I Will Recount Your Wonderful Deeds

                                                                              Psalm 9

 

December 16, 2021

 

 

I Will Recount Your Wonderful Deeds

To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.   I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence.  For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.

 

You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever.  The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out the very memory of them has perished.   But the Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.  The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.  And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion!  Tell among the peoples his deeds!  For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.  Be gracious to me, O Lord!  See my affliction from those who hate me, O you who lift me up from the gates of death, that I may recount all your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion, I may rejoice in your salvation. The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.  The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah

 

The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God.  For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.   Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you!   Put them in fear, O Lord!  Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah

 

When one reads the opening two sentences one sees the kind of heart that brings glory to our Lord.  David was not referring to a Sunday morning service, but as you go, about a lifestyle of giving praise and sharing with others what He has done.

 

As you read on you will be introduced to a righteous Judge, who knows all about you and me and He judges the people with uprightness.  Now that is not by your standard, but by His.  With that being a fact, would it not be wise to come to an understanding of His standards, so that on that day you will be able to stand?  I find great comfort in Him being my stronghold in times of trouble. 

 

I often feel that we who have received grace and entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ are often like the hungry person who finds where the hot meal is being freely shared but refuses to share with those he knows that are starving.  Why are we not sharing all that the Lord has done for us?

 

The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.  You will find in Romans 1:18-22, this account of the Righteous Judge charges against all people who choose evil over good, not by their standards but His.  “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.  For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them.   For His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse.   For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.   Claiming to be wise, they became fools,”

 

I pray for our nation, and I ask for mercy, for we as a nation have forgotten God, and as you can see King David's prayer is very different from mine; The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God.  Our only hope is that the Church humbles itself and seeks God, and prays for God to do mighty work in our Nation.  You and I who are in Christ are the Church, will you join me in seeking the face of God and not just His hand?

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice