A Song for the Oppressed

Introduction:

When you were a child, you probably had times where you were afraid of the dark. You would cry out for your parents and didn’t want to be alone.

When your parents would come into the room, everything would be okay. It wasn’t because in your mind the danger was gone. It was because your instinctively believed that your parents were bigger than what you were afraid of. If it was a boogey man in the closet, then he was not as powerful as your parents.

So, simply having them with you was enough to make you be able to rest peacefully, even in the face of your fears.

As believers, we are like that with God. We know that God is bigger than whatever we are facing, whoever is oppressing us. Just having God’s presence with us will help us to rest in safety and leave the outcome with Him.

Psalm 9 ESV

To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David. 1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. 2 I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. 3 When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence. 4 For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment. 5 You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever. 6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished. 7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, 8 and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness. 9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. 10 And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. 11 Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds! 12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted. 13 Be gracious to me, O Lord! See my affliction from those who hate me, O you who lift me up from the gates of death, 14 that I may recount all your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in your salvation. 15 The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught. 16 The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah 17 The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God. 18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever. 19 Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you! 20 Put them in fear, O Lord! Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah

Thanksgiving Psalm

A Song for the Oppressed

1. Remember God's Faithful Works (vv.1-4)

A. Give Thanks to the LORD

B. Recall His Works

C. Be Glad In the Lord

D. Sing His Praises

2. Trust in God’s Justice (vv.5-12)

God has removed the wicked from their lands (vv.5-6)

God Dispenses Justice from His Throne (vv.7-8)

God is a Stronghold for the Oppressed (vv.9-10)

3. Call On God to Act (vv.11-20)

Begin with Praise (vv.11-12)

Prayer for grace and deliverance (vv.13-14)

Repay the Wicked (vv.15-17)

Remember the Needy (v.18)

Judge the Nations (vv.19-20)

Conclusion

David speaks on behalf of his people who have experienced all of these things in the song.

However, ultimately it is Christ that is the one who has been delivered from the hand of His enemies and triumphed over them by His cross.