#687 A Magnifying Glass

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;

I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

2 I will be glad and exult in you;

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

3 When my enemies turn back,

they stumble and perish before your presence.

4 For you have maintained my just cause;

you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.

5 You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;

you have blotted out their name forever and ever.

6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;

their cities you rooted out;

the very memory of them has perished.

7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever;

he has established his throne for justice,

8 and he judges the world with righteousness;

he judges the peoples with uprightness.

9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.

10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,

for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

11 Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion!

Tell among the peoples his deeds!

12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;

he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

13 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,

14 that I may recount all your praises,

that in the gates of the daughter of Zion

I may rejoice in your salvation.

15 The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;

in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.

16 The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment;

the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah

17 The wicked shall return to Sheol,

all the nations that forget God.

18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,

and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

19 Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail;

let the nations be judged before you!

20 Put them in fear, O Lord!

Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah Psalm 9 ESV

It is sad for the fellow who cannot look back upon the course of his life and find the deeds of God. Those things that are outside of ourselves, beyond the capacity of our own doing, that you were made, that what you stand on was made. Men so often have, in their minds, a better explanation, like they are just here. There is no Creator to praise, because they have for themselves ruled this out. If there is a God then He is unjust, for men have enemies in other men, in suffering, in sickness and while they may reminisce about victories, they spare no credit to the Lord. The Psalmist sees these trials, and finds God's hand, that He has turned back His enemies, that He does bring to ruin the wicked, like the ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah, or the washing away of the earth's inhabitants by the flood. 

The memory of them has perished - There is a perspective that is hard to ascertain, and men have long craved the idea of immortality through deeds, that we live on in the thoughts and memories of family or the pages of our history. I try to remember that there is an eternal perspective, and this changes the course of prayer, that so much will seem like nothing in comparison, that the memory will perish, the enemy will be a vapor. It changes also the determination, making an allowance to forgive, softening the will to avenge. Many have stood against God, but what is this little pot, and what shall it be when it is grinded back down?

But the Lord - You are not like us, not dust, more marvelous than I can comprehend. You are just and righteous, your throne is established forever. What I may think grand or good in men, You are above that, and surely You will one day deliver the poor, all who trust in You. 
Tell among the people His deeds - When we forget Who God is and what He has done, we find our present sufferings all the more precarious. We should remind each other, give testimony of the greatness of our God. This chapter is a good outline of a prayer, of a Sunday worship. He gives thanks, he recounts, he sings praises. 

Be gracious to me - Lord, You don't owe me, but be gracious to me that I may tell of it, that I may rejoice in Your goodness. 

Work of their own hands - What the world means for evil, God can turn to good. Remember the gallows that were made for Mordecai never saw his neck, but broke and strangled that same Haman who asked to have them built. Liars can attest to much stress over where they are in the stories they have spun. Gossipers often become the least favored when it is seen that those they talk about are often of greater character. Often the wicked prosper and it is puzzling to us, but remember that greater perspective, and cry out for the saving of their souls. Higgaion was interesting word, translated, "a pause for reflection" probably a break in the song. It is followed by Selah which is hard to find an explanation of, some suggest a musical instruction as it is found at the end of many lines of poetry in the Psalms and also 3 times in Habakkuk. Some think that it means to stop, measure, lift or hang upon. Put here with Higgaion that may be a reasonable inference, a direction in music to pause, reflect or change in tempo, a call to note something significant. My dad heard a definition of the word as "thus shall it be" in seminary, but he says that is only one and no one knows for certain now. 

Let the nations know - Oddly, men after all this time, do not recognize God in their existence, but the Psalmist cries out for God to vindicate Himself. Let them know that You alone are Lord, and all else is perishing. 

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.

2 O Lord, I have heard the report of you,

and your work, O Lord, do I fear.

In the midst of the years revive it;

in the midst of the years make it known;

in wrath remember mercy.

3 God came from Teman,

and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah

His splendor covered the heavens,

and the earth was full of his praise.

4 His brightness was like the light;

rays flashed from his hand;

and there he veiled his power. Habbakuk