Psalms 9

1 I will give thanks unto Jehovah with my whole heart; I will show forth all thy marvellous works.

2 I will be glad and exult in thee; I will sing praise to thy name, O thou Most High.

3 When mine enemies turn back, They stumble and perish at thy presence.

4 For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; Thou sittest in the throne judging righteously.

5 Thou hast rebuked the nations, thou hast destroyed the wicked; Thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever.

6 The enemy are come to an end, they are desolate for ever; And the cities which thou hast overthrown, The very remembrance of them is perished.

7 But Jehovah sitteth [as king] for ever: He hath prepared his throne for judgment;

8 And he will judge the world in righteousness, He will minister judgment to the peoples in uprightness.

9 Jehovah also will be a high tower for the oppressed, A high tower in times of trouble;

10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee; For thou, Jehovah, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

11 Sing praises to Jehovah, who dwelleth in Zion: Declare among the people his doings.

12 For he that maketh inquisition for blood remembereth them; He forgetteth not the cry of the poor.

13 Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah; Behold my affliction [which I suffer] of them that hate me, Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death;

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

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

16 Jehovah hath made himself known, he hath executed judgment: The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. [Higgaion. Selah

17 The wicked shall be turned back unto Sheol, Even all the nations that forget God.

18 For the needy shall not alway be forgotten, Nor the expectation of the poor perish for ever.

19 Arise, O Jehovah; Let not man prevail: Let the nations be judged in thy sight.

20 Put them in fear, O Jehovah: Let the nations know themselves to be but men. [Selah

Psalms 9 Commentary

Chapter 9

David praises God for protecting his people. (1-10) And for cause to praise him. (11-20)

Verses 1-10 If we would praise God acceptably, we must praise him in sincerity, with our whole heart. When we give thanks for some one particular mercy, we should remember former mercies. Our joy must not be in the gift, so much as in the Giver. The triumphs of the Redeemer ought to be the triumphs of the redeemed. The almighty power of God is that which the strongest and stoutest of his enemies are no way able to stand before. We are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth, and that with him there is no unrighteousness. His people may, by faith, flee to him as their Refuge, and may depend on his power and promise for their safety, so that no real hurt shall be done to them. Those who know him to be a God of truth and faithfulness, will rejoice in his word of promise, and rest upon that. Those who know him to be an everlasting Father, will trust him with their souls as their main care, and trust in him at all times, even to the end; and by constant care seek to approve themselves to him in the whole course of their lives. Who is there that would not seek him, who never hath forsaken those that seek Him?

Verses 11-20 Those who believe that God is greatly to be praised, not only desire to praise him better themselves, but desire that others may join with them. There is a day coming, when it will appear that he has not forgotten the cry of the humble; neither the cry of their blood, or the cry of their prayers. We are never brought so low, so near to death, but God can raise us up. If he has saved us from spiritual and eternal death, we may thence hope, that in all our distresses he will be a very present help to us. The overruling providence of God frequently so orders it, that persecutors and oppressors are brought to ruin by the projects they formed to destroy the people of God. Drunkards kill themselves; prodigals beggar themselves; the contentious bring mischief upon themselves: thus men's sins may be read in their punishment, and it becomes plain to all, that the destruction of sinners is of themselves. All wickedness came originally with the wicked one from hell; and those who continue in sin, must go to that place of torment. The true state, both of nations and of individuals, may be correctly estimated by this one rule, whether in their doings they remember or forget God. David encourages the people of God to wait for his salvation, though it should be long deferred. God will make it appear that he never did forget them: it is not possible he should. Strange that man, dust in his and about him, should yet need some sharp affliction, some severe visitation from God, to bring him to the knowledge of himself, and make him feel who and what he is.

Chapter Summary

To the chief Musician upon Muthlabben, a Psalm of David. Some, take "muthlabben" to be the name of the tune to which this psalm was sung, and to design the same note which we call the counter-tenor: others think, that "upon muth," or "almuth," are but one word, and the same as "alamoth," Psalm 45:1, title; and that it is the name of a musical instrument; and that "Ben" in "labben," is the name of the chief musician, who was over that sort of instrument, to whom the psalm is inscribed {l}; and indeed R. Sol Jarchi says, that he had seen in the great Masorah these words as one; and so it seems the Septuagint interpreters read them, who render them, "for the hidden things of the son"; and the Arabic version, "concerning the mysteries of the son": and Ben is a name, it is said, of one of the singers, whose kindred and companions were appointed with psalteries on "alamoth," 1 Chronicles 15:18. And so then the title runs thus; "to the chief musician on alamoth, [even to] Ben." But others are of opinion that the subject matter or occasion of the psalm is designed by this phrase; and that as "muth" signifies "death," the death of some person is intended, on account of which this psalm was composed; some say Nabal, seeing the word Nbl, "Laban," inverted, or read backwards, is "Nabal" {m}, whose death affected David; as appears from 1 Samuel 25:38. Others, that it was one of the kings of the Gentiles, whose name was Labben, and is mentioned nowhere else, who fought with David, and whom he slew, and upon his death penned this psalm {n}. Others, Goliath the Philistine {o}, who is called, 1 Samuel 17:4. Mynbh vya, which we render "champion" and dueller, one of two that fight together. But rather the reason of the name is, as given by the Jewish commentators {p}, because he went and stood between the two camps of the Philistines and the Israelites; and so the Chaldee paraphrase renders the title of this psalm, "to praise, concerning the death of the man who went out between the camps, a song of David."

And so the psalm itself, in the Targum, and by other Jewish writers, is interpreted of Goliath and the Philistines, and of the victory over them; and which does not seem amiss. Arama interprets it of the death of Saul. Others interpret Almuth Labben "of the death of the son"; and understand it of the death of Absalom, the son of David {q}: but David's passion moved in another way, not in joy, but in grief, 2 Samuel 18:33; nor is there anything in the psalm that can be referred unto it. Others, of the death of the son of God; but of that there is not the least hint in the psalm. Theodoret interprets it of Christ's victory over death by dying, which was a mystery or hidden thing. Rather, I should think, it might be interpreted of the death of the son of perdition, the man of sin and his followers; who may be typified by Goliath, and the Philistines: and so, as Ainsworth observes, as the former psalm was concerning the propagation of Christ's kingdom, this is of the destruction of antichrist. And Jerom, long ago said, this whole psalm is sung by the prophet in the person of the church, concerning antichrist: and to this agrees the Syriac version; which makes the subject of the psalm to be, "concerning Christ, taking the throne and kingdom, and routing the enemy."

And also the Arabic version, according to which the argument of the psalm is, "concerning the mysteries of the Son, with respect to the glory of Christ, and his resurrection and kingdom, and the destruction of all the children of disobedience." To which may be added, that this psalm, according to R. Sol Jarchi, belongs to the time to come, to the days of the Messiah, and the future redemption by him.

{l} Kimchi & Abendana in Miclol Yophi in loc. {m} So some in Jarchi & Aben Ezra in loc. {n} Donesh Hallevi in ibid. {o} Kimchi & Ben Melech in loc. {p} Jarchi, Kimchi, Levi Ben Gersom, R. Isaiah, & Ben Melech in 1 Sam. xvii. 4. {q} So some in Jarchi in loc.