I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will
shew forth all thy marvellous works.
I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to
thy name, O thou most High.
When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and
perish at thy presence.
For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou
satest in the throne judging right.
Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed
the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and
ever.
O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual
end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is
perished with them.
But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared
his throne for judgment.
And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall
minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a
refuge in times of trouble.
And they that know thy name will put their trust in
thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek
thee.
Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion:
declare among the people his doings.
The psalms are a mixed bag of emotions going from rejoicing in the Lord to wanting the wicked in their graves. Nothing has really changed in the hearts and minds of people. There is a need among believers to enter the gates of Heaven to join in celestial praise, but lurking like a shadow emotions that we do not even wa nt to discuss with anyone.
Over and over again David sees a universal God, a God who rules over nature and the countries of mankind. In this psalm he sees God enthroned in Zion, the place of David's stronghold. He was the centre of David's world and is seated in majesty. Here was David's life, his soldiers, his military planning, his skills honed in for success. This David sees God as the reason and place of his existence.
Most Christians do not live in physical strongholds, nor are they the leaders of men. We are ordinary people with ordinary jobs having ordinary homes with ordinary families. We do our best to get by, doing what we can, stretching ourselves to our maximum but still ordinary. Yet there is nothing ordinary about the people of God, we too see God enthroned in glory, feel the majesty of His presence, hear the call of His voice and our praises join in the everlasting angelic song. Ours is no ordinary religion, but one based on the life and death of our Savour. Yes we have troubles, we may even have enemies because of Jesus, but ours is the victory of life over death, not by our doing but by the will of the one who gave all for our eternal salvation.
