Arise, O Lord!

Arise, O Lord! Let the nations know that they are only mortal. (Ps 9:19-20)

Ps. 9, 10, 33:13-22; Isa. 8:9-15; Heb. 12:23

What Is God Saying?

In the Psalms, there is praise and penitence. There is victory and defeat. There are songs of encouragement and sighs of despair. There are songs to lift us to the mountain-top and songs to accompany us in the valley of the shadow of death. Some songs comfort and some challenge. They cover the whole spectrum of life, and many point to Christ, who said that all of Scripture-Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms-were fulfilled in Him (Lk. 24:44).

This psalm declares the victory of God over all enemies, His and ours, great and small. Psalms 9 and 10 are acrostic, where the first letter of successive verses follows the Hebrew alphabet, making them easier to remember. We need to repeat and recognize the truth of these songs.

How Does This Apply To Us?

God can be trusted. God alone is God. The God of David rules over all, "He sits enthroned forever" (9:7). Meanwhile, for all their vaunted power, nations are only human (Ps. 33:16-17). The nations who depart from the ways of the Lord "have sunk in the pit which they have made, in the net which they hid has their foot been caught" (9: 15). As we ask God to arise, we must look to Him and believe in Him, who "will draw all people to himself” (John 12:32).

Pray With Me

Eternal and loving God, Your ways are right. Your plan is perfect. Your purpose can never be defeated. Arise! O Lord, arise! Arise in Your love to show there is a better way than hate and a better solution than greed. Arise, O Lord! And, in rising, show us who You are and what, in You, we may become. Arise, O Lord! And, in rising, let us know that we are human and that You alone are God. Help us turn from our destruction in the love of power to the salvation that awaits in the power of love.

In the name of Him, who redeemed us from the power of all evil through the power of His love. Amen.

Moving On In The Life of Prayer

In prayer, we turn our thoughts toward God. He is our help. He is our hope. We follow the lead of the psalmist, who wrote, "Our soul waits on the Lord; He is our help and shield." (Ps.33:20)