Somebody Else’s Mail (20)

The prophetic spirit moved David as he wrote Psalm 9. Of course, the Holy Spirit was upon him as he wrote all his psalms of scripture but, like many good authors, on plenty of occasions he simply wrote what he knew. Not all David’s psalms required that he peer into the future and write down what the Spirit showed him as he carried him along.

This one does, as we will see shortly. The “will of man” did not move David’s pen, and I wonder exactly how much he understood about the times and circumstances the Spirit of Christ in him was indicating.

When we ask our favorite Psalms-related question today (“Of whom [or where, or when] does the prophet speak?”), I’m going to suggest that in Psalm 9, David speaks for the personified remnant of Israel in a future day. That remnant raises its voice as one man, both God’s son and servant.

Psalm 9:5-6 — Not Mere Hyperbole

“You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished.”

These two verses strongly hint that David is not speaking hyperbolically as a young man whose smooth stone has just knocked out Goliath, as some Jewish commentators believe. Nor is this mere poetic license. The things David writes here are simply untrue in any historical sense, not just during the moment the Philistines fled before Israel’s army in David’s first victory, but at any time during David’s reign: beginning, middle or end.

2 Samuel 8 and 1 Chronicles 18 describe David’s biggest victories in terms like these: he “subdued” the Philistines, taking Israelite cities back from them. He “defeated” Moab, and they became his servants and brought tribute. He took horsemen and foot soldiers from the king of Zobah. He “put garrisons” in Damascus and the Syrians “brought him tribute” and became his servants. He also put garrisons in Edom and “made them his servants”.

God certainly prospered David on the battlefield, but he never saw the names of his enemies blotted out forever and ever. He never saw his enemies come to their end in everlasting ruins. He never saw their memories perish. He never “rooted out” their cities.

David was consistently victorious in battle with the help of his God, but these two verses speak of an entirely different time and place. They describe the sort of extermination and annihilation that the armies that surround Jerusalem in the end times will experience when Christ returns to defend his earthly people from the genocidal rage of the nations.

Psalm 9:7-8 — Times and Places

“But the Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.”

Again, the question of times and places arises. Reformed commentators I’ve been reading tend to interpret these verses historically, as something characteristically true of God, something he is always doing from his throne in heaven. If so, the nations under judgment are rarely aware God is judging them. I find that an unsatisfactory interpretation. Matthew Henry thought these verses describe the Lord’s present day protection of his church.

John Gill differs, referring these words to the time “when antichrist is entirely ruined, his cities destroyed, and the memorial of them perished”. I believe Gill has it right. When the Lord sits enthroned forever, when his kingdom comes and his will is done on earth as it is in heaven, we will not be in the present era but in the millennial reign of Christ.

Matthew 25 describes a scene exactly like David saw here, when the Son of Man gathers the nations to separate the sheep from the goats. Our Lord will judge the world in righteousness. This is not the final judgment of the great white throne of Revelation, but rather the ongoing administration of justice during the literal coming reign of Christ on earth.

Psalm 9:9-10 — A Stronghold in Times of Trouble

“The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”

In one sense, this is always true. The Lord is a perpetual stronghold for the oppressed throughout history. He never forsakes those who seek him or those who know his name.

However, this will also be true in a unique way when Christ defends Israel’s faithful remnant against the nations determined to exterminate them. He is “a stronghold in times of trouble”, and “the time of Jacob’s trouble” is the coming Great Tribulation. In the same context as he coined that famous phrase, Jeremiah says this concerning Israel:

“I will make a full end of all the nations among whom I scattered you, but of you I will not make a full end. I will discipline you in just measure.”

A full end of the nations used to discipline Israel is exactly what David is describing in Psalm 9. The language is similar though he and Jeremiah prophesied hundreds of years apart.

Psalm 9:11-12 — Dwelling in Zion

“Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds! For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.”

The words “enthroned in Zion” are peculiar to my ESV and a couple of other modern translations. The Hebrew behind the word “enthroned” is yāšaḇ, a very common word that everywhere else in the OT refers to dwelling, remaining or abiding. No doubt our Lord will indeed be enthroned in Zion too, but David’s point is not Christ’s exaltation above his people and the world, but his ongoing comforting presence with them. Accordingly, the vast majority of translations old and new go with “dwells in Zion”.

David goes on to say that he [the Lord] who avenges blood is mindful of the afflicted and does not forget their cry. Again, this brings to mind the time of Jacob’s trouble, which will be the period of greatest affliction in Israel’s history. If we wonder how avenging blood is connected, bear in mind that Zechariah describes the time of Jacob’s refining with these words: “Two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive.”

That’s a lot of blood to avenge, and we will look into that title of the Lord in greater detail next Saturday. Many who deserve their judgment will perish, an act of justice that should please our younger Reformed brothers with a bone to pick with Israel. Nevertheless, the godly remnant will be preserved in its entirety. I believe David is speaking for those highly-regarded saints most eloquently in this psalm. Lord willing, we’ll finish Psalm 9 in two weeks.