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Christianity

Psalms 9Thanksgiving for Justice

Summary

Psalm 9 gives thanks to God for defeating enemies and judging the world in righteousness. The LORD is praised as a refuge for the oppressed who never forgets the cry of the humble, while the nations that forget God sink into the pit they made. Psalms 9 and 10 together form an incomplete Hebrew acrostic, and the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate count them as one psalm, which shifts the numbering of later psalms in some Bibles.

Key verse

“The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.”

Psalms 9:9

Themes

  • Thanksgiving
  • God as Judge
  • Refuge for the Oppressed
  • Fall of the Proud

Text

1

I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.

2

I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.

3

When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.

4

For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.

5

Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.

6

O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.

7

But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.

8

And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.

9

The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

10

And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

11

Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.

12

When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.

13

Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:

14

That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.

15

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

16

The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.

17

The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

18

For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.

19

Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.

20

Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.

Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.

Across traditions

  • Judaism

    Tehillim 9 in the JPS 1917 Tanakh

    The JPS translation follows the Hebrew division into two psalms, as all Jewish Bibles do, and its verse numbers run one ahead because the heading counts as verse 1.

  • Christianity

    Psalm 10: Why Standest Thou Afar Off

    Psalm 10 continues the acrostic begun here and moves from thanksgiving to complaint about the arrogance of the wicked.

Questions about Psalms 9

Why is Psalm numbering different in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles?

The Septuagint and Vulgate join Psalms 9 and 10 into one, so from Psalm 10 to 147 their numbers usually run one behind the Hebrew and Protestant numbering. Many modern Catholic Bibles now follow the Hebrew.

What is Muthlabben in the title of Psalm 9?

It is an unclear musical or liturgical term, possibly naming a tune. Ancient translators and commentators read the words in several different ways.