Psalms 9:7,8 - The Biblical Illustrator

Bible Comments

The Lord shall endure forever.

The abiding God

David here draws a contrast between changing man and the unchanging God; between evermore vanishing thrones and the throne of God, high and lifted up--His throne of judgment--a throne erected to try and determine the cause, not of David only, nor of his people only, but all men--to judge the world in righteousness. He teaches that right and wrong everywhere are objects of the Divine regard, and will be through all time, and will be when time shall be no more; that the Divine judgment, like the Divine Omnipresence, embraces every creature in the vastness of its range. In this way David ascends in his reasoning from the particular to the general, and from the general to the universal, making the Lord’s dealing with him, and His people Israel, the basis of the conclusion, that so He will deal with all men. He thus encourages all men everywhere to pursue the right, assuring them that, in pursuing it, the God of all righteousness is with them, and will in due time decide it in their favour. (David Caldwell, A. M.)

And He shall judge the world in righteousness.

The witness of conscience to righteousness

Corwin, the great orator and humorist, was once talking with several gentlemen. The conversation, which had been witty and epigrammatic, became grave and serious. One of the company made a remark about the unknown future. Corwin took it up, and said, “When I reflect that I am to be judged by a righteous and omnipotent God, I nearly go mad.” So it is that the conscience within bears unequivocal testimony to our responsibility, not to a Something, of which we can form no conception, but to a Personal Being, who is the “righteous and omnipotent God,” whose “offspring” we are as a Father, and whose subjects we are as Sovereign Lord Supreme.

Psalms 9:7-8

7 But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.

8 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.