Psalm 9 Story behind the Psalm
Overview
Background Ideas
- YHWH is a king (Psa. 10:16).
- The king was also the one responsible for maintaining order and therefore functioned as a judge (ABD, s.v. 'King and Kingship). Kings in Israel were also responsible for maintaining the rights of the poor and vulnerable (Psa 72; Miller 2004, 192).
- YHWH is also the creator (Gen. 1; Psa 24:1). As creator only he has the power to reverse the social order (1 Sam 2:8; TDOT 15:559).
- Innocent blood defiles God's land, which, since he is king over the earth, includes the whole world. The only thing that can cover innocent blood is the blood of the one who spilled it (Num 35:33).
- The 'gates' of Sheol symbolised death's inescapable power (Hupfeld 1888, 144; ABD s.v. 'Dead, Abode of the'; Psa 9:13; 107:18; 38:17; Isa 38:10; 3 Macc 5:5; Matthew 16:18)
- YHWH makes himself known through his mighty and terrifying acts (v. 17; cf. Isa 19:20–21; 66:13–15).
- Sinful man, who came from nothingness, must return to it (see Huppfeld 1888, 147; Ross 2011, 312; Gen 3:19; Job 1:21; 30;23; 90:3; 104:29).
Background Situation
Expanded Paraphrase
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- Close but Clear (CBC) translation
- Assumptions which provide the most salient background information, presuppositions, entailments, and inferences
v.1
For the director, according to Muth-labben. A psalm (written) by David.
v.2
I will praise YHWH with all my heart; I will tell about all your wonderful works(with which you terrify your enemies)!
v.3
I will rejoice and exult because of you; I will sing praise to your name (,which is revealed through those wonderful works), Most High,
v.4
When my enemies(who are foreign nations)turn back, they stumble and perish because of your (terrifying)presence,(for the wicked cannot stand before you [Psa 1:4; 5:6])!
v.5
Because you have maintained my right and my claim(that I have because I am unjustly afflicted); (you are a king,) (whose responsibilities include judging and caring for the poor, afflicted and oppressed).You have sat on a throne as a righteous judge.
v.6
(In the past,) (when wicked nations attacked as they are attacking now)You rebuked nations(due to their hostility towards you [cf. Psa 2; Isa 17:13) (when they defiled your land with innocent blood); you destroyed the wicked; you blotted out their name forever and ever(so that their acts would never again be remembered).
v.7
The enemy came to an end in ruins forever, and you uprooted cities. The very memory of them perished.
v.8
But YHWH(unlike the wicked whose memory has perished)will sit enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice,
v.9
and he will judge the world(of which he is the creator)with righteousness; he will execute justice for the peoples with fairness.
v.10
And may YHWH(who, being creator, is the only one who has the power to reverse the social order [1 Sam 2:8])be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in distressing times.
v.11
And may those who know your name (and your promises) put their trust in you, because you have not abandoned those who seek you, YHWH, (in accordance with your promise that those who seek you find you [Deut 4:29]).
v.12
Sing praise to YHWH, who sits enthroned in Zion (the place from which YHWH rules) (because his presence there secures the city) (and ensures justice) (as was the responsibility of the king) Tell about his deeds among the peoples,
v.13
because the one who requires a reckoning for bloodshed remembered them (since bloodshed pollutes his land); he has not ignored the outcry of the poor (whose innocent blood is spilled at the hands of the wicked).
v.14
(I am among those who are afflicted yet innocent!) Have mercy on me, YHWH! (Since you have destroyed wicked nations before) See my affliction from those (foreign enemies) who hate me, you who lifts my head from the gates of death (who saves me) (from deaths inescapable power). (I am near death at the hands of my enemies and) (so I am asking you to save me!)
v.15
so that I may tell about all your praiseworthy actions (not at the gates of death, but) at the gates of daughter Zion (among your holy people) (in the city over which you rule), (and so that) I may be glad because of your salvation!
v.16
(Previous nations defiled your world by spilling innocent blood and oppressing the poor and afflicted.) (The only thing that can cover innocent blood is the blood of the one who spilled it [Num. 35:33].) (Israel had a proverb that illustrated this principle of retribution): Nations sank in a pit which they had made; their foot was caught in a net which they had hidden.
v.17
YHWH, who has accomplished justice, has made himself known (through his acts), (namely) ensnaring the wicked by the work of his hands (by which YHWH enacts the principle of retribution).
v.18
(All people came from nothingness) (and sinful, wicked people will return to this nothingness [Gen 3:19; Job 1:21; 30:23; Psa 90:3; 104:29]). May the wicked return to Sheol, all nations that ignore God (their maker) (and his path to life).
v.19
For the poor will not be ignored forever; the hope of the needy will (not) perish forever.
v.20
Rise up, YHWH! Let not mortal man (who will return to nothingness) prevail; let nations be judged in your presence!
v.21
YHWH (you make yourself known) (through your terrifying acts), put a terrifying thing in their midst; (act to save the oppressed before them!) let the nations know that they are mortals.
Story Triangle
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