Psalms

Introduction
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PSALM 9^*

Thanksgiving for Victory and Prayer for Justice

1For the leader; according to Muth Labben.^* A psalm of David.

I

2I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart;

I will declare all your wondrous deeds.

3I will delight and rejoice in you;

I will sing hymns to your name, Most High.

4When my enemies turn back,

they stumble and perish before you.

II

5For you upheld my right and my cause,

seated on your throne, judging justly.

6You rebuked the nations, you destroyed the wicked;

their name you blotted out for all time.^a

7The enemies have been ruined forever;

you destroyed their cities;

their memory has perished.

III

8The LORD rules forever,

has set up his throne for judgment.

9It is he who judges the world with justice,^b

who judges the peoples with fairness.

10The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.^c

11Those who know your name trust in you;

you never forsake those who seek you, LORD.

IV

12Sing hymns to the LORD enthroned on Zion;

proclaim his deeds among the nations!

13For the avenger of bloodshed remembers,

does not forget the cry of the afflicted.^d

V

14Be gracious to me, LORD;

see how my foes afflict me!

You alone can raise me from the gates of death.^e

15Then I will declare all your praises,

sing joyously of your salvation

in the gates of daughter Zion.^*

VI

16The nations fall into the pit they dig;

in the snare they hide, their own foot is caught.

17^*The LORD is revealed in making judgments:

by the deeds they do the wicked are trapped.^f

Higgaion. Selah^*

VII

18To Sheol the wicked will depart,

all the nations that forget God.

19For the needy will never be forgotten,

nor will the hope of the afflicted ever fade.^g

20Arise, LORD, let no mortal prevail;

let the nations be judged in your presence.

21Strike them with terror, LORD;

show the nations they are only human.

Selah

* [Psalms 9–10] Ps 9 and Ps 10 in the Hebrew text have been transmitted as separate poems but they actually form a single acrostic poem and are so transmitted in the Greek and Latin tradition. Each verse of the two Psalms begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet (though several letters have no corresponding stanza). The Psalm states loosely connected themes: the rescue of the helpless poor from their enemies, God’s worldwide judgment and rule over the nations, the psalmist’s own concern for rescue (Ps 9:14–15).

* [9:1] Muth Labben: probably the melodic accompaniment of the Psalm, now lost.

* [9:15] Daughter Zion: an ancient Near Eastern city could sometimes be personified as a woman or a queen, the spouse of the god of the city.

* [9:17] The LORD is revealed in making judgments: God has so made the universe that the wicked are punished by the very actions they perform. Selah: see note on Ps 3:3.

a. [9:6] Jb 18:17.

b. [9:9] Ps 96:10; 98:9.

c. [9:10] Ps 37:39; Is 25:4.

d. [9:13] Jb 16:18.

e. [9:14] Wis 16:13.

f. [9:17] Ps 35:8; Sir 27:26.

g. [9:19] Prv 23:18.