Psalms
Chapter 9
This psalm praises God as a fair judge who has already defeated the singer's enemies and wiped out hostile nations. It turns to a promise: God is a safe place for people who are crushed, and he does not forget the poor or those who cry out to him. It ends with a request that God rise up and judge the nations, so they remember they are only human.
Plain reading written for preteens. Clear and complete, at about a fifth grade reading level.
I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.
1I will thank you, LORD, with all my heart. I will tell about all the wonderful things you have done.
2I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.
2I will be glad and full of joy because of you. I will sing praise to your name, Most High.
3When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.
3When my enemies turn and run, they stumble and die right in front of you.
4For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.
4You have stood up for me and for my case. You sat on your throne and judged fairly.
5Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.
5You have spoken against the nations. You have destroyed wicked people and wiped out their names forever.
6O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.
6The enemy is finished, ruined for good. You tore down their cities. Even the memory of them is gone.
The KJV line "destructions are come to a perpetual end" reads today as if the ruin has stopped. It means the opposite: the enemy has been ruined permanently.
7But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.
7But the LORD goes on forever. He has set up his throne to judge.
8And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
8He will judge the world fairly. He will rule the peoples with what is right.
9The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
9The LORD will be a safe place for people who are crushed, a safe place in times of trouble.
10And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
10People who know your name will trust you. LORD, you have never left behind those who look for you.
11Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.
11Sing praises to the LORD, who lives in Zion. Tell the peoples what he has done.
12When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.
12He looks into every murder and remembers the victims. He does not forget the cry of hurting people.
"Maketh inquisition for blood" means he investigates murders and calls the killers to account.
13Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:
13Be kind to me, LORD. Look at the trouble I get from those who hate me. You lift me up from the gates of death.
14That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.
14Then I can tell everyone how good you are. At the gates of Zion I will be glad you saved me.
15The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
15The nations have fallen into the pit they dug themselves. Their own feet are caught in the net they hid.
16The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.
16The LORD is known by the fair judgments he carries out. Wicked people are trapped by their own work. Higgaion. Selah.
"Higgaion" and "Selah" are ancient musical directions in the Hebrew text. Nobody today knows exactly what they told the musicians to do.
17The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
17The wicked will go down to the place of the dead, and so will every nation that forgets God.
"Hell" here translates the Hebrew word Sheol, which means the place of the dead, where everyone who dies goes.
18For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.
18Needy people will not be forgotten forever. The hope of the poor will not be crushed for good.
19Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.
19Get up, LORD. Do not let human beings win. Let the nations be judged right in front of you.
20Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.
20Make them afraid, LORD. Let the nations learn that they are only human. Selah.
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