Psalm 9:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

NIV: I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.

NASB: I will rejoice and be jubilant in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

CSB: I will rejoice and boast about you; I will sing about your name, Most High.

NLT: I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.

KJV: I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.

NKJV: I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

David expresses his joy in the Lord. Already he has celebrated God's actions (Psalm 9:1). Here, he is thankful for God Himself, and he finds in the Lord a source of great joy. This psalm acclaims God's role in Israel defeating her attacking enemies (Psalm 9:3–6).

This verse addresses the Lord as "Most High." This is the same name for God which Melchizedek used when he blessed Abram and praised God (Genesis 14:19–20). It is also the name Abram employed when he refused a reward offered by the King of Sodom. He rightly identified God as "God Most High" and described him as "Possessor of heaven and earth" (Genesis 14:22). When a believer perceives God as sovereign of heaven and earth, he will praise Him and rejoice in Him.

In Philippians 4:4 Paul repeatedly exhorts his readers to rejoice in the Lord. This came in the context of two women, Euodia and Syntyche, who were at odds with each other (Philippians 4:2–3). They needed to remove their attention from what divided them, focusing instead on the blessings they both had in the Lord.

Psalm 9:1–8 opens the song as David ascribes praise to God. He celebrates the Lord for saving him and his army from the nations that attacked him and his people. He recalls the triumph the Lord accomplished over the enemy. The victory evidenced the Lord's righteous judgment and sovereignty. The nations perished but the Lord's name lives forever.

David praises God in a song which follows an acrostic pattern: the psalm is divided into phrases which begin with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The pattern continues through Psalm 10, leading some to suggest they were intended as a single work, or as closely related halves. In this psalm, David promises to praise God for His great deeds, including awesome victory over evil. The Lord's eternal justice is also praised, as David asks for further rescue from those who seek to kill him. The passage ends with a prayer for God to remind mankind of His authority.

This is a thanksgiving song, where David shows appreciation for the Lord's rescue. This shares similar themes to Psalm 10, though from a very different tone. Some scholars think Psalms 9 and 10 were originally a single work. This is part of the first section of the book of Psalms, including Psalms 1 through 41.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.

Accessed 12/3/2024 12:28:29 PM