Psalms 9:1-20 - Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

Bible Comments

Psalms 9:10 are combined in LXX, and there is certainly a real, though obscure, relationship between them. The two together form one 'acrostic,' the vv. beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, though in both Pss. there is a gap in the arrangement. The subject matter of the two Pss., however, does not suggest that we have in tbem the two halves of what was originally a single Ps. Psalms 9 is distinctly national and Psalms 10 as distinctly personal, and though both may be by the same author, the problem of their connexion must be left unsolved.

Psalms 9 is the song of a king who has gained a victory over a foreign enemy, and finds in this a proof of God's righteous rule over the whole earth—a rule which he prays may be yet more fully displayed. Only in Psalms 9:13-14 is the note of personal affliction and need to be heard.

Title.—Upon Muth-labben] 'Muth-labben' means 'Death to the son,' and probably indicates some well-known song, to the tune of which the Ps. was directed to be sung.

Psalms 9:1-20

1 I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.

2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.

3 When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.

4 For thou hast maintaineda my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.

5 Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.

6 O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.

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.

9 The LORD also will be a refugeb for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

11 Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.

12 When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.c

13 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:

14 That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.

15 The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.

16 The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion.d Selah.

17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

18 For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.

19 Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.

20 Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.