Psalm 10:1-11 – An assessment of the wicked

David had written both Psalm 9 and 10. They are thought to belong together. In our previous discussions, we had dealt with Psalm 9. Now we shall dwell on Psalm 10 and consider its message to us. In the first 11 verses, David’s lament gives us the impression that despite their evil deeds, the wicked seem to be prospering. Haven’t we felt that way before? When we look at the world, many people who have no regard for God, seem to be doing so well. Haven’t we wondered, asking why isn’t God doing anything, when evil seems so blatant and obvious? 

This was perhaps how David felt. So he began by asking, “Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?” In his heart of hearts, David still acknowledges that God was and still is in control. What he didn’t understand was why did God remain silent? How could He be so nonchalant? In his impatience, David felt that those rampant evil were not as swiftly dealt with as he had wished. He even felt abandoned because God’s face seemed to be hidden, and he was entertaining a foreboding sense of terror and lost-ness. 

In his distraught, David wondered about the prosperity of the wicked. So in verses 2-11, he paints for us the different aspects of a human fallen desire, and shows us the thought process of the wicked. Firstly, we are told that tyranny of the wicked finds its root in pride. It had blinded the wicked to the extent that they had no qualm tyrannizing the afflicted, the poor and needy. Filled with pride, they have only consideration for their evil desires, and placed it over the fear of God. By their very actions they spurn God, showing ill regard for Him. They would waylay and mug the poor and helpless.  What’s worst is their belief that God had forgotten their wickedness and had hidden His face from them. This is pure self-delusion leading to self-deception.

In other words, wickedness is blinding. Truths become obscure to the wicked. Everything about them oozes with evil, in their thoughts, words, deeds and schemes. So they design, devise and speak evil. Here David describes their evil manner of life. It is seen in their attitude - they are proud and boastful. It is seen in their action - they exploit the poor and needy without any conscience. It is seen in their disregard for God - they boast and curse without any regard for God. They haughtily harden their hearts toward God, hence they refuse to seek Him. Instead, they would foolishly entertain the thought that God does not exist. It is also seen in their perspective of the future - in the abundance of what they have, they cannot see or imagine the day of accounting. It is seen in the way they treat others presently - they would sneer at those who oppose them. It is seen in their speech - their mouths are full of malicious and slanderous deceits. They speak with hidden wicked agendas. It is seen in their scheme - they act stealthily like a lion seeking to devour its prey. They kill the innocent. Like a lion, they lurk, catch, crouch and draw their victims to where they can destroy them.

The wicked starts with the false assumption that God does not exist, and even if He does, He cannot see. And even if He can see, He will eventually forget. For us children of God, we are fully aware that He is all-seeing, all-knowing and all-encompassing. He is present everywhere and He will take note of our every thought, word and action.  He knows our character, conduct, contemplation and conversation. Beloved, we are under the searchlight of the Holy Spirit. Remember that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro the whole earth, to show Himself strong on the behalf of those whose hearts are perfectly His. So take heart!

Psalm 9:13-20 – God’s unfailing goodness

David had many experiences of God’s faithful interventions in the times of his past difficulty. Through God’s mighty hand, he had overcome enemies and enjoyed many triumphant moments. David didn’t just know God theoretically, he knew Him in experience. Hence he was confident that God will see him through all his future difficult circumstances. It is so true that our daily and present interaction with God will all go into building a strong trust in Him. It helps to build God’s consciousness in each moment of life, and stay confident that He will never leave nor forsake us.

This experiential knowledge of God in the past had made David very confident to face the future, no matter how tough it might seem. It also made David lean on God and trust Him, come what may. So instead of fretting when he thought of his enemies, he turned to God and requested His assistance. In verse 13, he asked God to be gracious to him.  Notice David recalled God’s past deliverance that had saved him from near death situations. He now turned to Him for help for his present foes, who were persecuting him.    

Here David seemed to recall the jubilant celebration of his past victories and so asked God to help him to experience those moments once again. He desired to have cause to rejoice again.  Hence this renewed plea to God. He was so certain of God’s deliverance again that he felt the victory in advance. Hence in verse 15, he spoke as if the enemies were dealt a serious blow. ^“The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made; in the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.”  He saw them being trapped in the scheme of their own wicked devise. David knew this victory was achieved through God’s intervention. Those wicked foes that came against him had unknowingly chosen the path that were hastening them to Sheol, the place of death. They did not know that they were not coming up against David alone, but that they were also coming against God, in Whom he had placed his trust.  

In this Psalm, David also saw God universally reigning the world. The LORD is not just the God of Israel, He is also the God of all the earth. Hence the nations will also have to face His judgement. In verse 17, the nations had not factored God into their lives, they forgot that God’s people have Him on their side. So David contrasted the people of the world and the privileged people who remember their God. The Sovereign Lord will never forget His own. David used the word needy here to refer to the people that belong to God. These people who belonged to God and suffered unjustly at the hand of the wicked should have hope, because their enemy who brought the affliction, will soon perish.  For they were mere men without the help of God.

Some thoughts from these verses: firstly, know that no matter how difficult our present moment is, God’s perfect justice will ultimately prevail. People who come up against us and our God can never successfully defy the Lord, Who is working on our behalf. Secondly, God’s deliverance should give us cause to acknowledge and make known His goodness. More than a reason to rejoice, God’s granted victories should embolden us to proclaim His goodness. When was the last time we spoke to someone of God’s wonderful deliverance? Finally, man’s fallen propensity is his worst enemy. Let’s take our weaknesses to God in prayer. He is our strong tower. We can run into and be safe! 

Psalm 9:1-12 – God is a safe refuge

In the Septaugint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, Psalms 9 and 10 are seen together as one. But in our English Bible, they are separated. Therefore our meditation shall be done one at a time. To begin with, let’s look at the heading of the Psalm. It tells us that David had composed it for the choir director to be sung “on Muth-labban.” The meaning of “Muth-labban” is “the death of the son.” It is probably an instruction for the choir director to have the Psalm sang in a certain mood.

In the original, Psalm 9 is an “Acrostic Psalm.” The main feature of this type of poem is that it has a letter in each line, when put together would form a word. This is an aid for easy remembrance. The letter that forms the word could be the first or the last or any other letter in between them. Let’s consider an example using the word ACROSS:

Angels from heaven

Coming from God above

Roaming to and fro the earth

Over the mountains and the valleys 

So urgently a message to deliver

So my sons, be ready and quick to hear 

In Psalm 9, David saw the different ends of both the wicked and the righteous. The wicked will end in destruction, while the righteous will end in triumph. David could have written this Psalm as a celebration of his victory over his pagan enemies. He began in verses 1-2 by praising God wholeheartedly in joyful celebration. He expresses his thankfulness to God for His help and deliverance. In verses 3-4, he anticipates the defeat of his enemies and then his confidence in God. David knew that God would help him again in future because He had vindicated him in the past by dealing with his enemies. So in verses 5-6, he narrates what happened in the past in which the Lord “…rebuked the nations…destroyed the wicked…blotted out their name forever and ever…the enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins… You have (God had) uprooted the cities…and the very memory of them (the enemies) has perished”.

Fully aware that God is the true and just Judge, David describes in verses 7-10 that He sits on the judgement throne forever, judging fairly and righteously. It’s such a relief to know that our God is the ultimate Judge. In Him there will be no misplaced justice. Every encounter will be weighed fairly and with equity. He will not abandon the righteous but instead be their refuge. He will be their stronghold in times of troubles. It is difficult not to exalt such a righteous God and Judge. So in verses 11-12, David urged the covenant community to praise and sing of God’s righteousness. For this God is fully aware of the evil of the wicked and will deal with them. And He also has not forgotten, and will not forget, the cry of the afflicted.  

Lessons from the first twelve verses. Like David, we must learn to praise God with our whole heart. That is: be wholly present in worship when we are in His presence, whether in corporate or in personal time. We are to keep our mind focused on Him and not entertain wandering thoughts while we are in His presence. He deserves our total attention. Secondly, we should often recall God’s past dealings and the goodness He had showered upon us. This will help us to remember His mercy, and engender confidence in Him for the difficulty we may face in the future. It is certainly helpful to journal and keep a record of past victories God had brought us through. And always remember that God is a safe refuge in times of trouble, and we can run to Him and rest securely in Him. Absolute security!

Psalm 8:3-9 – The dignity of man

In verses 1-2 David acknowledged that God is indeed awesome and majestic. His greatness is unsurpassed. And this God had created this ever expanding universe that runs with great precision. The more he contemplated on the constellation of the planets orbiting in exactitude, the more he marveled at the wisdom of God’s hand behind it. His thought then naturally gravitated toward man whom God had made. We can detect a tint of despair when David compared man with the enormous universe. He couldn’t help but see how tiny and puny man really is, in comparison with God’s great universe. Man would have languished in despair had God not come down to our level, and let us know how valuable we are in His sight. We are in fact the prize and crown of His creation. How marvelous it is to know that we are an eternal being of great value, dwelling in God’s great, unending universe!  

Before even time began, God had us in mind. He thought about how He wanted us to be, and then took care to fashion us. In saying that we are made a little lower than God, David was echoing what the first part of Genesis 1:26 said. That was when the Trinity interacted and decided within themselves, and declared, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness….” Think about it, only man is made in the image and likeness of God! Among all of God’s creation, only human is capable of asking that question, “Who am I that God should be mindful of me?” To acknowledge that we are fashioned in the image and likeness of God is to accept that we are indeed given exceptional worth and honor. And our worth can only truly be seen in the fact that we are the object of God’s love. No matter what life will dish out to us, we are still God’s priceless creation whom He loves and has attached infinite worth.

Verses 6-8 continue to echo the remaining half of Genesis 1:26. It tells us what God has assigned us. In God’s own words, “…so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Here in three verses, David in this Psalm reiterates this mandate given to man. God’s mandate for us suggests how significant we are in His sight. While He rules the universe, He left the running of the earth to us, man and did not leave it to any other creature. We must always bear in mind that we are made in God’s image, and ordained to rule and have dominion over His creation. That is and had been God’s intention from the onset.

What had interrupted the original program of God was when Adam chose to disobey God. And because of his disobedience, all mankind had inherited a fallen nature. But God in His glorious plan didn’t leave us in our fallen state. He sent Jesus. And through His life and ministry, makes us God’s new creation. Hence after quoting part of this Psalm, the author of the letter to the Hebrews said, “But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” (Hebrews 2:9). Jesus came to bring man back into the glorious state God had in His mind before the beginning of time.

So David fittingly ends where he began by exclaiming again, ^“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” What our great God intends for us to experience cannot be fully realized until we come back to Him through Christ. For it is in Christ that the fullness of God dwells in completeness. And only in Christ are we complete. As Paul has said in Colossians 1:27, indeed our hope of glory is found only in Christ. Since we are now connected to Him, our Sovereign Lord, we must constantly build on this relationship. And as we do so, we will incrementally enter into the fullness of all that He has installed for us to experience!   

Psalm 8:1–2 – The Majestic God!

Have you ever stood at the seashore and looked up into the vast, immense and endless expanse of the sky, and wondered in awe of the One who is behind the creation of the universe? This perhaps was closest to exactly how David was inspired and led to compose this Psalm. Here David stood in awe and wonder as he thought of the Sovereign Lord, who created the endless universe and how He should invest in us, insignificant human being. He marveled at the wonder that this God should give us insignificant humans such a significant role in the works of His hand.     

Psalm 8 is definitely a majestic song celebrating God’s stupendous magnificence, and the grand and brilliant purpose for which He had created man. This Psalm was written for the choir director on the Gittith. The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible defines the Gittith as an obscure Hebrew term that could be referring to a musical instrument or a musical cue, signaling a mood to which the Psalm was to be performed.

It is worth our while to muse and chew on what David had said. So we are going to dwell on the richness of the first two verses. Here David began by praising the wonderful name of God. As far as David knew, God was not just a title given to a great supreme and awesome Being but to the very nature of His person. So he exclaimed, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendour above the heavens!”

The LORD is the covenant name of God. The Bible put this LORD in four capital letters. He is the same One who first revealed Himself to Moses in that name. When Moses asked for His name, He told him that He is the “I Am.” This two words had long been referred to as “the LORD,” in the Old Testament. He is the ever-present One. This is God’s eternal nature. He is not just the God of the past nor the God of the future. He is the God Who is always present, always current and always relevant.  

This LORD had linked Himself to us His people, and had made Himself accessible to us. This name, “I Am”, only has a subject and verb but not the object. We can say that this is God’s unfinished name. Perhaps He has deliberately left it that way for us to complete His name according to the needs we currently have. If we need provision, He will say to us, “I Am the LORD your provider (Jehovah Jireh).” If we need healing He will say to us, “I Am the LORD your healer” (Jehovah Rapha). If it’s peace that we need, He will be to us, “I Am the LORD your peace (Jehovah Shalom)” and so on. What a wonderful God!

David wants us to know that the power of this great God is unsurpassed. Though the speech of an infant is usually limited and not developed, yet He could use them to silent the enemy with their immature blabbering. David’s point is this: even the undeveloped speech of children and infants attests to the greatness of the Creator. We know that the ability to speak and communicate is only given to man. It is a function unique to human being. We are made with the capacity to think, rationalize and to express our thoughts. In that sense we are made in the image of God. Even as an infant begins to make recognizable sounds, they witness to God’s creative power. This put to shame anyone who opposes God and refuses to praise Him.

In Matthew 21:16 Jesus quoted verse 2 to rebuke the chief priests and the teachers of the Law for trying to prevent the children gathering at the temple area from shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” This was an indictment on the religious leaders. Even children could recognize and welcome the Messiah. But shame to those grown up professors of the Law and religious leaders. Even with much learning they did not recognize the Messiah.  

Our mouths are made to praise God. So let’s use them to declare His praise! Let’s use them to declare the excellence of Him who had called us out of darkness into the Kingdom of His marvelous light. It is truly a wonder to think that such a great God should have great consideration for us. It is truly beyond words. So we must emulate David and declare, “O Lord, our LORD, how majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendour above the heavens!”

Psalm 7:7-17 – Evil has a price

David had to struggle with slanderous accusations hurled at him unjustly. But he maintained his innocence and integrity. Despite the hurt and discouragement, he turned to God, His refuge, and confidently trust Him to vindicate. What about us? Who do we turn to when wrongly dealt with? David was aware that until God the righteous had taken His judgement seat, injustice would be his experience as well as those who had chosen to live uprightly with integrity. Yet he took courage in the fact that God alone judges justly. It is because God alone knows everyone’s mind and heart, the source of one’s actions in life.  

So David relied on his personal innocence as a defense against the slanders and defamation brought against him. Assured that he was not guilty, he cried out for the wicked to be brought to an end and he be vindicated. Like David, let’s be assured that God examines our inner motives. He alone knows the truth and will vindicate those who live with integrity and honor.

The Psalmist tells us that as Judge, God is ready and always prepared to deal with the wicked. We see that in the way David painted God’s readiness. His sword is sharpened; His bow is bent and positioned to fire; He also has deadly weapons and the shafts of His arrows are fiery. Verse 12 indicates that God is not just ready once in a while, but that He is in readiness daily. And the only way a person could avert His judgement is repentance. Unless there’s true repentance there’s no way we can escape God’s impending judgement.  

In verse 14, David used the language of gestation to describe the progress of wickedness. Like a pregnant woman travailing in birth pangs, David saw his enemy travailing with wickedness. Like a pregnant woman who had conceived and about to deliver her baby, David’s adversary had conceived mischief and would give birth to deceit and falsehood. Then in verses 15-16, David saw his adversary being caught by the trap of his own making. He dug a hole for David but fell into it himself. He was visited by his own deception. David meant to say that in his wickedness, his enemy was ensnared by his own evil scheme. In other words his own wickedness boomeranged on him.

In anticipation of God’s deliverance, David committed himself to give thanks to God for His righteousness and to praise the name of the Most High in verse 17. In expressing his willingness to give thanks and praise God, David was testifying of his trust and confidence in Him. This Psalm teaches us to rely on God, Who knows us intimately, and will see us through when we are wrongly accused. It also warns us against acting with wicked intent. For the evil scheme we design may trap us and boomerang on us. Like David, let’s walk with our God uprightly as we serve Him with integrity!  

Psalm 7:1-6 - God can be trusted

The meaning of the word "shiggaion" in the superscript of Psalm 7 is unknown. It is thought that it could mean a lament or a dirge. However, this is a very minor point and we shall not be overly concerned with it. What we do know is that David composed this Psalm when he was facing a vicious, aggressive and merciless foe. And again we have very little clue concerning Cush the man from the tribe of Benjamin who was tormenting King David. 

A quick scan of this Psalm will help us see how David progressively laid out his arguments before God. He began by seeking the help of God to deliver him from his pursuer. He had come to God His refuge. Verses 3-5 implied that David interacted with himself and his conscience, and maintained his innocence. Having assured himself of his innocence, he then turned to appeal to God to intervene and vindicate him as revealed in verses 6-8. He went on in verses 9-16 to talk about how God would free the righteous by allowing the wicked to be ensnared by their own evil. He then rounded up in verse 17 with a pledge to give thanks to God. Throughout the Psalm, David  maintained that God is righteous and He would help the righteous. 

We are well aware that Saul, who belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, disobeyed God and was rejected by Him as king over His people. In Saul's place God replaced David, who hailed from the tribe of Judah. Saul's family enraged by David's claim to the throne came up against him. Long afterwards, they were still slandering him and opposing his right to rule. Second Samuel 16:5-8 narrate how David was treated as he was fleeing from his son, Absalom. He was explicitly told by Shimei, a man from the house of Saul to, "Get out, get out, you murderer, you scoundrel! The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul in whose place you have reigned. The Lord has given the kingdom into the hands of your son Absalom. You have come to ruin because you are a murderer!" Perhaps all these were in David's mind as he expressed his lament. 

Psalm 7:1-2 tell us that Cush's attack was fierce. David likened the attack on him to a lion tearing up its helpless prey. He maintained his innocence and hinted that Cush had made all kinds of slanderous accusations against him. Verse 4 implied that David had wronged an innocent person. The thought is that David had been disloyal to Saul by helping an enemy of the deposed king. To assert his innocence , David's rhetoric was that if the accusation was true, he was willing to let the enemy destroy him and put him to death in  dishonour. David must have recalled how on two separate occasions, he could have killed Saul, but he didn't. He refused to touch the Lord's anointed.

Using strong words such as "Arise," "Lift up Yourself," "Arouse Yourself for me,"  and " You have appointed judgement...' David cried to God. While they were his strong assertions that only God alone could help, they also reveal to us his state of mind. David wished God's help would come sooner and more swiftly. The picture painted here is as if God's response was slow, passive or perhaps He was even sleeping. We must know that God has His own timetable and schedule. His thoughts are higher that our thoughts and His ways higher than our ways. Isn't it true that in the midst of crisis, we wish to see God's help more forth coming? David was not maligning God. He was expressing his desire for a faster intervention from God. We need to know that God often uses such moments to train our patience, and then build the level of our trust in Him. 

It is said that crisis makes a man. And that's true. But more than making a man, crisis also reveals what a man is made up of. It reveals his character and substance. God often allows crises in our life so that we can turn to Him. In those moments as we interact with what's happening to us, we also learn to trust God to take us through. It is precisely in those circumstances that a strong mind is forged and a strong trust in God is developed. Like David, let's stay trusting and keep holding on to Him. His grace is more than enough to meet our every rising tide. God will never lead us to where His grace cannot sustain us!