Psalm 9:1-2 To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

I will, I will, I will; all of my own volition. I will choose to give thanks and recount and be glad and exult and praise. Furthermore, I will intentionally seek Your hand in every aspect of my life, in my surroundings, in the circumstances and events of my life, in the lives of all whom You have given to me as my personal mission field, and in the creation. And having found Your hand, I will testify to others of Your marvelous grace and mercy.

Psalm 9:3-10

When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence. For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment. You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished. But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness. The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

Thank You, Lord that I can know and be assured that You are overseeing all; that You are in control and I have nothing to fear. You have established a throne of justice where You judge all with righteousness and uprightness. I can put my trust in You; You will not forsake me!

Psalm 9:11-18

Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds! For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted. Be gracious to me, O LORD! See my affliction from those who hate me, O you who lift me up from the gates of death, that I may recount all your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in your salvation. The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught. The LORD has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created. You are worthy, O Lord, You are worthy.

 And now, Lord, knowing that all things are under Your feet and in Your control, and as we enter a new phase in the life of Your Church, give us strength and perseverance to be faithful in the face of adversity. As the forces of the Evil One gather to spread their lies and muzzle the proclamation of the Word, equip the faithful to stand firm in love and challenge the Lie.

Psalm 119:171-172

My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes. My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right.

Fill my mouth with Your praises; let my lips and tongue be the instruments of a symphony of heavenly thanksgiving; remove anything which would mute and deaden the joyful sounds. That my all would speak of Your glory, love and the munificence of Your Word.

Psalm 9:19-20

Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you! Put them in fear, O LORD! Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah

Lord, what would it be like to have this nation recognize that it is but a union of the fallen? Not as a theocracy but as a union of the redeemed? What will it be like to have all the peoples of the world living in harmony, seeking Your face and loving their neighbor? Come quickly, Lord Jesus, come!

Psalm 10:1-4

Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, "There is no God."

Lord, as You told Ananias about Paul, "We must suffer for Your namesake." Give us strength in the face of persecution, help us to stand firm in adversity, fill us with the wisdom to refute those who say, "There is no God."

Psalm 10:5-7

His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them. He says in his heart, "I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity." His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

As the times draw to an end, willful, sinful man becomes more and more boastful of his supposed self-sufficiency. Lord, arrogance becomes the watchword of the day. Let me not become caught up in attempting to refute this self-centeredness, but to quietly live a life of praise and thanksgiving that gives all glory to You rather than to my frail and faulty self-worth.

Psalm 10:8-11

He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net. The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might. He says in his heart, "God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it."

Lord, how clever is the Evil One? He sets his agents as wolves in sheep's clothing, as innocent diversions from the cares of life and as contemporary expressions of worshiping You. There they hide, seeking to snatch the un-alert from their place in the Kingdom and to rob them of their joy.

Psalm 10:12-15

Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted. Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, "You will not call to account"? But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none.

But You, O Lord, do not forget us. You set Your word as a two-edged sword in our hands to defend us and as a lamp for our feet and a light to our path. Stand between us and the machinations of the Evil One.

Psalm 10:16-18

The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land. O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

How comforting, my Lord, to know that You are King forever and ever. To know that these light and momentary afflictions are preparing us for the eternal weight of glory.

Psalm 119:7-8

I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules. I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!

Lord, there is a note of anticipation in these verses. The writer looks forward to the day when he will fully know and understand Your righteous rules. And he mirrors my sense of now/not-yet as I strive to learn Your word more thoroughly, to absorb it into the fabric of my being, to make it such an integral element of who I am that there is no discernible seam between You and my reflection of Your glory. I know that the blooming of that perfection will not happen until that new heaven and new earth, but I thank You and praise You, that there is a daily progression.

Psalm 11:1-3 To the choirmaster. Of David.

In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, "Flee like a bird to your mountain, for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

You, O Lord, are my mountain, You are my rock of safety, You are my hiding place of perfect tranquility, You are my wellspring of peace. I must flee to You in every circumstance, for You are the maintainer of the foundation, You are the cornerstone of life.