Psalm 9:5

The heading gives the psalm “To the chief Musician”, the leader of the temple singing, so it was written for God’s people to sing together, most likely with instruments. “A Psalm of David” places it in David’s life, and it reads as the song of a king after a personal deliverance or a national victory, though the psalm leaves the occasion unnamed.

Psalm 9 is closely bound to Psalm 10. In Hebrew the two share an acrostic pattern, imperfect in the Masoretic Text, and ancient traditions often counted them as a single psalm. Both are concerned with God’s judgment on the wicked and his care for the oppressed.

“I will praise thee” uses yâdâh, which means to praise, give thanks or confess. Strong’s traces the word to holding out the hand and gives it the sense of worship with extended hands, so this praise has an outward side as well as an inward one. It is addressed to the LORD, Yᵉhôvâh, the covenant name of the God of Israel, the self-existent and eternal One.

The heart, lêb (a form of lêbâb), is the whole inner person in Scripture: mind, will, feelings and conscience together. To praise “with my whole heart” is to praise with all of that at once, sincerely and undivided. It is the worship that answers the great commandment to love the LORD with all the heart (Deuteronomy 6:5), which Jesus repeats (Luke 10:27).

The second half of the verse turns that praise outward. “Shew forth” is çâphar, which means to count or number, and in the form used here to recount, tell or declare. Its participle is the word for a scribe. Joined to “all”, it pictures David telling God’s wonders over one by one. “Marvellous works” comes from pâlâʼ, which Strong’s traces to separating or distinguishing, and so to being great, difficult or wonderful. These are deeds beyond human power: God’s works in creation, his deliverances of his people and his righteous judgments. In this psalm the wonders David has in mind are the ones verses 3 to 6 go on to tell. Psalm 105:1–2 makes the same call to give thanks to the LORD and make his deeds known, and telling them keeps faith alive and teaches the generations that follow.

So praise in this verse has two sides. It comes from an undivided heart, and it is spoken aloud so that others hear what God has done.

Verse 2 continues the vow with two more “I will”s. The joy is chosen and resolved, and it is joy “in thee”. The first verb, sâmach, means to rejoice or be glad, to feel and show great joy. The same word is used elsewhere of gloating and of forbidden joy, so what makes this gladness holy is its object, God himself. The second verb, ʻâlats, means to exult or triumph, and Strong’s describes it as jumping for joy. Side by side, the two make the joy full and outspoken. Paul gives the church the same object for its joy: “Rejoice in the Lord alway” (Philippians 4:4). David says elsewhere, “I will bless the LORD at all times” (Psalm 34:1).

“I will sing praise” is zâmar, to sing praise or make music in praise of God, to a set or an improvised tune, with instruments or without them. Strong’s connects it with touching the strings of an instrument. The joy of the heart comes out in song, as in the call to make a joyful noise to the LORD (Psalm 100:1–2) and the praise of God’s greatness in Psalm 145:1–3.

The song is sung “to thy name”. A name, shêm, marks a person out and carries his honour, authority and character. God’s name stands for all that he is and all he has made known of himself, so to praise his name is to praise him for who he is and for his acts of deliverance and justice.

David then calls God “most High”, ʻelyôwn. The word is an adjective meaning high or upper, and as a title of God it means the Most High. It is an ancient title. Melchizedek blessed Abram as priest of the most high God (Genesis 14:18–20), and here it belongs plainly to the LORD, the God of Israel, who is high above every earthly power and every other god (Psalm 97:9). His dominion is an everlasting dominion (Daniel 4:34–35). In a psalm about judgment the title matters, because the one we praise is above every ruler on earth, and justice comes from him.

Verse 3 begins the reasons for the praise. “When mine enemies are turned back” uses shûwb, the ordinary verb to turn back or return. The verb tells us that they turn, and the end of the verse tells us why. Having turned, “they shall fall and perish”. ʼâbad properly means to wander away or be lost, and so to perish, and in its causative form to destroy. It is used of lost asses and lost property, and here of enemies who come to ruin. “Fall” and “perish” together describe a defeat so complete that the enemy’s hostile power is over.

The cause is “thy presence”. The word is pânîym, face, plural in form and always used as a singular, and its senses of front and presence grow out of the face itself. The Hebrew phrase means “from before thy face”. David names no army and no strategy. He names God’s face, and God’s own presence is enough to undo those who stand against him. Israel saw this at the Red Sea, when God fought for his people (Exodus 14). There he troubled the Egyptian army (Exodus 14:25). The earth shakes at his presence in Psalm 18:7, and Nahum describes the same power and indignation (Nahum 1:5–6).

“Shall fall” speaks with certainty. David is so sure of God’s action that its outcome can be told as settled. God is a righteous judge (Psalm 7:11), and the psalm goes on to say that the LORD will judge the world in righteousness and be “a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble” (Psalm 9:7–10).

Verse 4 opens with “For” and gives the reason behind the enemies’ fall. “Thou hast maintained my right and my cause.” “Maintained” is ʻâsâh, the broad verb to do or make, so God has done David’s right and his cause. He has acted, and the case has come out just. “Cause” is dîyn, a legal case, plea or judgment, the whole of a dispute through to its verdict.

The picture is a court. In Israel justice was given by elders and judges at the city gate, and human courts could be slow, mistaken or corrupt, which made people long for a higher court of appeal. David knew both sides of that, as a king who judged and as a man wronged by powerful enemies such as Saul or Absalom. Here he has taken his case to the highest court, and God has ruled for him. Scripture promises that the LORD will vindicate his people (Deuteronomy 32:36).

“Thou satest in the throne judging right” shows the Judge. The throne is a king’s seat of judgment, and this one is God’s, which lasts for ever and is prepared for judgment (Psalm 9:7–10). “Right” in “judging right” is tsedeq, rightness, righteousness and justice, the word used of right conduct, right judgment, true speech and just weights. Literally God sits judging righteousness. His verdicts are true and fair because they come from his own upright character. Scripture says the same of the day he will judge the whole world with righteousness (Psalm 96:13), and it joins his judgment to his grace, for the LORD waits to be gracious (Isaiah 30:18).

The verbs look back. David praises a judgment God has already given, so his confidence about what is still to come rests on what he has seen God do.

Verse 5 tells three acts of God, each beginning “thou hast”. “Thou hast rebuked the heathen” uses gâʻar, to rebuke or scold. When God rebukes, his word takes effect, and in this verse destruction follows it. “The heathen” are the gôwy, the nations or gentile peoples, and in this psalm especially those hostile to Israel and to Israel’s God. He reigns over them all (Psalm 47:8).

“Thou hast destroyed the wicked” names the râshâʻ, those in the wrong, given to unrighteousness, oppression and rebellion against God. “Destroyed” is ʼâbad again, the same verb as “perish” in verse 3.

“Thou hast put out their name for ever and ever” goes furthest. “Put out” is mâchâh, to wipe, erase or blot out, joined to shêm, name. In Israel a name carried a person’s identity, reputation and family line, his legacy among those who came after. To have one’s name blotted out meant to be forgotten, with no descendants to carry it, and so it was the heaviest of judgments. The law warns of the LORD blotting out a name from under heaven (Deuteronomy 29:20).

“For ever and ever” joins ʻôwlâm and ʻad, and ʻad is a noun meaning perpetuity, unending time. The judgment is final. The wicked shall perish (Psalm 37:20), and Malachi speaks of the day of the LORD that comes upon them (Malachi 4:1). The righteous stand on the other side, because they are remembered for ever (Psalm 112:6).

In verse 6 David turns and speaks to the defeated foe: “O thou enemy”. The word, ʼôyêb, is a participle of the verb to be hostile and is the ordinary word for an enemy. Addressed like this, the line is a cry of triumph over him.

“Destructions are come to a perpetual end.” Chorbâh, which Strong’s traces to drought, means desolation, ruins and waste places, and the plural gathers up all the havoc the enemy has made. That havoc has come to an end that lasts. “Thou hast destroyed cities” owns the enemy’s real power, for he laid cities waste and brought ruin on many. “Their memorial is perished with them” tells where that power has ended. A memorial, zêker, from the verb to remember, is remembrance: a monument, a name handed down, a record of what someone was. Conquering kings of that day often tried to wipe out the memory of the peoples they defeated by destroying their cities, monuments and records. Here God does the same to the destroyer, and the enemy’s memory goes down with him.

The contrast is with the LORD, who endures for ever and is remembered in every generation (Psalm 102:12). He is the Judge who will judge the world in righteousness (Psalm 9:8), and Scripture ends with death and hell themselves cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14–15). This verse closes the account of victory, and the psalm turns next to the LORD’s everlasting throne and his judgment of the world.

The New Testament shows the fullness of these verses in Jesus Christ. David vowed to praise God with his whole heart, and the Son always did what pleased the Father (John 8:29) and gave himself as an offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:2). The marvellous works David told are crowned by God’s work in Christ: his coming in the flesh, his sinless life, his death on the cross and his resurrection, the clearest showing of God’s power, justice and love (John 3:16). Believers, whom Peter calls a chosen generation and a royal priesthood, now declare that work to the world (1 Peter 2:9).

The angel told Mary that her son would be called the Son of the Most High (Luke 1:32). All the fullness of God dwells in him (Colossians 1:19), so our joy in the Most High is joy in him, and our songs to God’s name are offered through the Son, at whose name every knee should bow (Philippians 2:8–11).

The presence that makes enemies perish shines in the Son, “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person” (Hebrews 1:3). By his cross he defeated sin, death and the devil, for he “spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:13–15). The cross looked like defeat to human eyes, and it was his triumph. Death has lost its sting: “O death, where is thy sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55). The enemy behind every enemy is Satan, the prince of this world, whom Jesus said would be cast out (John 12:31). Revelation shows him cast at last into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10). When Christ returns he will destroy the lawless one by the brightness of his coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8), riding out as the faithful and true judge on the white horse (Revelation 19:11–16).

Christ is also the one whose right and cause God maintained. He was condemned though innocent, and God vindicated him by raising him from the dead and exalting him to the throne. The Father has committed all judgment to the Son (John 5:22), and God has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man he has ordained (Acts 17:31). The Son’s throne is for ever and ever (Hebrews 1:8–9). The Judge on that throne is our advocate as well: “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).

The blotting out of names in verse 5 reaches its last form at the final judgment, where those whose names are missing from the book of life are cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14–15). Those who belong to Christ have their names written in the book of life of the Lamb (Revelation 13:8). Their remembrance is secure in God’s presence, where he will wipe away all tears (Revelation 21:4).

These verses give us a God worth praising with the whole heart. He is the Most High, above every ruler, and he is near enough to take up one man’s cause. His presence is enough to turn back every enemy. He sits on his throne judging right, and his judgments stand for ever, while the power of those who oppose him comes to a perpetual end.

They also give us the shape of praise. David begins with what God has already done and tells it over one by one, and his gladness rests in God himself. When the wicked prosper for a while and wrongs go unanswered, this psalm keeps its eyes on the throne, and with David we can sing that the LORD has maintained the right of his people and will judge the world in righteousness. His name will be remembered when every memorial of evil has perished.