Psalm 9:5
You have rebuked the nations; You have destroyed the wicked; You have erased their name forever and ever.
You have rebuked the nations
The Hebrew word for "rebuked" is "גָּעַר" (ga'ar), which conveys a strong reprimand or correction. In the biblical context, this rebuke is not merely verbal but often involves divine intervention and judgment. Historically, the nations surrounding Israel frequently opposed God's people, and this phrase reflects God's sovereign authority to correct and judge entire nations. The rebuke serves as a reminder of God's power and justice, emphasizing that no nation is beyond His reach or correction.

You have destroyed the wicked
The term "destroyed" comes from the Hebrew "אָבַד" (abad), meaning to perish or be lost. This destruction is not just physical but also spiritual, indicating a complete removal from God's presence. The "wicked" refers to those who live in opposition to God's laws and righteousness. Throughout scripture, the fate of the wicked is contrasted with the reward of the righteous, underscoring the moral order established by God. This phrase reassures believers of God's ultimate justice and the eventual downfall of evil.

You have erased their name
In ancient cultures, a person's name was more than just an identifier; it represented their legacy and memory. The Hebrew word "מָחָה" (machah) means to blot out or obliterate. To have one's name erased signifies total obliteration from history and memory, a fate considered worse than death. This reflects the biblical theme that those who oppose God and His people will not only face temporal judgment but will also be forgotten, their legacies wiped away.

forever and ever
The phrase "forever and ever" is translated from the Hebrew "לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד" (le'olam va'ed), emphasizing perpetuity and eternal consequence. This underscores the eternal nature of God's judgments and the finality of His decrees. In a world where human justice can be temporary or flawed, this assurance of God's eternal justice provides comfort and hope to believers. It affirms that God's decisions are not only just but also everlasting, reinforcing the eternal nature of His kingdom and the ultimate triumph of righteousness.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Nations
Refers to the Gentile nations surrounding Israel, often seen as adversaries to God's people.

2. The Wicked
Represents those who oppose God and His righteous ways, often including both individuals and groups.

3. God
The central figure in this verse, acting as the righteous judge who rebukes and destroys the wicked.
Teaching Points
God's Sovereignty Over Nations
God is in control of all nations and their destinies. His authority is supreme, and He can rebuke and destroy as He wills.

The Fate of the Wicked
The wicked may seem to prosper temporarily, but their ultimate fate is destruction. This serves as a warning to those who oppose God.

Eternal Justice
God's justice is not limited to the present but extends into eternity. The erasure of the wicked's name signifies their complete removal from history and memory.

Trust in God's Righteous Judgment
Believers can find comfort in knowing that God will ultimately judge all wickedness and uphold righteousness.

Call to Righteous Living
Understanding the fate of the wicked should motivate believers to live righteously and align themselves with God's will.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding God's sovereignty over nations influence your perspective on current global events?

2. In what ways can the fate of the wicked serve as a warning and a motivation for personal holiness?

3. How does the concept of eternal justice provide comfort in times of personal or societal injustice?

4. What are some practical ways you can demonstrate trust in God's righteous judgment in your daily life?

5. How can the erasure of the wicked's name challenge you to consider the legacy you are leaving behind?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Psalm 2
This psalm also speaks of God's authority over the nations and His power to rebuke and judge them.

Revelation 20
Describes the ultimate destruction of the wicked and the final judgment, echoing the themes of God's eternal justice.

Proverbs 10:7
Discusses the memory of the righteous versus the name of the wicked, which parallels the erasure of the wicked's name in Psalm 9:5.
ThanksgivingC. Short Psalm 9:1-6
The Cause of GratitudeC. Short Psalm 9:1-6
A Praiseful HeartPsalm 9:1-20
Praise for the Destroyer's DestructionC. Clemance Psalm 9:1-20
Praise, Trust, and PrayerF. B. Meyer, B. A.Psalm 9:1-20
The Ministry of PraiseJ. H. Jowett, M. A.Psalm 9:1-20
People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Age, Blotted, Destroyed, Destruction, Forever, Hast, Heathen, Nations, Rebuked, Sharp, Sinners, Wicked
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 9:1-6

     8644   commemoration

Psalm 9:4-5

     9230   judgment seat

Psalm 9:4-10

     5581   throne

Psalm 9:5-6

     5043   names, significance

Library
Dilemma and Deliverance
Now, this morning, in addressing you, I shall divide my text into three parts. First, I shall note a certain fiery dart of Satan; secondly, I shall point out to you heaven's divine buckler, as hinted at in the text--"Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee;" and then, in the third place, I shall notice man's precious privilege of seeking God, and so of arming himself against Satan. I. First, then, I am to dwell for a little time upon A CERTAIN FIERY DART OF SATAN WHICH IS CONSTANTLY SHOT
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860

Joy in Salvation
"I will rejoice in thy salvation."--Psalm 9:4. I DESIRE to continue the topic of the morning, only we will look at another side of the same important matter. We spoke this morning, as you have not forgotten, upon these words, "Your own salvation." I trust most of us--would God I could hope all of us--were earnest about our own personal salvation. To those who are earnest this second text will be the complement of the first. They desire that their own salvation shall be secure; it is their own salvation
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 62: 1916

Cry we Therefore with the Spirit of Charity...
26. Cry we therefore with the spirit of charity, and until we come to the inheritance in which we are alway to remain, let us be, through love which becometh the free-born, not through fear which becometh bondmen, patient of suffering. Cry we, so long as we are poor, until we be with that inheritance made rich. Seeing how great earnest thereof we have received, in that Christ to make us rich made Himself poor; Who being exalted unto the riches which are above, there was sent One Who should breathe
St. Augustine—On Patience

A Few Sighs from Hell;
or, The Groans of the Damned Soul: or, An Exposition of those Words in the Sixteenth of Luke, Concerning the Rich Man and the Beggar WHEREIN IS DISCOVERED THE LAMENTABLE STATE OF THE DAMNED; THEIR CRIES, THEIR DESIRES IN THEIR DISTRESSES, WITH THE DETERMINATION OF GOD UPON THEM. A GOOD WARNING WORD TO SINNERS, BOTH OLD AND YOUNG, TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION BETIMES, AND TO SEEK, BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, TO AVOID, LEST THEY COME INTO THE SAME PLACE OF TORMENT. Also, a Brief Discourse touching the
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

But Concerning True Patience, Worthy of the Name of this virtue...
12. But concerning true patience, worthy of the name of this virtue, whence it is to be had, must now be inquired. For there are some [2650] who attribute it to the strength of the human will, not which it hath by Divine assistance, but which it hath of free-will. Now this error is a proud one: for it is the error of them which abound, of whom it is said in the Psalm, "A scornful reproof to them which abound, and a despising to the proud." [2651] It is not therefore that "patience of the poor" which
St. Augustine—On Patience

Jesus, My Rock.
When the storm and the tempest are raging around me, Oh! where shall I flee to be safe from their shock? There are walls which no mortal hands built to surround me, A Refuge Eternal,--'Tis JESUS MY ROCK! When my heart is all sorrow, and trials aggrieve me, To whom can I safely my secrets unlock? No bosom (save one) has the power to relieve me, The bosom which bled for me, JESUS MY ROCK! When Life's gloomy curtain, at last, shall close o'er me, And the chill hand of death unexpectedly knock, I will
John Ross Macduff—The Cities of Refuge: or, The Name of Jesus

"Because of his Importunity. "
"Nov. 19 [1846].--I am now led more and more to importune the Lord to send me the means, which are requisite in order that I may be able to commence the building. Because (1) it has been for some time past publicly stated in print, that I allow it is not without ground that some of the inhabitants of Wilson Street consider themselves inconvenienced by the Orphan-Houses being in that street, and I long therefore to be able to remove the Orphans from thence as soon as possible. (2) I become more and
George Müller—Answers to Prayer

The Desire of the Righteous Granted;
OR, A DISCOURSE OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN'S DESIRES. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR As the tree is known by its fruit, so is the state of a man's heart known by his desires. The desires of the righteous are the touchstone or standard of Christian sincerity--the evidence of the new birth--the spiritual barometer of faith and grace--and the springs of obedience. Christ and him crucified is the ground of all our hopes--the foundation upon which all our desires after God and holiness are built--and the root
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Heart's Desire Given to Help Mission Work in China.
"Sept. 30 [1869].--From Yorkshire L50.--Received also One Thousand Pounds to-day for the Lord's work in China. About this donation it is especially to be noticed, that for months it had been my earnest desire to do more than ever for Mission Work in China, and I had already taken steps to carry out this desire, when this donation of One Thousand Pounds came to hand. This precious answer to prayer for means should be a particular encouragement to all who are engaged in the Lord's work, and who may
George Müller—Answers to Prayer

Introduction. Chapter i. --The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers.
St. Hilary of Poitiers is one of the greatest, yet least studied, of the Fathers of the Western Church. He has suffered thus, partly from a certain obscurity in his style of writing, partly from the difficulty of the thoughts which he attempted to convey. But there are other reasons for the comparative neglect into which he has fallen. He learnt his theology, as we shall see, from Eastern authorities, and was not content to carry on and develop the traditional teaching of the West; and the disciple
St. Hilary of Poitiers—The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers

Trials of the Christian
AFFLICTION--ITS NATURE AND BENEFITS. The school of the cross is the school of light; it discovers the world's vanity, baseness, and wickedness, and lets us see more of God's mind. Out of dark afflictions comes a spiritual light. In times of affliction, we commonly meet with the sweetest experiences of the love of God. The end of affliction is the discovery of sin; and of that, to bring us to a Saviour. Doth not God ofttimes even take occasion, by the hardest of things that come upon us, to visit
John Bunyan—The Riches of Bunyan

The Care of the Soul Urged as the one Thing Needful
Luke 10:42 -- "But one thing is needful." It was the amiable character of our blessed Redeemer, that "he went about doing good," this great motive, which animated all his actions, brought him to the house of his friend Lazarus, at Bethany, and directed his behavior there. Though it was a season of recess from public labor, our Lord brought the sentiments and the pious cares of a preacher of righteousness into the parlor of a friend; and there his doctrine dropped as the rain, and distilled as the
George Whitefield—Selected Sermons of George Whitefield

Letter xix (A. D. 1127) to Suger, Abbot of S. Denis
To Suger, Abbot of S. Denis He praises Suger, who had unexpectedly renounced the pride and luxury of the world to give himself to the modest habits of the religious life. He blames severely the clerk who devotes himself rather to the service of princes than that of God. 1. A piece of good news has reached our district; it cannot fail to do great good to whomsoever it shall have come. For who that fear God, hearing what great things He has done for your soul, do not rejoice and wonder at the great
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

King of Kings and Lord of Lords
And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, K ING OF K INGS AND L ORD OF L ORDS T he description of the administration and glory of the Redeemer's Kingdom, in defiance of all opposition, concludes the second part of Messiah Oratorio. Three different passages from the book of Revelation are selected to form a grand chorus, of which Handel's title in this verse is the close --a title which has been sometimes vainly usurped by proud worms of this earth. Eastern monarchs, in particular,
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

The Knowledge of God
'The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.' I Sam 2:2. Glorious things are spoken of God; he transcends our thoughts, and the praises of angels. God's glory lies chiefly in his attributes, which are the several beams by which the divine nature shines forth. Among other of his orient excellencies, this is not the least, The Lord is a God of knowledge; or as the Hebrew word is, A God of knowledges.' Through the bright mirror of his own essence, he has a full idea and cognisance
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Justice of God
The next attribute is God's justice. All God's attributes are identical, and are the same with his essence. Though he has several attributes whereby he is made known to us, yet he has but one essence. A cedar tree may have several branches, yet it is but one cedar. So there are several attributes of God whereby we conceive of him, but only one entire essence. Well, then, concerning God's justice. Deut 32:4. Just and right is he.' Job 37:23. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

A Preliminary Discourse to Catechising
'If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled.' - Col 1:23. Intending next Lord's day to enter upon the work of catechising, it will not be amiss to give you a preliminary discourse, to show you how needful it is for Christians to be well instructed in the grounds of religion. If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled.' I. It is the duty of Christians to be settled in the doctrine of faith. II. The best way for Christians to be settled is to be well grounded. I. It is the duty of Christians
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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