I love just wandering and exploring cities, and last year, when I was in Washington, DC, for the first time, I loved having a few days to walk around the streets, take in the local culture, and meet some new people. It is beautiful to have time to explore and consume the culture that abounds. You get a feel for the type of city that you are in when you take a moment and look around you. Hence, here was me slowly and patiently enjoying myself, all while the many city workers go busily about their day. DC is a city whose culture is so easily discernible – power. As the seat of the national Government for the most powerful nation in the world, you can imagine then all find itself manoeuvring around the capital hill through the week: Lobbying Companies, International governments, intelligence, think tanks, and so many more companies are in DC to seek power and influence power. Yet, amid that culture of control – like any city – there is always the forgotten city, the city of the shadows, the places and people that do not make it into the corridors of decisions, those who are not sought after or invited to things.
I always found the contrast between the seen and unseen of any large city so difficult to comprehend and deal with, and I will be honest: at times, I just wanted to ignore the hundreds of homeless people who sought to survive day to day. Then I could no longer ignore it, as I was riding the escalator out of the underground station I was met by a man at the top of the stairs as if he seemed to be waiting for me! Before I could step off or try to get around him, he asked me: “Do you love the Lord?” A question I could hardly ignore or say no to! He asked if I would give him $10 so he could get the train out to Veteran Centre, where he said he had an urgent health appointment to get to, and in a reluctant moment of kindness, I agreed. Anyway, the story’s point was to highlight the following conversation – as we walked to get some money out! The lesson that we reaffirmed to me that day was never to judge someone based on their appearance. Why? As we chatted, I learned that this was someone who once was at the pinnacle of all DC had to offer; he was successful, rich, powerful, well-known, and influential – in the eyes of the world, he had it all.
Yet, a shock and unexpected family tragedy changed his life so drastically that it was the opposite of a Holywood Script. Listening to him, I remember feeling so sorry for him. Yet, as he talked and shared about the current state of his life, even though it was unbearable, and even though he should have appeared sad, he did not. After a few minutes of him sharing his life story with all its ups and downs, he looked at me and said something like: “You know what, though, I would not change a thing! Because in every season, God has been with me and has always provided for my needs, like right now, through you! If we have God, we have all that we need!” Then he started to sing to me the beautiful words of Amazing Grace…..
His life had been marked by mountain moments of success and valleys of great darkness. Yet, even though the world would tell him to admit defeat as it lost sight of him, he knew the Lord who was with him at the pinnacle of his life was the same Lord who was with him in the Valley, no matter how long. His life knew joy and hope because it was rooted not in earthly things but in his knowledge and relationship with God through Christ.
Last week, as we considered what faithful Hope is through the Lens of Psalm 9, we saw the beauty of our Hope in Christ and what it meant to know that Hope is accurate and live in our everyday routine. We noticed hope during a good season of David’s life as he expressed thankfulness because God had rescued him, as he acknowledged that all he had that was good was because of the goodness of God. In a time of success and plenty, David rejoiced not in earthly things but in God. All Glory went to God, and even more, David pointed everyone to God as he reminded us that we have honest Hope in Christ because God is good and kind to everyone every season. The Hope of the Gospel and life with God is for all who call out to him: “… does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.”It was the summary of a Beautiful hope in a beautiful season of life.
Yet, from verse 13, the tone and context of the Psalm have shifted from the mountain top down into a Dark valley below, and one thing remains the same – hope because of God. Today, we are so clearly challenged to remember that regardless of the season we find ourselves in, our Hope should be steadfast because God is steadfast, and that regardless of our season in life as we walk with God, the Holy Spirit works in us to make us more like Christ that hope will bare fruit in our lives.
A Difficult Situation (13-14)
Remembering that we are continuing in a Psalm and not beginning a new one, we hear the beginning of verse 13 by placing that promise David declared at the end of verse 12, that God will never ignore the cry of the afflicted! Why? Because verse 13 begins this section of the Psalm with a cry of affliction, in hopelessness, David cries out, yet the utterance is not marked by its distress because we know that David has hope and knows that God will hear him. In verse 12, David was not speaking about some far-off truth for other people: yes, he was declaring a universal truth, but he was saying it personally. He was talking to himself, and now we see why as he describes the plight that he finds himself in. It is the first hint of distress in the Psalm, as David asks the Lord to see his suffering. Enemies surround David, and the weight of the moment and the reality of his opposition are weighing heavily on him; such is the moment that he describes the truth of his now as if he is standing at the gates of death.
Have you ever felt like that? Found yourself in a place where the tunnel seems long, and the light at the end seems lacking? Perhaps you find yourselves there and have been crying out for days, weeks, months or even years, wondering if anyone can hear you, let alone the God of the universe. You might not have found yourself standing at the Gates of Death. Yet, the simple truth is that if we are alive, then at some point, we will find ourselves walking among shadows, feeling the weight of worry about whatever we are going through, and feeling lonely because we are not sure who we can turn to or trust. If we have lived, then at some point, we have known difficulties and experienced that sense of hopelessness that afflicts so much of life. How quickly can we move from the mountain’s joy to the valley’s depth and wonder how we might bring change?
These verses remind us of the reality of the world we live in. Regardless of our relationship with God, we will face difficulties and hardship – because this world is broken. Thus, in this Psalm, David invites us to understand that and then, in our understanding, to see what should distinguish Christians from the rest of the world: their hope because of Christ. Yes, David is crying out to God; he finds himself in great despair, and his honesty invites us to such openness before the face of God and with one another in the body of Christ.
A life Still lived for God
Notice David’s prayer; even in difficult and his desire for rescue, his purpose in prayer is to continue to bring Glory to God through his life, living, and worship. To celebrate misery, he worships the Lord and longs to know His Goodness through his living. He has hope in tribulation because he has God, and thus his purpose remains the same: “Have mercy and lift me…. that I may declare your praises in the Gates of Daughter Zion and there rejoice in your Salvation. He asked God to move him from the gates of death to the Gates of his presence so that he might declare/tell of what God has done. Let us follow David and be honest in our prayers and needs before God and then, in every situation, seek to live for him.
Thus, in his Honesty, the Psalmist invites us all to come before God in need of honesty, to seek the one who is already seeking us with a sincere and contrite heart. We seek to know that God will not forsake the cries of those who have been cast by society (12) but will act for the goodness of his Children within his purpose and in rescue. How do we know this? Because of the personal witness in the prayer of Kind David, who believes what he has spoken of the rescue of God and now cries out for it. All are invited into that relationship with God through Christ: the one who seeks already those who are seeking him. Yet, there is something more simple and profound for all who already walk with Christ in the desire David prayer, and in it, we are reminded of our desire and purpose in every situation. It is the same thing that we were reminded of in the first part of the Psalm when David again and again emphasises his focus (You, You, You, You); David’s prayer is for rescue – not because he wants an easy Life, but because through rescue and being moved from the Gates of death to stand near salvation he wants to be able to declare God’s praises and rejoice in his salvation. The orientation of David’s Prayer, even in the depth of despair, is towards God because David lives for God and thus desires to do so regardless of the time or context. If we are walking with God, and if we know Christ as the Holy Spirit works in us, even if we are in the most difficult of situations, our desire should still be to seek the God who rescues, and, in that valley, to make known God as we wait and wade through whatever it is we find ourselves going through. As we live, we live for God – always.
A World in Chaos (15-18)
The people of God always live confidently in Christ because of the certainty of our Hope. We remember that our hope is not from this world, and there is nothing that this world can do to us or around us to affect that Hope. This is the beautiful thing about the Hope of the Gospel: it has a weird duality in that it does not make sense to those who do not know it, and it makes perfect sense to those who do. Think of Paul when he said: “We preach Christ Crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles, but to those who God called… Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Cor 1:23-34). Thus, by hope of the Cross and the rescue of the crucified saviour who defeated our biggest enemy – sin, and its eternal consequences of life away from God through death, we have nothing to temporary fear because we live in hope and with the confidence of an eternity secured.
Even as the world rocks in Chaos, the people of God stand confident in hope and live confidently because of it. As the Pslam goes on, we are reminded of the Chaotic nature of our fallen world. Things are so bad, and the situation is so desperate that the world’s nations are falling into their pits and tripping over their traps/nets. Evil and chaos are everywhere, and such is the stupidity of that depravity that countries are falling into their snares. The world was in Chaos around King David as he faced his Crises. Yet, he still knew that God would act in the unique sense of rescuing him and the Meta sense as the sovereign and in control of everything.
Remember that we hear these verses in the context of what has already been spoken about the rule of God in this Psalm: “You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked….” God is at work in the life of his children, and he is at work in the world that he created. Far more than simply being present or doing some things, this Psalm reminds us that God is over all things. The nation might struggle in their stupidity, but God rules. Today, as we wait amid the watching news of world crises, as we hear wars and rumours of warms, as people try to tell us that the end is two weeks away, two months away or 20 years away – we now have hope that God is at work. Today, we pray for those who find their average and peace torn by the ravages of human sin in so many situations and contexts worldwide: Ukraine, South Sunday, Israel, and the Central African Republic. As our prayers go up for all who are affected by the ravages of human sin and the evils of war, we are not praying aimlessly but with the hope that as God works to rescue his children from peril, his rescue extends to bringing peace to the world.
It is not that all will know the benefit of Christ in a relationship, but that reminder that the God who made the world is working in the world to move it to his ultimate purpose. That means evil will have its day when the Rule of Christ is fulfilled. Yet, it also means that in whatever today we find ourselves in, whatever crises we see afflicting the world, as we pray for the body of Christ in these places, as those affected by the evils – we pray to trust that God is working to bring about peace and some form of relief for those that the world has forgotten. As the Psalm reminds us: “The Lord is known by his Justice.” The enemies of David have reaped what they have sown in falling into their traps, and so those who chose to live apart from God’s way and will in the world will eventually, by the hand of God, fall on their own devices. We have hope and confidence in our prayers because we know that God is just, and through His Justice, we know that one day evil will return upon the heads of those who do it.
“For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome with you.” – Psalm 5:4
They Who Rely on God
The wicked nations of the world stumble in their stupidity and fall into their traps. They are the picture of selfish living and lives that have lost sight of the fullness of life with God and Christ – that life is wisdom. Thus, in their evil, they display their stupidity because their lives are marked by sin, and that evil is shown in how far their lives are away from the way of God. Furthermore, this Psalm might speak of nations, but it describes the life of someone far from God. Now, verses 17 and 18 further highlight that distance from God by contrasting the way of sin and the needy, those who rely on God. The wicked nations who have forgotten God will themselves pass into oblivion and live apart from God, as will all who are in the way of the country. Yet, the needy (those who have trusted in God) may feel that God has forgotten them in the now, amid a world in Chaos – they can forgetness and perishing and not the Lord’s final words spoken for us! To put it another way, regardless of the hopelessness of the situation, we can have hope in the outcome because of the one who reduces us – Christ.
“Almighty and eternal God,
you have kindled the flame of love in the hearts of the saints:
Grant to us the same faith and power of love,
that, as we rejoice in their triumphs,
We may be sustained by their example and fellowship;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Collect for The Sunday between 30 October and 5 November1
Know The Power, Majesty and Wonder of God in Contrast to the Place of Humankind (19-20)
The chaos of the world can be so overwhelming when we think of the power of just a few governments and the few people in each of those governments who hold the power to change the world at the press of a button or the issue of a command it should remind us of the fragility of being human. Yet, as we think of their power in a certain aeon, we should be reminded of a more significant influence over every aeon in the world’s life – God is in control. These last two verses are written in such a tone, style and frame that we are reminded that while a nation might be powerful today, in light of eternity and the eternality of God and the universe, it remains utterly powerless.
In Psalm, we considered the question: What is humanity you are mindful of? Psalm 9 plays on the same question and wording as it concludes, except this time dealing not with those who have been blessed to enter into a relationship with God but with the fragility of those who live apart from God. David knows that the hope of the afflicted will never perish because God is a God who acts, so the final section of this Psalm before it moves into Psalm 10 is a prayer that (evil) humanity would know its place under the throne of Justice. As David prays for God to arise, it is a prayer that God will act and remind those who oppose the work of God in the world of the temporality of their life, living and means. The meaning contrasted with Psalm 8 is clear that man is nothing without God. Yet, for each of us who walk with God, we can have hope and be confident that the Lord is working, acting, and present in our lives – and that the consistency of his working presence in the power of the Holy Spirit, by the Cross of Christ, as we are moved towards Christ’s gives us an eternal worth that the world is searching for.
Conclusion: Trust and Obey because There is Delight in His Way
As we conclude this section of the Psalm and Psalm nine, we see in the Psalmist an example of what our discipleship should look like in every situation and season of life. That is to say, the Psalmist models what life in Christ looks like during the Good times, the in-between times and those seasons in life when we do not know where to turn, and we might wonder if God has ever been present with us. Psalm 9 reminds us of our Hope in every situation because we are those who know God, and it reminds us that we should live out this hope in every season, context and reality of this world because our Hope is not of this world but based on the glory and rescue of God. Our Hope is built on God’s eternal Goodness and character; it looks nothing like the world, and the world itself cannot look at it. The hope of the Gospel is hope in every situation because we know that already God is present in everything. God is present and with us; thus, our hope remains steadfast by the power of the Holy Spirit and fruitful because our energy and drive to live for God and with God in all and through all is a blessing of that Hope (Colossians 1:27).
Furthermore, the endurance and praise offered to God here should challenge us as a community of faith, as the children of God, about the state of our worship. Think about it time and time again. This Psalm praises God, moves outwards in witness to God and then commands all to proclaim in worship the beauty of their hope in God. If it was true then, then it must be true now. We are to worship God and proclaim him among the nations, and we, the Psalm, trust the rescue that will come from the Gates of Death towards the gates of salvation. We know how “the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted perish” – by the Cross of Christ! So we continue to trust in the rescue of God and proclaim it because we know we have already received it fully and delight in knowing there is still more in Christ.
Today, let us know the hope of Christ, live confident in Christ’s hope, and proclaim and live out that Hope in a hopeless world.
Atr Irwin 