Psalms

To the Chief Musician. To the tune of "Death of the Son." A Psalm of David.

 ¹ I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart;
         I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
 ²I will be glad and rejoice in You;
         I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
David was delivered from the hand of his enemies and gives God all the praise with his whole heart.  David took no credit for himself.  He wants to tell others of all the wonderful things that God has done.  And in those things, David will be glad and rejoice in God alone.  David would sing the praises to El-Elyon, God Most High.  This is the name of God Abraham honored when he had victory over the kings in Genesis 14.

 ³ When my enemies turn back,
         They shall fall and perish at Your presence.
 ⁴ For You have maintained my right and my cause;
         You sat on the throne judging in righteousness.
 ⁵You have rebuked the nations,
         You have destroyed the wicked;
         You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
King David acknowledged that God was fighting the battle that was before him.  It was in His presence that they would fall and perish.  David's right and cause was the right to the throne of Israel and his preservation of it.  In that cause, God sat in judgment against the nations that came against him.  God found them wicked and rebuked them and destroyed them.  To be 'blotted out' was to be completely and utterly destroyed.  God held up David in his cause and this is in contrast to the blotting out of the enemies.

    
 ⁶ O enemy, destructions are finished forever!
         And you have destroyed cities;
         Even their memory has perished.
 ⁷ But the LORD shall endure forever;
         He has prepared His throne for judgment.
 ⁸He shall judge the world in righteousness,
         And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.
David addresses the enemy here saying their days of destruction are finished.  They had their day of destruction and they destroyed some cities but that memory will be gone and forgotten.  But in contrast, the Lord shall endure forever.  He will sit as judge and judge the world in righteousness.  The beginning of verse 8 is quoted by Paul in Acts 17:31. 

 ⁹ The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed,
         A refuge in times of trouble.
 ¹⁰ And those who know Your name will put their trust in You;
         For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

The focus changes here to the people of the land.  David declares thee Lord will be a high, safe place for the oppressed.  The second use of the word 'refuge' means stronghold, a hiding place that can't be broken into. This sentence could easily say the Lord is a 'high, safe place' for the oppressed and a stronghold in times of trouble.

Those who know the name of God will trust in Him.  Those who know Jesus Christ can trust in Him and know Him as that safe hiding place and stronghold.  If we seek after Him, He will not forsake us.  That kind of faithfulness and trustworthiness is unknown among men in our world today.  

 ¹¹ Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion!
         Declare His deeds among the people.
 ¹²When He avenges blood, He remembers them;
         He does not forget the cry of the humble.
There was no police force in Israel at the time.  The near kinsman was the avenger of blood.  He is the one who will bring judgment on the murderer of a family member.  If someone killed another by accident they must flee to the city of refuge.  In this case, the Lord is the avenger of blood; He remembers the cry of the humble and works for their vengeance.  

 ¹³ Have mercy on me, O LORD!
         Consider my trouble from those who hate me,
         You who lift me up from the gates of death,
 ¹⁴That I may tell of all Your praise
         In the gates of the daughter of Zion.
         I will rejoice in Your salvation.
The Psalmist cries for God's mercy.  He is the one who can deliver from sheol, the gates of death, and set you in the gates of the daughter of Zion.  David knows salvation comes from the Lord.

         
 ¹⁵ The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made;
         In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught.
 ¹⁶ The LORD is known by the judgment He executes;
         The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.

Meditation.  Selah  

This is like saying, "you live by the sword, you die by the sword."  The nations have fallen into their own trap.  They set a net and their own foot was caught in it.  The trap was sprung on them.  The Psalmist is saying these judgments come from the Lord and He is known for that.  He turns their wickedness against them and springs the traps on those that set them.

 ¹⁷ The wicked shall be turned into hell,
         And all the nations that forget God.
 ¹⁸ For the needy shall not always be forgotten;
         The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.

Those that forget God should be turned over to hell as far as David could see.  God would fight the battles for the poor and needy and they would not perish forever.  David must have seen the needy and poor waiting on the Lord and asks God to intervene.

 ¹⁹ Arise, O LORD,
         Do not let man prevail;
         Let the nations be judged in Your sight.
 ²⁰ Put them in fear, O LORD,
         That the nations may know themselves to be but men.  Selah  

This 'Arise, O LORD!" is a battle cry asking God to intervene on behalf of the Psalmists.  He wants the Lord to fight his battle and not let mere man prevail.  David calls for the nations to be judged in the sight of God.  This would put the fear in them wouldn't it?  Imagine the United Nations explaining themselves before the God of the universe.