Psalms
Chapter 9
God, Refuge of the Oppressed
Let my heart give thanks to the Lord, I yearn to proclaim your marvelous deeds,
and rejoice and exult in you; and sing praise to your name, O Most High.
For my enemies fell back in retreat, they stumbled and perished before you.
You have upheld my right and my cause, you have sentenced from your throne, O just judge.
You have turned back the nations; you have destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their names forever.
H 7Your enemies lay in endless ruin, their cities trampled, their memory perished.
But the Lord reigns forever, having set up his throne for judgment.
He will judge the nations with justice and govern the peoples in righteousness.
The Lord is a rampart for the oppressed, a refuge in times of distress.
Those who cherish your name, O Lord, can rely on you, for you have never forsaken those who look to you.
Sing praises to the Lord, enthroned in Zion; proclaim his deeds among the nations.
For he who avenges blood remembers, he does not ignore the cry of the lowly.
Have mercy on me, O Lord. See how they afflict me. Oh, lift me up from the gates of death,
that I may declare your praise; that I may rejoice in your salvation in the gates of Zion.
The pagans have sunk into the pit they have dug, their own feet ensnared by the trap they laid.
The Lord has shown his presence. He has judged and the wicked plotters have been trapped, by the work of their hands.
To the netherworld the wicked will depart, all the nations that have no thought of God.
K 19For the needy will not always be forgotten,nor the hope of the poor perish forever.
Rise, O Lord! Do not let mortals prevail; let the nations stand on trial before you.
Bring terror, O Lord, strike at them; let these pagans realize that they are but humans.
Commentaries
9
If God can handle the stars, then He has no trouble managing the human enemies of the psalmist. The Israelites never doubted this, but sometimes we wonder if He thinks God is too patient. ‘Lord, should we call fire down from heaven to destroy them?’ This was the reaction in earlier days to God’s enemies, but Jesus rebukes James and John (Lk 9:54-55). Still, we must admire a child’s confidence in his father’s strength and vigilance. We must wait; we might die waiting. God often seems to take no notice. Truth and goodness always appear to be at a disadvantage in ourselves and the world around us: the fall of the dice is against them. However, God has the last throw, and faith watches him from the table.
The psalmist did not have Jesus’s teachings, whose words would have comforted him, but we do. Therefore, we, too, might find ourselves in situations described in verses 2 to 5 and not know what to do. However, in Matthew 5:44, Jesus says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
The psalm is appropriate for thanking God for his presence during the struggles and victories of people or groups working toward justice.