The Book of Psalms

⭑ Catholic Public Domain Version 2009 ⭑

⮜ Back | Contents | Next ⮞

- Chapter 9 -

I will give thanks to the Lord

Unto the end. For the secrets of the Son. A Psalm of David.(a)

(b)

I will confess to you, Lord, with my whole heart. I will recount all your wonders.

I will rejoice and exult in you. I will sing a psalm to your name, O Most High.

For my enemy will be turned back. They will be weakened and perish before your face.

For you have accomplished my judgment and my cause. You have sat upon the throne that judges justice.

You have rebuked the Gentiles, and the impious one has perished. You have deleted their name in eternity and for all generations.(c)

The spears of the enemy have failed in the end, and their cities, you have destroyed. Their memory has perished with a loud noise.

But the Lord remains in eternity. He has prepared his throne in judgment.

And he will judge the whole world in equity. He will judge the people in justice.

And the Lord has become a refuge for the poor, a helper in opportunity, in tribulation.

And may they hope in you, who know your name. For you have not abandoned those seeking you, Lord.

Sing a psalm to the Lord, who dwells in Zion. Announce his study among the Gentiles.(d)

Because of those who yearned for their blood, he has remembered them. He has not forgotten the cry of the poor.

Have mercy on me, Lord. See my humiliation from my enemies.

You lift me up from the gates of death, so that I may announce all your praises at the gates of the daughter of Zion.(e)

I will exult in your salvation. The Gentiles have become trapped in the ruin that they made. Their foot has been caught in the same snare that they themselves had hidden.

The Lord will be recognized when making judgments. The sinner has been caught in the works of his own hands. Pause

The sinners will be turned into Hell: all the Gentiles who have forgotten God.(f)

For the poor will not be forgotten in the end. The patience of the poor will not perish in the end.

Rise up, Lord: do not let man be strengthened. Let the Gentiles be judged in your sight.

O Lord, establish a lawgiver over them, so that the Gentiles may know that they are only men.(g) Pause

Footnotes

(a)9:1 Or, ‘for the hidden things of the Son.’ Some psalms have an introductory verse that often contains an instruction concerning the reciting or singing of the psalm, or a statement about its topic, or dedication, or purpose. Even the most devout and knowledgeable Christian does not know everything, or even most things that could be known about the Son. He is ever partially hidden from our view.(Conte)

(b)9:1 The hidden things of the Son:The humility and sufferings of Christ, the Son of God; and of good Christians, who are his sons by adoption; are called hidden things, with regard to the children of this world, who know not the value and merit of them.(Challoner)

(c)9:6 Their name has been deleted in eternity (Heaven) and for all future generations on earth. For at the general Resurrection God takes away Heaven and earth, and He makes a new Heaven and a new earth.(Conte)

(d)9:12 The word ‘studia’ refers to a topic of study, devotion, or interest. The topic is the teaching of the Church.(Conte)

(e)9:15 Or, ‘at the gates of daughter Zion.’(Conte)

(f)9:18 Gentiles, in this context, refers to any and all who ignore or reject God, to non-believers rather merely to non-Jews.(Conte)

(g)9:21 Here the late Hebrew doctors divide this psalm into two, making ver. 22 the beginning of Psalm 10. And again they join Psalms 146 and 147 into one, in order that the whole number of psalms should not exceed 150. And in this manner the psalms are numbered in the Protestant Bible.(Challoner)

(h)9:24 The meaning is that the sinner is given praise for his sins by the sinful desires in his soul, and likewise, the iniquitous person is given blessings by the iniquity in his soul. In this context, the word ‘benedicitur’ is not a euphemism for cursing. One finds this euphemism in Job 2:9, where the wife of Job is speaking about God. She says ‘Bless God,’ because she dare not say the words ‘Curse God.’ However, Scripture itself, when explaining the truth to us, does not refrain from using the word ‘curse.’(Conte)

(i)9:27 The word ‘movebor’ can be translated as ‘moved’ or as ‘disturbed.’ The word ‘malo’ can be translated as ‘evil’ or as ‘misfortune’ or ‘disaster.’(Conte)

(j)9:36 His sin will not be found because he has been defeated by God and his sinful deeds are no more.(Conte)