Sing Praises

DEVOTION

PSALMS

SING PRAISES

Ps 9:11-20

11 Sing praises to 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 cry of the afflicted.

13 O 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 the Daughter of 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 justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. 17 The wicked return to the grave, all the nations that forget God. 18 But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.

19 Arise, O LORD, let not man triumph; let the nations be judged in your presence. 20 Strike them with terror, O LORD; let the nations know they are but men.

NIV

Praise him, ask him and praise him again. Is there any question that we should be singing the praises of God among the nations? Should we not be telling people what God has done? What has he done that we can testify to? Our salvation is a good start. How about the times he has healed us, both physically and spiritually? How about the times he has provided for us in a miraculous way? There are so many ways we could tell the nations, the people, what God has done. God remembers when we have been affected, he remembers when things were going badly and he never ignored our cry. The enemy is in pursuit of us and wants to persecute us, to make us feel guilty because we fail God. Satan would like nothing more than to make us feel so guilty that we are not even saved. Just as he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden, he plants that seed of doubt. He wants us to think that we are not really saved, because we still fall into temptations. He says, “How can you be a Christian and think, say, respond, or behave in  that manner?” “You’re not really saved”. But we cry out and God has mercy on us and he lifts us up from the gates of death. He says no way, you are not guilty, I have avenged your guilt with blood, my blood. He did this so we could sing his praises, not just in this life, but at the gates of Zion, the new city of God that is coming down from heaven, the daughter of Zion, where we rejoice in our salvation. But those nations, Satan and his legends of demons will indeed fall into the pit they have tried to dig for us to fall into. Satan and his legends will have their feet caught in the very snare they intended to trap us with. There is also the nations of the earth who forgo worshipping God for images they made themselves. They forgot about the God who created all that is created. They stand in the midst of his creation and yet refuse to remember him. All believers will not be in the grave, but the wicked, those who refuse to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will return to the grave, experiencing the second death. We are never forgotten, we are never forsaken, and God will continually be with us. Even though Satan might redouble his efforts to demolish our faith in God, we will never lose our hope, our hope will never perish, for we believe God, we trust God, our hope is in him. Because we have a heart for God and know it is his desire that none should perish, we have to believe this last portion seeks God to destroy Satan and his legend of demons, yet all those who have set their heart against God and us he will strike them down on the last day. He will judge the nations, the people of all nations. The judgment will be based on believing and accepting Jesus or refusing to believe and accept. Those who refuse will be cast down, he will strike them with terror. Even with all the glories that have built for themselves, all the edifices they have constructed to testify of their greatness, all the accumulation of wealth they have amassed for their future, will all be gone, as they are shown they are but mere men. God will demonstrate his great power and all the elements will melt away to nothing, all that man has done will be gone, and God and all his glory will be forever and ever. We will sing praises to his name.