The 9th Psalm begins with this
address to the Chief Musician upon Muflaben, the Psalm of David. As with several of the previous
Psalms of David which we've read, it is again addressed to the
Chief Musician, again directed in praise towards the Saviour
and His leading of His people. in their praise in the temple.
And again, there is an instruction regarding the instrument upon
which this psalm should be played. Upon Muflaban. Now, in Psalm
8, the instruction was to play the psalm upon Gittif. And Gittif
has a connection. besides being an instrument it
has a connection in its name with both Gath from where Goliath
the giant originated and Eden where the wine press was trod
and it led and it leads our thoughts in that psalm to the victory
that Christ accomplished upon the cross but in his mind as
he penned that psalm and also the following one and several
of these psalms which have a strong focus upon the death of Christ
in his mind David very much has various encounters in his own
life in mind various victories and particularly the encounter
he had with Goliath of Gath and the victory wrought by David
over Goliath. And to the chief musician upon
Muflaban, this instrument has in its connotation a direction
towards the victory of the son, the victory of the son of God
in his death. Again there's an allusion to
the victory of David over Goliath of Gath. and when we read the
psalm with that account in mind and we will read from that account
in 1 Samuel 17 in a moment when we read that account it brings
this psalm to life because it's very much the focus the victory
of the son over his great enemy on behalf of his people this
is the psalm these 20 verses which follows a certain pattern
in what is written. You could break it down into
six major passages. The first six verses of the psalm
are praise unto God. and their praise unto God, which
begin by picking up somewhat on the refrain of Psalm 8, I
will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart, I will show forth
all thy marvellous works. In Psalm 8, David had considered
the heavens, the work of God's fingers, the moon and the stars
which he had ordained, and cried out, What is man that thou art
mindful of him? And he picks up on this in Psalm
9, I will praise thee O Lord with my whole heart, I will show
forth all thy marvellous works. And he goes on in the Psalm with
very much the victory over Goliath of Gath in mind as pictorial
of the victory of the Son of God over his enemy in mind. And he concludes the Psalm with
another focus upon man. In verse 19, Arise, O Lord, let
not man prevail. Let the heathen be judged in
thy sight. Put them in fear, O Lord, that
the nations may know themselves to be but men. But men. But men, as they are
in Adam, what is man in the first Adam? Nothing. Put them in fear,
O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men.
But there is another man, as we've seen before, the man, the
man Christ Jesus, who is a man unlike any man. and a man who
could destroy an enemy who was mighty in the appearance of man
when David encountered Goliath he met a man who put fear into
the hearts of all the soldiers that encountered him a mighty
man a giant of a man a mighty warrior strong and mighty and
yet in the face of David he was brought to nothing. And our adversary of whom Goliath
is a figure and the adversary of Christ appears mighty to men
who were led astray by him and brought in fear by him And yet
Christ and his great victory brought him to nothing. So this
psalm opens with praise for God's marvellous works and concludes
with a reminder of how small man is in Adam. That the nations may know themselves
to be but men. Do you know yourself to be but
a man? weak, frail, made of the dust
and to the dust thou wilt return in the sight of God nothing. The psalm proceeds with six divisions
from verse one to verse six we have this praise I will praise
thee O Lord with my whole heart I will show forth all thy marvellous
works I will be glad and rejoice in thee I will sing praise to
thy name, O thou Most High. When mine enemies are turned
back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence. For thou hast
maintained my right and my cause. Thou sattest in the throne judging
right. Thou hast rebuked the heathen.
Thou hast destroyed the wicked. Thou hast put out their name
for ever and ever. O thou enemy, destructions are
come to a perpetual end and thou hast destroyed cities, their
memorial is perished with them. So David praises the Lord. In
the next six verses we see David's faith and through David we see
the Saviour's faith as he shows his trust in his Lord. Verse 7, but the Lord shall endure
forever. He hath prepared his throne for
judgment. And he shall judge the world
in righteousness. He shall minister judgment to
the people in uprightness. The Lord also will be a refuge
for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble, and they that
know thy name will put their trust in thee. For thou, Lord,
hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Sing praises to the Lord
which dwelleth in Zion. Declare among the people his
doings. When he maketh inquisition for
blood, he remembereth them. He forgeteth not. the cry of
the humble. So we see the great faith and
trust of David and Christ in his God. And then in verses 13
and 14 we see a cry of prayer. Have mercy upon me, O Lord. Consider my trouble which I suffer
of them that hate me. Thou that liftest me up from
the gates of death, that I may show forth all Thy praise in
the gates of the daughter of Zion, I will rejoice in Thy salvation. Then we see this pattern repeated.
Verses 15 and 16, then 17 and 18, and then finally 19 and 20. Verse 15, the heathen are sunk
down in the pit that they made. In the net which they hid is
their own foot taken. The Lord is known by the judgment
which he executed. The wicked is snared in the work
of his own hands. Higeon. Selah. Pause. Take it in. Meditate. Oh what praise there
is in verses 15 and 16 when you consider upon what they focus. Verse 17, the wicked shall be
turned into hell and all the nations that forget God. For
the needy shall not always be forgotten. The expectation of
the poor shall not perish forever. David knows that the Lord will
hear the cry of his people. Poor and needy, weak nothings,
but men, but men who are taught that they are but men. Men who
are taught that they are nothing. Men who are taught that they
are but sinners through and through. Men who are brought to cry unto
a God who hears. The needy shall not always be
forgotten. The expectation of the poor shall
not perish forever. Oh, his trust, his faith, his
God will hear him. And he knows it, even though
the wicked shall be turned into hell. Then finally he cries out again
in prayer to his God, arise, oh Lord. Let not man prevail. Let the heathen be judged in
thy sight. Put them in fear, O Lord, that
the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah. So we have six divisions in this
psalm. Praise from verses 1 to 6. A
declaration of trust and faith in Almighty God from verses 7.
through to 12. A cry of prayer in 13 and 14
and then a repeat of this pattern again praise in 15 and 16. Again a display of faith and
trust in 17 and 18 and again a final prayer in verses 19 and
20. Six sections of two sections
of three repeated. but we see a certain pattern
in the way that this progresses in that the praise at the beginning
of the psalm from verses 1 to 6 is much longer and the faith
in the beginning of the psalm from verses 7 to 12 is much longer
and then as we get into the latter part of the psalm each section
becomes shorter And if we consider this in figure,
as a psalm as it were that you might sing as you transcend the
mountain, we can see why the length of the final sections
become shorter. As it were we have at the beginning
the psalmist at the foot of the mountain and he wanders around
the foot of the mountain looking up to the heavens and praising
God for his marvellous works. He wanders around at the foot
of the mountain and as he traverses the mountain it takes some time
to go around a full circuit and he traverses in one in one circle
from verses 1 to 6. And then he begins to traverse
again from verses 7 to 12 as his faith rises up and his trust
in his God. And then as he reaches the heights
he cries out in prayer and it becomes shorter. And then in
the latter half of the psalm we are, as it were, nearing the
top of this mountain because of what happens in the middle
of the psalm. Because of what happens when
the cry of prayer is heard. Because of what happens in verses
15 and 16. We reach the heights. We reach
the height of the mountain. We're no longer in the valley. We're no longer at the foot of
the mountain. We've reached the summit. And
the cry of praise as the psalmist traverses the summit of the mountain
is much briefer, and his cry of faith is much briefer, and
his cry of prayer is much briefer, because here he is, he's at the
summit of the mountain, no longer in the valley, no longer walking
around the foothills, but he's at the top. And the victory has been wrought. Now if we turn to 1st Samuel
chapter 17 we will read the account of David's encounter with Goliath
and this encounter will make it plain why he writes the psalm
in this manner and what underlies his praise, his faith and his
prayer and why he as it were in Psalm 9 traverses this mountain 1st Samuel chapter 17. It's the
longest chapter but we'll read through all of it because there's
so much in this. Chapter 17 and verse 1. Now the
Philistines gathered together their armies to battle and were
gathered together at Shoko which belonged to Judah and pitched
between Shoko and Azekar in Ephes Damim. And Saul and the men of
Israel were gathered together in pits by the valley of Elah
and set the battle in array against the Philistines. And the Philistines
stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain
on the other side, and there was a valley between them. And there went out a champion
out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath, whose
height was six cubits and a span. And he had a helmet of brass
upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the
weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. And he had
greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between
his shoulders. And the staff of his spear was
like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred
shekels of iron, and one baroness' shield went before him. And he
stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them,
Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? Am not I a Philistine,
and ye servants to Saul? Choose you a man for you, and
let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me,
and to kill me, then will we be your servants. But if I prevail
against him and kill him, then shall ye be our servants and
serve us. And the Philistines said, I defy
the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight
together. When Saul and all Israel heard
those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly
afraid. Now David was the son of that
Epaphrite of Bethlehem, Judah, whose name was Jesse. And he
had eight sons. And the man went among men for
an old man in the days of Saul. And the three eldest sons of
Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle. And the names
of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn,
and next under him Abinadab, and the first Shammah. And David
was the youngest. And the three elders followed
Saul. But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's
sheep at Bethlehem. And the Philistine drew near
morning and evening and presented himself forty days. And Jesse
said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah
of this parched corn. and these ten loaves, and run
to the camp to thy brethren, and carry these ten cheeses unto
the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare,
and take their pledge. Now Saul and they and all the
men of Israel were in the valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines. And David rose up early in the
morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and took and went as
Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the trench as
the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. For Israel and the Philistines
had put the battle in array, army against army. And David
left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage,
and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren. And
as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the
Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the
Philistines, and spake according to the same words. And David
heard them. And all the men of Israel, when
they saw the man, fled from him and were sore afraid. And the
men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? Surely
to defy Israel is he come up. And it shall be that the man
who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches,
and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free
in Israel. And David spake to the men that
stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth
this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? For
who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies
of the living God? And the people answered him after
this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth
him. And Eliab, his eldest brother,
heard when he spake unto the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled
against David. And he said, Why camest thou
down hither? and with whom hast thou left
those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride and the naughtiness
of thine heart, for thou art come down that thou mightest
see the battle. And David said, what have I now
done? Is there not a cause? And he
turned from him toward another and spake after the same manner.
And the people answered him again after the former manner. And
when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them
before Saul. And he sent for him. And David
said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him. Thy servant
will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Thou
art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him,
for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. And David said unto Saul, Thy
servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear,
and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went out after him, and
smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth. And when he arose
against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew
him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised
Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he have defied the
armies of the living God. David said, moreover, the Lord
that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the
paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, go,
and the Lord be with thee. And Saul armed David with his
armour, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head. Also he
armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon
his armour, and he assayed to go, for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot
go with these, for I have not proved them. And David put them
off him, and he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five
smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the shepherd's
bag which he had, even in a scrip. And his sling was in his hand,
and he drew near to the Philistine. And the Philistine came on and
drew near unto David, and the man that bared the shield went
before him. And when the Philistine looked
about and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth and
ruddy and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto
David, Am I a dog that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine
cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David,
Come to me and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air
and to the beasts of the field. Then said David to the Philistine,
Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a
shield, But I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day
will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee,
and take thine head from thee, and I will give the carcasses
of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the
air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth
may know that there is a God in Israel. and all this assembly
shall know that the Lord save if not with sword and spear for
the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands.
And it came to pass when the Philistine arose and came and
drew nigh to meet David that David hasted and ran toward the
army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his
bag and took thence a stone and slang it and smote the Philistine
in his forehead that the stone sunk into his forehead and he
fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine
with a sling and with a stone and smote the Philistine and
slew him but there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore
David ran and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword,
and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut
off his head therewith. And when the Philistine saw their
champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and of
Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines until they had
come to the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded
of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shurim, even unto
Gath and unto Ekron. And the children of Israel returned
from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.
And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to
Jerusalem, and he put his armour in his tent. And when Saul saw
David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain
of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said,
As I so liveth, O king, I cannot tell. And the king said, Inquire
thou whose son the stripling is. And as David returned from
the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him
before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And
Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the
son of thy servant, Jesse the Bethlehemite. That's a long chapter
but it's a wonderful account. and it's a wonderfully rich account
of the Gospel because of course in type and figure David represents
the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God and Goliath the gaffe
represents his great enemy the evil one, Satan and his victory
here is very much a picture of the victory of Christ at the
cross when Christ as pictured by David went into the valley
down from the mount to meet with his adversary and where in what
men would consider to be weakness he destroyed the enemy of both
him and his people not with sword, not with might, not with power but as pictured by David and
his sling and his stone in weakness Saul enquires of David at the
end whose son is this? enquires regarding David of Abner
whose son is this? and when David is brought before
Saul he says whose son art thou? young man well in figure David is a picture
of the Son of God. Have you ever looked upon the
Lord Jesus Christ and asked in your heart, whose son art thou
that thou should do such a thing? Whose son art thou? David answered,
I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite. the son of God would answer I
am the son of the living God who reigns forever and ever who reigns forever and ever this account opens with the Philistines
stood on a mountain on the one side and Israel stood on a mountain
on the other side and there's a valley between them And this
great champion of the Philistines, Goliath of Gath, comes down into
the valley to call out to the Israelites and says, come down
here and fight with me. And we see a mountain on one
side and a mountain on another side and a valley between. And these mountains are figurative,
as it were of the Mount of Sinai on one side. and Mount Zion on
the other side and a valley of death between the two. For here
comes the accuser, here comes the enemy, here comes Israel's
great adversary down from a mount with railing accusations and
says, send a man and come and fight with me. And none of the men of Israel
were able to fight or defeat him. They were all filled with
fear. Much as Israel of old was filled
with fear when they stood at the foot of Mount Sinai and saw
the thunderings and lightnings as the law was given unto Moses. And not one of Israel was able,
as it were in figure, to transcend Mount Sinai. or to keep that
law that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai it simply condemned
them to death and here comes a champion down from this mount
and they were full of fear because this Goliath this accuser
knows that there is not a man can defeat him and transcend
this mountain and reach to the heights. And there is not a man
who can overcome the deception and the subtlety of Satan or
transcend the mount Sinai in keeping God's law. for Satan
has already defeated us, he's already condemned us, he's already
led us to fall into sin and we're full of sin and our sin means
that every day we sin and even though we're given a law and
given a mount to climb and even though we may think that we can
climb it every step we take is a step of sin and we fall at
the first hurdle there's not a man that can stand there's
not a man that can climb this mount Goliath, the adversary,
cries out as it were to the Israelites and cries out to you, I defy
you this day, give me a man that we may fight together. Can you fight? Can you fight
this adversary? Can you transcend this mount?
Can you defeat this giant who stood six cubits and a span tall? Six being a figure of man, and
here's a man indeed. Here's a giant of a man, six
cubits high, a giant of a man who comes before you. and all
your strength and all your ability and all your wisdom and all your
so-called righteousness is nothing, because he will destroy you. Such cubits high, a mountain
to climb. And Psalm 9 as we've seen, as
I've shown you, is divided into six sections. as it were transcending
the mountain and there is a man who came before that man there
is a man who came before this giant who stood six cubits tall
and there is a man who slew him and ascended the mount a man who came down from another
mount into the valley to meet him Philistine stood on a mountain
on one side and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side
and there was a valley between them there's a man who came down
from Mount Zion into the valley of this world to meet with the
Philistine's champion in the depths in the valley of death
and he stood before him and the champion sneered and
derided and mocked and David took his sling and
put a stone in it and slang it and smote the Philistine in his
forehead that the stone sunk into his forehead and he fell
upon his face to the earth so David prevailed over the Philistine
with a sling and with a stone and smote the Philistine and
slew him but there was no sword in his hand. David said in faith,
in trust, before he slew that stone, this day will the Lord
deliver thee into mine hand. And I will smite thee and take
thine head from thee, and I will give the carcasses of the hosts
of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air and to the
wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there
is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know
that the Lord, save if not with sword and spear, for the battle
is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. when Christ
went into that valley and when the champion came upon him that
champion, that evil one, that adversary Satan the serpent bruised
Christ's heel but Christ crushed his head as David slung that
stone into the very forehead of Goliath and destroyed him. And Christ's victory was not
wrought with sword and spear. When he was arrested in the Garden
of Gethsemane and Peter took a sword and cut off the ears
of one of those that came upon them, Christ rebuked him. We
will not fight this battle with the might of man. We will not
fight this battle with sword. The battle is the Lord's. And
Christ was led from Gethsemane to a trial in which he was falsely
accused. Falsely accused, as Goliath loves
to accuse the people of God. There was no fault in Christ.
There's no fault in his people in Christ. because of who Christ
is and what he did and yet they took Christ to that cross and
nailed him to it and crucified him and slew him and he died
he died as it were in the valley of this world in a valley of
darkness in a valley of death between two mountains there arose
on one side Mount Sinai there arose on the other side Mount
Zion from whence he descended and the people looked on in the
darkness when the sun's light was taken away when Christ was
made sin when he bore the sins of his people and they looked
on and wondered but in that moment, in that hour when he seemed so
weak, so low, so fallen Christ wrought his greatest victory.
Christ wrought his greatest victory. How God took the actions of man
that were meant for evil and turned them for good. Joseph,
when his brethren come to him, came to him in Egypt, having
betrayed him, having cast him off as dead, having given him
to the Egyptians, having told their father he'd been eaten
by a wild beast, when they are finally brought before him again
and exalted again, and no salvation by his hand, said, they meant
it for evil, but God meant it for good. and this Goliath, this
evil one, Satan came upon Christ and had the world moved to have
him crucified and he thought he'd won a victory over Christ
and he meant it for evil but God meant it for good in that
hour of apparent weakness God wrought a victory just as David
had planted that stone in Goliath's head Goliath had stood before
the people, before the entrance of David for 40 days. Thoroughly
proving them. Showing them that they were nothing
without strength. That they had no ability to destroy
him, no ability to climb that mount of law. And God will praise you, O child
of God. Thoroughly for 40 days. under
his law as it were and he will show you that you have nothing
that you are nothing to climb a mount and nothing to defeat
a foe that stands before you but that there is one who will
come on your behalf come into your camp uncalled for, unexpected
David arrived This young son arrived and he will go forth
ahead of you when you're there fearing and trembling and knowing
the judgment of God against your sin and knowing you've got no
answer. He'll come into the midst and he'll look at your great
enemy and he'll say who is he to defy the living God and he'll
destroy him on your behalf. Oh has Christ come before you
in such a place, in such a valley, when you were at wit's end, when
you were lost, when you were downtrodden, when you knew you
had no strength, when you knew God should justly as a wicked
one cast you into hell, did he come to you who were poor and
needy and destroy your enemy? The wicked
shall be turned into hell, David writes in the psalm, and all
the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always
be forgotten, the expectation of the poor shall not perish
forever, because there's a Saviour who's wrought a victory. Because
of this victory, this Saviour will be a refuge for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of trouble. Well they were in trouble Israel
on that day when David came in the midst and you're in trouble
sinner if you've got no answer for your sin. You have a Goliath
stood before you who's ready to slay you. You have condemnation
and death before you. Who's going to fight for you?
You need a David, you need a Christ, you need a son who can destroy
the enemy. Whose son is this? You need the
son of God to come into the valley on your behalf. David writes,
Have mercy upon me, O Lord, consider my trouble which I suffer of
them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates
of death. that I may show forth all thy
praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in thy
salvation. Here's the cry not just of David
in trouble but here's the cry as it were of David as he went
into that valley right in front of Goliath as a picture of the
words of Christ as Christ went to the cross. In the midst of
this we see in Psalm 9 the praise of God and then the faith of
the Psalmist and the faith of the Son of God in his God to
deliver him. But then he comes to the hour
in the valley. He comes to this point where
he faces Goliath as it were and cries out, have mercy upon me
O Lord. Consider my trouble which I suffer
of them that hate me. thou that liftest me up from
the gates of death he faced the gates of death but he had before
him the gates of the daughter of Zion that I may show forth all thy
praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion when David came before
the people and asked who this giant was they said oh whoever
kills him the king will exalt that man and he will give him
many riches and he will give him his daughter to wed and when
Christ went into that valley and stood before his Goliath
and stood at the gates of death and when he tasted death for
his people He had the gates of the daughter of Zion his bride
set before him. He knew that his reward was the
salvation of his people, his bride. He knew that as he journeyed
through death and rose up again the other side, if he destroyed
this enemy on their behalf, she would be his bride. That I may
show forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of
Zion. I will rejoice in thy salvation. that's where he went to the gates
of death and when he rose having conquered death having destroyed
the Goliath that was before him having taken away the sins of
his people having taken away the accusations of the accuser
against that people because he shed his blood for their sins
and brought in righteousness for him when he had delivered
them from death he walked in to the gates of the daughter
of Zion and he walked in with the daughter of Zion into Zion,
unto that mount and he and she rejoiced in his salvation. Islam goes on, the heathen are
sunk down in the pit that they made here he is praising God
for the victory that Christ walked at the gates of death through
which he entered at the gates of the daughter of Zion. Here
he is praising God for the victory. The heathen are sunk down in
the pit that they made. Goliath was slain by his own
sword. In the net which they hid is
their own foot taken. He came in defiance, he came
accusing God's people and the very law he used against them,
the very accusation, the very sin and death which he tried
to ensnare them with and destroy them with, came and destroyed
him. The Lord is known by the judgment which he executed. The
wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higeion, Selah,
pause, meditate, consider. Here we have the greatest pause
in the psalm at this point because here is the praise of David to
his Lord for the victory which was wrought. His victory over
Goliath was in his mind but Christ's victory over Satan was what he
truly rejoiced in. That victory at the gates of
death, which led to the daughter of Zion. The wicked shall be
turned into hell, and all nations that forget God, for the needy
shall not always be forgotten. The expectation of the poor shall
not perish forever. Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail,
let the heathen be judged in thy sight. Put them in fear,
O Lord, that the nations may show themselves to be but man. Oh, if you know anything of this
salvation, this victory, this Saviour, this David before your
Goliath, this destruction of your enemy, then as you journey
through this world and see the enemies of God all around and
see their trampling underfoot the gospel you will cry out in
the light of that victory unto your God arise O Lord let not
man prevail put them in fear O Lord that the nations may know
themselves to be but men because that's what they are they're
nothing What can man do unto me? Nothing, if I'm in Christ. If my David, this son, has destroyed
Goliath, what can any other man do unto me? What can he do unto
you, child of God? He can do nothing, he's but a
man. They're but men, they're nothing. They're judged already,
they're condemned already. Because David has slain the enemy. The son of God has slain the
adversary. He's destroyed Goliath. He's
gone into the valley. He's gone to the gates of death
for you, oh child of God. Oh did he go to the gates of
death for you, my friend. Did he go to the gates of death
for you? Will you with him enter through
on that great day of the Lord through the gates of the daughter
of Zion? Will you? Lord God, we praise thee for
that great Saviour, that great Son of God, that great David
who as it were transcended from the valley, from the gates of
death, the heights of six cubits and a span to that summit where
he entered in at the gates of the door to Osiris.