Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.
The verse stands in the first book of the Psalter, Psalms 1 to 41, within a Psalms 1 to 11 group placed as an interlude among historic and legal readings. It is a prayer and assurance of David as a tried soul, standing at the close of God's special providences over Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as progenitors of the promised Seed. Like many psalms, it begins with a sense of great need and ends in triumph and confidence in God.
It pleads for God to arise so that mere man does not prevail and the nations are judged in His sight. Proud kingdoms and human rule cannot stand against Him, for He remains exalted forever, and His judgment teaches the nations that they are only human. It teaches that God works for those who refuse to contend for their own rights but commit their cause to Him, and that although His providence may seem slow, retribution comes sooner or later.
It belongs to the final deliverance of the righteous when the needy are no longer forgotten and the expectation of the poor is fulfilled. Then all the righteous come out of Sheol to immortal life while all the living wicked are cut off from the earth and turned into Sheol to join the wicked dead of all previous ages. This leaves no righteous person in Sheol and every wicked person there for a thousand years until the resurrection of the unjust. It meets every phase of human experience, helping the soul in discouragement, strengthening in trial, giving solid comfort in grief, pointing out the dangers of sin, warning against transgression, and ever directing to a God who is able and willing and anxious to save.
The verse stands in the first book of the Psalter, Psalms 1 to 41, within a Psalms 1 to 11 group placed as an interlude among historic and legal readings. It is a prayer and assurance of David as a tried soul, standing at the close of God's special providences over Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as progenitors of the promised Seed. Like many psalms, it begins with a sense of great need and ends in triumph and confidence in God.
It pleads for God to arise so that mere man does not prevail and the nations are judged in His sight. Proud kingdoms and human rule cannot stand against Him, for He remains exalted forever, and His judgment teaches the nations that they are only human. It teaches that God works for those who refuse to contend for their own rights but commit their cause to Him, and that although His providence may seem slow, retribution comes sooner or later.
It belongs to the final deliverance of the righteous when the needy are no longer forgotten and the expectation of the poor is fulfilled. Then all the righteous come out of Sheol to immortal life while all the living wicked are cut off from the earth and turned into Sheol to join the wicked dead of all previous ages. This leaves no righteous person in Sheol and every wicked person there for a thousand years until the resurrection of the unjust. It meets every phase of human experience, helping the soul in discouragement, strengthening in trial, giving solid comfort in grief, pointing out the dangers of sin, warning against transgression, and ever directing to a God who is able and willing and anxious to save.