The Lord is a Stronghold in Times of Trouble. Psalm 9, Day 19, Jan 19 | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed/ A stronghold in times of trouble.

Psalm 9

¹ I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart;

I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
² I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.

The Psalms map all the moods of the human heart. Here David is in an ecstatic mood. He has experienced the Lord’s deliverance

³ My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you.
⁴ For you have upheld my right and my cause,
sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.

I don’t know how it happens, but it does happen. Against all odds, God can protect one against one’s enemies.

⁵ You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
   you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
⁶ Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,
   you have uprooted their cities;
   even the memory of them has perished.#

⁷ The LORD reigns forever;
   he has established his throne for judgment.
⁸ He rules the world in righteousness
   and judges the peoples with equity.
⁹ The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
   a stronghold in times of trouble.

One can run to and within the shelter of the Lord in times of trouble. He is as powerful as a mountain stronghold.

¹⁰ Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
What a wonderful promise. And what’s more, it’s true.

¹¹ Sing the praises of the LORD, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done.
¹² For he who avenges blood remembers;
he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.
I don’t know how this works out, but I do believe that in mysterious ways, it’s true.

¹³ LORD, see how my enemies persecute me!
   Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,
¹⁴ that I may declare your praises
   in the gates of Daughter Zion,
   and there rejoice in your salvation.

¹⁵ The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;
their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
¹⁶ The LORD is known by his acts of justice;
the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.
Oh Lord, may we never dig pits for other people, or hide nets for them, and so get ensnared by the work of our hands. And please, Lord, protect us from other people’s pits, nets and snares.

¹⁷ The wicked go down to the realm of the dead,

all the nations that forget God.
¹⁸ But God will never forget the needy;

the hope of the afflicted will never perish.

¹⁹ Arise, LORD, do not let mortals triumph;
let the nations be judged in your presence.
²⁰ Strike them with terror, LORD;
let the nations know they are only mortal.

It is interesting how often the Psalms talk about the destruction of one’s enemies. Do I have an enemy? Someone who wishes evil on me. Yeah, probably.

Am I anyone’s enemy? Am I plotting evil and destruction for anyone, or wishing it on anyone. No. I am not.

Though I would wish to see God’s justice visit some people who have done evil, I myself have no intention of lifting a finger against anyone.

It is never spiritually safe to be anyone’s enemy. For all you know, they may be a righteous person, under God’s favour and protection, who is praying these Psalms even as we are praying them.