Psalm 9

I will praise you, O LORD , with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

I will praise you, O LORD , with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you. For you have upheld my right and my cause; you have sat on your throne, judging righteously. You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever. Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy, you have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished.

The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice.

The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done. For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

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

The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden. The LORD is known by his justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. The wicked return to the grave, all the nations that forget God. But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.

Arise, O LORD , let not man triumph; let the nations be judged in your presence. Strike them with terror, O LORD ; let the nations know they are but men.

Among the ancient people who contended with Israel, very few remain.  The Ammonites, the Moabites, the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Edomites, the Philistines;  gone.  Banished from the earth forever. “I will bless those who bless you,” the LORD said to Abraham, “And curse those who curse you.” Can you point to the verse that contains the expiration date for that promise?

Today Israel exists once more. Battered and bruised, paying the penalty for abandoning her God, but here just the same. Her land, her language, her heritage all intact.   And once again the nations seem determined to test God’s resolve where Israel is concerned.

Her enemies have surrounded her and threaten on every side. Her people live lives of fear and uncertainty, for no nation is strong enough to defeat enemies so numerous and powerful. But unseen in the Spiritual realm angels surround her, permitting attacks only serious enough to gain her attention and cause her to see the futility of going it alone, as her God with tears in His eyes and love in His heart beckons her return. He longs for the day when his people will finally say:

“Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”
(Hosea 6:1-3)

On that day the Lord will initiate a series of action steps that will result in world wide praise and thanksgiving as He takes possession of that which He has purchased.  The mountains and hills will burst into song and the trees of the fields will clap their hands, (Isaiah 55:12) and all the peoples on earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:3).

Prayer: Lord let your people soon remember you, and let your enemies be made a footstool under your feet.  Let your holy city dwell in peace and your people in their land. And let the whole world know again that you are God. Amen.