Summary
When we sing songs during a Church service, we ideally should sing songs which cover the full range of emotion and experience. Sometimes we rejoice, sometimes we are sad. But it is always good to sing praises to God.
Psalm 9 presents a song of praise to God, the divine King who rules and judges the whole world. Written by King David, it probably forms a “twin” with psalm 10, because both psalms are roughly arranged in an acrostic form (in the Hebrew language). After spending the first twelve verses praising God as the divine king, Psalm 9 concludes with an appeal to God to come to his people’s aid.
Our passage explained
v1-2
Psalm 9 opens with a declaration of praise to God for his wondrous deeds. David will sing praises to God “with [his] whole heart” (v.1) to indicate the depth of his praise. This praise is directed to God as his covenant God (“LORD”, v.1) and an exalted king (“Most High”, v.2).
v3-6
David then moves to praising God for his help. In verses 3 to 6, he describes how God intervenes on his side to cause his enemies to perish. He hopefully expresses confidence that God will intervene to cause his enemies to “turn back”, “stumble and perish” before God’s presence (v.3). This confidence is from God’s reign on his throne, giving righteous judgment (v.4). God rebukes the nations, causing the wicked to perish, and enemies to be so utterly defeated they are forgotten (vv.5-6).
v7-10
Compared to the enemies of the world who will be destroyed and forgotten, God’s reign is eternal. God sits “enthroned forever” (v.7) and unlike the nations he judges with both righteousness and uprightness (v.8). God does not oppress the righteous, but instead is a “stronghold in times of trouble” (v.9), providing support and protection to all who know his name, trust in him, and seek him (v.10).
v11-14
These truths cause David to pause and proclaim God’s praises again in verses 11 and 12. He calls on God’s people to sing praises to God who “sits enthroned in Zion” and “tell among the peoples his deeds” (v.11). God is faithful to remember the afflicted, and takes vengeance on those who take the lives of others (v.12). God’s praises ought to be sung to all the nations who do not believe, that they may know of God’s wonder and believe.
David then moves to a present distress, asking for God’s help. He asks God to “be gracious to me” and “see my affliction from those who hate me” which has led him figuratively to “the gates of death” (v.13). He asks this because he wants to praise God publicly in Jerusalem (the “daughter of Zion”) for his salvation (v.14).
v15-18
David turns his attention back to the nations, who he proclaims God will ensnare and judge. They will sink “in the pit that they made” (v.15) and similar phrases which indicate that their evil intentions for God’s people will become their own undoing. Verse 16 makes it clear this is God’s doing, as he makes himself known and executes judgment.
The evildoing nations who seek to hurt God’s people have forgotten God, and as a result their judgment will see them “return to Sheol” (v.17 the realm of the dead). However, God will not forget the poor and needy (often afflicted), and will not allow them to “perish forever” (v.18).
v19-20
Psalm 9 concludes with a call to God to rise up and vanquish his enemies. David asks that God would arise, and not let “men prevail” in leaving their wicked deeds unpunished, but instead that all the “nations be judged before you!” (v.19). The purpose of this judgment is to drive fear into the nations, that they would recognise they are but humans created by the divine King who is their judge (v.20).
Our passage applied
The praise sung to God in these passages reflects both God’s nature, and God’s acts which flow from his nature. God is described as righteous, faithful, and concerned for those who are afflicted, poor, and needy. These attributes are reflected in the way God acts; to judge the unrighteous, provide protection and help for those who trust in him, and vanquish the enemies of God’s people.
When we sing praise to God, we are also praising both his nature and his deeds. We are thanking God for his goodness, and the way that he expresses that goodness to us. We praise God for his eternal reign, and that he promises to judge the wicked and vindicate his people.
Because of God’s goodness, his promises, and the evidence of his help in ages past, we too can ask God to help us when enemies attack. God promises to preserve his people and deliver them from their enemies. God will do so for us too. Though enemies may seek to kill us and steal us from God’s grasp, God will judge them and preserve us, even from our last enemy – death.
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