The Heart's Cry: Psalm 9 & 10

A note before we begin. When I turned the page of the Abbey Psalter my first thought was, “what are these crazy monks thinking now?” because while I expected to find Psalm 9 I instead found Psalm 9-10. I then turned to Psalm 9 and 10 in my handy Bible and there was a little note that read “Psalms 9 and 10 may have been originally a single acrostic poem, the stanzas of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Septuagint they constitute one psalm.” The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, or First Testament. So, perhaps those monks aren’t quite as crazy as I first thought, and since I am using their Psalter for this exercise, I will adhere to their delineation. In other words…

Psalm 9-10

I will praise you Lord with all my heart
I will recount all your wonders
I will rejoice in you and be glad
and sing psalms to your name O Most High

See how my enemies turn back
how they stumble and perish before you
You upheld the justice of my cause
you sat enthroned judging with justice

You have checked the nations destroyed the wicked
you have wiped out their name forever and ever
The foe is destroyed eternally ruined
you uprooted their cities their memory has perished

But the Lord sits enthroned forever
He has set up his throne for judgment
He will judge the world with justice
he will judge the peoples with his truth

For the oppressed let the Lord be a stronghold
a stronghold in times of distress
Those who know your name will trust you
you will never forsake those who seek you

Sing psalms to the Lord who dwells in Zion
Proclaim his mighty works among the peoples
For the Avenger of blood has remembered them
has not forgotten the cry of the poor

Have pity on me Lord see my sufferings
you who save me from the gates of death
That I may recount all your praise
at the gates of the city of Zion
and rejoice in your saving help

The nations have fallen in the pit which they made
their feet caught in the snare they laid
The Lord has revealed himself and given judgment
The wicked are snared in the work of their own hands

Let the wicked go down among the dead
all the nations forgetful of God
For the needy shall not always be forgotten
nor the hopes of the poor be in vain

Arise Lord let men not prevail
Let the nations be judged before you
Lord strike the with terror
let the nations know they are but men
+
Lord, who do you stand afar off
and hide yourself in times of distress
The poor man is devoured by the pride of the wicked
he is caught in the schemes that others have made

For the wicked man boasts of his heart’s desires
the covetous blasphemes and spurns the Lord
In his pride the wicked says He will not punish
There is no God such are his thoughts

His path is ever untroubled
your judgment is far from his mind
His enemies he regards with contempt
He thinks Never shall I falter
misfortune shall never be my lot

His mouth is full of cursing guile oppression
mischief and deceit under his tongue
He lies in wait among the reeds
the innocent he murders in secret

His eyes are on the watch for the helpless man
He lurks in hiding like a lion in his lair
He lurks in hiding to seize the poor
he seizes the poor man and drags him away

He crouches preparing to spring
and the helpless fall beneath his strength
He thinks in his heart God forgets
he hides his face he does not see

Arise then Lord lift up your hand
O God do not forget the poor
Why should the wicked spurn the Lord
and think in his heart He will not punish

But you have seen the trouble and sorrow
you note it you take it in hand
The helpless trusts himself to you
for you are the helper of the orphan

Break the power of the wicked and the sinner
Punish his wickedness till nothing remains
The Lord is king forever and ever
The heathen shall perish from the land he rules

Lord you hear the prayer of the poor
you strengthen their hearts you turn your ear
To protect the rights of the orphan and oppressed
so that mortal man may strike terror no more

I read these psalms together and I think that David was on to something in ‘9’ then goes off the rails a little bit through ‘10’ and finally regains his footing at the end. I suppose that the same thing often happens to us, when we focus on God we are mainly on the right track, but when we focus on whatever is bothering us we often miss the point. For instance, when David writes that the wicked man has contempt for his foes. How do you think that David is currently feeling about his enemies? I’m pretty sure that he is experiencing a good amount of contempt. The same happens to us, we can speak about love as much as we want, but we then must also show love, to those that are close to us and to those who mean us harm.

We, as 2016 Christians, may look at David and think, well he didn’t live in a world that contained Jesus’s teachings, but he is aware of a God who looks after the widow, the orphan, and the oppressed, yet if you read David’s story there are times when he doesn’t seem to regard those that God regards very well at all. David may have been a man after God’s own heart but he was also a man who commanded a woman to be with him and after her pregnancy tried to first trick her husband and then have him killed.

But, we are 2016 Christians and because of that we are not to hold to David’s standard we are expected to follow Jesus. We do live in a world post Sermon on the Mount, and we are commanded to live like it. We must, like David sometimes does, focus on God, not the moment, not the enemy. By focusing on God we remember what God has done for us and what God can do for others, and so we pray for enemies. Pray for them to notice and receive grace, not for their destruction.

+ How have you focused on God?

+ How have you been hateful to enemies?

+ What steps can you take to ensure that you put your focus on the right subject?