The First Week of Advent: Saturday

We conclude this first week of Advent by looking at a portion of Psalm 9, which is the Vespers reading for this evening in The Divine Hours.

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
When my enemies turned back,
they stumbled and perished before you.
For you have maintained my just cause;
you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgement.
You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins;
their cities you have rooted out;
the very memory of them has perished.
But the Lord sits enthroned for ever,
he has established his throne for judgement.
He judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with equity.
The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion.
Declare his deeds among the peoples.²⁴⁶

It is only fitting that this portion repeats many of the emphases we have looked at this week from the Book of Psalms.

• God is at work, putting the world to rights.
• God has vindicated his King, and saved him from his enemies.
• The Lord reigns over all the earth and will one day consummate his works of salvation and judgment.
• Those who take refuge in him will find safety and security, now and forever.

One of my favorite passages from Psalm 9 is verse 10: "And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you."

• The name Jesus reminds us he is Savior.
  
• The name Emmanuel assures us that "God is with us."
  
• The name Son of David announces that he is the Messianic King promised by God to gather his people and restore God's blessing to the whole world.
  
• The name Son of God proclaims that he is one with the Ancient of Days, the Creator and Lord, the great "I AM"—very God of God as well as very Man of man.