Psalm 9:15 Komentář

In this psalm, I. David praises God for pleading his cause, and giving him victory over his enemies and the enemies of his country (Psa 9:1-6), and calls upon others to join with him in his songs of praise (Psa 9:11, Psa 9:12). II. He prays to God that he might have still further occasion to praise him, for his own deliverances and the confusion of his enemies (Psa 9:13, Psa 9:14, Psa 9:19, Psa 9:20). III. He triumphs in the assurance he had of God's judging the world (Psa 9:7, Psa 9:8), protecting his oppressed people (Psa 9:9, Psa 9:10, Psa 9:18), and bringing his and their implacable enemies to ruin (Psa 9:15-17). This is very applicable to the kingdom of the Messiah, the enemies of which have been in part destroyed already, and shall be yet more and more till they all be made his footstool, which we are to assure ourselves of, that God may have the glory and we may take the comfort. To the chief musician upon Muth-labben. A psalm of David.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 9 To the chief Musician upon Muthlabben, a Psalm of David. Some, take "muthlabben" to be the name of the tune to which this psalm was sung, and to design the same note which we call the counter-tenor: others think, that "upon muth", or "almuth", are but one word, and the same as "alamoth", Psa 45:1, title; and that it is the name of a musical instrument; and that "Ben" in "labben", is the name of the chief musician, who was over that sort of instrument, to whom the psalm is inscribed (l); and indeed R. Sol Jarchi says, that he had seen in the great Masorah these words as one; and so it seems the Septuagint interpreters read them, who render them, "for the hidden things of the son"; and the Arabic version, "concerning the mysteries of the son": and Ben is a name, it is said, of one of the singers, whose kindred and companions were appointed with psalteries on "alamoth", Ch1 15:18. And so then the title runs thus; "to the chief musician on alamoth, [even to] Ben". But others are of opinion that the subject matter or occasion of the psalm is designed by this phrase; and that as "muth" signifies "death", the death of some person is intended, on account of which this psalm was composed; some say Nabal, seeing the word "Laban", inverted, or read backwards, is "Nabal" (m), whose death affected David; as appears from Sa1 25:38. Others, that it was one of the kings of the Gentiles, whose name was Labben, and is mentioned nowhere else, who fought with David, and whom he slew, and upon his death penned this psalm (n). Others, Goliath the Philistine (o), who is called, Sa1 17:4. , which we render "champion" and dueller, one of two that fight together. But rather the reason of the name is, as given by the Jewish commentators (p), because he went and stood between the two camps of the Philistines and the Israelites; and so the Chaldee paraphrase renders the title of this psalm, "to praise, concerning the death of the man who went out between the camps, a song of David.'' And so the psalm itself, in the Targum, and by other Jewish writers, is interpreted of Goliath and the Philistines, and of the victory over them; and which does not seem amiss. Arama interprets it of the death of Saul. Others interpret Almuth Labben "of the death of the son"; and understand it of the death of Absalom, the son of David (q): but David's passion moved in another way, not in joy, but in grief, Sa2 18:33; nor is there anything in the psalm that can be referred unto it. Others, of the death of the son of God; but of that there is not the least hint in the psalm. Theodoret interprets it of Christ's victory over death by dying, which was a mystery or hidden thing. Rather, I should think, it might be interpreted of the death of the son of perdition, the man of sin and his followers; who may be typified by Goliath, and the Philistines: and so, as Ainsworth observes, as the former psalm was concerning the propagation of Christ's kingdom, this is of the destruction of antichrist. And Jerom, long ago said, this whole psalm is sung by the prophet in the person of the church, concerning antichrist: and to this agrees the Syriac version; which makes the subject of the psalm to be, "concerning Christ, taking the throne and kingdom, and routing the enemy.'' And also the Arabic version, according to which the argument of the psalm is, "concerning the mysteries of the Son, with respect to the glory of Christ, and his resurrection and kingdom, and the destruction of all the children of disobedience.'' To which may be added, that this psalm, according to R. Sol Jarchi, belongs to the time to come, to the days of the Messiah, and the future redemption by him. (l) Kimchi & Abendana in Miclol Yophi in loc. (m) So some in Jarchi & Aben Ezra in loc. (n) Donesh Hallevi in ibid. (o) Kimchi & Ben Melech in loc. (p) Jarchi, Kimchi, Levi Ben Gersom, R. Isaiah, & Ben Melech in 1 Sam. xvii. 4. (q) So some in Jarchi in loc.

The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth,.... The judgment which God will execute upon antichrist, and the antichristian powers, will be a means of making known his name, his glory, his perfections, in all the earth; as his wisdom, power, justice, and goodness; see Exo 9:16. The destruction of antichrist will be the Lord's doing, and it will be a righteous one; it will be a just retaliation; as he has killed with the sword, multitudes of his followers shall be killed with the sword; as he has led captive, he shall be taken captive at the battle of Armageddon; as he has burnt, many of the martyrs of Jesus, he shall be cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. Some read these words as two sentences, "The Lord is known; he hath executed judgment" (n): the latter of these refers not to the ministration of justice in the providential government of the world, or at the last day in the general judgment; but to the judgment of the great whore, or antichrist, at which time the Lord will be known in his Gospel in all the world; the earth will be tilled with the knowledge of him, and he, and he alone, will be exalted; his name will be great and glorious throughout the earth; all shall know him, from the least to the greatest; and their knowledge of him will be very clear and comprehensive; the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands; not Goliath, as Kimchi thinks, who was slain by David with his own sword, though this was true of him in the letter and type; but the wicked one, the man of sin and son of perdition, antichrist, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all craftiness and wily stratagems, called the depths of Satan, Rev 2:24; but his own sins shall take him, and he shall be holden with the cords of his iniquities, and be rewarded double for all his sins; what is before figuratively expressed is here literally declared; or, "he hath snared the wicked in or by the work of his hands" (o), that is, God. Higgaion. Selah; of the latter of these words; see Gill on Psa 3:2; the former signifies "meditation"; Jarchi paraphrases it "let us meditate on this, selah"; Aben Ezra interprets it, "I will show forth this in truth"; the Chaldee paraphrase is, "the righteous shall rejoice for ever"; the note of Kimchi and Ben Melech is, "this salvation is to us meditation and praise"; upon the whole the sense seems to be this, that God's judgments upon antichrist, and the antichristian states, and the deliverance of his people from their yoke and tyranny, are things worthy of the meditation of the saints, and afford just matter of joy, praise, and thanksgiving. (n) "notus est Dominus; judicium fecit", Pagninus, Montanus, Gussetius; so Vatablus, Musculus, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis, and Ainsworth. (o) "illaqueavit iniquum per opus (vel in opere) manunm ipsius", Gussetius.

Whenever they desire to wipe out and abolish the race of the faithful, they themselves are lured into their own calamity; and in the very snares they have concealed for the people of God they are caught, and “their foot will fall.”

Nothing … is so destructive as vice. In fact, nothing is weaker than the wicked; they are undone by their own weapons, as iron is by rust and wool by a moth—so too is the wicked person by vice.

Then follows, "I will exult for Your salvation:" that is, with blessedness shall I be holden by Your salvation, which is our Lord Jesus Christ, the Power and Wisdom of God. Therefore says the Church, which is here in affliction and is saved by hope, as long as the hidden judgment of the Son is, in hope she says, "I will exult for Your salvation:" for now she is worn down either by the roar of violence around her, or by the errors of the heathen. "The heathen are fixed in the corruption, which they made" [Psalm 9:15]. Consider ye how punishment is reserved for the sinner, out of his own works; and how they that have wished to persecute the Church, have been fixed in that corruption, which they thought to inflict. For they were desiring to kill the body, while they themselves were dying in soul. "In that snare which they hid, has their foot been taken." The hidden snare is crafty devising. The foot of the soul is well understood to be its love: which, when depraved, is called coveting or lust; but when upright, love or charity....And the Apostle says, "That being rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to take in." [Ephesians 3:17-18] The foot then of sinners, that is, their love, is taken in the snare, which they hide: for when delight shall have followed on to deceitful dealing, when God shall have delivered them over to the lust of their heart; that delight at once binds them, that they dare not tear away their love thence and apply it to profitable objects; for when they shall make the attempt, they will be pained in heart, as if desiring to free their foot from a fetter: and giving way under this pain they refuse to withdraw from pernicious delights. "In the snare" then "which they have hid," that is, in deceitful counsel, "their foot has been taken," that is, their love, which through deceit attains to that vain joy whereby pain is purchased.

One is not held by the sin and unrighteousness of another; rather, each one will die in his own sin. The wicked, first harming themselves, strive deceitfully to drive others into the same curse. Secretly they build traps of deceit with their own plans and words, so they may seize someone unsuspecting. But by that very trap that they have hidden they are punished, for vindicators will keep those very ones they have caught. This punishment is done by the providence of God. For what other is the judgment of God than that the sinner is caught by his own deeds, because he holds the reason for his own condemnation for those who live unrighteously. This agrees with that which is said before: “He who has opened a pit for his neighbor will fall into it.”

When he says that “the Gentiles got stuck,” he means not those who are held by the fear of the Lord, but those who are so pinned down by the nails of their sins that they are not able to cast them off; unyielding bands appear to restrain them.… For we describe as captured those who are entangled by an intricate deceit. “Foot” here refers to the mental steps and the depraved desire which cause men to pursue vice. This is what Solomon says in Proverbs: “Their feet rush into evil and are quick to pour out blood.”

The occasion of exultation is the destruction of enemies who persecute the saints. And they persecute the saints in two ways. First, by violence. Second, by fraud. He says therefore, regarding the first, "the nations are stuck fast" -- from the fact that they prepared slaughter for others, they themselves were slain; and therefore he said "stuck fast," or, according to Jerome, "submerged": because that which is stuck fast is pressed down with violence. And those who seemed to be slaying others with violence were themselves violently oppressed. Is. 59: "Their paths are made crooked for them." Ps. 36: "Their sword shall enter," etc. Or spiritually, one is plunged into destruction when he commits sin; because from this he enters eternal punishment and is condemned; and they are stuck fast in these works through habit: Job 18: "He has thrust his foot into the net, and he walks in its mesh." Regarding the second, he says, "in this snare." Those who lie in wait for birds and animals set snares; so do those who proceed insidiously: Ps. 56: "They have prepared a snare for my feet." And he says "they hid it," because literally fowlers hide their snares; so fraudulently, through words of peace that they give, they prepare the poison of seduction: Ps. 139: "In this way in which I walked, the proud have hidden a snare for me." The third fruit is the recognition of divine majesty. "Their foot is caught," that is, their evil desire: Hos. 13: "The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up, his sin is hidden," referring to those who are inclined only to evil. And they hide the snare, but in vain, because "the Lord will be known." And through what? Because "in his works." Sometimes people in prosperity do not know God, as Pharaoh, but in adversity: Ps. 82: "Fill their faces with shame"; and therefore he says, "executing judgments." But what the judgments of God are, he adds: "in his works." It is proper to divine wisdom that it disposes all things sweetly, Wis. 8. And this it does by giving things the ability to tend toward their proper ends through their proper forms: thus, through the very things by which sinners plan to offend, they fall into punishment. Job 5: "Who catches the wise in their own craftiness." And therefore he says, "In the works of his own hands the sinner is caught." Prov. 5: "His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is bound by the cords of his own sins." Job 18: "His own counsel has cast him down headlong." Likewise, "the Lord will be known," here by the saints. Even escaping the snare: Prov. 1: "In vain is the net cast before the eyes of those who have wings." The Gloss says there: "He easily escapes the snares on earth who always has his eyes on heaven." Jerome: "Each one carries with himself the ropes, chains, and torments from which he suffers evils; and by the hidden judgment of God, sinners are caught in the snares they hide, and the just escape."

Upon Muthlabben, or, after the manner according to "death to the Son," by which some song was known, to whose air or melody the musician is directed to perform this Psalm. This mode of denoting a song by some prominent word or words is still common (compare Psa 22:1). The Psalmist praises God for deliverance from his enemies and celebrates the divine government, for providing security to God's people and punishment to the wicked. Thus encouraging himself, he prays for new occasions to recount God's mercies, and confident of His continued judgment on the wicked and vindication of the oppressed, he implores a prompt and efficient manifestation of the divine sovereignty. (Psa. 9:1-20) Heartfelt gratitude will find utterance.

The undesigned results of the devices of the wicked prove them to be of God's overruling or ordering, especially when those results are destructive to the wicked themselves.

(Heb.: 9:16-17) And, as this ט-strophe says, the church is able to praise God; for it is rescued from death, and those who desired that death might overtake it, have fallen a prey to death themselves. Having interpreted the ה-strophe as the representation of the earlier צעקת עניּים we have no need to supply dicendo or dicturus, as Seb. Schmidt does, before this strophe, but it continues the praett. preceding the ח-strophe, which celebrate that which has just been experienced. The verb טבע (root טב, whence also טבל) signifies originally to press upon anything with anything flat, to be pressed into, then, as here and in Psa 69:3, Psa 69:15, to sink in. טמנוּ זוּ (pausal form in connection with Mugrash) in the parallel member of the verse corresponds to the attributive עשׂוּ (cf. יפעל, Psa 7:16). The union of the epicene זוּ with רשׁת by Makkeph proceeds from the view, that זוּ is demonstrative as in Psa 12:8 : the net there (which they have hidden). The punctuation, it is true, recognises a relative זוּ, Psa 17:9; Psa 68:29, but it mostly takes it as demonstrative, inasmuch as it connects it closely with the preceding noun, either by Makkeph (Psa 32:8; Psa 62:12; Psa 142:4; Psa 143:8) or by marking the noun with a conjunctive accent (Psa 10:2; Psa 31:5; Psa 132:12). The verb לכד (Arabic to hang on, adhere to, IV to hold fast to) has the signification of seizing and catching in Hebrew. In Psa 9:17 Ben Naphtali points נודע with ā: Jahve is known (part. Niph.); Ben Asher נודע, Jahve has made Himself known (3 pers. praet. Niph. in a reflexive signification, as in Eze 38:23). The readings of Ben Asher have become the textus receptus. That by which Jahve has made Himself known is stated immediately: He has executed judgment or right, by ensnaring the evil-doer (רשׁע, as in Psa 9:6) in his own craftily planned work designed for the destruction of Israel. Thus Gussetius has already interpreted it. נוקשׁ is part. Kal from נקשׁ. If it were part. Niph. from יקשׁ the ē, which occurs elsewhere only in a few עע verbs, as נמם liquefactus, would be without an example. But it is not to be translated, with Ges. and Hengst.: "the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands," in which case it would have to be pointed נוקשׁ (3 praet. Niph.), as in the old versions. Jahve is the subject, and the suffix refers to the evil-doer. The thought is the same as in Job 34:11; Isa 1:31. This figure of the net, רשׁת (from ירשׁ capere), is peculiar to the Psalms that are inscribed לדוד. The music, and in fact, as the combination הגיון סלה indicates, the playing of the stringed instruments (Psa 92:4), increases here; or the music is increased after a solo of the stringed instruments. The song here soars aloft to the climax of triumph.