Psalm 9:10

And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) They that know.—They who know the name of Jehovah will trust Him, because they know it to be a watchword of strength and protection.

Seek.—From root meaning “to tread” or “frequent a place,” possibly with allusion to frequenting the courts of the Temple.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 9:10. They that know — That is, that thoroughly understand and duly consider thy name — Thy infinite power and wisdom, and faithfulness and goodness. The name of God is frequently put for God. Will put their trust in thee — The experience of thy faithfulness to thy people in all ages is a just ground for their confidence. Thou hast not forsaken them that seek thee — That seek help and relief from thee by fervent prayer, mixed with faith or trust in thee, as is expressed in the former clause.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

9:1-10 If we would praise God acceptably, we must praise him in sincerity, with our whole heart. When we give thanks for some one particular mercy, we should remember former mercies. Our joy must not be in the gift, so much as in the Giver. The triumphs of the Redeemer ought to be the triumphs of the redeemed. The almighty power of God is that which the strongest and stoutest of his enemies are no way able to stand before. We are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth, and that with him there is no unrighteousness. His people may, by faith, flee to him as their Refuge, and may depend on his power and promise for their safety, so that no real hurt shall be done to them. Those who know him to be a God of truth and faithfulness, will rejoice in his word of promise, and rest upon that. Those who know him to be an everlasting Father, will trust him with their souls as their main care, and trust in him at all times, even to the end; and by constant care seek to approve themselves to him in the whole course of their lives. Who is there that would not seek him, who never hath forsaken those that seek Him?

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And they that know thy name - All who are acquainted with thee; all those who have been made acquainted with the manifestations of thy goodness, and with the truth respecting thy character.

Will put their trust in thee - That is, all who have any just views of God, or who understand his real character, will confide in him. This is as much as to say, that he has a character which is worthy of confidence - since they who know him best most unreservedly rely on him. It is the same as saying that all the revelations of his character in his word and works are such as to make it proper to confide in him. The more intimate our knowledge of God, the more entirely shall we trust in him; the more we learn of his real character, the more shall we see that he is worthy of universal love. It is much to say of anyone that the more he is known the more he will be loved; and in saying this of God, it is but saying that one reason why men do not confide in him is that they do not understand his real character.

For thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee - Thou hast never left them when they have come to time with a confiding heart. David means, doubtless, to refer here particularly to his own case, to derive a conclusion from his particular case in regard to the general character of God. But what is here affirmed is still true, and always has been true, and always will be true, that God does not forsake those who put their trust in him. Men forsake him; he does not forsake them.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9, 10. The oppressed, and all who know Him (Ps 5:3; 7:1), find Him a sure refuge.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

They that know, i.e. that thoroughly understand and duly consider. Thy name, i.e. thy nature and perfections, thy infinite power, and wisdom, and faithfulness, and goodness; which make a person a most fit and proper object for trust. The name of God is most frequently put for God, as he hath manifested himself in his word and works, as Deu 28:58 Psalm 7:17 20:1 Proverbs 18:10, &c.

Thou hast not forsaken; the experience of thy faithfulness to thy people in all ages is a just ground for their confidence.

Them that seek thee, i.e. that seek help and relief from thee by fervent prayer, mixed with faith, or trust in God, as is expressed in the former clause.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And they that know thy name,.... As proclaimed in the Gospel, a God gracious and merciful, and forgiving sin; and as in Christ, in whom his name is, and in whom he is the God of love, grace, and mercy, though out of him a consuming fire; or the name of Christ himself, the Word of the Lord, who is the refuge of saints and sinners; his name Jesus, a Saviour: such who know him to be the able, willing, complete, all sufficient, and everlasting Saviour; who know his power and faithfulness to keep what is committed to him; and who know him not merely notionally and speculatively, and in a professional way only, but affectionately, spiritually, and experimentally: such

will put their trust in thee; as they have great reason to do; and the more they know of the grace and mercy of God in Christ, and of the ability and suitableness of Christ as a Saviour, the more strongly will they place their trust and confidence in him;

for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee: who are first sought out by God in the effectual calling, and then under the influence and direction of his grace and Spirit seek him in Christ, where he is only to be found; and seek Christ and his righteousness above all things else, and with their whole hearts, and diligently; and seek to Christ alone for life and salvation, and continue seeking the Lord, by prayer and supplication, for whatever they stand in need of; these God does not forsake: he may sometimes hide his face from them, as he does from his own children, and did from his own Son, yet he never forsakes them totally and finally; nor will he forsake the work of his own hands, which he has wrought in them, but will perfect it; he will never leave them so as that they shall perish by sin, Satan, or any enemy; he will not forsake them in life, nor at death, but will be the strength of their hearts, and their portion for ever.

Geneva Study Bible

And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10. they that know thy name] Who recognise the character of God thus revealed in His Providence. Cp. “they that love thy name,” Psalm 5:11; and Psalm 8:1; Psalm 91:14.

thou, Lord, hast not forsaken] Cp. the noble words of Sir 2:10; “Look at the generations of old and see; did ever any trust in the Lord, and was confounded? or did any abide in his fear, and was forsaken? or whom did he ever despise, that called upon him?”—the “sentence” which “fell with weight” upon John Bunyan’s spirit in the agony of his spiritual despair. “It was with such strength and comfort on my spirit, that I was as if it talked with me.” Grace Abounding, § 62 ff.

them that seek thee] See note on Psalm 24:6.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 10. - And they that know thy Name will put their trust in thee. "To know the Name of God is to know him according to his historical manifestation; when one hears him named, to call to remembrance all that he has done. His name is the focus in which all the rays of his actions meet" (Hengstenberg). All who "know God's Name" in this sense will be sure to "put their trust in him," since his historical manifestation shows that he is thoroughly to he depended on. For thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Never in the past, so far as David knew, had God forsaken those who faithfully clung to him. They might be tried, like Job; they might be "hunted upon the mountains," like David himself; they might even have the sense of being forsaken (Psalm 22:1); but they were not forsaken nevertheless. God "forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever" (Psalm 37:28). Psalm 9:10

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(Heb.: 9:10-11) Thus judging the nations Jahve shows Himself to be, as a second ו-strophe says, the refuge and help of His own. The voluntative with Waw of sequence expresses that which the poet desires for his own sake and for the sake of the result mentioned in Psalm 9:11. משׂגּב, a high, steep place, where one is removed from danger, is a figure familiar to David from the experiences of his time of persecution. דּך (in pause דּך) is properly one who is crushed (from דּכך equals דּכא, דּכה to crush, break in pieces, דקק to pulverize), therefore one who is overwhelmed to the extreme, even to being completely crushed. The parallel is לעתּות בצּרה with the datival ל (as probably also in Psalm 10:1). עתּות from עת (time, and then both continuance, Psalm 81:16, and condition) signifies the public relations of the time, or even the vicissitudes of private life, Psalm 31:16; and בצּרה is not הצּרה with בּ (Bttch.), which gives an expression that is meaninglessly minute ("for times in the need"), but one word, formed from בּצּר (to cut off, Arab. to see, prop. to discern keenly), just like בּקּשׁה ekil from בּקּשׁ, prop. a cutting off, or being cut off, i.e., either restraint, especially motionlessness ( equals בּצּרת, Jeremiah 17:8, plur. בּצּרות Jeremiah 14:1), or distress, in which the prospect of deliverance is cut off. Since God is a final refuge for such circumstances of hopelessness in life, i.e., for those who are in such circumstances, the confidence of His people is strengthened, refreshed, and quickened. They who know His name, to them He has now revealed its character fully, and that by His acts; and they who inquire after Him, or trouble and concern themselves about Him (this is what דּרשׁ signifies in distinction from בּקּשׁ), have now experienced that He also does not forget them, but makes Himself known to them in the fulness of His power and mercy.