The words of the psalm ring with the martial vigor natural to David, king and warrior. He is ready to go out against his enemies, and he believes that the Lord will help him prevail. And even if today He has rejected us, David still continues to implore Him for protection, hoping in His mercy.

But if the Lord’s mercy is higher than the heavens, this means that it extends over every land. Therefore, the one who prays for the deliverance of His beloved and wishes to sing His praises among the nations asks the Lord to triumph also in lands whose peoples do not yet know Him.

Those who read about the bloody wars of the Old Testament Israelites against their pagan neighbors may at first find it difficult to see these wars as anything other than the tribal clashes common to every age. Many participants in the events undoubtedly viewed them in the same way. But if we believe that one people was chosen not for itself alone, but also in order to awaken all humanity, then those same clashes acquire a different meaning. We see that the Lord’s support for Israel is not support for “some against others,” but opposition to the pagan impiety that had enslaved all humanity.