I will be caused to praise the LORD with my whole heart. I will tell all Your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will make music to Your Name, Most High (Psalm 9:1–2).
David in this psalm looks forward to the time when the LORD will establish His kingdom and when righteousness will have rule. At that time he will praise the LORD and declare the works, which are too hard for man to do, that the LORD has accomplished.
The LORD will uphold the judgment and cause of David; his enemies will fall and will perish before the LORD (Psalm 9:3). The LORD is seated on the throne and judges in a right manner (Psalm 9:4). He will rebuke the nations and the wicked will disappear. The names of the wicked will no longer be remembered (Psalm 9:5). When Christ returns to Mount of Olives, He will establish His kingdom, a kingdom in which righteousness will have rule (Matthew 13:41). When the Son asks, the Father will give the Son the nations as His inheritance and He will destroy the present world system (Psalm 2:9).
David looks forward prophetically to the time when the wicked will cease to exist. When the Son hands over His kingdom to the Father, the enemy will no longer exist (1 Corinthians 15:24). The destruction of the enemy will then be completed and even their memory will disappear (Psalm 9:6). The LORD will dwell in the age and His throne will be set ready for judgment (Psalm 9:7).
A refuge is provided by the LORD for the oppressed, and in times of difficulty for those who know Him and place their trust in Him. He does not leave those who are seeking Him (Psalm 9:9–10). Before the dispensation of grace, mankind was to seek God; and a promise was made to those who sought Him that they would find Him and that He is the one who rewards those who seek (Hebrews 11:6). At present, no one seeks God (Romans 3:11). Today, the LORD is the one who seeks out a people for Himself (1 Peter 2:9).
David requests favor from the LORD to consider those who hate him (Psalm 9:13); the LORD will raise David up from the gates of death (Psalm 9:14). Although David is looking at salvation in time, we know from additional revelation through the prophets that he will be resurrected in order to rule over Jerusalem in the Millennial Kingdom (Jeremiah 30:9). He will praise the LORD and speak of His deeds (Psalm 9:11).
The nations have fallen into the ditch which they themselves have made (Psalm 9:15); the Lord is able to carry out judgment. The wicked are caught by the actions of their own hands (Psalm 9:16). Both the wicked and all the nations who have forgotten God will go to Sheol (Psalm 9:17). The lowest part of Sheol, which is in the middle of the earth, is the place where the unsaved stay until the day of judgment (Deuteronomy 32:22).
It is incorrect to use the terms “hell” or “grave” when referring to Sheol. Sheol is the same as Hades, which is the place in the center of the earth where the unsaved and the fallen angels are held. In Acts 2:27, Peter quotes Psalm 16:10 and uses the term Hades in reference to Sheol. Hades is the place in which the unsaved suffer torment until the day of judgment (Revelation 20:13). Before the resurrection of Christ, paradise was located in Sheol. Paradise was in the upper chamber and was a place of rest. Jesus reveals a sign that will be given to the Jews, which tells us that Sheol is in the center of the earth (Matthew 12:39–40). In Luke 16:19–31, Jesus reveals three chambers in the center of the earth: Paradise, the abyss, and the lowest part of Sheol. When on the cross Jesus told the thief who had believed that He was the Messiah that he would be with Him in paradise (Luke 23:43). The Hebrew language has a particular word for “grave”; see Genesis 35:20. Therefore, when translations employ the term “grave” to render Sheol, they are referring to the place in the center of the earth and not to the hole in the ground where a person is buried.
David concludes this psalm by asking the LORD to rise and judge the nations so that they may realize that they are nothing but men (Psalm 9:19–20).
