Verse 1 – 2 || I will thank the LORD with all my heart; I will declare all your wondrous works. I will rejoice and boast about you; I will sing about your name, Most High.
• What do you sing about? What are you most passionate about?
• For David, his passion is God and what he has done. His desire is to publicly proclaim what God has done / established.
• Most High refers to the attributes of God and sees him as King over all creation and at the same time the one who will respond to the cries of the oppressed and distribute justice.
• David wants to share his story so the next generation knows about God.
• All my heart … he is holding nothing back.
• Matthew 15:8 “These people honor me with their lips but their heart is far from me.” Where is your heart?
• I praise God because he is wonderful!
Verse 3 – 8 || For you have upheld my just cause; you are seated on your throne as a righteous judge. You have rebuked the nations: you have destroyed the wicked; you have erased their name forever and ever. The enemy has come to eternal ruin; you have uprooted the cities, and the very memory of them has perished. But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established this throne for judgement. And he judges the world with righteousness; he executes judgment on the nations with fairness.
• Is Judgement a good thing? YES!!!
• You upheld my just cause…”My legal claim.”
• You are seated on your throne … this should bring comfort for the oppressed because it reveals that God is in control.
• Only God can judge me (and he will) … judgement is a good thing because he is just (He deals with all wrongdoing + He is fair in every situation + He declares his own innocent through Christ).
• I praise God because he is Righteous!
Verse 9 – 10 || The LORD is a refuge for the persecuted, a refuge in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you because you have not abandoned those who seek you, LORD.
• God provides shelter for the oppressed.
• You have not abandoned those leads us to realize there are times when we feel abandoned.
• Feelings Aren’t Facts! Feelings are not a measuring stick to determine what is true and what isn’t.
• I praise God because he offers protection (refuge)
Verse 11 – 12 || Sing to the LORD, who dwells in Zion; proclaim his deeds among the nations. For the one who seeks an accounting for bloodshed remembers them; he does not forget the cry of the oppressed.
• Those who have been transformed by God, are thus called to be his witnesses to the world around us.
• “Every Christian is either a missionary or an impostor.” (Charles Spurgeon)
Verse 13 – 14 || Be gracious to me, LORD; consider my affliction at the hands of those who hate me. Lift me up from the gates of death. So that I may declare all your praises. I will rejoice in your salvation within the gates of Daughter Zion.
• I praise God because he listens (11-14)
Verse 15 – 16 || The nations have fallen into the pit they made; their foot is caught in the net they have concealed. The LORD has made himself known; he has executed justice, snaring the wicked by the work of their hands.
• N/A
Verse 17 – 18 || The wicked will return to Sheol – all the nations that forget God. For the needy will not always be forgotten; the hope of the oppressed will not perish forever.
• Hope requires waiting.
Verse 19 – 20 || Rise up, LORD! Do not let mere humans prevail; let the nations be judged in your presence. Put terror in them, LORD; let the nations know they are only humans.
• Rise Up … asking / requesting God to act.
