Psalm 9: The Refuge of the Ruling God

Psalm 9, part of today’s group of psalms in my prayer cycle, contains plenty of difficult images of the Lord. There, the Lord erases the names of the wicked for all time (vs 5). Verse 6 contains an absolute version of vengeance:

”Every enemy is wiped out,
like something ruined forever.
You’ve torn down their cities—
even the memory of them is dead.”
(Psalms 9:6 CEB)

But it’s important to note that this vengeance isn’t capricious or random. It is in service of justice, particularly God’s desire to take up for the oppressed:

“But the Lord rules forever!
He assumes his throne for the sake of justice.
He will establish justice in the world rightly;
he will judge all people fairly.
The Lord is a safe place for the oppressed— a safe place in difficult times. Those who know your name trust you
because you have not abandoned
any who seek you, Lord.”
(Psalms 9:7–10 CEB)

My squeamishness (and that of many of us in the wealthy west) for the vengeance described in the text ignores the very real nature of God’s desire for justice in the world. Injustice cannot be tolerated, and God’s action is not just action against, but action for…specifically, for the poor and oppressed people who suffer at the hands of unjust power. Despite the sensitivities of comfortable, wealthy people, God will not simply turn a blind eye to those who have suffered, nor those who have caused it.

Who knows, maybe God will indeed have some sort of way of dealing with those who acutely perpetuate violence and oppression so that they too may repent and be reformed. But my hope for them can’t be allowed to trump the cries of those who really have suffered and cry out for vindication. Today, my prayers are for them…even if they are against myself, and this psalm calls out for me to align myself with those who suffer, and thus with the Lord,

“Because the poor won’t be forgotten forever,the hope of those who suffer won’t be lost for all time.”
(Psalms 9:18 CEB)

Amen!