Psalms 9King James Version
I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart. The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. They that know thy name will put their trust in thee. The needy shall not alway be forgotten.
The first half of a two-part acrostic psalm (9-10 together form one acrostic in the Hebrew). Psalm 9 is largely celebratory: David praises God who has judged his enemies, established his throne, and remembered the afflicted. The arc moves from personal testimony of God's past action to proclamation of his eternal reign to petition for mercy. Praise and prayer interweave.
God's throne is eternal and his judgment is already at work in history; therefore the afflicted can both praise him now and petition him for more.
verse: "The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble." God's character is defined by where he positions himself relative to power.
Superscription: 'To the chief Musician upon Muthlabben, A Psalm of David.' Muthlabben is obscure, possibly a tune name or instruction meaning 'on the death of the son.' The acrostic structure (alternate Hebrew letters through Ps 9 and 10) signals a carefully crafted literary composition, not a spontaneous cry.
David as speaker; God as judge and refuge; unnamed enemies and their nations who have been overthrown; the oppressed and afflicted as the beneficiaries of God's particular care.
Psalms 9-10 together form an acrostic poem split by tradition into two psalms. Psalm 9 witnesses to God's past action while Psalm 10 will lament his apparent absence. Together they capture the oscillation between experienced deliverance and apparent abandonment. Quoted and alluded to in early Christian doxological literature.
For when you need to remember that God has shown up before and that history contains real evidence of his care for the powerless. Bring specific memories when you pray this.
1[To the chief Musician upon Muthlabben, A Psalm of David.] I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.
2I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.
3When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.
4For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.
5Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.
6O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.
7But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.
8And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
9The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
10And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
11Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.
12When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.
13Have 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:
14That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.
15The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
16The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.
17The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
18For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.
19Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.
20Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.