Psalm
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Psalm 9

A Psalm of Thanksgiving for God’s Justice.

To the Chief Musician; on [a]Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

1I will give thanks and praise the Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell aloud all Your wonders and marvelous deeds.
2 
I will rejoice and exult in you;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

3 
When my enemies turn back,
They stumble and perish before You.
4 
For You have maintained my right and my cause;
You have sat on the throne judging righteously.
5 
You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked and unrepentant;
You have wiped out their name forever and ever.
6 
The enemy has been cut off and has vanished in everlasting ruins,
You have uprooted their cities;
The very memory of them has perished.

7 
But the Lord will remain and sit enthroned forever;
He has prepared and established His throne for judgment.
8 
And He will judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the nations with fairness (equity).
9 
The Lord also will be a refuge and a stronghold for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble;
10 
And those who know Your name [who have experienced Your precious mercy] will put their confident trust in You,
For You, O Lord, have not abandoned those who seek You.

11 
Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion;
Declare among the peoples His [great and wondrous] deeds.
12 
For He who avenges blood [unjustly shed] remembers them (His people);
He does not forget the cry of the afflicted and abused.
13 
Have mercy on me and be gracious to me, O Lord;
See how I am afflicted by those who hate me,
You who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 
That I may tell aloud all Your praises,
That in the gates of the daughter of Zion (Jerusalem)
I may rejoice in Your salvation and Your help.
15 
The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made;
In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 
The Lord has made Himself known;
He executes judgment;
The wicked are trapped by the work of their own hands. Higgaion (meditation) Selah.

17 
The wicked will turn to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
Even all the nations who forget God.
18 
For the poor will not always be forgotten,
Nor the hope of the burdened perish forever.
19 
Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail;
Let the nations be judged before You.
20 
Put them in [reverent] [b]fear of You, O Lord,
So that the nations may know they are but [frail and mortal] men. Selah.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 9:1 A transliteration of the Hebrew, whose meaning is unknown. Possibly referring to a tune titled “Death to the Son.” Perhaps for soprano voices.
  2. Psalm 9:20 The “fear” of God is a common concept in the OT, but is difficult to translate into English. It is not simply a matter of “fear” in the modern English sense. Nor is it only a sentiment of deep reverence. It implies obedience, as well.
Psalm 9