Chapter Nine

The inscription “at the death of Labenu” remains unexplained to the present day. It can be supposed that it indicates the manner or motif of the chanting of the psalm after the pattern of a song beginning with these words and not preserved until later times. The psalm is acrostic, beginning each verse with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, though not always in strict sequence and accordance with the true order. In the Hebrew Bible this psalm is divided into two: the ninth psalm of the Russian Bible ends in the Hebrew at verse 21, and from verse 22 there begins already Psalm 10, also acrostic. The Latin Bible follows the Hebrew order of division of the psalm, while the Greek and Slavic unite the Hebrew Psalms 9 and 10 into one, the ninth. The absence of an inscription over Psalm 10 in the Hebrew Bible, the uniformity of the acrostic order, and the similarity of both psalms in the expression of thoughts give reason to conclude the unity of their author, David.

The psalm was written on the occasion of a victory achieved by David over the Syrians (first part of the psalm, verses 1-21) and an attack at that time on Judea in the southern part by the Idumaeans, who produced enormous devastations among the defenseless population, since the warriors were then in the north under the command of David in the struggle against the Syrians (see Vishnyakov “On the Origin of the Psalter,” pages 206-210).

The first part of the psalm is thanksgiving and praise. David promises to praise God (verses 2-4), since He protected him from enemies and gave him strength to destroy their cities (verses 4-7). In this victory is manifested God’s judgment over the pagan nation in defense of the righteous one. Since God is eternal, the always oppressed righteous one will always find protection in Him (verses 8-11). For the help rendered, the One dwelling on Zion must be eternally praised (verses 12-13). May the Lord extend to David in future times the help which in the present war He has rendered; may all pagan nations forgetting God perish, may they in His dread judgment over them know that they are “mortal” (verses 14-21). The second half of the psalm has the character of petition. Why do You, Lord, give success to the wicked one, when he does not believe in Your providence on earth, is self-assured in his own power, and in his actions strives to cause as much harm as possible to the poor righteous one by cunning actions and ambushes? (verses 22-32). Rise up, Lord, in defense of the oppressed and punish the godlessness of the wicked (verses 33-34). You see how great are the sufferings of the righteous one; punish the wicked and thereby cause people to fear not man but Your righteous judgment (verses 35-39).

Psalm 9:2. I will praise You, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wondrous deeds. Psalm 9:3. I will rejoice and exult in You; I will sing praises to Your name, O Most High. “Tell of all Your wondrous deeds” means to sing of those victories which have been achieved by David over the Syrians with the help of God. “Exult in You” means to celebrate feasts in the name of God.

Psalm 9:5. for You have upheld my right and my cause; You have sat on the throne as the righteous judge. Psalm 9:6. You have rebuked the nations, destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever. The victory of David is an expression and execution of God’s judgment over the pagan Syrians. They, as wicked ones who do not honor the true God, have been rejected by Him and so weakened that they no longer had either cities or weapons (verse 6), and their political and military power was cast down for a long time (“You have blotted out their name forever and ever” (verse 6)).

Psalm 9:8. But the Lord abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, Psalm 9:9. and He will judge the world in righteousness; He will render judgment on the nations in uprightness. Psalm 9:10. And the Lord will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of distress; In the fact that God of David is the true God and eternal Judge of all nations lies the foundation of the faith of all oppressed righteous ones, that they will always find protection in Him. Probably, by the oppressed righteous one David understood the Hebrew nation, to whom he wished to instill his faith in God as their ever-present protector and sole defender.

Psalm 9:11. and those who know Your name will put their trust in You, for You, Lord, have not abandoned those who seek You. “Those who know God’s name.” To know God’s name means to recognize Him as the sole true God and to serve Him.

Psalm 9:12. Sing to the Lord, who dwells on Zion; declare among the peoples His deeds, God is called dwelling on Zion because there was found the Ark of the Covenant, where He always abided.

Psalm 9:13. for He inquires into bloodshed; He remembers them, does not forget the cry of the afflicted. God “inquires into bloodshed.” The wars of David were defensive; he led them under compulsion, when neighboring pagan nations made attacks on the borders of his state, shed the blood of his subjects, in defense of whom he rose up. This was also the case during the attack of the Syrians described in the psalm; the struggle against them was caused by their attacks.

Psalm 9:15. so that I may recount all Your praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in Your salvation. “In the gates of the daughter of Zion” means in the gates of the city of Jerusalem. Ordinarily the gates were the most visited place for the city’s inhabitants; hence to sing in the gates of the city means to sing loudly and openly.

Psalm 9:20. Rise up, O Lord, do not let man prevail; let the nations be judged before You. Psalm 9:21. Instill fear in them, Lord; let the nations know that they are mortal. “Rise up, Lord, do not let man prevail” means let the Lord be the sole arbiter of the fate of nations; let from Him alone, as the true Judge, depend their happiness or misery, and not from human artifice and military successes, which may belong even to the wicked. The dominion of the latter would appear to be the strengthening and spreading of wickedness on earth. Therefore David prays to God that by His certain special deeds He would show all the world that power over it belongs only to Him, and that all nations might know that they are “mortal,” from the Hebrew enosh—weak, powerless.

Psalm 9:22. Why do You stand far off, Lord, and hide Yourself in times of distress? The character of the psalm’s content is petitionary. Since the southern regions of Judea were at that time being devastated by the Idumaeans, and those living in these localities had no strength to fight them, because all those able to bear arms were in the north engaged in the struggle against the Syrians, they were defenseless. It is this helplessness that David portrays when he says that the Lord “stands” far from them, hides “His help.”

Psalm 9:25. In his arrogance the wicked despises the Lord: “He will not call him to account”; in all his scheming: “There is no God! As in the preceding verses, so in the following ones, David portrays the self-confidence of enemies in their victory and in impunity from the devastations they commit; the wicked says of God: “He will not call me to account,” the God of the Hebrews is not able to do anything to me now.

Psalm 9:27. He says in his heart: “I will not be shaken; throughout all generations no disaster will touch me”; The successes of the Idumaeans over the Hebrews instilled in them the confidence that now they will not be shaken, and “throughout all generations no disaster will touch them,” that is, the weakened Hebrews will not be able to recover for several generations from the harm done to them, and during this time the Idumaeans will retain the military and political advantage.

Psalm 9:29. He sits in ambush in the village, in hidden places he murders the innocent; his eyes watch in secret for the helpless; Psalm 9:30. he lurks in hiding like a lion in its den; he lurks to catch the poor; he catches the poor and drags them off in his net; Apart from the arrogance reaching the point of contempt for Jehovah, of which David spoke earlier (see Ps 9:25), enemies are distinguished by morally unclean methods of their actions: they are deceitful, false, and vindictive.

Psalm 9:32. He says in his heart: “God has forgotten; He hides His face and will never see. The enemy explains his success by the fact that “God has forgotten” the Hebrews and “will never see,” that He has turned away from the Hebrew nation and will no longer pour out His mercies upon it.

Psalm 9:33. Rise up, Lord, lift up Your hand, do not forget the afflicted. Psalm 9:34. Why does the wicked despise God, saying in his heart: “You will not call me to account”? Psalm 9:35. You see, for You observe affliction and agony, that You may take them into Your hands. To You the poor commend themselves; You are the helper of the orphan. David prays to God to rise in defense of the oppressed Hebrews to punish the arrogance of the enemy, confident that “You will not call me to account,” will not be able to protect Your oppressed and orphaned people committed to You.

Psalm 9:36. Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call him to account for his wickedness that will not be found out. “Break the arm” means to cast down the power; “so that his wickedness will not be found out” means that no trace will remain of him, that he, as an opponent of God, will be utterly destroyed.

Psalm 9:37. The Lord reigns forever; the nations vanish from His land. Psalm 9:38. Lord, You hear the desire of the afflicted; You strengthen their heart; You incline Your ear Psalm 9:39. to bring justice to the orphan and the oppressed, so that mortal man may no more inspire fear on earth. Since power over all the world belongs to God and He is the protector of the pious, David is confident that the Lord will destroy all pagan nations on earth, and of the partial fulfillment of this future David now prays to God: let the Lord hear the prayer of the afflicted Hebrews and protect them, and this protection will clearly show all people that they should fear only God and not man (“so that mortal man may no more inspire fear on earth”).