Psalms 9:4

Psa 9:4 For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.

Ver. 4. For thou hast maintained my right] Heb. Thou hast done me judgment. Locus hic insignis est, saith Polanus. This is an excellent place, and maketh much to the comfort of God’s poor people that are oppressed by the world; the righteous Judge will not fail to right them. See Luk 18:7-8.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa_9:4

Thou hast maintained my right.

Thou satest in the throne judging right.

Mans right, and Gods right

The first part of the fourth verse seems to be merely personal, but the second clause of the verse is universal. In the first clause we may put so much emphasis upon the personal pronoun as to make this a merely individual instance, as if God had specialised one man as against many men, without inquiring into the merits of the ease. The second clause reads, Thou sittest in the throne judging right. That is the universal tone. Not--God sitting in the throne selecting favourites, distributing prizes and rewards according to some arbitrary law, but God sitting in the throne judging right, whoever was upon one side or the other in the controversy. The whole encounter is delivered from the narrow limitation of personal misunderstanding and individual conduct, and is made one of rectitude, and God is indicated as taking part with the right. This is comfort; this, in fact, is the only true and lasting solace. If there were anything narrow, in the merely personal sense, in the government and providence of God, we should be thrown into unrest and faithlessness, or the most humiliating fear; but make the providence of God turn upon right, and then every man who does right, or who wishes to be right and to do right, may lift up his eyes to heaven and say: My help cometh front the everlasting hills; I will bear all difficulties bravely, with a really manful and sweet patience, because in the end right will be vindicated and crowned. Right is not with any set of persons, right is not a possession guaranteed to any one kind of office in the Church: it is a universal term; it rises like a universal altar, within whose shadow poor men and needy men, as well as rich and mighty men, may be gathered in the security of prayer, and in the gladness of assured hope. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa 9:4-5. My right and my cause — That is, my righteous cause against thy and my enemies. Thou sattest in the throne, &c. — Thou didst judge and give sentence for me. Thou hast rebuked — That is, punished or destroyed, as it is explained in the next clause; the heathen — Namely, the Philistines and other heathen nations who, from time to time, molested David and the people of Israel. Thou hast put out their name for ever — Meaning either that fame and honour which they had gained by their former exploits, but had now utterly lost by their shameful defeats; or their very memorial, as it fared with Amalek.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. (Psa 9:4). This was not a matter of precarious expectation, but of certain experience. For thou hast made, done, executed, wrought out, and thereby maintained, my cause and my right. This phrase is always used elsewhere in a favourable sense, and never in the vague one of simply doing justice, whether to the innocent or guilty. See Deu 10:18; 1Ki 8:45; 1Ki 8:49; Psa 140:12; and compare Isa 10:2. And this defence was not merely that of an advocate, but that of a judge, or rather of a sovereign in the exercise of those judicial functions which belong to royalty. See Pro 20:8. Thou hast sat, and sittest, on a throne, the throne of universal sovereignty, judging right, i.e. rightly, or a judge of righteousness, a righteous judge. See above, on Psa 7:12 (11). In this august character the Psalmist had already seen Jehovah, and he therefore gives it as a reason for expecting him to act in accordance with it now.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9:4 The throne represents the Lord’s royal authority.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Howsoever the enemy seems for a time to prevail, yet God preserveth the just.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The Psalmist proceeds a step farther in the 4th verse, declaring that God stretched forth his hand to give him succor, because he was unrighteously afflicted by his enemies. And surely if we desire to be favored with the assistance of God, we ought to see to it that we fight under his standard. David, therefore, calls him a judge of righteousness, or, which is the same thing, a righteous judge; as if he had said, God has acted towards me according to his ordinary manner and constant principle of acting, for it is his usual way to undertake the defense of good causes. I am more inclined to render the words, Thou sittest a just judge, than to render them, O just judge, thou sittest, “J’ay mieux aime traduire, Tu t’es assis juste juge; que, O juste juge tu t’es assis.” — Fr.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(4) Thou hast maintained my right.—Literally, thou hast made my judgment, as the LXX. and Vulg. For this confidence in the supreme arbiter of events compare Shakespeare:—

“Is this your Christian counsel? Out upon you!

Heaven is above all yet. There sits a Judge

That no king can corrupt.”—Henry VIII.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. In the defeat of his enemies he sees God’s judicial intervention on his behalf. God has pronounced and executed sentence in his favour. Cp. Psa_7:8-9.

thou satest &c.] Better, thou didst take thy seat on the throne, judging righteously. The throne is that of judgement (Psa_9:7; Pro_20:8). God has assumed this judicial character, in answer to the Psalmist’s prayer in Psa_7:7.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou hast rebuked the Heathen,.... The people of the Philistines, as the Targum and Kimchi explain it, though some Jewish writers (a) understand it of Amalek the chief of the Heathen nations; but it rather refers to Gospel times, and to the rebukes of the Heathen, by the preaching of the Gospel, for their idolatry and superstition; and especially to the latter day, and to the rebukes of the antichristian states, the Papists who are called Gentiles; which will be with flames of fire, and will issue in their utter extirpation, upon which a profound peace and prosperity will succeed in the Christian churches, according to Isa 2:4; which is a prophecy of those times;

thou hast destroyed the wicked; the wicked man; for it is in the singular number, "labben", as Aben Ezra observes, or who is meant by him; Goliath, according to the Targum and Kimchi; or Esau, as other Jewish writers (b), that is, his posterity the Edomites; and each of these were figures of antichrist, the man of sin, the wicked one, whom Christ will slay with the breath of his lips, Isa 11:4;

thou hast put out their name for ever and ever; that is, the glory and reputation of their name, a good and honourable one, which they sought to transmit to the latest posterity; for though the names of wicked men may continue, as Pharaoh, Judas, and others; yet they continue with a scandal and reproach upon them that shall never be wiped off, their names rot and stink; see Pro 10:7; the whole of this denotes the utter ruin and shameful end of the enemies of Christ and his church, and which is matter of joy to the saints.

(a) Jarchi in loc. & Pesikta in ibid. in v. 1. (b) Ibid.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

For thou hast maintained my right and my cause - My righteous cause; that is, when he was unequally attacked. When his enemies came upon him in an unprovoked and cruel manner, God had interposed and had defended his cause. This shows that the psalmist refers to something that had occurred in the past; also that he regarded his cause as right - for the interposition of God in his behalf had confirmed him in this belief.

Thou satest in the throne judging right - As if he had been seated on a bench of justice, and bad decided on the merits of his cause before he interfered in his behalf. It was not the result of impulse, folly, partiality, or favoritism; it was because he had, as a judge, considered the matter, and had decided that the right was with the author of the psalm, and not with his enemies. As the result of that determination of the case, he had interposed to vindicate him, and to overthrow his adversaries. Compare Psa 8:3-8.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

My right and my cause, i.e. my righteous cause against thine and mine enemies.

Thou satest in the throne; thou didst judge and give sentence for me.

Judging right, or, O righteous Judge, or, as a just judge.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 4. One of our nobility has for his motto, "I will maintain it; "but the Christian has a better and more humble one, "Thou hast maintained it." "God and my right, "are united by my faith: while God lives my right shall never be taken from me. If we seek to maintain the cause and honour of our Lord we may suffer reproach and misrepresentation, but it is a rich comfort to remember that he who sits on the throne knows our hearts, and will not leave us to the ignorant and ungenerous judgment of erring man.

None.

Ver. 4. (1) The rights of the righteous are sure to be assailed, (2) but equally sure to be defended.

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

For thou hast maintained my right and my cause. David uniformly ascribes his military successes, not to his own ability, or even to the valour of his soldiers, but to God"s favour. God"s favour, which is secured by the justice of his cause, gives him victory after victory. Thou surest in the throne judging right. While the late battle raged, God sat upon his heavenly throne, administering justice, awarding defeat and death to the wrong-doers who had wantonly attacked his people, giving victory and glory and honour to those who stood on their defence against the aggressors.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When my enemies turn back, They stumble and perish at Thy presence. – For all the Philistine armies fled and turned back, as it is written (1 Sam. 17:51): “And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead they fled.”

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.