Daily Prayer Devotional for Women and Men | OnlinePrayerJournal

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For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.

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.[c] 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.

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Sometimes, we feel so overwhelmed by our circumstances, discouraged by events, or outraged by injustice that we forget the bigger picture. The psalm’s answer is to remember and proclaim God’s past acts of deliverance (v. 1). This is more than just a mental exercise: it should permeate our whole being and make God so real to us that our hearts become filled with thanksgiving and a desire to praise his name (v. 2). In Israel, names pointed to a person’s character, so praising God’s name means consciously recalling who he is.

Such remembering will put into perspective what is happening so we can know that God is still on his throne and will judge evil (vv. 4, 7, 8). He is indeed a refuge in times of trouble, and those who know his name (his character) and trust in him will not be forsaken (vv. 9, 10). There is a symmetry in God’s dealings with humanity. Those who seek him will not be forgotten (vv. 10, 12, 18),¹ while those who forget God (i.e., ignore him and live as if he did not matter) will, in turn, be forgotten, the memory of who they were wiped out forever (vv. 5, 6, 17).

The psalm reflects on the nature of evil that rebounds on its perpetrator. Thus, the nations will fall into the pit they have dug and be caught in the net that they set up so that wickedness eventually ensnares the very person who commits it (vv. 15, 16). This is a sobering thought because none of us is sinless. God has created a moral universe where actions (eventually) have consequences. The psalm concludes with a call to God to show himself as God and do justice so that humanity might be put in its place (vv. 19, 20).

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