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Psalm 9

God’s Power and Justice

To the leader: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

1

I will give thanks to the L ord with my whole heart;

I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

2

I will be glad and exult in you;

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

 

3

When my enemies turned back,

they stumbled and perished before you.

4

For you have maintained my just cause;

you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment.

 

5

You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked;

you have blotted out their name forever and ever.

6

The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins;

their cities you have rooted out;

the very memory of them has perished.

 

7

But the L ord sits enthroned forever,

he has established his throne for judgment.

8

He judges the world with righteousness;

he judges the peoples with equity.

 

9

The L ord is a stronghold for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.

10

And those who know your name put their trust in you,

for you, O L ord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

 

11

Sing praises to the L ord, who dwells in Zion.

Declare his deeds among the peoples.

12

For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;

he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

 

13

Be gracious to me, O L ord.

See what I suffer from those who hate me;

you are the one who lifts me up from the gates of death,

14

so that I may recount all your praises,

and, in the gates of daughter Zion,

rejoice in your deliverance.

 

15

The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;

in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught.

16

The L ord has made himself known, he has executed judgment;

the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah

 

17

The wicked shall depart to Sheol,

all the nations that forget God.

 

18

For the needy shall not always be forgotten,

nor the hope of the poor perish forever.

 

19

Rise up, O L ord! Do not let mortals prevail;

let the nations be judged before you.

20

Put them in fear, O L ord;

let the nations know that they are only human. Selah


18. For the poor shall not always be forgotten. The assertion that God will not forsake the poor and afflicted for ever, is a confirmation of the preceding sentence. By it he intimates, that they may indeed seem to be forsaken for a time. Let us, therefore, remember that God has promised his assistance to us, not in the way of preventing our afflictions, but of at length succouring us after we have been long subdued under the cross. David speaks expressly of hope or expectation, thereby to encourage us to prayer. The reason why God seems to take no notice of our afflictions is, because he would have us to awaken him by means of our prayers; for when he hears our requests, (as if he began but then to be mindful of us,) he stretches forth his powerful hand to help us. David again repeats that this is not done immediately, in order that we may persevere in hoping well, even although our expectations may not be instantly gratified.


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