Lay terror upon them, O LORD; let the nations know they are but men. Selah Sermons
I. SALVATION IS ASCRIBED TO GOD. All deliverances are of God. There may be human means and instruments. There may be judges and saviours, such as Joshua (Nehemiah 9:27). But behind all is God. This holds true of all deliverances - national and individual - of the body, and of the soul. More especially is this true of the deliverance from our enemies, and of our redemption by Jesus Christ. II. MANIFESTS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. God must act in agreement with his character. He cannot deny himself. Therefore in whatsoever deliverances God effects, we may be sure that his righteousness will shine resplendent. So it is of the salvation by Christ (Romans 1:16, 17). How vain to ask for help, if we are not willing to have it in God's way! How foolish to expect deliverance, save in the form that will glorify God's Name - his righteousness as truly as his mercy, his justice as well as his love! III. FORESHADOWS THE FINAL JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD. Every judgment is a sign and pattern of the last judgment. There is no change with God. All through, and in everything he does, he has acted like himself. His Law will stand, His righteousness will be vindicated in the end as in the beginning. The cross of Christ itself prophesies of the just judgments of God. "If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" (Luke 23:31). God's people may await with confidence the result. IV. CALLS FORTH THE HALLELUJAHS OF THE GOOD. There is the joy of trust (ver. 13); of gratitude (ver. 14), of hope (vers. 15-20). By faith we see the King in his beauty, and rejoice in his rejoicing. - W.F.
For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. The value of a text depends very much upon the man to whom it comes. The song of the troubadour was very charming to Richard, because he knew the responsive verses. The trail is full of meaning to the Indian, for his quick eye knows how to follow it. So will those who are spiritually poor and needy eagerly lay hold on this promise. It is literally true that the needy are remembered of God. In bitter times He will so order governments that they shall look with peculiar interest upon the poor. In text we have —I. TWO BITTER EXPERIENCES ENDED. 1. The needy shall not always be forgotten by former friends and admirers; in arrangements made and plans projected; in judgments formed and in praises distributed; in help estimated and reliance expressed. Such are usually left out of our calculation, forgotten as a dead man out of mind. But this will not be always so. 2. "The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever." You have been disappointed, in your natural expectation from justice, gratitude, relationship, age, sympathy, charity, etc.; in your confidence in man; in your judgments of yourself; in your expectations of providence. II. TWO SAD FEARS REMOVED. 1. Not forever shall you be forgotten. You shall not meet with final forgetfulness. Nor in the day of severe trouble. In the night of grief and alarm for sin. In the hour of death. 2. Nor shall your expectation perish. Your weakness shall not frustrate the power of God, nor your sin dry up the grace of God. Your constitutional infirmities shall not cause your overthrow. III. TWO SWEET PROMISES GIVEN. 1. You shall not be overlooked by the Father, Son, or Holy Ghost. 2. You shall not be disappointed. Peace shall visit your heart, sin vanquished, and an abundant entrance into glory. Then, hope in God. ( C. H. Spurgeon.). Why standest Thou afar off, O Lord? I. A THEOLOGICAL DIFFICULTY. — "Why standest Thou afar off, O Lord?" Some great enormity was now under the eyes of David. We know not what. He had witnessed many such scenes. They have a tendency to suggest that God is indifferent. Even Christ felt this. "Why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Why does not God interfere? We cannot fully answer the question, but we may consider —1. That God respects that freedom of action with which He has endowed man. 2. The sufferings which the wicked inflict upon the good are often disciplinary. Faith rests itself deeper. 3. There will be a period of retribution, "For all these things God will bring thee into judgment." II. A HAUGHTY IMPIETY. "The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor. See this impiety — 1. In its conduct towards men. It is cruel — "persecutes." It is fraudulent — "his mouth is full of deceit and fraud," both in speech — "under his tongue," etc., and practice — "he sitteth in the lurking places," etc. 2. In its conduct towards God.There is here — 1. An expressed contempt for the Eternal. "For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire," etc. 2. A practical disregard for the Eternal, "God is not in all his thoughts." He is without God. 3. An awful calumny on the Eternal. "He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten me." Haughty impiety indeed. III. AN EARNEST PRAYER. Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up Thine hand. He desires — 1. A merciful interposition on behalf of the good. "Forget not the humble." Piety ever breathes its prayers to heaven for such. 2. A righteous interposition against the wicked. "Break Thou the arm," etc. "Seek out his wickedness," etc. We cannot justify this part of David's prayers, which were often as imperfect as many parts of his conduct. IV. AN EXULTANT FAITH. "The Lord is King forever and ever." David believed — 1. In the perpetuity of God's Kingdom. 2. In His attention to human entreaties. "Lord, Thou hast heard the desire of the humble." 3. In His vindication of the right. "To judge the fatherless," etc. The wicked man is in an especial sense "the man of the earth." Sprung from, living by and for it, and it only. (D. Thomas, D. D.) 1. That the distance is unnatural; and 2. Undesirable. Hence the question, How can this distance be explained? There are three sources to which alone we can look for light. I. HUMAN PHILOSOPHY. It may theorise thus — 1. That God is too great to allow of close connection with Him. This is the Epicurean view. But no true thinker can accept it. 2. That the cause of the felt distance is God's method of agency. This is mediatory and uniform; not direct, but indirect. He stands concealed behind the machinery of the universe. But this no satisfactory explanation. He acts mediatorially in heaven, and yet all there feel His presence. And there is uniformity in heaven also, but neither does that hinder the realisation of His presence. II. SPECULATIVE THEOLOGY. This says that man by sin has offended God, and hence God has in anger withdrawn from men, and will not return until His wrath is appeased by sacrifice. But this explanation fails — 1. Because inconsistent with the immutability of the Divine character. He cannot pass from love to anger, from the placid to the furious. It is impossible. 2. And inconsistent also with the moral excellence of God. Can what is unamiable with man be right with God? I trow not. III. DIVINE REVELATION. It teaches that we by our sin have departed from God. The sinner is the prodigal son. Now, 1. This is a satisfactory solution. When we have sinned we feel God distant from us, and, moreover, indignant with us. So He appears to the sinful mind. In reality God is near him and loves him infinitely. But the Bible often presents God as He appears to the mind, as it speaks of natural objects as they appear to our senses. And 2. It is a vital solution. Knowing the cause is indispensable to its removal. And this the Bible teaches. (J. Parker, D. D.) People David, PsalmistPlaces JerusalemTopics Appoint, Director, Fear, Nations, O, Selah, Terror, ThemselvesOutline 1. David praises God for executing judgment11. He incites others to praise him 13. He prays that he may have cause to praise him Dictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 9:208666 praise, manner and methods Library Dilemma and DeliveranceNow, this morning, in addressing you, I shall divide my text into three parts. First, I shall note a certain fiery dart of Satan; secondly, I shall point out to you heaven's divine buckler, as hinted at in the text--"Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee;" and then, in the third place, I shall notice man's precious privilege of seeking God, and so of arming himself against Satan. I. First, then, I am to dwell for a little time upon A CERTAIN FIERY DART OF SATAN WHICH IS CONSTANTLY SHOT … Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860 Joy in Salvation Cry we Therefore with the Spirit of Charity... A Few Sighs from Hell; But Concerning True Patience, Worthy of the Name of this virtue... Jesus, My Rock. "Because of his Importunity. " The Desire of the Righteous Granted; The Heart's Desire Given to Help Mission Work in China. Introduction. Chapter i. --The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers. Trials of the Christian The Care of the Soul Urged as the one Thing Needful Letter xix (A. D. 1127) to Suger, Abbot of S. Denis King of Kings and Lord of Lords The Knowledge of God The Justice of God A Preliminary Discourse to Catechising Psalms Links Psalm 9:20 NIVPsalm 9:20 NLT Psalm 9:20 ESV Psalm 9:20 NASB Psalm 9:20 KJV Psalm 9:20 Bible Apps Psalm 9:20 Parallel Psalm 9:20 Biblia Paralela Psalm 9:20 Chinese Bible Psalm 9:20 French Bible Psalm 9:20 German Bible Psalm 9:20 Commentaries Bible Hub |