Psalms
Summary
Psalm 9 is a song of thanksgiving and praise to God for His righteous judgement and deliverance from enemies. The psalmist vows to recount all of God's "marvellous works" and rejoices that God has maintained his right and cause. He describes the LORD as a refuge for the oppressed and a stronghold in times of trouble, promising that God never forsakes those who seek Him. The psalm moves between praise for God's eternal throne and pleas for God to arise and judge the nations, so they may know they are "but men." It is a powerful affirmation of divine justice over human pride.
I will praise you, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all your marvellous works.
I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish at your presence.
For you have maintained my right and my cause; you sat on your throne judging righteously.
You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
Destructions have come to a perpetual end for the enemy; you have uprooted their cities, and their very memory has perished with them.
But the LORD shall endure for ever; he has prepared his throne for judgement.
He shall judge the world in righteousness; he shall minister judgement to the people in uprightness.
The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
And those who know your name will put their trust in you; for you, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.
Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion; declare his deeds among the people.
When he requires an accounting for blood, he remembers them; he does not forget the cry of the humble.
Have mercy on me, O LORD; consider the trouble I suffer from those who hate me, you who lift me up from the gates of death;
that I may show forth all your praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion; I will rejoice in your salvation.
The nations have sunk down into the pit that they made; in the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.
The LORD is known by the judgement which he executes; the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.
The wicked shall be turned back to the grave, and all the nations that forget God.
For the needy shall not always be forgotten; the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.
Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail; let the nations be judged in your sight.
Put them in fear, O LORD, that the nations may know they are but men. Selah.