Psalm 9:7

But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(7) But the Lord shall endure.—Better, but Jehovah sits enthroned for ever, being in close parallelism with the next clause, “For judgment has erected his throne.”

Benson Commentary

Psalm 9:7-9. But the Lord shall endure for ever — Though cities and people may perish, yet the Lord abides for ever. Which is sufficient for the terror of his enemies, and the comfort of his church. He hath prepared his throne — Or, established it by his immutable purpose and his irrevocable promise. And he shall judge the world — Not you only, but all the enemies of his people and all the men in the world. The Lord will be a refuge for the oppressed — God will not only judge the world at the last day, and then give sentence for his people against their enemies, but even at present he will give them his protection.

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

But the Lord shall endure for ever - Yahweh is eternal - always the same. Though these cities have become desolate, and the enemy has been permitted to triumph, and nations and people have passed away, yet God is ever the same, unaffected by these changes and desolations, and in due time he will always interfere and vindicate his own character, and defend the oppressed and the wronged.

He hath prepared his throne for judgment - See Psalm 9:4. He sits as a just judge among the nations, and he will see that right is done. The wicked, though temporarily prosperous, cannot always triumph; and the righteous, though cast down and oppressed, cannot always remain thus, for God, the just Judge, will rise in their defense and for their deliverance. The unchangeableness of God, therefore, is at the same time the ground of confidence for the righteous, and the ground of dread for the wicked. The eternal principles of right will ultimately triumph.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

7, 8. God's eternal possession of a throne of justice is contrasted with the ruin of the wicked.

The Treasury of David

7 But the Lord shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.

8 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.

9 The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

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

11 Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.

12 When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.

In the light of the past the future is not doubtful. Since the same Almighty God fills the throne of power, we can with unhesitating confidence, exult in our security for all time to come.

Psalm 9:7

The enduring existence and unchanging dominion of our Jehovah, are the firm foundations of our joy. The enemy and his destructions shall come to a perpetual end, but God and his throne shall endure for ever. The eternity of divine sovereignty yields unfailing consolation. By the throne being prepared for judgment, are we not to understand the swiftness of divine justice. In heaven's court suitors are not worn out with long delays. Term-time lasts all the year round in the court of King's Bench above. Thousands may come at once to the throne of the Judge of all the earth, but neither plaintiff nor defendant shall have to complain that he is not prepared to give their cause a fair hearing.

Psalm 9:8

Whatever earthly courts may do, heaven's throne ministers judgment in uprightness. Partiality and respect of persons are things unknown in the dealings of the Holy One of Israel. How the prospect of appearing before the impartial tribunal of the Great King should act as a check to us when tempted to sin, and as a comfort when we are slandered or oppressed.

Psalm 9:9

He who gives no quarter to the wicked in the day of judgment, is the defence and refuge of his saints in the day of trouble. There are many forms of oppression; both from man and from Satan oppression come to us; and for all its forms, a refuge is provided in the Lord Jehovah. There were cities of refuge under the law, God is our refuge-city under the gospel. As the ships when vexed with tempest make for harbour, so do the oppressed hasten to the wings of a just and gracious God. He is a high tower so impregnable, that the hosts of hell cannot carry it by storm, and from its lofty heights faith looks down with scorn upon her enemies.

Psalm 9:10

continued...

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Though cities and people may perish for ever, yet the Lord abides for ever; which is sufficient for the enemies’ terror, and for the comfort of his church.

He hath prepared, or established, by his immutable purpose, and his irrevocable promise.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But the Lord shall endure for ever,.... When antichrist is entirely ruined, his cities destroyed, and the memorial of them perished, then "shall the Lord sit for ever" (g), as the words may be rendered; that is, as a Jewish writer (h) paraphrases them, in rest and quiet. The words may be expressive of the unchangeableness and eternity and power of God; the Chaldee paraphrase of them is, , "the Word of the Lord is for ever; his habitation is in the highest heavens". And they may very well be interpreted of Christ, the essential Word of God, who is the unchangeable, everlasting, and almighty God; and who sits King for ever, and must sit at God's right hand, in the highest heavens, until all his enemies are made his footstool; and to him most properly do the following things in this verse Psalm 9:8 belong:

he hath prepared his throne for judgment; for the administration of judgment in this world, for the particular judgment after death, and for the general judgment after the resurrection of the dead; which seems by what follows to be chiefly meant, and which will come on after the destruction of antichrist; and all things are preparing for it; the day is appointed in which God will judge the world; Christ is ordained to be the Judge of quick and dead; devils and ungodly men are reserved to the judgment of the great day; the throne is ready, which will be a white one, Revelation 20:11; denoting the purity, justice, and uprightness of the Judge, who himself is at the door.

(g) "sedebit", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius, Michaelis; so Ainsworth; "sedet", Vatablus, Musculus. (h) R. Abraham Seba in Tzeror Hammor, fol. 150. 2.

Geneva Study Bible

But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

7. But the Lord, in contrast to the enemies of His people, shall sit enthroned for ever, as King and Judge. For this pregnant sense of sit, cp. Psalm 29:10; Exodus 18:14.

7–10. A stanza of four verses, each (as the text stands) beginning with the letter Vâv. But Psalm 9:7 may originally have begun with Hç. [In Dr Scrivener’s text Hç is prefixed to Psalm 9:6; but this verse should belong to the stanza of Gimel). The eternity of Jehovah’s sovereignty is contrasted with the annihilation of His enemies: the righteousness of His rule with the injustice of the wicked.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 7. - But the Lord shall endure for ever; rather, but the Lord is seated (i.e. upon his throne)for ever. Cities and nations perish, but Jehovah remains a King for evermore. While all is change and disturbance upon earth, the unchanged and unchangeable Eternal One continues constantly seated, in serene majesty, in heaven. He hath prepared (or rather, established) his throne for judgment (compare the second clause of per. 4). Psalm 9:7

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(Heb.: 9:8-9) Without a trace even of the remembrance of them the enemies are destroyed, while on the other hand Jahve endureth for ever. This strophe is the continuation of the preceding with the most intimate connection of contrast (just as the ב-strophe expresses the ground for what is said in the preceding strophe). The verb ישׁב has not the general signification "to remain" here (like עמד to endure), but just the same meaning as in Psalm 29:10. Everything that is opposed to Him comes to a terrible end, whereas He sits, or (which the fut. implies) abides, enthroned for ever, and that as Judge: He hath prepared His throne for the purpose of judgment. This same God, who has just given proof that He lives and reigns, will by and by judge the nations still more comprehensively, strictly, and impartially. תּכל, a word exclusively poetic and always without the article, signifies first (in distinction from ארץ the body of the earth and אדמה the covering or soil of the earth) the fertile (from יבל) surface of the globe, the οἰκουμένη. It is the last Judgment, of which all preceding judgments are harbingers and pledges, that is intended. In later Psalms this Davidic utterance concerning the future is repeated.