Throne of Justice – Psalm 9

This is a psalm of praise for deliverance from enemies, with a request for continued deliverances from enemies who never cease to afflict.  Perhaps you have seen God deliver you from your enemies.  Maybe you can recognize an attack by Satan over which God has given you victory.  But the Devil will not stop attacking.  There is no rest from his oppression because he hates us and wants to pull us from our allegiance to Jesus.  Yet there is likewise no end to the enthronement of God and His judging of the world in righteousness.  He will always be our stronghold in times of trouble.  He will never forsake those who put their trust in Him to resist the Devil.  The needy and poor in spirit will be remembered by Him.

To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.  I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence.  For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.

You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever.  The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished.

But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.

The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.  And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion!  Tell among the peoples his deeds!  For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

Be gracious to me, O LORD!  See my affliction from those who hate me, O you who lift me up from the gates of death, that I may recount all your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in your salvation.

The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.  The LORD has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah

The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you!  Put them in fear, O LORD!  Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah  (Psalm 9 ESV)

Yahweh has given Israel, under David’s leadership, a decisive victory over her enemies, the nations around them.  He has done this because He is a righteous judge who cares when His people are oppressed, who sees when they are afflicted, and who responds to them when they trust Him and seek Him.  David praises Yahweh for this deliverance, and because there is and will be continued attacks, asks God to bring salvation to the gates of the daughter of Zion and to make the nations realize that as mere men they stand against the God of the universe, who has chosen Israel as His special possession.