David praises God for executing judgment, 1-10. He incites others to praise him, 11, 12. He prays that he may have cause to praise him, 13-20.
1 [To the Chief Musician upon Muthlabben. A Psalm of David.]
I will praise you, O LORD, with my whole heart./
I will show forth all your wonderful works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you./
I will sing praise to your name, O most High.
3 When my enemies are turned back,/
they shall fall and perish at your presence.
4 For you have maintained my right and my cause./
You sat on the throne judging right.
5 You have rebuked the heathen,/
you have destroyed the wicked,/
you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 O enemy, destructions have come to a perpetual end,/
and you have destroyed cities./
Their memorial has perished with them.
7 But the LORD shall endure forever./
He has 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 will also be a refuge for the oppressed,/
a refuge in times of trouble.
10 And those who know your name will put their trust in you,/
for you, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.
11 Sing praises to the LORD who dwells in Zion./
Declare among the people his doings.
12 When he makes inquisition for blood, he remembers them./
He does not forget the cry of the humble.
13 Have mercy upon me, O LORD./
Consider my trouble which I suffer from those who hate me,/
and lift me up from the gates of death,
14 So that I may show forth all your praise/
in the gates of the daughter of Zion./
I will rejoice in your salvation.
15 The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made./
In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.
16 The LORD is known by the judgment which he executes./
The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands./
[Higgaion. Selah.]
17 The wicked shall be turned into hell,/
and all the nations who forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten./
The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise, O LORD./
Do not let man prevail./
Let the heathen be judged in your sight.
20 Put them in fear, O LORD,/
so that the nations may know themselves to be but men./
[Selah.]
Matthew Henry Commentary - Psalms, Chapter 9[➚]
John Calvin's Chapter Summary:
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.