cries of the afflicted” (9:12).
Yet, his thanksgiving takes a turn and shifts to lament. Even though God had rescued David in the past, there was a new enemy who needed to be confronted. This man hunted down the vulnerable, was arrogant, and had “no room for God” in his thoughts (10:4). He rejected God’s law and prospered by abusing the “innocent’ and “helpless” (10:5, 8–10). David begs God to “arise” and “not forget the helpless” (10:12).
But at the end, David says he is confident in God. The Lord “hears the desire of the afflicted” and listens “to their cry” (10:17). David had seen God answer prayer in the past and he trusts Him for the future. The wicked would not get away with it forever. One day, all people will give an account before the Judge of all the earth. In this one poem, David travels from thanksgiving to lament and back again to rest in a place of hope.
APPLY THE WORD
With David, we can give thanks that the Lord has defeated our enemies. At the cross, Jesus “disarmed the powers and authorities” (Col. 2:15). We still struggle against “spiritual forces of this dark world” (Eph. 6:12) but can place our hope in Christ’s victory. One day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord (Phil. 2:11).
POST CREDIT: TITW