God's Wide-Angle Lens (Psalm 9)

In reading Psalm 9, I was struck by how simultaneously wide and narrow the authors' perspective is.

It begins with a personal "I" responding to God with "my whole heart" (9:1). The camera comes in for a closeup on me and my response. BUT what I am responding to are ALL God's wonderful deeds. With just one line, the camera bolts from one individual to take in the panorama of the universe itself.

Throughout, David rapidly changes perspective, one minute speaking of his own troubles, the next of every nation on the earth. Whether God is being called on to deal with David's personal enemies (9:3) or kingdoms and empires (9:5-6), God is seated upon his throne (9:4, 7-8). The might and power of the Most High is taken into full account as he seeks justice on the earth and in his circumstances.

But then suddenly, "the Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed" (9:9), and the psalmist has reminded us again that God is concerned, not only with the judgment of kings and generals, but with the preservation of the lowest of the low. We've gone from the heavenly throne room to the gutter without so much as a conjunction. And while such things are so far apart in our minds, the Lord is intimately aware of the details of both.

He can confidently pray, "Be gracious to ME!" (9:13), because "the LORD has made himself known" (9:16), in judgment toward the wicked (9:15-17), but in mercy and grace toward the poor and oppressed (9:18). David humbles himself before the Lord, acknowledging his spiritual poverty, and taking comfort in God's love toward the needy.

His prayer to God at the end to "Arise!" (9:19) is a request that God set everything right, in the entire world as well as his own personal situation. God has no problem setting his gaze upon the whole universe and your innermost thoughts all at once. His camera can catch both angles without trouble.

Am I humble enough to acknowledge this? To let God be great and over all things, but over my life as well? Failure to humble myself before him puts me in the camp of the wicked who will be judged. Humbling myself before the Lord in faith identifies me with my meek and humble Savior who came as one of the oppressed so that he could be enthroned on a cross and then in the heavens to judge the whole world. Christ is my refuge if I humble myself and recognize my spiritual poverty, my desperate need for him and his riches. And when I realize his promise to remember the needy, I can't help but join in singing, "I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High" (9:2).