Read Psalm 9 at Bible Gateway.
There are two chiastic structures in Psalm 9:
Psa 9:1-11
1a) Psa 9:1, I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works;
1b) Psa 9:2, I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High;
1c) Psa 9:3, When my enemies turn back, They shall fall and perish at Your presence;
1d) Psa 9:4-5, The throne of God’s judgment/ maintaining righteousness:
–> 1) Psa 9:4, You have maintained my right + my cause; You sat on the throne judging in righteousness;
–> 2) Psa 9:5, You have rebuked the nations + destroyed the wicked + blotted out their name forever + ever;
1e) Psa 9:6a, O enemy, destructions are finished forever;
central axis) Psa 9:6b, And you have destroyed cities; Even their memory has perished;
2e) Psa 9:7a, But the Lord shall endure forever;
2d) Psa 9:7b-8,The throne of God’s judgment/ judging in righteousness:
–> 1) Psa 9:7b, He has prepared His throne for judgment;
–> 2) Psa 9:8, He shall judge the world in righteousness + administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness;
2c) Psa 9:9, The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble;
2b) Psa 9:10, Those who know Your name will put their trust in You + You have not forsaken those who seek You;
2a) Psa 9:11, Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people.
Psa 9:12-20
1a) Psa 9:12a, When He avenges blood;
1b) Psa 9:12b, He remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the humble;
1c) Psa 9:13-14, The end of the humble: salvation in Zion:
–> 1a) Psa 9:13a, Have mercy on me, O Lord! Consider my trouble from those who hate me;
–> 1b) Psa 9:13b, You who lift me up from the gates of death;
–> central axis) Psa 9:14a, That I may tell of all Your praise;
–> 2b) Psa 9:14b, In the gates of the daughter of Zion;
–> 2a) Psa 9:14c, I will rejoice in Your salvation;
1d) Psa 9:15, Nations sunk down in the pit which they made/ In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught;
central axis) Psa 9:16a, The Lord is known by the judgment He executes;
2d) Psa 9:16b, The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah;
2c) Psa 9:17, The end of the wicked: condemnation in hell;
2b) Psa 9:18, For the needy shall not always be forgotten; The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever;
2a) Psa 9:19-20, Arise, O Lord, Do not let man prevail; Judge the nations that they may know they are but men. Selah. {p}
The central axis of the second structure reminds me of the Lord’s statement about Pharaoh:
So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” Exo 7:1-5
The Egyptians shall know what “I amYHVH” means, when He lays His hand on Egypt to bring the children of Israel out by great judgments. “I am YHVH” means, Deliverer of the Oppressed and Redeemer of the Enslaved; and those who are but men, who oppress and enslave, will learn by great judgments what “I amYHVH” means.
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