Spurgeon, "We have here before us most evidently a triumphal hymn; may it strengthen the faith of the militant believer and stimulate the courage of the timid saint, as he sees here THE CONQUEROR, on whose vesture and thigh is the name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

1. PSALM 9 COMMETARY
Edited by Glenn Pease
PREFACE
I quote many authors both old and new, and if any I quote do not want their wisdom shared in
this way they can let me know and I will remove it. My e-mail is glenn_p86@yahoo.com
ITRODUCTIO
1. Henry, “The title of this psalm gives a very uncertain sound concerning the occasion of
penning it. It is upon Muth-labben, which some make to refer to the death of Goliath, others of
abal, others of Absalom; but I incline to think it signifies only some tone, or some musical
instrument, to which this psalm was intended to be sung; and that the enemies David is here
triumphing in the defeat of are the Philistines, and the other neighbouring nations that opposed
his settlement in the throne, whom he contested with and subdued in the beginning of his reign,
2Sa_5:8.
2. Jamison, “Psa_9:1-20. Upon Muthlabben, or, after the manner according to “death to the Son,”
by which some song was known, to whose air or melody the musician is directed to perform this
Psalm. This mode of denoting a song by some prominent word or words is still common (compare
Psa_22:1). The Psalmist praises God for deliverance from his enemies and celebrates the divine
government, for providing security to God’s people and punishment to the wicked. Thus
encouraging himself, he prays for new occasions to recount God’s mercies, and confident of His
continued judgment on the wicked and vindication of the oppressed, he implores a prompt and
efficient manifestation of the divine sovereignty. Heartfelt gratitude will find utterance.
3. Calvin, “David, after having recounted the former victories which he had gained, and exalted
in lofty strains the grace and power of God in their happy issue, now again, when he sees new
enemies and dangers rising up, implores the protection of the same God by whom he had before
been delivered, and beseeches him to overthrow the pride of his enemies.
To the chief musician Almuth Laben. A Psalm of David.
This inscription is variously explained. Some translate it, Upon the death of Laben, and are of
opinion that he was one of the chief captains of David’s enemies. Others are inclined to think it
was rather a fictitious name, and that Goliath is the person spoken of in this psalm. According to
others, it was a musical instrument. But to me it seems a more correct, or, at least, (as I am
accustomed to speak when the matter is obscure, a more probable opinion, that it was the
beginning of some well-known song, to the tune of which the psalm was composed. The disputes
of interpreters as to what victory David here celebrates, in my judgment, are unnecessary, and
serve no good purpose. In the first place, their opinion that it is a song of victory, in which David
simply gives thanks to God, is confuted, and shown to be erroneous from the scope of the psalm.
The greater part is indeed occupied in singing the praises of God, but the whole ought to be

2. considered as a prayer; in which, for the purpose of elevating his mind to confidence in God, he
calls to his remembrance, according to his usual manner, by what wonderful displays of the
power of God he had formerly been delivered from the violence and power of his enemies. It is
therefore a mistake to limit to one victory this thanksgiving, in which he intended to comprehend
many deliverances.
4. Spurgeon, “Title. To the Chief Musician upon Muth-labben, a Psalm of David. The meaning of
this title is very doubtful. It may refer to the tune to which the Psalm was to be sung, so Wilcocks
and others think; or it may refer to a musical instrument now unknown, but common in those
days; or it may have a reference to Ben, who is mentioned in 1Ch 15:18, as one of the Levitical
singers. If either of these conjectures should be correct, the title of Muth-Labben has no teaching
for us, except it is meant to show us how careful David was that in the worship of God, all things
should be done according to due order. From a considerable company of learned witnesses we
gather that the title will bear a meaning far more instructive, without being fancifully forced: it
signifies a Psalm concerning the death of the Son. The Chaldee has, concerning the death of the
Champion who went out between the camps, referring to Goliath of Gath, or some other
Philistine, on account of whose death many suppose this Psalm to have been written in after years
by David. Believing that out of a thousand guesses this is at least as consistent with the sense of
the Psalm as any other, we prefer it; and the more especially so because it enables us to refer it
mystically to the victory of the Son of God over the champion of evil, even to enemy of souls
(Psalms 9:6). We have here before us most evidently a triumphal hymn; may it strengthen the
faith of the militant believer and stimulate the courage of the timid saint, as he sees here THE
COQUEROR, on whose vesture and thigh is the name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
ORDER. Bonar remarks, The position of the Psalms in their relation to each other is often
remarkable. It is questioned whether the present arrangement of them was the order to which
they were given forth to Israel, or whether some later compiler, perhaps Ezra, was inspired to
attend to this matter, as well as to other points connected with the canon. Without attempting to
decide this point, it is enough to remark that we have proof that the order of the Psalms is as
ancient as the completing of the canon, and if so, it seems obvious that the Holy Spirit wished this
book to come down to us in its present order. We make these remarks, in order to invite attention
to the fact, that as the eighth caught up the last line of the seventh, this ninth Psalm opens with an
apparent reference to the eighth:
I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I
will be glad and rejoice in thee. (Compare Song of Solomon 1:4 Revelation 19:7) I will sing to
THY AME, O thou Most High. Psalms 1-2.
As if The ame, so highly praised in the former Psalm, were still ringing in the ear of the sweet
singer of Israel. And in Psalms 9:10, he returns to it, celebrating their confidence who know
that name as if its fragrance still breathed in the atmosphere around.
Division. The strain so continually changes, that it is difficult to give an outline of it methodically
arranged: we give the best we can make. From Psalms 9:1-6 is a song of jubilant thanksgiving;
from
Psalms 9:7-12, there is a continued declaration of faith as to the future. Prayer closes the first
great division of the Psalm in Psalms 9:13-14. The second portion of this triumphal ode, although
much shorter, is parallel in all its parts to the first portion, and is a sort of rehearsal of it.
Observe the song for past judgments, Psalms 9:15-16; the declaration of trust in future justice,
Psalms 9:17-18; and the closing prayer, Psalms 9:19-20. Let us celebrate the conquests of the
Redeemer as we read this Psalm, and it cannot but be a delightful task if the Holy Ghost be with

3. us.
5. Treasury of David, “Whole Psalm. We are to consider this song of praise, as I conceive, to be
the language of our great Advocate and Mediator, in the midst of the church giving thanks unto
God, and teaching us to anticipate by faith his great and final victory over all the adversaries of
our peace temporal and spiritual, with especial reference to his assertion of his royal dignity on
Zion, his holy mountain. The victory over the enemy, we find by the fourth verse, is again
ascribed to the decision of divine justice, and the award of a righteous judge, who has at length
resumed his tribunal. This renders it certain, that the claim preferred to the throne of the
Almighty, could proceed from the lips of none but our MELCHISEDEC. John Fry, B.A., 1842.
6. Constable, “The Septuagint translators combined Psalms 9 and 10 into one psalm even though
theare separate in the Hebrew text. Consequently from this psalm through Psalm 147 the
numbering of the psalms in the Roman Catholic versions of the Bible differs from the
numbering in the Protestant versions. The Roman Catholic versions follow the Septuagint
(Greek) and Vulgate (Latin) versions whereas the Protestant versions follow the Hebrew
Bible. Twice the Septuagint translators combined or renumbered two psalms into one
(Pss. 9 and 10 into 9, and Pss. 114 and 115 into 113), and twice they divided two psalms
into four (Ps. 116 into 114 and 115, and Ps. 147 into 146 and 147).
The Septuagint translators evidently combined Psalms 9 and 10 for two reasons. First,
together they complete a somewhat modified acrostic in which each verse (almost) begins
with the succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Second, the same unusual terms and
the same basic structure occur in both psalms suggesting that they may have been linked
originally (e.g., in times of trouble, 9:9 and 10:18; the nations, 9:5, 15, 17, 19-20 and
10:16; and a closing emphasis on man's mortality, 9:20 and 10:18). In spite of these
similarities the differences between Psalms 9 and 10 justify their separation. Each psalm
is complete in itself and has its own purpose. Psalm 9 is a positive song of thanksgiving
whereas Psalm 10 is a negative complaint and petition dealing with the godless. Both
psalms are individual laments.
David praised God for demonstrating His righteousness in judging wicked nations in
Psalm 9. He expressed gratitude that the afflicted can trust in such a Judge. He concluded
with a petition that the Lord would remove affliction from him so he could honor God by
thanking Him for His deliverance. He did not identify his enemy specifically, perhaps to
enable the Israelites to use this individual lament as a community lament.
In the title, the word Muth-labben (ASB) means The Death of the Son (IV),
which was evidently a tune name.”
Psalm 9[a][b] For the director of music. To the tune of
“The Death of the Son.” A psalm of David.

4. 1. I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
1. Barnes, “I will praise thee, O Lord - That is, in view of the merciful interpositions referred to
in the psalm Psa_9:3-5, and in view of the attributes of God’s character which had been displayed
on that occasion Psa_9:7-12.
With my whole heart - ot with divided affection, or with partial gratitude. He meant that all
his powers should be employed in this service; that he would give utterance to his feelings of
gratitude and adoration in the loftiest and purest manner possible.
I will show forth - I will recount or narrate - to wit, in this song of praise.
All thy marvelous works - All his works or doings fitted to excite admiration or wonder. The
reference here is particularly to what God had done which had given occasion to this psalm, but
still the psalmist designs undoubtedly to connect with this the purpose to give a general
expression of praise in view of all that God had done that was fitted to excite such feelings.
1B. Warren Wiersbe, “Psalm 9 is a great victory psalm. I will praise You, O Lord, with my
whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works (v. 1). otice the universals in that
verse--my whole heart and all Your marvelous works. I must confess that there are times
when I don't praise the Lord with my whole heart. At times I've stood in church with the
hymnbook in my hand, singing a great song of praise--but not with my whole heart. The best way
to have victory is to praise the Lord wholeheartedly.
Granted, there are times when it's hard to praise Him. Think of Paul and Silas in prison (Acts
16:16-34). They had been humiliated. Their rights had been stripped away from them. Their
bodies were hurting. Yet they were wholeheartedly praising the Lord. God can heal your broken
heart if you give Him all the pieces. He'll put it back together again and give you wholehearted
praise.
Don't praise God only about circumstances; praise Him for who He is. I will be glad and rejoice
in You (v. 2). Maybe you can't rejoice in your circumstances or in the way you feel. Maybe you
can't even rejoice in the plans that are made for today, but you always can rejoice in the Lord
(Phil. 4:4). You can rejoice in the Lord today because He is worthy of your praise. I will be glad
and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High (v. 2).
The thrust of this psalm is simply this: If your cause is right, God is on your side. He is on His
throne, and He is administering His world the way He wants to. David didn't quite understand all
that God was doing, but he knew that God knew what He was doing. So when your cause is right,
you can praise the Lord, even in the midst of apparent defeat. When God is on the throne,
everything turns out all right.
If your life is broken right now, be encouraged that God knows what is going on in your life and
will restore you. Until He does, rejoice in Him and praise His name.

5. 2. Clarke, “I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart - And it is only when the whole heart
is employed in the work that God can look upon it with acceptance.
I will show forth - אספרה asapperah, “I will number out, or reckon up;” a very difficult task,
נפלאותיך niphleotheycha, “thy miracles;” supernatural interventions of thy power and goodness.
He whose eye is attentive to the operation of God’s hand will find many of these. In the Vulgate
this Psalm begins with Confitebor tibi, Domine, “I will confess unto thee, O Lord,” which my old
MS. above quoted translates thus: I sal schrife Lard, til the, in al my hert, I sal tel al twi wonders.
On which we find the following curious paraphrase: “Here the prophete spekes agaynes that
grucches with ese of il men: and the travel and anguis of gude men. I sal schrife til the Lard, that
is, I sal lufe the in al my hert, hally gederant it til thi luf: and gyfand na party tharof tyl errour,
na to covatyse: ne til fleschly luf. A vile errour it is that some men says, that God dose
unrightwisly in mani thinges in erthe: for tham thynk that tay sold noght be done. Als I hard say
noght lang sythem, of a man of religyon, and of grete fame, that qwen he was in tlle see, in poynte
to peryshe, he said tyl Gode: Lard thu dos unryghtwysly if thou sofyr us to perysch here. God
myght haf answered and said, My rightwysnes reches to sofer a beter man than thou ert to
perisse here: for I hope, had he ben a ryghtwyse man, he had noght sayd swa: for al ar
unryghtwyse, that hopes that any unrightwysnes may be in Godes wylle. Bot I sal luf the in al thi
workes; and tel al thy wonders; that is, bathe that er sene, and that ar noght sene; visibels and
invisibels.”
3. Gill, “ I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole, heart,.... This is what is called in the ew
Testament making melody in the heart, or singing with grace in the heart, Eph_5:19; and yet
does not signify mere mental singing, but vocal singing, the heart joining therein; for the word
here used for praise signifies to confess, to speak out, to declare openly the praises of God in the
public congregation, as David elsewhere determines to do, Psa_111:1; the heart ought to, be
engaged in every, part of divine service and worship, whether in preaching or in hearing, or in
prayer, or in singing of praise; and the whole heart also: sometimes God has nothing of the heart
in worship, it is removed far from, him, and gone after other objects; and sometimes it is divided
between God and the creature; hence the psalmist prays that God would unite his heart to fear
him, and then he should praise him with all his heart, with all that was within him, with all the
powers and faculties of his soul; see Psa_86:11. This phrase is not expressive of the perfection of
this duty, or of performing it in such manner as that there would be no imperfection in it, or sin
attending it; for good men fail in all their performances, and do nothing good without sin; hence
provision is made for the iniquities of holy things; but of the heartiness and sincerity of it; and in
such a sincere and upright manner the psalmist determines, in the strength of divine grace, to
praise the Lord;
I will show forth all thy marvellous works; such as the creation of all things out of nothing, and
the bringing them into the form and order in which they are by the word of God; and in which
there is such a display of the power and wisdom of God; and particularly the formation of man
out of the dust of the earth, in the image, and after the likeness of God; the sustentation of the
whole world of creatures in their being, the providential care of them all, the preservation of man
and beast; and especially the work of redemption: it is marvellous that God should think of
redeeming sinful men; that he should fix the scheme of it in the way he has; that he should pick
upon his own Son to be the Redeemer; that ungodly men, sinners, the chief of sinners, and
enemies, should be the persons redeemed; and that not all the individuals of human nature, but

6. some out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation: as also the work of grace, which is a new
creation, and more marvellous than the old; a regeneration, or a being born again, which is
astonishing to a natural man, who cannot conceive how this can be; a resurrection from the dead,
or a causing dry bones to live; a call of men out of darkness into marvellous light; and it is as
wondrous how this work is preserved amidst so many corruptions of the heart, temptations of
Satan, and snares of the world, as that it is; to which may be added the wonderful works yet to be
done, as the setting up of the kingdom of Christ, the destruction of antichrist, the resurrection of
the dead, the last judgment, and the eternal glory and happiness of the saints; and doubtless the
psalmist may have respect to the many victories which he, through the divine power, obtained
over his enemies; and particularly the marvellous one which was given him over Goliath with a
stone and sling: these the psalmist determined to make the subject of his song, to dwell and
enlarge upon, to show forth unto others, and to point out the glories, beauties, and excellency of
them: and when he says all of them, it must be understood of as many of them as were within
the compass of his knowledge, and of as much of them as he was acquainted with; for otherwise
the marvellous works of God are infinite and without number, Job_5:9.
4. Henry, “ David excites and engages himself to praise God for his mercies and the great things
he had of late done for him and his government, Psa_9:1, Psa_9:2. ote, 1. God expects suitable
returns of praise from those for whom he has done marvellous works. 2. If we would praise God
acceptably, we must praise him in sincerity, with our hearts, and not only with our lips, and be
lively and fervent in the duty, with our whole heart. 3. When we give thanks for some one
particular mercy we should take occasion thence to remember former mercies and so to show
forth all his marvellous works. 4. Holy joy is the life of thankful praise, as thankful praise is the
language of holy joy: I will be glad and rejoice in thee. 5. Whatever occurs to make us glad, our
joy must pass through it, and terminate in God only: I will be glad and rejoice in thee, not in the
gift so much as in the giver. 6. Joy and praise are properly expressed by singing psalms. 7. When
God has shown himself to be above the proud enemies of the church we must take occasion
thence to give glory to him as the Most High. 8. The triumphs of the Redeemer ought to be the
triumphs of the redeemed; see Rev_12:10; Rev_19:5; Rev_15:3, Rev_15:4.
5. KD, “First strophe of the Psalm, which is laid out in tetrastichs-the normative strophe-the
alphabetical form is carried out in the fullest possible way: we have four lines, each of which
begins with א. It is the prelude of the song. The poet rouses himself up to a joyful utterance of
Jahve's praise. With his whole heart (Psa_138:1), i.e., all his powers of mind and soul as centred
in his heart taking part in the act, will he thankfully and intelligently confess God, and declare
His wondrous acts which exceed human desire and comprehension (Psa_26:7); he will rejoice and
be glad in Jahve, as the ground of his rejoicing and as the sphere of his joy; and with voice and
with harp he will sing of the name of the Most High. עֶלְיוֹן is not an attributive of the name of God
(Hitz.: Thine exalted name), but, as it is everywhere from Gen_14:18-22 onward (e.g., Psa_97:9),
an attributive name of God. As an attributive to ` שִׁמְ one would expect to find .הָעֶלְיוֹ ן
6. Calvin, “I will praise the Lord. David begins the psalm in this way, to induce God to succor him
in the calamities with which he was now afflicted. As God continues his favor towards his own
people without intermission, all the good he has hitherto done to us should serve to inspire us
with confidence and hope, that he will be gracious and merciful to us in the time to come. There
is, indeed, in these words a profession of gratitude for the favors which he has received from
God; but, in remembering his past mercies, he encourages himself to expect succor and aid in
future emergencies; and by this means he opens the gate of prayer. The whole heart is taken for
an upright or sincere heart, which is opposed to a double heart. Thus he distinguishes himself not

7. only from gross hypocrites, who praise God only with their lips outwardly, without having their
hearts in any way affected, but also acknowledges that whatever he had hitherto done which was
commendable, proceeded entirely from the pure grace of God. Even irreligious men, I admit,
when they have obtained some memorable victory, are ashamed to defraud God of the praise
which is due to him; but we see that as soon as they have uttered a single expression in
acknowledgement of the assistance God has afforded them, they immediately begin to boast
loudly, and to sing triumphs in honor of their own valor, as if they were under no obligations
whatever to God. In short, it is a piece of pure mockery when they profess that their exploits have
been done by the help of God; for, after having made oblation to Him, they sacrifice to their own
counsels, skill, courage, and resources. Observe how the prophet Habakkuk, under the person of
one presumptuous king, wisely reproves the ambition which is common to all, (Habakkuk 1:16.)
Yea, we see that the famous generals of antiquity, who, upon returning victorious from some
battle, desired public and solemn thanksgivings to be decreed in their name to the gods, thought
of nothing less than of doing honor to their false deities; but only abused their names under a
false pretense, in order thereby to obtain an opportunity of indulging in vain boasting, that their
own superior prowess might be acknowledged. David, therefore, with good reason, affirms that
he is unlike the children of this world, whose hypocrisy or fraud is discovered by the wicked and
dishonest distribution which they make between God and themselves, arrogating to themselves
the greater part of the praise which they pretended to ascribe to God. He praised God with his
whole heart, which they did not; for certainly it is not praising God with the whole heart when a
mortal man dares to appropriate the smallest portion of the glory which God claims for himself.
God cannot bear with seeing his glory appropriated by the creature in even the smallest degree,
so intolerable to him is the sacrilegious arrogance of those who by praising themselves, obscure
his glory as far as they can.
I will tell of all thy marvellous works. Here David confirms what I have already said, that he does
not treat in this psalm of one victory or one deliverance only; for he proposes to himself in
general all the miracles which God had wrought in his behalf, as subjects of meditation. He
applies the term marvellous not to all the benefits which he had received from God, but to those
more signal and memorable deliverances in which was exhibited a bright and striking
manifestation of the divine power. God would have us to acknowledge him as the author of all our
blessings; but on some of his gifts he has engraven more evident marks in order the more
effectually to awaken our senses, which are otherwise as if asleep or dead. David’s language,
therefore, is an acknowledgement that he was preserved of God, not by ordinary means, but by
the special power of God, which was conspicuously displayed in this matter; inasmuch as he had
stretched forth his hand in a miraculous manner, and above the common and usual way.
7. Spurgeon, “With a holy resolution the songster begins his hymn;
I will praise thee, O Lord. It sometimes needs all our determination to face the foe, and bless the
Lord in the teeth of his enemies; vowing that whoever else may be silent we will bless his name;
here, however, the overthrow of the foe is viewed as complete, and the song flows with sacred
fulness of delight. It is our duty to praise the Lord; let us perform it as a privilege. Observe that
David's praise is all given to the Lord. Praise is to be offered to God alone; we may be grateful to
the intermediate agent, but our thanks must have long wings and mount aloft to heaven.
With my whole heart. Half heart is no heart.
I will show forth. There is true praise to the thankful telling forth to others of our heavenly
Father's dealings with us; this is one of the themes upon which the godly should speak often to
one another, and it will not be casting pearls before swine if we make even the ungodly hear of the

8. lovingkindness of the Lord to us.
All thy marvellous works. Gratitude for one mercy refreshes the memory as to thousands of
others. One silver link in the chain draws up a long series of tender remembrances. Here is
eternal work for us, for there can be no end to the showing forth of all his deeds of love. If we
consider our own sinfulness and nothingness, we must feel that every work of preservation,
forgiveness, conversion, deliverance, sanctification, etc., which the Lord has wrought for us, or in
us is a marvellous work. Even in heaven, divine lovingkindness will doubtless be as much a theme
of surprise as of rapture.
8. Treasury of David, “Verse 1. I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart. As a vessel by the
scent thereof tells what liquor is in it, so should our mouths smell continually of that mercy
wherewith our hearts have been refreshed: for we are called vessels of mercy. William Cowper,
1612.
Verse 1. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. The
words With my whole heart, serve at once to show the greatness of the deliverance wrought for
the psalmist, and to distinguish him from the hypocrites -- the coarser, who praise the Lord for
his goodness merely with the lips; and the more refined, who praise him with just half their heart,
while they secretly ascribe the deliverance more to themselves than to him. All thy wonders, the
marvellous tokens of thy grace. The psalmist shows by this term, he recognized them in all their
greatness. Where this is done, there the Lord is also praised with the whole heart. Half
heartedness, and the depreciation of divine grace, go hand in hand. The b is the b instrum. The
heart is the instrument of praise, the mouth only its organ. E.W. Hengstenberg.
Verse 1. (second clause). When we have received any special good thing from the Lord, it is well,
according as we have opportunities, to tell others of it. When the woman who had lost one of her
ten pieces of silver, found the missing portion of her money, she gathered her neighbours and her
friends together, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I had lost. We may
do the same; we may tell friends and relations that we have received such and such a blessing,
and that we trace it directly to the hand of God. Why have we not already done this? Is there a
lurking unbelief as to whether it really came from God; or are we ashamed to own it before those
who are perhaps accustomed to laugh at such things? Who knows so much of the marvellous
works of God as his own people; if they be silent, how can we expect the world to see what he has
done? Let us not be ashamed to glorify God, by telling what we know and feel he has done; let us
watch our opportunity to bring out distinctly the fact of his acting; let us feel delighted at having
an opportunity, from our own experience, of telling what must turn to his praise; and them that
honour God, God will honour in turn; if we be willing to talk of his deeds, he will give us enough
to talk about. P. B. Power, in I Wills of the Psalms.
Verse 1-2. I will confess unto thee, O Lord, with my whole heart, etc. Behold with what a flood of
the most sweet affections he says that he will confess, show forth, rejoice, be glad, and sing, being
filled with ecstasy! He does not simply say, I will confess, but, with my heart, and with my whole
heart. or does he propose to speak simply of works, but of the marvellous works of God,
and of all those works. Thus his spirit (like John in the womb) exults and rejoices in God his
Saviour, who has done great things for him, and those marvellous things which follow. In which
words are opened the subject of this Psalm: that is, that he therein sings the marvellous works of
God. And these works are wonderful, because he converts, by those who are nothing, those who
have all things, and, by the ALMUTH who live in hidden faith, and are dead to the world, he
humbles those who flourish in glory, and are looked upon in the world. Thus accomplishing such
mighty things without force, without arms, without labour, by the cross only and blood. But how

9. will his saying, that he will show forth all his marvellous works, agree with that of Job 9:10,
which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number? For, who can
show forth all the marvellous works of God? We may say, therefore, that these things are spoken
in that excess of feeling in which he said, (Psalms 6:6), I will water my couch with my tears.
That is, he hath such an ardent desire to speak of the wonderful works of God, that, as far as his
wishes are concerned, he would set the all forth, though he could not do it, for love has neither
bounds nor end: and, as Paul saith (1Co 13:7), Love beareth all things, believeth all things,
hopeth all things; hence it can do all things, and does do all things, for God looketh at the heart
and spirit. Martin Luther.
2. I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.
1. Barnes, “I will be glad - I will rejoice, and will express my joy.
And rejoice in thee - I will exult; I will triumph. That is, he would express his joy in God - in
knowing that there was such a Being; in all that he had done for him; in all the evidences of his
favor and friendship.
Will sing praise to thy name - To thee; the name often being put for the person.
O thou Most High - Thou who art supreme - the God over all. See the notes at Psa_7:17.
2. Clarke, “I will be glad and rejoice in thee - I am glad that thou hast heard my prayer, and
showed me mercy; and I will rejoice in thee, in having thee as my portion, dwelling and working
in my heart.
3. Gill, “I will be glad and rejoice in thee,.... ot in himself, in any attainments or works of his;
not in his wisdom, riches, and strength, nor in his warlike exploits, but in the Lord; not in second
causes, in horses and chariots, in armies, and in the courage and valour of men, but in God, as
the author of deliverance, victory, and salvation; not in God only as the God of nature and
providence, but as the God of all grace, and as his covenant God and Father; and because of the
blessings of this covenant, as forgiveness of sin, a justifying righteousness, c. for he rejoiced not
in his own righteousness, but in the righteousness of Christ, as well as in his person, grace, and
sacrifice; so the Chaldee paraphrase renders it, I will be glad and rejoice, במימרך , in thy
Word, the Logos, the essential Word of God, of whom there were many types, promises, and
prophecies in the former dispensation; two words being here used express the greatness of this
joy, and especially the latter word denotes a very vehement joy, a joy unspeakable and full of
glory; such as arises from a sight of Christ the object, and which the psalmist had now in view;
and this was not a carnal and worldly joy, but joy in the Holy Ghost;
I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High; that is, to the glory of his name, his being, and
perfections, as displayed in his marvellous works, and in the revelation of his word, and
especially in his son; and under the character of the most high God, the supreme Being over all
creatures, angels and men; see Psa_7:17.

10. 4. Calvin, “I will rejoice and exult in thee. Observe how the faithful praise God sincerely and
without hypocrisy, when they do not rest on themselves for happiness, and are not intoxicated
with foolish and carnal presumption, but rejoice in God alone; which is nothing else than to seek
the matter of their joy from the favor of God, and from no other source, since in it perfect
happiness consists. I will rejoice in thee We ought to consider how great is the difference and
opposition between the character of the joy which men endeavor to find in themselves, and the
character of the joy which they seek in God. David, the more forcibly to express how he
renounces every thing which may keep hold of or occupy him with vain delight, adds the word
exult, by which he means that he finds in God a full and an overflowing abundance of joy, so that
he is not under the necessity of seeking even the smallest drop in any other quarter. Moreover, it
is of importance to remember what I have previously observed, that David sets before himself the
testimonies of the divine goodness which he had formerly experienced, in order to encourage
himself with the more alacrity to lay open his heart to God, and to present his prayers before
him. He who begins his prayer by affirming that God is the great source and object of his joy,
fortifies himself before-hand with the strongest confidence, in presenting his supplications to the
hearer of prayer.
5. Spurgeon, “Gladness and joy are the appropriate spirit in which to praise the goodness of the
Lord. Birds extol the Creator in notes of overflowing joy, the cattle low forth his praise with
tumult of happiness, and the fish leap up in his worship with excess of delight. Moloch may be
worshipped with shrieks of pain, and Juggernaut may be honoured by dying groans and
inhuman yells, but he whose name is Love is best pleased with the holy mirth, and sanctified
gladness of his people. Daily rejoicing is an ornament to the Christian character, and a suitable
robe for God's choristers to wear. God loveth a cheerful giver, whether it be the gold of his purse
or the gold of his mouth which he presents upon his altar.
I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High. Songs are the fitting expression of inward
thankfulness, and it were well if we indulge ourselves and honoured our Lord with more of them.
Mr. B. P. Power has well said, The sailors give a cheery cry as they weigh anchor, the
ploughman whistles in the morning as he drives his team; the milkmaid sings her rustic song as
she sets about her early task; when soldiers are leaving friends behind them, they do not march
out to the tune of the `Dead March in Saul,' but to the quick notes of some lively air. A praising
spirit would do for us all that their songs and music do for them; and if only we could determine
to praise the Lord, we should surmount many a difficulty which our low spirits never would have
been equal to, and we should do double the work which can be done if the heart be languid in its
beating, if we be crushed and trodden down in soul. As the evil spirit in Saul yielded in olden time
to the influence of the harp of the son of Jesse, so would the spirit of melancholy often take flight
from us, if only we would take up the song of praise.
3. My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you.

11. 1. Barnes, “When mine enemies are turned back - Who these enemies were, the psalmist does not
say. It is clear, however, as was remarked in the introduction, that the psalm was composed:
(a) in view of a victory which had been achieved over some formidable enemies; and
(b) in view of some dangers still impending from a similar source.
The literal meaning of the passage here is, “In the turning of my enemies back;” that is, in their
retreat, defeat, overthrow. So far as the Hebrew form of expression is concerned, this may either
refer to what had been done, or to what would be; and may imply either that they had been
turned back, or that the psalmist hoped and believed that they would be; for in either case the
fact would show the divine perfections, and give occasion for gratitude and praise. The verbs with
which this is connected - “they shall fall and perish” - are indeed in the Hebrew, as in our version,
in the future tense; but this does not necessarily determine the question whether the psalmist
refers to what had occurred or what would occur. His attitude is this: he contemplates his
enemies as mighty and formidable; he sees the danger which exists when such enemies surround
one; he looks at the interposition of God, and he sees that whenever it occurs it would be followed
by this consequence, that they would stumble and fall before him. But while this verse does not
determine the question whether he refers to what has been, or to what would be, the subsequent
verses Psa_9:4-6 seem to settle it, where he speaks as if this were already done, and as if God had
interposed in a remarkable manner in defeating his foes. I regard this, therefore, as a reflection
on what had occurred, and as expressing what was then actually a ground of praise and
thanksgiving.
They shall fall and perish - A general statement in view of what had occurred, meaning that
this would always be the case.
At thy presence - Before thee; that is, when thou dost manifest thyself. This was the reason why
they would stumble and fall, and is equivalent to saying, that “whenever mine enemies are turned
back, the reason why they stumble and fall is “thy presence.” It is the interposition of thy power.
It is not to be traced to the prowess of man that they thus turn back, and that they fall and
perish; it is to be traced to the fact that thou art present - that thou dost interpose.” It is thus an
acknowledgment of God as the author of the victory in all cases.
2. Clarke, “When mine enemies are turned back - It is a sure sign of a nearly approaching
complete conquest over sin, when, by resistance to its influences, it begins to lose its power. That
is the time to follow on to know the Lord.
3. Gill, “ When mine enemies are turned back,.... As the Philistines were, when Goliath their
champion was dead; and as the men that came to apprehend Christ, David's antitype, went
backwards and fell to the ground, through the superior power of Christ; and as sin, Satan, and
the world, and at last antichrist, are made to retreat from the Lord's people, who are more than
conquerors over them through Christ that has loved them. They shall fall and perish at thy
presence; they shall stumble at one thing or another which divine Providence will throw in their
way to hinder them from executing their designs, and so fall before them they meant to destroy,
and perish at the presence of God as wax melteth before the fire; see Psa_27:2; so antichrist shall
be consumed with the breath of Christ's mouth, and the brightness of his coming, 2Th_2:8; and
this is the ground and foundation of the psalmist's joy, and rejoicing, and singing praise to God

12. as it will be the reason of the joy of saints in the latter day, Rev_18:22.
4. Henry, “He acknowledges the almighty power of God as that which the strongest and stoutest
of his enemies were no way able to contest with or stand before, Psa_9:3. But, 1. They are forced
to turn back. Their policy and their courage fail them, so that they cannot, they dare not, push
forward in their enterprises, but retire with precipitation. 2. When once they turn back, they fall
and perish; even their retreat will be their ruin, and they will save themselves no more by flying
than by fighting. If Haman begin to fall before Mordecai, he is a lost man, and shall prevail no
more; see Est_6:13. 3. The presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power, are sufficient for the
destruction of his and his people's enemies. That is easily done which a man does with his very
presence; with that God confounds his enemies, such a presence has he. This was fulfilled when
our Lord Jesus, with one word, I am he, made his enemies to fall back at his presence (Joh_18:6)
and he could, at the same time, have made them perish. 4. When the enemies of God's church are
put to confusion we must ascribe their discomfiture to the power, not of instruments, but of his
presence, and give him all the glory.
5. KD, “The call upon himself to thanksgiving sounds forth, and the ב-strophe continues it by
expressing the ground of it. The preposition בְּ in this instance expresses both the time and the
reason together (as in Psa_76:10; 2Ch_28:6); in Latin it is recedentibus hostibus meis retro. אָחוֹר
serves to strengthen the notion of being driven back, as in Psa_56:10, cf. Psa_44:11; and just as,
in Latin, verbs compounded of re are strengthened by retro. In Psa_9:4 finite verbs take the place
of the infinitive construct; here we have futt. with a present signification, just as in 2Ch_16:7 we
find a praet. intended as perfect. For the rendering which Hitzig adopts: When mine enemies
retreat backwards, they stumble... is opposed both by the absence of any syntactic indication in
Psa_9:4 of an apodosis (cf. Psa_27:2); and also by the fact that יִכָּֽשְׁלוּ is well adapted to be a
continuation of the description of שׁוּב אָחוֹר (cf. Joh_18:6), but is tame as a principal clause to the
definitive clause בשוב אויבי אחור . Moreover, אָחוֹר does not signify backwards (which would rather
be אֲחרַֹנִּית Gen_9:23; 1Sa_4:18), but back, or into the rear. The מִן of ` מִפָּנֶי is the מִ ן of the cause,
whence the action proceeds. What is intended is God's angry countenance, the look of which sets
his enemies on fire as if they were fuel (Psa_21:10), in antithesis to God's countenance as beaming
with the light of His love. ow, while this is taking place, and because of its taking place, will be
sing praise to God. From Psa_9:2 we see that the Psalm is composed directly after the victory and
while the destructive consequences of it to the vanquished are still in operation. David sees in it
all an act of Jahve's judicial power. To execute any one's right, מִשְׁפָּט (Mic_7:9), to bring to an
issue any one's suit or lawful demand, דִּין (Psa_140:13), is equivalent to: to assist him and his
good cause in securing their right. The phrases are also used in a judicial sense without the suffix.
The genitive object after these principal words never denotes the person against whom, but the
person on whose behalf, the third party steps forward with his judicial authority. Jahve has
seated Himself upon His judgment-seat as a judge of righteousness (as in Jer_11:20), i.e., as a
judge whose judicial mode of procedure is righteousness, justice.....”
6. Calvin, “While my enemies are turned back. In these words he assigns the reason why he
undertakes to sing the praises of God, namely, because he acknowledges that his frequent
victories had been achieved, not by his own power, nor by the power of his soldiers, but by the
free favor of God. In the first part of the verse he narrates historically how his enemies were
discomfited or put to flight; and then he adds, what faith alone could enable him to say, that this
did not take place by the power of man or by chance, but because God fought for him, and stood
against them in the battle. He says, they fall, The idea implied in the verb כשל , cashal, is that of
stumbling, and it is here employed in a military sense. In Psalm 27:2, where it is said of David’s

13. enemies, “they stumbled and fell;” this is the verb used for stumbled. The idea there is not
properly that of falling, but of being wounded and weakened by the stumbling-blocks in the way,
previous to falling. The word כש ל , cashal, has been viewed as having the same meaning in the
passage before us. “It refers,” says Hammond, “to those that either faint in a march or are
wounded in a battle, or especially that in flight meet with galling traps in their way, and so are
galled and lamed, rendered unable to go forward, and so fall, and become liable to all the ill
chances of pursuits, and as here are overtaken and perish in the fall.” and are put to flight At Thy
Presence. David therefore acted wisely, when, upon seeing his enemies turn their backs, he lifted
up the eyes of his mind to God, in order to perceive that victory flowed to him from no other
source than from the secret and incomprehensible aid of God. And, doubtless, it is He only who
guides the simple by the spirit of wisdom, while he inflicts madness on the crafty, and strikes
them with amazement, — who inspires with courage the faint and timid, while he causes the
boldest to tremble with fear, — who restores to the feeble their strength, while he reduces the
strong to weakness, — who upholds the fainthearted by his power, while he makes the sword to
fall from the hands of the valiant; - and, finally, who brings the battle to a prosperous or
disastrous issue, just as he pleases. When, therefore, we see our enemies overthrown, we must
beware of limiting our view to what is visible to the eye of sense, like ungodly men, who, while
they see with their bodily eyes, are yet blind; but let us instantly call to our remembrance this
truth, that when our enemies turn back, they are put to flight by the presence of the Lord. “It is
the face of God which pursues them.” The verbs, fall and put to flight, in the Hebrew, are in the
future tense, but I have translated them in the present, because David anew presents to his own
view the goodness of God which had formerly been manifested towards him.
7. Spurgeon, “God's presence is evermore sufficient to work the defeat of our most furious foes,
and their ruin is so complete when the Lord takes them in hand, that even flight cannot save
them, they fall to rise no more when he pursues them. We must be careful, like David, to give all
the glory to him whose presence gives the victory. If we have here the exultings of our conquering
Captain, let us make the triumphs of the Redeemer the triumphs of the redeemed, and rejoice
with him at the total discomfiture of all his foes.
8. Treasury of David, “Verse 3. When mine enemies are turned back, etc. Were turned back,
repulsed, and put to flight. To render this in the present time, as our translators did, is certainly
improper; it destroys the coherence, and introduces obscurity. Ainsworth saw this, and rendered
in the past, When mine enemies turned backward. At thy presence. That is, by thine anger.
For as God's presence or face denotes his favour to such as fear and serve him, so it denotes his
anger towards the wicked. The face of Jehovah is against them that do evil. B. Boothroyd,
1824.
Verse 3. They shall fall and perish. It refers to those that either faint in a march, or are wounded
in a battle, or especially that in flight meet with galling haps in their way, and so are galled and
lamed, rendered unable to go forward, and so fall, and become liable to all the chances of
pursuits, and as here, are overtaken and perish in the fall. Henry Hammond, D.D.
4. For you have upheld my right and my cause,
sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.

14. 1. Barnes, “For thou hast maintained my right and my cause - My righteous cause; that is, when he was
unequally attacked. When his enemies came upon him in an unprovoked and cruel manner, God had
interposed and had defended his cause. This shows that the psalmist refers to something that had occurred
in the past; also that he regarded his cause as right - for the interposition of God in his behalf had
confirmed him in this belief.
Thou satest in the throne judging right - As if he had been seated on a bench of justice, and bad decided
on the merits of his cause before he interfered in his behalf. It was not the result of impulse, folly,
partiality, or favoritism; it was because he had, as a judge, considered the matter, and had decided that the
right was with the author of the psalm, and not with his enemies. As the result of that determination of the
case, he had interposed to vindicate him, and to overthrow his adversaries. Compare Psa_8:3-8.
2. Gill, “For thou hast maintained my right and my cause,.... Or vindicated and established his righteous
cause; God had pleaded and defended it, and by the flight, fall, and ruin of his enemies, had clearly made
it appear that his cause was just and good;
thou sittest in the throne judging right; God has not only a throne of grace on which he sits, and from
whence he distributes grace and mercy to his people, but he has a throne of judgment, and which is
prepared for it, as in Psa_9:7; where he sits as the Judge of all the earth, and will do right; nor can he do
otherwise, though his judgments are not always manifest in the present state of things; and the vindication
of the psalmist's innocence and uprightness is another reason of his joy and gladness.
3. Henry, “He gives to God the glory of his righteousness, in his appearing on his behalf (Psa_9:4): “Thou
hast maintained my right and my cause, that is, my righteous cause; when that came on, thou satest in the
throne, judging right.” Observe, 1. God sits in the throne of judgment. To him it belongs to decide
controversies, to determine appeals, to avenge the injured, and to punish the injurious; for he has said,
Vengeance is mine. 2. We are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth and that with him there
is no unrighteousness. Far be it from God that he should pervert justice. If there seem to us to be some
irregularity in the present decisions of Providence, yet these, instead of shaking our belief of God's justice,
may serve to strengthen our belief of the judgment to come, which will set all to-rights. 3. Whoever disown
and desert a just and injured cause, we may be sure that the righteous God will maintain it and plead it
with jealousy, and will never suffer it to be run down.
4. Calvin, “The Psalmist proceeds a step farther in the 4th verse, declaring that God stretched
forth his hand to give him succor, because he was unrighteously afflicted by his enemies. And
surely if we desire to be favored with the assistance of God, we ought to see to it that we fight
under his standard. David, therefore, calls him a judge of righteousness, or, which is the same
thing, a righteous judge; as if he had said, God has acted towards me according to his ordinary
manner and constant principle of acting, for it is his usual way to undertake the defense of good
causes. I am more inclined to render the words, Thou sittest a just judge, than to render them, O
just judge, thou sittest, because the form of expression, according to the first reading, is more
emphatic. The import of it is this: God at length has assumed the character of judge, and is gone
up into his judgment-seat to execute the office of judge. On this account he glories in having law
and right on his side, and declares that God was the maintainer of his right and cause. What
follows in the next verse, Thou hast destroyed [or discomfited,] the wicked, belongs also to the same
subject. When he beholds his enemies overthrown, he does not rejoice in their destruction,
considered simply in itself; but in condemning them on account of their unrighteousness, he says

15. that they have received the punishment which they deserved. Under the name of nations he
means, that it was not a small number of ungodly persons who were destroyed, but great armies,
yea, even all who had risen up against him from different quarters. And the goodness of God
shines forth the brighter in this, that, on account of the favor which he bare to one of his servants,
he spared not even whole nations. When he says, Thou hast blotted out their name for ever, it may
be understood as meaning, that they were destroyed without any hope of ever being able to rise
again, and devoted to everlasting shame. We could not otherwise discern how God buries the
name of the ungodly with themselves, did we not hear him declare that the memory of the
righteous shall be for ever blessed, (Proverbs 10:7.)
5. Spurgeon, “One of our nobility has for his motto, I will maintain it; but the Christian has a
better and more humble one, Thou hast maintained it. God and my right, are united by my
faith: while God lives my right shall never be taken from me. If we seek to maintain the cause
and honour of our Lord we may suffer reproach and misrepresentation, but it is a rich comfort to
remember that he who sits on the throne knows our hearts, and will not leave us to the ignorant
and ungenerous judgment of erring man.
5. You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the
wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
1. Barnes, “Thou hast rebuked the heathen - ot the pagan in general, or the nations at large, but
those who are particularly referred to in this psalm - those who are described as the enemies of
the writer and of God. On the word rendered “heathen” here - גוים gôyim - see the notes at
Psa_2:1. The word rebuke here does not mean, as it does usually with us, to chide with words, but
it means that he had done this by deeds; that is, by overcoming or vanquishing them. The
reference is, undoubtedly, to some of those nations with whom the writer had been at war, and
who were the enemies of himself and of God, and to some signal act of the divine interposition by
which they had been overcome, or in which the author of the psalm had gained a victory.
DeWette understands this as referring to “barbarians, foreigners, pagan?” David, in the course
of his life, was often in such circumstances as are here supposed, though to what particular event
he refers it would not be possible now to decide.
Thou hast destroyed the wicked - The Hebrew here is in the singular number - רשׁע râshâ‛ -
though it may be used collectively, and as synonymous with the word “heathen.” Compare
Isa_14:5; Psa_84:10; Psa_125:3. The Aramaic Paraphrase renders this, “Thou hast destroyed the
impious Goliath.” The reference is undoubtedly to the enemies meant by the word pagan, and the
writer speaks of them not only as pagan or foreigners, but as characterized by wickedness, which
was doubtless a correct description of their general character.
Thou hast put out their name forever and ever - As when a nation is conquered, and subdued;
when it is made a province of the conquering nation, and loses its own government, and its
distinct existence as a people, and its name is no more recorded among the kingdoms of the earth.
This is such language as would denote entire subjugation, and it is probably to some such event
that the psalmist refers. ations have often by conquest thus lost their independence and their

16. distinct existence, by becoming incorporated into others. To some such entire subjugation by
conquest the psalmist undoubtedly here refers.
2. Clarke, “Thou hast rebuked the heathen - We know not what this particularly refers to, but it
is most probably to the Canaanitish nations, which God destroyed from off the face of the earth;
hence it is said, Thou hast put out their name for ever and ever, לעולם ועד leolam vaed, endlessly.
Here עולם olam has its proper signification, without end. He who contends it means only a
limited time, let him tell us where the Hivites, Perizzites, Jebusites, etc., now dwell; and when it is
likely they are to be restored to Canaan.
3. Gill, “Thou hast rebuked the Heathen,.... The people of the Philistines, as the Targum and
Kimchi explain it, though some Jewish writers (a) understand it of Amalek the chief of the
Heathen nations; but it rather refers to Gospel times, and to the rebukes of the Heathen, by the
preaching of the Gospel, for their idolatry and superstition; and especially to the latter day, and
to the rebukes of the antichristian states, the Papists who are called Gentiles; which will be with
flames of fire, and will issue in their utter extirpation, upon which a profound peace and
prosperity will succeed in the Christian churches, according to Isa_2:4; which is a prophecy of
those times;
thou hast destroyed the wicked; the wicked man; for it is in the singular number, labben, as
Aben Ezra observes, or who is meant by him; Goliath, according to the Targum and Kimchi; or
Esau, as other Jewish writers (b), that is, his posterity the Edomites; and each of these were
figures of antichrist, the man of sin, the wicked one, whom Christ will slay with the breath of his
lips, Isa_11:4;
thou hast put out their name for ever and ever; that is, the glory and reputation of their name, a
good and honourable one, which they sought to transmit to the latest posterity; for though the
names of wicked men may continue, as Pharaoh, Judas, and others; yet they continue with a
scandal and reproach upon them that shall never be wiped off, their names rot and stink; see
Pro_10:7; the whole of this denotes the utter ruin and shameful end of the enemies of Christ and
his church, and which is matter of joy to the saints.
4. Henry, “He records, with joy, the triumphs of the God of heaven over all the powers of hell and
attends those triumphs with his praises, Psa_9:5. By three steps the power and justice of God had
proceeded against the heathen, and wicked people, who were enemies to the king God had lately
set up upon his holy hill of Zion. 1. He had checked them: “Thou hast rebuked the heathen, hast
given them real proofs of thy displeasure against them.” This he did before he destroyed them,
that they might take warning by the rebukes of Providence and so prevent their own destruction.
2. He had cut them off: Thou hast destroyed the wicked. The wicked are marked for destruction,
and some are made monuments of God's vindictive justice and destructive power in this world. 3.
He had buried them in oblivion and perpetual infamy, had put out their name for ever, that they
should never be remembered with any respect.
5. KD 5-6, “The strophe with ג, which is perhaps intended to represent ד and ה as well,
continues the confirmation of the cause for thanksgiving laid down in Psa_9:4. He does not
celebrate the judicial act of God on his behalf, which he has just experienced, alone, but in

17. connection with, and, as it were, as the sum of many others which have preceded it. If this is the
case, then in Psa_9:6 beside the Ammonites one may at the same time (with Hengstenb.) think of
the Amalekites (1Sa_8:12), who had been threatened since the time of Moses with a “blotting out
of their remembrance” (Exo_17:14; Deu_25:19, cf. um_24:20). The divine threatening is the
word of omnipotence which destroys in distinction from the word of omnipotence that creates.
רָשָׁ ע in close connection with גּוֹיִם is individualising, cf. Psa_9:18 with Psa_9:16, Psa_9:17. וָעֶד is a
sharpened pausal form for וָעַד , the Pathach going into a Segol ( קטן פתח ); perhaps it is in order to
avoid the threefold a-sound in לעולם ועד (ägelsbach §8 extr.). In Psa_9:7 הָאוֹיֵב (with Azla
legarme) appears to be a vocative. In that case נָתַשְׁתָּ ought also to be addressed to the enemy. But
if it be interpreted: “Thou hast destroyed thine own cities, their memorial is perished,”
destroyed, viz., at the challenge of Israel, then the thought is forced; and if we render it: “the
cities, which thou hast destroyed, perished is the remembrance of them,” i.e., one no longer
thinks of thine acts of conquest, then we have a thought that is in itself awkward and one that
finds no support in any of the numerous parallels which speak of a blotting out and leaving no
trace behind. But, moreover, in both these interpretations the fact that זִכְרָ ם is strengthened by
הֵמָּה is lost sight of, and the twofold masculine זִכְרָם הֵמָּה is referred to עָרִים (which is carelessly
done by most expositors), whereas עִיר , with but few exceptions, is feminine; consequently זכרם
המה , so far as this is not absolutely impossible, must be referred to the enemies themselves (cf.
Psa_34:17; Psa_109:15). האויב might more readily be nom. absol.: “the enemy - it is at end for
ever with his destructions,” but חָרְבָּה never has an active but always only a neuter signification;
or: “the enemy - ruins are finished for ever,” but the signification to be destroyed is more natural
for תָּמַם than to be completed, when it is used of ruinae. Moreover, in connection with both these
renderings the retrospective pronoun ( חָרְבוֹתָיו ) is wanting, and this is also the case with the
reading חֲרָבוֹת (lxx, Vulg., Syr.), which leaves it uncertain whose swords are meant. But why may
we not rather connect האויב at once with תַּמּוּ as subject? In other instances תַּמּוּ is also joined to a
singular collective subject, e.g., Isa_16:4; here it precedes, like הָארֵֹב in Jdg_20:37. חֳרָבוֹת לָנֶצַח is a
nominative of the product, corresponding to the factitive object with verbs of making: the
enemies are destroyed as ruins for ever, i.e., so that they are become ruins; or, more in accordance
with the accentuation: the enemy, destroyed as ruins are they for ever. With respect to what
follows the accentuation also contains hints worthy of our attention. It does not take נָתַשְׁתָּ (with
the regular Pathach by Athnach after Olewejored, vid., on Psa_2:7) as a relative clause, and
consequently does not require זכרם המה to be referred back to .ערים
We interpret the passage thus: and cities (viz., such as were hostile) thou hast destroyed ( נָתַשׁ
evellere, exstirpare), perished is their (the enemies') memorial. Thus it also now becomes
intelligible, why זִכְרָם , according to the rule Ges. §121, 3, is so remarkably strengthened by the
addition of הֵמָּה (cf. um_14:32; 1Sa_20:42; Pro_22:19; Pro_23:15; Eze_34:11). Hupfeld, whose
interpretation is exactly the same as ours, thinks it might perhaps be the enemies themselves and
the cities set over against one another. But the contrast follows in Psa_9:8 : their, even their
memorial is perished, while on the contrary Jahve endures for ever and is enthroned as judge.
This contrast also retrospectively gives support to the explanation, that זכרם refers not to the
cities, but to האויב as a collective. With this interpretation of Psa_9:7 we have no occasion to read
זִכְרָם מֵהֵמָּה (Targ.), nor זֵכֶר מֵהֵמָּה (Paul., Hitz.). The latter is strongly commended by Job_11:20, cf.
Jer_10:2; but still it is not quite admissible, since זֵכֶר here is not subjective (their own
remembrance) but objective (remembrance of them). But may not עָרִים perhaps here, as in
Psa_139:20, mean zealots = adversaries (from עִיר fervere, zelare)? We reply in the negative,
because the Psalm bears neither an Aramaising nor a orth Palestinian impress. Even in
connection with this meaning, the harshness of the ערים without any suffix would still remain.
But, that the cities that are, as it were, plucked up by the root are cities of the enemy, is evident
from the context.

18. 6. Spurgeon, “God rebukes before he destroys, but when he once comes to blows with the wicked
he ceases not until he has dashed them in pieces so small that their very name is forgotten, and
like a noisome snuff their remembrance is put out for ever and ever. How often the word thou
occurs in this and the former verse, to show us that the grateful strain mounts up directly to the
Lord as doth the smoke from the altar when the air is still. My soul send up all the music of all
thy powers to him who has been and is thy sure deliverance.
7. Treasury of David, “Verse 5. Thou hast rebuked the heathen, etc. -- Augustine applies all this
mystically, as is intimated (Psalms 9:1) that it should be applied, for, I will speak, saith he, of
all thy wonderful works; and what so wonderful as the turning of the spiritual enemy
backward, whether the devil, as when he said, Get thee behind me, Satan; or the old man,
which is turned backward when he is put off, and the new man put on? John Mayer.
6. Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,
you have uprooted their cities;
even the memory of them has perished.
1. Barnes, “O thou enemy! - This verse has been very variously rendered and explained. For an
examination of the particular views entertained of it, see particularly Rosenmuller, in loc. The
reference is doubtless to the enemies mentioned in the previous verses; and the idea is
substantially the same - that they were completely overcome and subdued. The phrase, “O thou
enemy,” is probably to be regarded as the nominative absolute. “The enemy - his destructions or
desolations are finished forever. He will now no more engage in that work.” The attention of the
writer is fixed on them, and on the fact that they will no more engage in the work of desolation. It
is not, therefore, properly to be regarded, as it is rendered in the common translation, as an
apostrophe to the enemy, but rather as indicating a state of mind in which the writer is
meditating on his foes, and on the fact that they would no more engage in the work in which they
had been occupied - of laying cities and towns in ruins.
Destructions are come to a perpetual end - That is, thy destructions are finished, completed,
accomplished. There are to be no more of them. This may either refer to their acts causing
destruction, or laying waste cities and towns, meaning that they would no more accomplish this
work; or to the destruction or ruins which they had caused in laying waste cities - the ruins which
marked their career - meaning that the number of such ruins was now complete, and that no
more would be added, for they them. selves were overthrown. The word rendered “destructions”
means properly desolations, waste places, ruins, and seem here to refer to the wastes or ruins
which the enemy had made; and the true idea is, that such desolations were now complete, or that
they would not be suffered to devastate anymore cities and fields. Prof. Alexander renders this,
“finished, completed are (his) ruins, desolations, forever; that is, he is ruined or made desolate
forever.”

19. And thou hast destroyed cities - That is, in thy desolating career. This, considered as an address
to the enemy, would seem to refer to the career of some victor who had Carried fire and sword
through the land, and whose course had been marked by smoking ruins. This was, however, now
at an end, for God had interposed, and had given the author of the psalm a victory ever his foe.
Prof. Alexander regards this, less properly, as an address to God, meaning that he had destroyed
the cities of the enemy. The idea is, rather, that this enemy had been distinguised for spreading
desolation and ruin, and that this career was now closed forever.
Their memorial is perished with them - The names of the cities, referring to their utter
destruction, and to the character of the warfare which had been waged. It had been utterly
barbarous and vicious; the enemy had left nothing to testify even what the city had been, and its
name had ceased to be mentioned. See the notes at Psa_9:5. This seems to be mentioned as a
justification of the warfare which the author of the psalm had waged against this enemy, and as
showing why God had interposed and had given him the victory.
2. Clarke, “Destructions are come to a perpetual end - Rather, “The enemy is desolated for ever;
for thou hast destroyed their cities, and their memory is perished with them.” Multitudes of the
cities of the Canaanites have perished so utterly that neither name nor vestige remains of them.
3. Gill, “O thou enemy,.... Which some understand of Goliath, though we do not read of any
desolations made by him, nor of any cities destroyed by him; nor by the Israelites upon his death,
and the flight of the Philistines on that account; Jarchi interprets it of Esau and his posterity, who
shall be destroyed in future time, to which he applies, Eze_35:9; other Jewish writers (c) think
Amalek is intended, whose destruction they suppose will be in the days of the Messiah, and then
will this Scripture be fulfilled: and as these all prefigured antichrist, as before observed, he seems
to be designed, and not Satan, as some Christian interpreters have thought, that enemy of Christ,
personal and mystical, of the church, and every true believer; and so is antichrist, he opposes
himself to God, and all that is called God; he is one that is contrary to Christ, as his name
signifies, to his persons, offices, grace, and kingdom; who blasphemes the name of God, his
tabernacle, and his saints;
destructions are come to a perpetual end; which may be understood either of the destructions
and desolations made by antichrist, the havoc he has made in the world, treading under foot the
holy city, the church, destroying the earth and the inhabitants of it, the bodies, souls, and estates
of men; but now the psalmist prophetically declares the end of them to be come, his forty two
months, or one thousand two hundred and sixty days or years, will be up, and he will go on no
more desolating and destroying; see Rev_11:2; or of the destructions and desolations made upon
him by the pouring out of the seven vials upon the antichristian states, upon the seat of the beast,
and upon both Pope and Turk, the eastern and western antichrist; when in the issue the beast,
and the false prophet with him, will be taken and cast alive into a lake of fire; see Rev_19:20; and
so this phrase denotes that the destruction of antichrist will be consummate, his ruin will be
complete, and there will be an utter end of him. Some, instead of desolations, by the change of
a point read חרהות , swords, and Ben Labrat or R. Donesh says (d) that he found it so written in
an ancient book; and so reads Jarchi, though he takes notice of the other reading also; and so
read the Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions; and then the sense is, swords shall
fail, they shall be no more made use of to destroy men with, they shall be beaten into
ploughshares; for upon the destruction of the man of sin there will be a profound peace in the

20. world; see Isa_2:4. Some (e) read these words interrogatively, are destructions come to a
perpetual end? that is, which the enemy antichrist designed to bring upon the people of God?
no, they are not; he may imagine they are, when the two witnesses are slain; and may think he
has then made an entire slaughter, and a complete destruction of the saints; but he will be
mistaken, these witnesses will rise again, and ascend up to heaven in the sight of their enemies,
and to the great terror of them, Rev_11:10;
and thou hast destroyed cities, or hast thou destroyed cities? that is, as antichrist threatened
and intended, namely, to destroy all the cities and churches of Christ; but, alas! he will never be
able to do it, they are built on a rock against which the gates of hell can never prevail: but it is
better to read the words affirmatively, and interpret them not of the enemy, but of God, and of
him destroying the cities of the enemy; for, at the pouring out the seventh and last vial, the great
city, the whole antichristian jurisdiction, will be divided into three parts, and utterly perish; and
the cities of the Pagan and Mahometan nations will fall, and particularly Babylon the great city
will come in remembrance before God, and be utterly destroyed, Rev_16:19;
their memorial is perished with them; they shall not be returned or built any more, but shall be
like a millstone cast into the sea, and be found no more at all, Eze_35:9. Some (f) read this clause
by way of interrogation as the others, is their memorial perished with them? no, the righteous
are in everlasting remembrance, even those churches which the Romish antichrist has made
havoc of, as the Albigenses and Waldenses; the memory of them is still precious.
4. Henry, “ He exults over the enemy whom God thus appears against (Psa_9:6): Thou hast
destroyed cities. Either, “Thou, O enemy! hast destroyed our cities, at least in intention and
imagination,” or “Thou, O God! hast destroyed their cities by the desolation brought upon their
country.” It may be taken either way; for the psalmist will have the enemy to know, 1. That their
destruction is just and that God was but reckoning with them for all the mischief which they had
done and designed against his people. The malicious and vexatious neighbours of Israel, as the
Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, and Syrians, had made incursions upon them (when
there was no king in Israel to fight their battles), had destroyed their cities and done what they
could to make their memorial perish with them. But now the wheel was turned upon them; their
destructions of Israel had come to a perpetual end; they shall now cease to spoil and must
themselves be spoiled, Isa_33:1. 2. That it is total and final, such a destruction as should make a
perpetual end of them, so that the very memorial of their cities should perish with them, So
devouring a thing is time, and much more such desolations do the righteous judgments of God
make upon sinners, that great and populous cities have been reduced to such ruins that their very
memorial has perished, and those who have sought them could not find where they stood; but we
look for a city that has stronger foundations.
5. Jamison, “Literally, “As to the enemy finished are his ruins for ever. Thou [God] hast
destroyed,” etc. (1Sa_15:3, 1Sa_15:7; 1Sa_27:8, 1Sa_27:9). The wicked are utterly undone. Their
ruins shall never be repaired.
6. Calvin, “O thou enemy, desolations are come to an end for ever. This sixth verse is explained in
different ways. Some read it interrogatively, viewing the letter ה, as a mark of interrogation, as if
David, addressing his discourse to his enemies, asked whether they had completed their work of
devastation, even as they had resolved to destroy every thing; for the verb תמם , tamam, signifies

21. sometimes to complete, and sometimes to put an end to any thing. And if we here take it in this
sense, David, in the language of sarcasm or irony, rebukes the foolish confidence of his enemies.
Others, reading the verse without any interrogation, make the irony still more evident, and think
that David describes, in these three verses, a twofold state of matters; that, in the first place,
(verse 6,) he introduces his enemies persecuting him with savage violence, and persevering with
determined obstinacy in their cruelty, so that it seemed to be their fixed purpose never to desist
until the kingdom of David should be utterly destroyed; and that, in the second place, (verses 7,
8) he represents God as seated on his judgment-seat, directly over against them, to repress their
outrageous attempts. If this sense is admitted, the copulative, in the beginning of the seventh
verse, which we have translated and, must be rendered by the adversative particle but, in this
way: Thou, O enemy, didst seek after nothing except slaughter and the destruction of cities; but,
at length, God has shown that he sits in heaven on his throne as judge, to put into proper order
the things which are in confusion on the earth. According to others, David gives thanks to God,
because, when the ungodly were fully determined to spread universal ruin around them, he put
an end to their devastations. Others understand the words in a more restricted sense, as meaning
that the desolations of the ungodly were completed, because God, in his just judgment, had made
to fall upon their own heads the calamities and ruin which they had devised against David.
According to others, David, in the 6th verse, complains that God had, for a long time, silently
suffered the miserable devastation of his people, so that the ungodly, being left unchecked, wasted
and destroyed all things according to their pleasure; and in the seventh verse, they think he
subjoins for his consolation that God, notwithstanding, presides over human affairs. I have no
objection to the view, that there is first described ironically how dreadful the power of the enemy
was, when they put forth their highest efforts; and next, that there is set in opposition to it the
judgment of God, which suddenly brought their proceedings to an abrupt termination, contrary
to their expectation. They anticipated no such issue; for we know that the ungodly, although they
may not presume openly to deprive God of his authority and dominion, yet run headlong to every
excess of wickedness, not less boldly than if he were bound with fetters. “Than if he were bound
hand and foot.” We have taken notice of an almost similar manner of speaking in a preceding
psalm, (Psalm 7:13)
This contrast between the power of the enemies of God and his people, and the work of God in
breaking up their proceedings, very well illustrates the wonderful character of the succor which
he granted to his people. The ungodly had set to themselves no limit in the work of doing
mischief, save in the utter destruction of all things, and at the commencement complete
destruction seemed to be at hand; but when things were in this state of confusion, God seasonably
made his appearance for the help of his people. As often, therefore, as nothing but destruction
presents itself to our view, to whatever side we may turn, let us remember to lift up our eyes to
the heavenly throne, whence God beholds all that is done here below. In the world our affairs
may have been brought to such an extremity, that there is no longer hope in regard to them; but
the shield with which we ought to repel all the temptations by which we are assailed is this, that
God, nevertheless, sits Judge in heaven. Yea, when he seems to take no notice of us, and does not
immediately remedy the evils which we suffer, it becomes us to realize by faith his secret
providence. The Psalmist says, in the first place, God sitteth for ever, by which he means, that
however high the violence of men may be carried, and although their fury may burst forth
without measure, they can never drag God from his seat. He farther means by this expression,
that it is impossible for God to abdicate the office and authority of judge; a truth which he
expresses more clearly in the second clause of the verse, He hath prepared his throne for
judgment, in which he declares that God reigns not only for the purpose of making his majesty
and glory surpassingly great, but also for the purpose of governing the world in righteousness.

22. 7. Spurgeon, “Here the Psalmist exults over the fallen foe. He bends as it were, over his prostrate
form, and insults his once vaunted strength. He plucks the boaster's song out of his mouth, and
sings it for him in derision. After this fashion doth our Glorious Redeemer ask of death, Where
is thy sting? and of the grave, Where is thy victory? The spoiler is spoiled, and he who made
captive is led into captivity himself. Let the daughters of Jerusalem go forth to meet their King,
and praise him with timbrel and harp.
7. The LORD reigns forever;
he has established his throne for judgment.
1. Barnes, “But the Lord shall endure for ever - Yahweh is eternal - always the same. Though
these cities have become desolate, and the enemy has been permitted to triumph, and nations and
people have passed away, yet God is ever the same, unaffected by these changes and desolations,
and in due time he will always interfere and vindicate his own character, and defend the
oppressed and the wronged.
He hath prepared his throne for judgment - See Psa_9:4. He sits as a just judge among the
nations, and he will see that right is done. The wicked, though temporarily prosperous, cannot
always triumph; and the righteous, though cast down and oppressed, cannot always remain thus,
for God, the just Judge, will rise in their defense and for their deliverance. The unchangeableness
of God, therefore, is at the same time the ground of confidence for the righteous, and the ground
of dread for the wicked. The eternal principles of right will ultimately triumph.
2. Clarke, “But the Lord shall endure - All things shall have an end but God and holy spirits.
3. Gill, “But the Lord shall endure for ever,.... When antichrist is entirely ruined, his cities
destroyed, and the memorial of them perished, then shall the Lord sit for ever (g), as the words
may be rendered; that is, as a Jewish writer (h) paraphrases them, in rest and quiet. The words
may be expressive of the unchangeableness and eternity and power of God; the Chaldee
paraphrase of them is, מימרא דיי , the Word of the Lord is for ever; his habitation is in the highest
heavens. And they may very well be interpreted of Christ, the essential Word of God, who is the
unchangeable, everlasting, and almighty God; and who sits King for ever, and must sit at God's
right hand, in the highest heavens, until all his enemies are made his footstool; and to him most
properly do the following things in this verse Psa_9:8 belong:
he hath prepared his throne for judgment; for the administration of judgment in this world, for
the particular judgment after death, and for the general judgment after the resurrection of the
dead; which seems by what follows to be chiefly meant, and which will come on after the
destruction of antichrist; and all things are preparing for it; the day is appointed in which God
will judge the world; Christ is ordained to be the Judge of quick and dead; devils and ungodly
men are reserved to the judgment of the great day; the throne is ready, which will be a white one,

23. Rev_20:11; denoting the purity, justice, and uprightness of the Judge, who himself is at the door.
4. Henry, “He comforts himself and others in God, and pleases himself with the thoughts of him.
1. With the thoughts of his eternity. On this earth we see nothing durable, even strong cities are
buried in rubbish and forgotten; but the Lord shall endure for ever, Psa_9:7. There is no change of
his being; his felicity, power, and perfection, are out of the reach of all the combined forces of hell
and earth; they may put an end to our liberties, our privileges, our lives, but our God is still the
same, and sits even upon the floods, unshaken, undisturbed, Psa_29:10; Psa_93:2. 2. With the
thoughts of his sovereignty both in government and judgment: He has prepared his throne, has
fixed it by his infinite wisdom, has fixed it by his immutable counsel. It is the great support and
comfort of good people, when the power of the church's enemies is threatening and the posture of
its affairs melancholy and perplexed, that God now rules the world and will shortly judge the
world. 3. With the thoughts of his justice and righteousness in all the administrations of his
government. He does all every day, he will do all at the last day, according to the eternal
unalterable rules of equity
5. KD, “Without a trace even of the remembrance of them the enemies are destroyed, while on
the other hand Jahve endureth for ever. This strophe is the continuation of the preceding with the
most intimate connection of contrast (just as the ב-strophe expresses the ground for what is said
in the preceding strophe). The verb יָשַׁ ב has not the general signification “to remain” here (like
עָמַד to endure), but just the same meaning as in Psa_29:10. Everything that is opposed to Him
comes to a terrible end, whereas He sits, or (which the fut. implies) abides, enthroned for ever,
and that as Judge: He hath prepared His throne for the purpose of judgment. This same God,
who has just given proof that He lives and reigns, will by and by judge the nations still more
comprehensively, strictly, and impartially. תֵּכֵ ל , a word exclusively poetic and always without the
article, signifies first (in distinction from אֶרֶץ the body of the earth and אֲדָמָה the covering or soil
of the earth) the fertile (from יָבַל ) surface of the globe, the οἰκουμένη. It is the last Judgment, of
which all preceding judgments are harbingers and pledges, that is intended. In later Psalms this
Davidic utterance concerning the future is repeated.
6. Spurgeon, “In the light of the past the future is not doubtful. Since the same Almighty God fills
the throne of power, we can with unhesitating confidence, exult in our security for all time to
come. The enduring existence and unchanging dominion of our Jehovah, are the firm foundations
of our joy. The enemy and his destructions shall come to a perpetual end, but God and his throne
shall endure for ever. The eternity of divine sovereignty yields unfailing consolation. By the
throne being prepared for judgment, are we not to understand the swiftness of divine justice. In
heaven's court suitors are not worn out with long delays. Term time lasts all the year round in the
court of King's Bench above. Thousands may come at once to the throne of the Judge of all the
earth, but neither plaintiff nor defendant shall have to complain that he is not prepared to give
their cause a fair hearing.
8. He rules the world in righteousness
and judges the peoples with equity.

24. 1. Barnes, “And he shall judge the world in righteousness - The word here rendered world means
properly the habitable earth; and then it denotes the inhabitants that dwell upon the earth. The
statement here is general, and is suggested by what is referred to in the previous verses. In the
particular case on which the psalm turns, God had manifested himself as a just Judge. He had
overthrown the enemies of himself and of truth; he had interposed in behalf of the righteous: and
from this fact the psalmist makes the natural and proper inference that this would be fouud to be
his character in regard to all the world; this indicated what, in all Iris dealings with men he
would always be found to be; this showed what he would be whenever he in any way pronounced
a judgment on mankind. It may be added here that this will be found to be true in the great final
judgment; that it will be in accordance with the principles of eternal justice.
He shall minister judgment - He will declare or pronounce judgment; he will execute the office
of judge. “To the people.” To all people; to the nations of the earth. This corresponds with what,
in the former part of the verse, is called the world; and the declaration is, that in his dealings
with the dwellers on the earth he will be guided by the strictest principles of justice.
In uprightness - In rectitude. He will not be influenced by partiality; he will show no
favoritism; he will not be bribed. He will do exact justice to all.
2. Clarke, “He shall judpe the world in righteousness - All the dispensations of God’s providence
are founded in righteousness and truth.
3. Gill, “And he shall judge the world in righteousness,.... The word תבל , rendered world, is, as
Ben Melech well observes, a general name for all the countries of the habitable world; and so
shows that it is the universal judgment that is here spoken of; and which will be carried on and
finished with the utmost righteousness, and according to the strictest rules of justice and equity;
and is therefore called the righteous judgment of God, Rom_2:5; see Psa_96:13;
he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness; which signifies the same with the former
clause, unless by the world there, should be meant the wicked of the world; and by the
people here, the people of God; to whom the righteous Judge will give the crown of
righteousness.
4. Henry, “He shall judge the world, all persons and all controversies, shall minister judgment to
the people (shall determine their lot both in this and in the future state) in righteousness and in
uprightness, so that there shall not be the least colour of exception against it. 4. With the thoughts
of that peculiar favour which God bears to his own people and the special protection which he
takes them under. The Lord, who endures for ever, is their everlasting strength and protection; he
that judges the world will be sure to judge for them, when at any time they are injured or
distressed..”
5. Calvin, “And he shall judge the world in righteousness. As David has just now testified, that the
power of God is not inactive, so that he dwells in heaven only indulging himself in pleasures; but
that it is a constantly operating power which he exercises in preserving his authority, and
governing the world in righteousness and equity; so in this verse he adds the use of this doctrine,
which is this, that the power of God is not shut up in heaven, but manifests itself in succouring

25. men. The true doctrine on this subject, is not, like Epicurus, to imagine that God is a being
wholly devoted to ease and pleasures, and who, satisfied with himself alone, has no care whatever
about mankind, but to place him on the throne of power and equity, so that we may be fully
persuaded, that although he does not immediately succor those who are unrighteously oppressed,
yet there is not a moment in which he ceases to take a deep interest in them. And when he seems
for a time to take no notice of things, the conclusion to which we should come most assuredly is,
not that he deserts his office, but that he wishes hereby to exercise the patience of his people, and
that, therefore, we should wait the issue in patience, and with tranquillity of mind. The
demonstrative pronoun He, in my opinion, is of great weight. The import of it is, as if David had
said, o one can deprive God of his office as Judge of the world, nor prevent him from extending
his judgments to all nations. Whence it follows, that he will much more be the judge of his own
people. David declares these judgments to be righteous, in order to induce us, when we are
unrighteously and cruelly molested, to ask assistance from God, in the confident expectation of
obtaining it; for since he judges the nations in righteousness, he will not suffer injustice and
oppression always to reign with impunity in the world, nor deny his aid to the innocent.
6. Spurgeon, “Whatever earthly courts may do, heaven's throne ministers judgment in
uprightness. Partiality and respect of persons are things unknown in the dealings of the Holy One
of Israel. How the prospect of appearing before the impartial tribunal of the Great King should
act as a check to us when tempted to sin, and as a comfort when we are slandered or oppressed.
7. Treasury of David, “Verse 8. He shall judge the world in righteousness. In this judgment tears
will not prevail, prayers will not be heard, promises will not be admitted, repentance will be too
late; and as for riches, honourable titles, sceptres, and diadems, these will profit much less; and
the inquisition shall be so curious and diligent, that not one light thought nor one idle word (not
repented of in the life past), shall be forgotten. For truth itself hath said, not in jest, but in
earnest, Of every idle word which men have spoken, they shall give an account in the day of
judgment. Oh, how many which now sin with great delight, yea, even with greediness (as if we
served a god of wood or of stone, which seeth nothing, or can do nothing), will be then astonished,
ashamed, and silent! Then shall the days of thy mirth be ended, and thou shalt be overwhelmed
with everlasting darkness; and instead of thy pleasures, thou shalt have everlasting torments.
Thomas Tymme.
Verse 8. He shall judge the world in righteousness. Even Paul, in his great address on Mars' Hill, a
thousand years after, could find no better words in which to teach the Athenians the doctrine of
the judgment day than the Septuagint rendering of this clause. William S. Plumer.
Verse 8. The guilty conscience cannot abide this day. The silly sheep, when she is taken, will not
bleat, but you may carry her and do what you will with her, and she will be subject; but the
swine, if she be once taken, she will roar and cry, and thinks she is never taken but to be slain. So
of all things the guilty conscience cannot abide to hear of this day, for they know that when they
hear of it, they hear of their own condemnation. I think if there were a general collection made
through the whole world that there might be no judgment day, then God would be so rich that
the world would go begging and be a waste wilderness. Then the covetous judge would bring
forth his bribes; then the crafty lawyer would fetch out his bags; the usurer would give his gain,
and a double thereof. But all the money in the world will not serve for our sin, but the judge must
answer his bribes, he that hath money must answer how he came by it, and just condemnation
must come upon every soul of them; then shall the sinner be ever dying and never dead, like the
salamander, that is ever in the fire and never consumed. Henry Smith.

26. 9. The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in
times of trouble.
1. Barnes, “The Lord also will be a refuge - Margin, an high place. The margin expresses the
more exact sense of the, Hebrew word - משׂגב miśgâb. It means properly height, altitude; then a
height, rock, crag; and then, as such localities, being inaccessible to an enemy, were sought in
times of danger as places of secure retreat, it comes to denote a place of security and refuge,
Psa_18:2; Psa_46:7, Psa_46:11; Psa_48:3; Psa_59:9, Psa_59:17; Psa_94:22. The declaration here
is equivalent to what is so often said, that God is a refuge, a rock, a high tower, a defense;
meaning, that those referred to might find safety in him. See the notes at Psa_18:2.
For the oppressed - literally, for those who are crushed, broken; hence, the dejected, afflicted,
unhappy - דך dak - from דכך mor dākak - to beat small; to break in pieces; to crush. The allusion
here is to those who are wronged or down-trodden; to the victims of tyranny and injustice. Such
may look to God to vindicate them and their cause, and they will not look in vain. Sooner or later
he will manifest himself as their protector and their helper. See Psa_9:12.
A refuge in times of trouble - ot only for the oppressed, but for all those who are in trouble.
Compare Psa_46:1. That is, all such may come to him with the assurance that he will be ready to
pity them in their sorrows, and to deliver them. The psalmist had found it so in his own case; and
he infers that it would be so in all cases, and that this might be regarded as the general character
of God.
2. Clarke, “A refuge - משגב misgab, a high place, where their enemies can neither reach nor see
them. He who has God for his portion has all safety in him.
3. Gill, “The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed,.... The poor and weak, such as have no
might nor power, and are thrown down and trampled upon, as the word (i) signifies; and such are
the people of God. They are oppressed with the burden of sin; they are bowed down with Satan
and his temptations; and are sometimes pressed out of measure, and above their strength, with
the persecutions of men; they are trodden under foot by antichrist, or otherwise are borne down
with a variety of sorrows and afflictions; but the Lord is a refuge for them. The Chaldee
paraphrase renders it as before, the Word of the Lord, the eternal Logos, the Son of God: he is
a refuge for poor sensible sinners, fleeing from wrath to come; being typified by the cities of
refuge, whither the manslayer fled from the avenger of blood: he is the strong hold for the
prisoners of hope to turn into; his name is a strong tower and place of defence for oppressed
saints; he is a refuge when all others fail, and at all times, in the day of affliction, and in the hour
of death, and at judgment;
a refuge in times of trouble; of which the saints have many, as when God hides his face, when
corruptions prevail, when grace is low in exercise, and temptations are strong, yet even then