441_God remembers His people

Psalm 9 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.

Years ago, during the Second World War, a Dutch woman named Corrie ten Boom and her family were arrested by the Nazis for hiding Jews in their home. Her father died soon after. Her beloved older sister died after a year of great suffering in Ravensbrück, the notorious women’s labor camp. There were days of starvation, humiliation, and unspeakable cruelty. In the depths of that darkness, having lost everything, Corrie was sustained by the simple truth: God remembers His people. She would later write, “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.”

Psalm 9, written by King David, echoes this same deep conviction— in the most desperate situation, facing the strongest enemy, God remembers His people. This song of praise is a bold declaration of faith in a God who sees, who judges rightly, and who never forgets the afflicted.

David begins this Psalm not with complaints or fears but with wholehearted praise. “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.” His exuberant and deeply personal words reflect his ingrained awareness that God’s deliverances had been too many to allow doubt or block his full-throated praise.

This passionate worship was on display when David danced before the Ark of the Covenant as it entered Jerusalem. During the first attempt, God struck down Uzzah for touching the ark, reminding David of the reverence with which God is to be approached. The second time, he danced for joy, unashamed. Half-hearted worship does not do justice to God’s wholehearted love. He has saved us, preserved us, and shown us mercy. We cannot help but respond with our whole hearts.

David says in verse 5, “You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever.” The victories of David weren’t merely military successes, but the results of God’s righteous intervention. His enemies were not just political threats, but they were opposing the purposes of God.

But how do we reconcile a God of love with a God who judges? Psalm 9 helps us understand that God’s acts bring about justice rather than revenge. God does not let oppression, wickedness, and violence go unanswered. David trusted God not just as his Savior but as the Judge who sets all things right.

David moves from God’s judgment on his enemies to God’s authority over the whole world. He acknowledges that God is impartial. Israel, God’s own people, were not exempt from discipline. Throughout history, they faced consequences when they turned from God. This explained the exile, the defeats, and the famines. Yet even wicked cities like Nineveh found mercy when they repented. Ethnicity, position, or heritage counts for nothing with God, for He judges with uprightness.

This brings us both comfort in God’s just protection of the weak and helpless, and fear because we know he judges all alike, irrespective of religious identity or the rituals of piety.

In verse 9, David declares, “The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” This is the summary of his own experience and that of his forefathers. Whenever injustice seems to reign, whenever we are in trouble, God is the refuge of his servants. He is no distant observer. For the heart that trembles at his word, he is a present help.

David reminds us that “those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” This is his testimony. Hunted by Saul, betrayed by his own son Absalom, and passing through seasons of despair, David knew God as his defender. In the cave, with Saul and his soldiers near, God was nearer. On the battlefield, God’s strength was his assurance. In his repentance, he knew God’s mercy.

David says in verse 12 that God “does not forget the cry of the afflicted.” The weak may not get the ear of earthly kings, but the God of gods inclines his ear to hear the cry of the weak, the poor, and the afflicted. He sees every tear born of oppression and records every injustice done in secret.

Therefore David prays: “Be gracious to me, O Lord… lift me up from the gates of death.” He longed for the joy of God’s deliverance. More than victory and prosperity, he wanted to see the gracious hand of God in his life.

David also reflects on the hallmark of God’s justice. “The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.” This captures the self-destructive nature of sin and evil. Pride leads to downfall. Deceit is caught in its own web. People who turn from God shake the foundations of their own well-being, and their lives collapse on them. “The wicked shall return to Sheol,” he writes, “all the nations that forget God.”

The Psalm closes with a cry: “Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail.” When God takes His rightful place, he reveals to the world their rightful place. How easily we forget that, with our technological advances, our power, our pride! But history shows, again and again, that when independent of God, the result is always the same: oppression, injustice, and ruin. From the Tower of Babel to modern democracy, forgetting God leads to destruction.

The “survival of the fittest” is a concept becoming of a world where only the strong survive. But in God’s kingdom, things are different. He lifts up the weak. He defends the orphan, and shelters the outcast. He chooses the foolish things to shame the wise. He is the God who rules over all alike, and in him alone is the defence of all his creatures, great and small.

Let us respond with wholehearted worship. He scorns the lukewarm praise we offer while our minds are occupied with other things, or worry about what others think. He deserves everything.

Secondly, let us trust him completely. In times of oppression or personal crisis, let us run to Him as our refuge. Let us not be so impressed with our achievements that we forget we are dust.

When we wonder if we have been forgotten when we feel life has crushed us and passed us by unheeding, let us remember that God sees. He knows. He remembers, and in his time, he will act. Let us entrust ourselves to Him today with all our hearts. The God who remembers His people will never forget us. God bless.