TRV
Translation
King James Version
Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.
Complete Jewish Bible
You rebuked the nations, destroyed the wicked, blotted out their name forever and ever.
Berean Standard Bible
You have rebuked the nations; You have destroyed the wicked; You have erased their name forever and ever.
American Standard Version
Thou hast rebuked the nations, thou hast destroyed the wicked; Thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever.
World English Bible Messianic
You have rebuked the nations. You have destroyed the wicked. You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
Geneva Bible (1599)
Thou hast rebuked the heathen: thou hast destroyed the wicked: thou hast put out their name for euer and euer.
Young's Literal Translation
Thou hast rebuked nations, Thou hast destroyed the wicked, Their name Thou hast blotted out to the age and for ever.
See also
In the KJVVerse 14,027 of 31,102
Study This Verse
Commentary on Psalms 9 verses 1–10
1 ¶ To the chief Musician upon Muthlabben, A Psalm of David. I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.
3 When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.
4 For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.
5 Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.
6 O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.
7 But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.
8 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
9 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
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 Nabal, 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, Sa2 5:8. In these verses,
I. 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. Note, 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.
II. 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.
III. 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.
IV. 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.
V. 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.
VI. 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 (Psa 9:8): 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 (Psa 9:9): He will be a refuge for the oppressed, a high place, a strong place, for the oppressed, in times of trouble. It is the lot of God's people to be oppressed in this world and to have troublous times appointed to them. Perhaps God may not immediately appear for them as their deliverer and avenger; but, in the midst of their distresses, they may by faith flee to him as their refuge and may depend upon his power and promise for their safety, so that no real hurt shall be done them. 5. With the thoughts of that sweet satisfaction and repose of mind which those have that make God their refuge (Psa 9:10): "Those that know thy name will put their trust in thee, as I have done" (for the grace of God is the same in all the saints), "and then they will find, as I have found, that thou dost not forsake those that seek thee;" for the favour of God is the same towards all the saints. Note, (1.) The better God is known the more he is trusted. Those who know him to be a God of infinite wisdom will trust him further than they can see him (Job 35:14); those who know him to be a God of almighty power will trust him when creature-confidences fail and they have nothing else to trust to (Ch2 20:12); and those who know him to be a God of infinite grace and goodness will trust him though he slay them, Job 13:15. Those who know him to be a God of inviolable truth and faithfulness will rejoice in his word of promise, and rest upon that, though the performance be deferred and intermediate providences seem to contradict it. Those who know him to be the Father of spirits, and an everlasting Father, will trust him with their souls as their main care and trust in him at all times, even to the end. (2.) The more God is trusted the more he is sought unto. If we trust God we shall seek him by faithful and fervent prayer, and by a constant care to approve ourselves to him in the whole course of our conversations. (3.) God never did, nor ever will, disown or desert any that duly seek to him and trust in him. Though he afflict them, he will not leave them comfortless; though he seem to forsake them for a while, yet he will gather them with everlasting mercies.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–10. Public domain.
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Origen of AlexandriaAD 253
SELECTIONS FROM THE PSALMS 9:6
The expression “you have rebuked” indicates correction: “You have blotted out his name.” God blotted out the name Abram, making it Abraham, and Sarai, calling her Sarah, and Simon, naming him Peter. And thus it follows, the name of those are blotted out whom he has rebuked.… Observe, however, that it is not said, You have blotted out their names from the book of the living … but from the pledges that had been signed in the book of debtors or in the book of the dead among the household of the wicked; thus he inscribes the dead, and he registers their names on the earth. The Savior will inscribe the names of his disciples in the heavens.
John ChrysostomAD 407
COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 9:3
You see how he has no need of weapons—sword, bows, arrows; rather, those things are mentioned in more human fashion. After all, God has only to censure, and those destined for punishment perish.
Augustine of HippoAD 430
Exposition on Psalm 9
"You have rebuked the heathen, and the ungodly has perished" [Psalm 9:5]. We take this to be more suitably said to the Lord Jesus Christ, than said by Him. For who else has rebuked the heathen, and the ungodly perished, save He, who after that He ascended up into heaven, sent the Holy Ghost, that, filled by Him, the Apostles should preach the word of God with boldness, and freely reprove men's sins? At which rebuke the ungodly perished; because the ungodly was justified and was made godly. You have effaced their name for the world, and for the world's world. The name of the ungodly has been effaced. For they are not called ungodly who believe in the true God. Now their name is effaced "for the world," that is, as long as the course of the temporal world endures. "And for the world's world." What is "the world's world," but that whose image and shadow, as it were, this world possesses? For the change of seasons succeeding one another, while the moon is on the wane, and again on the increase, while the sun each year returns to his quarter, while spring, or summer, or autumn, or winter passes away only to return, is in some sort an imitation of eternity. But this world's world is that which abides in immutable eternity. As a verse in the mind, and a verse in the voice, the former is understood, the latter heard; and the former fashions the latter; and hence the former works in art and abides, the latter sounds in the air and passes away. So the fashion of this changeable world is defined by that world unchangeable which is called the world's world. And hence the one abides in the art, that is, in the Wisdom and Power of God: but the other is made to pass in the governance of creation. If after all it be not a repetition, so that after it was said "for the world," lest it should be understood of this world that passes away, it were added "for the world's world." For in the Greek copies it is thus, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος Which the Latins have for the most rendered, not, "for the world, and for the world's world;" but, "for ever, and for the world's world," that in the words "for the world's world." the, words "for ever," should be explained. "The name," then, "of the ungodly You have effaced for ever," for from henceforth the ungodly shall never be. And if their name be not prolonged unto this world, much less unto the world's world.
CassiodorusAD 585
EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 9:6
From here on, the most sacred second advent of the Lord is explained, when unbelieving nations will be rebuked and the devil with his schemes will perish forever. For when the Lord is present, all things will be peaceful, and the devil’s feisty depravity will no longer remain.… The word forever indicates the Lord’s coming kingdom which will not end in any age or time.… Therefore let the heretics stop saying that at some point the devil and his followers can be summoned back to grace, since they hear so clearly that they will be condemned “forever and ever” so that not even a trace of their name is able to remain.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Psalms 9:5 powerfully declares God's decisive and irreversible judgment against those who oppose His divine will and people. It celebrates the Lord's righteous indignation and active intervention in human affairs, asserting His sovereign authority to rebuke and utterly destroy the wicked, ensuring that their name, legacy, and influence are completely eradicated for all eternity. This verse serves as both a profound assurance of divine justice for the oppressed and a stark warning to the unrighteous.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Psalms 9:5 employs several potent literary devices to convey its message of divine judgment with forceful clarity. The verse primarily utilizes Synonymous Parallelism, where the three clauses—"Thou hast rebuked the heathen," "thou hast destroyed the wicked," and "thou hast put out their name for ever and ever"—express the same fundamental idea of God's decisive judgment. This repetition reinforces and intensifies the concept of the total annihilation of the wicked. The phrase "put out their name for ever and ever" is a powerful example of Figurative Language and Hyperbole, emphasizing the absolute and permanent nature of this judgment, rather than a literal erasure from all historical records. It signifies a complete cessation of their influence, memory, and legacy. Furthermore, the depiction of God actively "rebuking" and "destroying" uses Anthropomorphism, attributing human actions and emotions (like chiding or destroying) to God to help the human mind grasp His immense power and direct involvement in the affairs of the world.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
This verse profoundly articulates a core biblical truth: God is a righteous and just Judge who actively intervenes in the world to uphold His moral order. His judgment is not arbitrary but a necessary response to unrepentant wickedness, oppression, and rebellion against His sovereignty. For the oppressed, this serves as an immense source of comfort and assurance, knowing that their cries for justice are heard and that ultimate vindication rests with God. For the wicked, it is a sobering warning of the inevitable and permanent consequences of defying the Creator. This theme of divine judgment and the blotting out of the wicked's name resonates throughout Scripture, affirming God's faithfulness to His promises of justice and demonstrating His unwavering commitment to righteousness.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Psalms 9:5 offers both profound comfort and a solemn warning. For those who trust in God, it reinforces the unwavering truth that God is on His throne, actively engaged in the affairs of humanity, and will ultimately bring perfect justice to bear. This provides immense solace when faced with the apparent triumph of evil or the lingering presence of injustice in the world, reminding us that God sees, God acts, and God will prevail. It encourages us to persevere in righteousness, knowing that while evil may seem to flourish temporarily, its end is certain and complete. Conversely, for those who live in rebellion against God, this verse serves as a stark reminder of the severe and eternal consequences of persistent wickedness. It calls all to repentance and faith, urging a turning away from paths of unrighteousness towards the life and forgiveness offered by God. Ultimately, understanding God's definitive judgment should inspire us to live lives that honor Him, pursue justice, and place our hope in His ultimate triumph, striving to be counted among the righteous whose names are eternally preserved in His memory.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Does "heathen" refer to all non-Israelites, or specifically hostile nations?
Answer: While "heathen" (Hebrew: goyim) can broadly refer to all non-Israelite nations, in the context of Psalms 9:5, it primarily refers to those nations or peoples who are actively hostile to God's covenant people and His divine order. These are often characterized by idolatry, oppression, and a rejection of the one true God. The psalmist is not condemning all non-Israelites indiscriminately, but rather those who embody wickedness and stand in opposition to God's righteous rule, as seen in the broader context of Psalm 9. The emphasis is on their moral and spiritual opposition, not merely their ethnic origin.
How can a loving God "destroy the wicked" and "put out their name"?
Answer: This verse highlights God's holiness and justice, which are as fundamental to His character as His love. God's love does not negate His righteousness; in fact, His love for justice and for the oppressed necessitates His judgment against unrepentant wickedness. While God is patient and offers opportunities for repentance, unrepentant evil must ultimately face His judgment to uphold the moral order of the universe. This ensures that justice is served for the oppressed and that evil does not have the final word. It demonstrates that God is not indifferent to sin but is perfectly just in His dealings, as emphasized in Psalm 7:11. His judgment is an act of divine fidelity to His own character and His creation.
What is the significance of "for ever and ever" in relation to the wicked's name being put out?
Answer: The phrase "for ever and ever" (Hebrew: l'olam va'ed) emphasizes the finality, permanence, and irreversibility of God's judgment. It means that the wicked will have no lasting legacy, no enduring memory, and no continuing influence in the world or in eternity. Their destruction is complete and absolute, contrasting sharply with the eternal remembrance and blessed legacy of the righteous, whose names are preserved and honored, as noted in Psalm 112:6. It underscores that their rebellion against God leads to an ultimate and perpetual oblivion, a complete erasure from the divine memory and the annals of redemptive history.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Psalms 9:5, with its declaration of God's decisive judgment against the wicked and the permanent blotting out of their name, finds its ultimate and most profound fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. While the Old Testament psalmist looked forward to God's intervention against earthly enemies, the New Testament reveals Jesus as the one appointed by the Father to be the ultimate Judge of all humanity (John 5:22). His first coming inaugurated the decisive defeat of the "wicked" powers of sin, death, and the devil, as He triumphed over them on the cross, disarming principalities and powers (Colossians 2:15). The "rebuking" and "destroying" of the wicked will culminate in Christ's glorious second coming, when He will return to establish His righteous kingdom fully, definitively crushing all opposition and bringing every knee to bow before Him (Revelation 19:11-16). The "putting out of their name for ever and ever" is vividly portrayed in the final judgment, where those whose names are not found written in the Book of Life will face eternal separation from God, a complete and permanent eradication of their legacy and presence in God's eternal kingdom. Conversely, for those who believe in Christ, their names are eternally secured in Him, written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, assuring them of an everlasting inheritance and remembrance in God's presence, a blessed contrast to the oblivion of the wicked.