THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE
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Opening Prayer
Almighty God, thank you for the fact that there is no problem so small that it escapes your notice, no difficulty so great that it is beyond your control.
Read PSALM 9
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Psalm 9
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” A psalm of David.
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.
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.
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.
10 Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
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.
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.
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.
Reflect
‘I shall not fear the battle if thou art by my side’ (John Bode, 1869). Use this or another hymn or worship song as you come to God today.David alternates in this psalm between praise and thanksgiving to God for who he is and what he has done (vv. 1, 2, 7–12) and describing the danger and threat he has gone through, from which the Lord has rescued him (vv. 3–6,13–20). David’s trust in the Lord is declared (vv. 9, 10), and he asks for rescue so that he can rejoice in God (vv. 13, 14).
The Israelites could have identified with this psalm too. Verses 3–5 can easily be applied to what happened when the Egyptian army tried to reclaim them from freedom back to slavery, and the heartfelt praises of God are echoed in the song of Moses and Miriam (Exodus 15:1).
Whatever enemies we may be facing—enemies without and within— our prayer can be the same as David’s: ‘Have mercy and lift me up’ (v.13), and our confidence and hope are in the Lord, who will never forget us (v. 18). Our names are written on his hands (Isaiah 49:16), and our lives are hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).
Apply
Being in any kind of danger is a knee-trembling, stomach-clenching experience. Pray today for anyone known to you in such a situation.
Closing prayer
Father in Heaven, I ask that those finding themselves in danger today will know your surrounding presence as a refuge and a stronghold.
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