Sabbath, June 22 – Psalms 9, 10
1. How does David say The Lord will judge the world? Psalms 9:8
2. What is The Lord to the poor? Psalms 9:9
3. Where does the psalmist feel The Lord is in times of tribulation? Psalms 9:1
Commentary and Reflection
The Adventist Bible Commentary says of Psalm 9, “Ps. 9 has been called A Song of Thanksgiving. The poem praises God as the righteous judge who punishes the wicked and defends the oppressed. Only one verse (v. 13) interrupts with sinister sound the succession of triumphant notes that constitute this song. This psalm is the first of the acrostic, or alphabetic, psalms (Ps. 9, 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, 145), although in it the acrostic form is not followed as rigidly as in some others of the group. Each line of the first stanza begins with ’aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Thereafter only the first line of each stanza observes the law, and even then there is some deviation from the rule.
Absolutely regular in its. divisions, the psalm consists of ten equal stanzas. As is usual in the acrostic psalms, the thought is emphasized by repetition in its various aspects, with no marked development or sequence in the organization of ideas. Some suggest that 2 Sam. 8 provides a suitable background for the psalm, although the psalm contains no specific reference to any historical incident. Some Hebrew manuscripts, the LXX, and the Vulgate join Ps. 9 and 10 as one psalm. See p. 625.” SDABC, introduction, Psalm 9
An acrostic psalm means it has an order based on the alphabet, in this case, the alphabet of the original language, Hebrew. As the commentary says, in this psalm, each verse of the first stanza begins with the first letter, and then each first verse begins with this letter.
Both Psalms speak about hope for the final judgment,
You have rebuked the nations,
You have destroyed the wicked;
You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
But the Lord shall endure forever;
He has prepared His throne for judgment.
He shall judge the world in righteousness,
And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness. Psalms 9:5, 7, 8
The Lord is King forever and ever;
The nations have perished out of His land. Psalms 10:16
In the final judgment, God will judge the nations, bring justice to this earth once and for all, and establish His Kingdom.
The poor, the helpless, and the orphans have their hope in The Lord.
But You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief,
To repay it by Your hand.
The helpless commits[g] himself to You;
You are the helper of the fatherless.
Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will prepare their heart;
You will cause Your ear to hear,
To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
That the man of the earth may [i]oppress no more Psalms 10:14, 17, 18
Remember, The Lord is our refuge in times of tribulation.