Psalm 9:11-12--God's mindfulness of "the afflicted"

Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion!
Tell among the peoples his deeds!
For He who avenges blood is mindful of them;
he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
Psalm 9:11-12

How insignificant are the words of a person to another person. Even as you sit and read this (and thank you for reading), you should know there isn't anything I can say that is going to truly bring about satisfying and lasting change in your life. "Satisfying" to us are many of the words spoken by people over the years and it certainly is true that many of the classics of literature have 'swept us away' from time to time. Perhaps it's the same with a Christian classic as well. But the satisfaction that comes from it only lasts for a short time, doesn't it? It may be satisfying, but it isn't lasting. This is the truth for many of the words that have 'shaped' us and 'changed' us--we may say the transformation and help that's come from them is no less than "lasting", but in reality, it was nothing more than a moment of satisfaction which we were able to carry over into many moments. Because we feel satisfied for the brief moment--swept away--we know that it's still possible to get to this place. Still knowing it's possible to be swept away, we move on with the hope that life isn't as dreary or meaningless as we thought it was before we read or heard the 'transformative' words. This is why we move on to the next great book or the next great artist, or what have you: Because the satisfying experience was just a satisfying experience--it didn't last. This type of existence may certainly bring about contentment for many, but others are constantly wondering the question, "Is this all there is?"

It's at this place that we read David's words in Psalm 9:11-12. "Sing praises to the Lord...tell...the people his deeds! For he...is mindful of them(the 'oppressed' in v9, 'those who seek him' in v10); he does not forget the cry of the afflicted."

I want you to consider something that maybe you wouldn't consider upon first reading this: Is it possible that 'the afflicted' are none other than those who have sought the Lord? Seeking the Lord is certainly the call of humanity, and it should never be forgotten that there is no greater task for man than to "fear God and keep His commandments" because "this is the whole duty of mankind" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Yet, why does David write this psalm the way he does?--with "those who seek Him" and "the oppressed" and "afflicted" seemingly all synonymous with each other?

We're reminded of Jesus' words in Matthew 5:3 and 6, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven...blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." We're also reminded of the promise in Jeremiah 29:12-13 speaking of the days of the Messiah-King, "You will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."

How do both of these passages work together, according to my putting them together? It's in this way: Jesus says in the first passage that you are blessed when you are 'poor in spirit' and when you 'hunger and thirst for righteousness'. Why is this? It's because it's in THIS place that you will cry out for the Living God to restore to you "the joy of his salvation" (Psalm 51:12). Only when you truly believe you have nowhere else to go will you turn to the Living God and cry out to Him. Then Jeremiah tells us that when you DO turn to Him, you'll find Him. You will seek Him with your whole heart and with your whole self in humble submission to His goodness and sovereignty, and you will find Him. "He is not far from any of us" are Paul's words in Acts 17:27.

But isn't it possible that even those who are leaning on worldly pleasures could turn to God? Is it possible for the rich man with everything anyone could ever want to turn to God? Sure, it's possible. "In that day (also the day of the Messiah) all who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved" (Joel 2:32). But if we've learned anything from Jesus' dealing with the rich young ruler, we've seen that it's "easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle" than for a rich man to enter Heaven. Why is this? It's because those who lean on the world already have their reward--and having their reward, they can't see the need for anything else. Not seeing the need for anything, they're enslaved to that which isn't ever truly satisfying. "Everyone who sins is a slave to sin", and "a slave can't serve two masters--he'll either hate one and love the other or hate the other and love the first". Being enslaved to the sinful and idolatrous never-satisfying pleasures of the world, it's next to impossible for them to turn to God. Truly, in and of themselves, it is impossible. "With man it is impossible--but with God, all things are possible."

Being among those who cry out to God--the afflicted, the oppressed--we've cried out to Him because He, in the Holy Spirit, has opened our eyes to the bankruptcy and counterfeit that is this broken world we live in. Because we sense it and realize it, we've turned to Him the Creator because to us it makes sense that all of the problems in the world begin and end with simple rebellion from God, like the Bible says. Turning to Him, Jesus' righteousness is counted to us, we're justified even as sinners and given His Holy Spirit, and given eyes for God's Kingdom. Now that we have eyes for His Kingdom, we just want to go home. It's because we want to go home that we're considered, in the world's eyes, afflicted and oppressed.

Those two words are only used to describe those who don't have what "normal" people have or get to enjoy what "normal" people enjoy.

But we who are in Christ Jesus--even if we're afflicted and oppressed compared to the rest of the world--find our identity in the finished work of Christ Jesus, whereby His blood is poured out for us and His flesh is broken for us. He's risen again, that we would have the eternal life that starts right now. Of course, this eternal life is not eternal this world; the eternal life is eternal knowing the Father and His Son Jesus Christ (John 17:3). For those in love with this world, there is something so illogical and non-sensical: They love their life and the world they live in, but they know that something's wrong with it--they love it, but they don't. What hope is there, and how is it that "the problem with this world" is even begun to be dealt with?

It's only dealt with in Christ. The only way for any real or lasting change and real and lasting transformation is if the Creator defies that which is natural to us. This is exactly what happened with Jesus' resurrection: A man who was killed rose from the dead. Therefore, that which appears to be problematic and hopeless apparently has an end to it. If Jesus rose from the dead, what else can He do?

And yet, the bigger question is this: Why DID Jesus die on the cross in the first place? He rose from the dead, but why did He die? It was for sins--it was because humanity, created in God's image for God's glory underneath God's sovereignty, increasingly becomes less and less godly as time goes by, and it's all a result of sin. Jesus died to set right that which is wrong, and what is most basically wrong is man's guilty rebellion from God.

In this way, the only way you get to the resurrection is if you go through the sin that put Jesus on the cross in the first place. God promises that He is going to renew all things one day. "I make all things new," and it starts with Jesus' resurrection. But you don't get there until you own up to the fact that it was your sin that put Jesus on the cross in the first place. You don't get the resurrection until you "take up your cross". And in this way, "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you" (Romans 8:11).

THIS is what it means to be "afflicted" or "oppressed"--not that we are actually worse off than anyone else. No, we are in the Garden of Eden before the Fall. But considered by the world, we are afflicted and oppressed. We 'believe in all that God stuff'. We are those who 'seriously believe Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead'. We are among those that 'seriously think God is going to judge our sins one day...really believe that sin against God is the issue'. We're those people.

And we are glad to be called "those people". Because we've seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, we are being "transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another" (2 Corinthians 3:18). THIS is the reality--THIS is the truth.

We know that God is mindful of us, because we, being the very people of God, are among those for whom He has mindfully crushed His Son Jesus on the cross. Christ's work is for US. Since He didn't abandon us on the cross, He surely won't abandon us anywhere else either. If He was there for us in our time of need, He'll always be there for us in our time of need. He does not forget our cries--He remembers them and hears them. More, He answers them. In the Holy Spirit, He is transforming us so that our requests and cries are evermore holy and conformed to His will. It's not enough just to say, "God didn't answer that prayer because it wasn't His will"--we know rather that if He doesn't answer our prayers, it's because He has far greater and far better than what we can imagine at the time.

This is why Jesus simply told His disciples to pray, "Your will be done," like He himself prayed in Gethsemane. This is a prayer that will never not be answered. This can never fail.

The question among us Christians is this: Do we want His will to be done? Do we want Him to have His way? It's not very complicated--do we want it or do we not? It will suffice to ask the question, see the answer as it quickly rises, and then throw ourselves on the cross and expect God to supply all that's needed from there on out, as He always does.

For "the afflicted", the prayer is always that He who has what we need would simply be merciful. As a beggar, are you trying to be a chooser? Afflicted beggars like you and me don't ask anything other than that God be merciful and give us what we need for today, for His own glory. This is prayer that can't not be answered. This is the cry of the afflicted--and He'll never forget it.