1 > I will give thanks to Yahweh with my whole heart. I will tell of all your marvelous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you. I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back, They stumble and perish in your presence.
4 For you have maintained my just cause. You sit on the throne judging righteously.
5 You have rebuked the nations. You have destroyed the wicked. You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy is overtaken by endless ruin. The very memory of the cities which you have overthrown has perished.
7 But Yahweh reigns forever. He has prepared his throne for judgment.
8 He will judge the world in righteousness. He will administer judgment to the peoples in uprightness.
9 Yahweh will also be a high tower for the oppressed; A high tower in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name will put their trust in you, For you, Yahweh, have not forsaken those who seek you.
11 Sing praises to Yahweh, who dwells in Zion, And declare among the people what he has done.
12 For he who avenges blood remembers them. He doesn't forget the cry of the afflicted.
13 Have mercy on me, Yahweh. See my affliction by those who hate me, And lift me up from the gates of death;
14 That I may show forth all your praise. In the gates of the daughter of Zion, I will rejoice in your salvation.
15 The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made; In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.
16 Yahweh has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah.
17 The wicked shall be turned back to Sheol, Even all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten, Nor the hope of the poor perish forever.
19 Arise, Yahweh! Don't let man prevail. Let the nations be judged in your sight.
20 Put them in fear, Yahweh. Let the nations know that they are only men. Selah.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 9
Commentary on Psalms 9 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 9
Ps 9:1-20. Upon Muthlabben, or, after the manner according to "death to the Son," by which some song was known, to whose air or melody the musician is directed to perform this Psalm. This mode of denoting a song by some prominent word or words is still common (compare Ps 22:1). The Psalmist praises God for deliverance from his enemies and celebrates the divine government, for providing security to God's people and punishment to the wicked. Thus encouraging himself, he prays for new occasions to recount God's mercies, and confident of His continued judgment on the wicked and vindication of the oppressed, he implores a prompt and efficient manifestation of the divine sovereignty.
1. Heartfelt gratitude will find utterance.
3-5. When … are turned back—It is the result of God's power alone. He, as a righteous Judge (Ps 7:11), vindicates His people. He rebukes by acts as well as words (Ps 6:1; 18:15), and so effectually as to destroy the names of nations as well as persons.
6. Literally, "As to the enemy finished are his ruins for ever. Thou [God] hast destroyed," &c. (1Sa 15:3, 7; 27:8, 9). The wicked are utterly undone. Their ruins shall never be repaired.
7, 8. God's eternal possession of a throne of justice is contrasted with the ruin of the wicked.
9, 10. The oppressed, and all who know Him (Ps 5:3; 7:1), find Him a sure refuge.
11. (Compare Ps 2:6; 3:4).
12. for blood—that is, murders (Ps 5:6), including all the oppressions of His people.
maketh inquisition—(compare Ge 9:5). He will avenge their cause.
13. gates—or, "regions."
of death—Gates being the entrance is put for the bounds.
14. gates … Zion—The enclosure of the city (compare Ps 48:12; Isa 23:12), or, church, as denoted by this phrase contrasted with that of death, carries out the idea of exaltation as well as deliverance. Signal favors should lead us to render signal and public thanks.
15, 16. The undesigned results of the devices of the wicked prove them to be of God's overruling or ordering, especially when those results are destructive to the wicked themselves.
16. Higgaion—means "meditation," and, combined with Selah, seems to denote a pause of unusual solemnity and emphasis (compare Ps 3:2). Though Selah occurs seventy-three times, this is the only case in which Higgaion is found. In the view which is given here of the retribution on the wicked as an instance of God's wise and holy ordering, we may well pause in adoring wonder and faith.
17. shall be turned—or, "shall turn," retreating under God's vengeance, and driven by Him to the extreme of destruction, even hell itself. Those who forget God are classed with the depraved and openly profane.
18. (Compare Ps 13:1-6).
the needy—literally, "poor," as deprived of anything; hence miserable.
expectation of the poor—or, "meek," "humble," made so by affliction.
19. Arise—(compare Ps 4:7).
let not man—(Ps 8:4).
let … be judged—and of course condemned.
20. By their effectual subjection, make them to realize their frail nature (Ps 8:4), and deter them from all conceit and future rebellion.