Devotional Portion: Psalm 9:17-18
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.
The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God.
As he reaches the end of this psalm, David is seeing the long picture- the eternal damnation that is coming upon the wicked. The nations that forget God is a phrase to describe the wicked. He is reminding the readers to believe in God and to be pious. When man forgot God, he is denying the sovereignty of God, the mercies he is receiving, the loving presence of God, and His eternal justice.
The wicked/sinners forgot God as they become self-centred and self-contained. They think of themselves as righteous and without sin.
“The forgetters of God are far more numerous than the profane or profligate, and according to the very forceful expression of the Hebrew, the nethermost hell will be the place into which all of them shall be hurled headlong. Forgetfulness seems a small sin, but it brings eternal wrath upon the man who lives and dies in it.” (Spurgeon)
For the needy shall not always be forgotten; The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.
We see a contrast here, the wicked who forgot the God, and the God who remembers the needy (Godly people who are persecuted).
“Shall not always be forgotten”
There are a few painful and rejected feeling in the life of the needy, but they are taken card by the LORD. His greatest promise here is that He will never leave us as orphans. He will gather us with great mercies. “The needy, and the poor, whose expectation is from the Lord, are never forgotten, though sometimes their deliverance is delayed for the greater confusion of their enemies, the greater manifestation of God’s mercy, and the greater benefit to themselves.” (Clarke)
Reflection: The Lord’s mercy is eternal and He will be our eternal strength and fortress.
