Psalm 9 Continued…
Now that David has praised God in the first part of the Psalm, he is now coming before God to plead for the needs of the present. He starts by saying, “Have mercy on me and lift me up from the gates of death!” (Psalm 9:13) I like what Charles Spurgeon says about this sentence. He says, “Just as Martin Luther used to call some texts little Bibles, so we may call this sentence a little prayer book; for it has in it the soul and marrow of prayer.”
God is the source of mercy, and whenever a time of trouble comes, the first place we should go is to Him in prayer! David explains that the trouble he is facing is coming from those who hate him. He had a lot of enemies. As Christians, there will always be people who hate us as well. Many times, it’s because they hate the God we serve, so we will be persecuted for taking a stand for Christ. And of course, Satan and his demons hate us, and we must continually wear the Armor of God to be protected against their attacks.
Remember, In Ephesians 6, after each piece of armor is described, we’re told, “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests!” (Ephesians 6:18a) And that’s what we’re doing when we cry out to God for mercy and ask Him to consider our troubles. We’re fighting a battle, and we know that God Almighty is there to help us.
David continues by saying, “You lift me up from the gates of death.” What an amazing way to describe God Almighty…the One who lifts me up from the gates of death…That means David had been feeling so overwhelmed by his enemies, that it felt like the next step was death…
When we’re in the thick of a tribulation, and it seems like our enemies have the upper hand, we sometimes come to that point…where we feel like the only relief from the struggle would be death, because we know we’ll be in Heaven with Jesus. Yet it’s at those times when God shows Himself as the “One who lifts me up from the gates of death.”
In vs 20, he says, “Strike them with terror, O Lord; let the nations know they are but men.” Another way to translate the word “terror” here is “teacher” or “legislator.” So, David isn’t jumping up and down with joy, saying that God is going to judge the nations, and he’s so happy about it! No, he’s saying, “Teach them that they’re only men…” If they could come to that realization, then they might acknowledge their proper place before God, and their need for repentance…They then might turn to God. So, brothers and sisters, you and I must remember that God is always victorious…When we’re being afflicted, He will help us, He will strengthen us, He will bring us through. David knew that from experience, and he grew closer to God. Hopefully you and I can say the same.
PRAY
Father help us to always place our wholehearted trust in you when facing adversity.