Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Lord Who Judges the World With Righteousness (Psalm 9) | Matthew Poole

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The Lord Who Judges the World With Righteousness (Psalm 9) | Matthew Poole · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome back to Reformed Thinking.
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We're glad you're with us today as we do what we love to do,
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which is crack open some of the old books and really dig in.
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That's right. We're not about just skating
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across the surface of Scripture here.
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We want to get into the details, see how the whole thing works.
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And you know, our method for doing that is to pull one of the
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heavyweights off the shelf, someone from church history who
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really lived and breathed this stuff.
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And who held a very, very high view of God?
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That's key. Absolutely.
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And today, our guide, our commentator, is the 17th century
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Puritan, Matthew Poole. A giant, and you know it's worth
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taking a second to place him. When we say 17th century
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nonconformist, that's not just a label.
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Right, it means something. It means this was a man who was
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kicked out of his pulpit in the Church of England in 1662
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because his conscience wouldn't let him go, along with certain
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rights he saw as unscriptural, so his convictions cost him his
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job. This isn't an academic in an
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ivory tower. This is a man whose theology was
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tested by fire. And his commentary is
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Annotations upon the Holy Bible. It's just so.
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I mean, it's dense, but it's also incredibly practical.
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It was written for the average person in the Pew.
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Exactly. And today, we're pointing that
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powerful lens at Psalm 9. A Psalm that, as you said
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before, is really a study in contrasts.
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It really is. I mean, on the one hand you get
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this stunning picture of God's absolute, absolute, sovereign
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justice, and on the other you see the complete and utter
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fragility of man. And caught in between those two
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poles is the believer. Right.
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And for the believer, God is a refuge.
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That's the assurance that holds the whole Psalm together.
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Justice, fragility, and assurance.
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That's a great road map, so let's jump in.
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The first thing you hit in Psalm line before you even get to
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verse one is the title and the superscription, and it's one of
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those ones that can be a bit of a mouthful to the chief musician
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upon Muth Labin Muth. Labin, yeah.
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I mean, most of us, we just see that and our eyes glaze over.
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We skip right down to I will praise thee, O Lord.
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But ool, he actually stops. He takes a moment with this
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phrase. He does, and what he does is, I
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think, so refreshing and so helpful for how we should
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approach Scripture. He starts by admitting he
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doesn't know for sure. Which is not something you hear
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a lot from experts these days. No, everybody wants to have the
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answer, Poole essentially says, look, this is probably the name
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of tune or an instrument. But the truth is we don't know
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for sure, and we must and may be content to be ignorant.
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Content to be ignorant. I love that in our age of
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instant information, the idea of being OK with a mystery is
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almost countercultural. It is, but it's also honest.
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The ancient Jewish scholars weren't sure either.
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But Poole doesn't just leave it there.
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He then does the work of a good scholar.
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He looks at the theories that were out there in his day.
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OK, So what were they? Well, one popular theory was to
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translate Muth Laban literally as upon the death of the sun.
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And for King David, Death of the son immediately makes you think
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of one person. Absalom, his rebellious son, the
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death that just shattered him. So the idea was, maybe this is a
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song about mourning Absalom. That was one theory.
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Another one translated it as the champion or the middleman, which
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was a Hebrew way of talking about Goliath.
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Goliath, the man who stood in the middle between the two
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armies. So maybe this is David's victory
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song after he took down the giant.
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Both of those sound, you know, pretty plausible on the surface.
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They're two of the biggest events in David's life, but
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Poole isn't convinced. Not at all.
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And his reasoning is a master class and how to read the Bible
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carefully. He says neither of these
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specific events really fits the whole scope of the Psalm.
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The poem is bigger than that. It's about, you know,
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deliverance from all sorts of dangers, not just one specific
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duel or one family tragedy. But he has an even more specific
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kind of a gotcha argument against the Goliath theory,
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right? He does, and it's brilliant.
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He points to verse 14 of the Psalm.
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Let me see, OK, that I may show forth all they praise in the
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gates of the daughter of Zion, right?
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In the gates of Zion now, Poole says, think about the timeline
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when teenage David fought Goliath.
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Who controlled Zion? Who controlled Jerusalem?
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It wasn't the Israelites. No, it was a Jebusites.
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It was a Pagan city. David wouldn't conquer Jerusalem
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and make Zion his capital until many years later when he was
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king. So it's anachronism.
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He couldn't be singing about praising God in the gates of a
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city that was still enemy territory.
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Exactly. It's a fantastic piece of
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careful historical reading, and it just blows that theory out of
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the water. So the take away is don't try to
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force a historical peg into a hole that it doesn't fit.
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That's it. Pool brings us back to the main
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thing. The point isn't to solve the
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puzzle of Muthlabin. The point is the praise itself.
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This is a song about God's general deliverance.
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Which honestly is far more useful for us.
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I haven't fought any giants this week.
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Not physical ones anyway. But I've needed general
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deliverance about a dozen times since breakfast.
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We all have and that brings us right to verse one.
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I will praise the O Lord with my whole heart, my whole.
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We use that phrase so much it's almost lost its punch, but pool
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slows down and gives it a very precise definition.
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He does. He calls it a sincere and
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affectionate and united heart. And I want to zoom in on that
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last word. United.
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United as in not divided, not scattered.
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Precisely think of the opposite. A divided heart is praising God
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with its mouth, but it's mind is on a deadline at work.
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A divided heart is singing a hymn, but its affections are
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still clinging to a secret sin. It's a heart that's hedging its
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bets, trusting God a little, but also trusting MY4O1K my own
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cleverness. All of it, Poole is saying.
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David's heart here is gathered. It's focused.
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All its powers and faculties are aimed in One Direction, toward
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God. It is a singular, undivided
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devotion. That is deeply convicting.
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It really makes you pause and evaluate the quality of your own
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worship. Is it united?
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It's a great question to ask. And then look at the scope of
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that worship in the rest of the verse.
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I will show forth all that marvelous works, all of them,
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all of them. Now Poole, being a careful
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thinker, immediately qualifies this, he says.
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All is obviously used in a restrained sense.
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Meaning you can't literally list every single marvelous work.
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The list would be infinite. You'd never finish.
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You couldn't even list all the marvelous works involved in
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keeping you alive for the last 5 minutes, so Poole says it means
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we praise God generally for the sum total of His wonders.
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It's about an attitude of comprehensive gratitude,
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acknowledging that everything good, seen and unseen, comes
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from His hand. So a united heart offering
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comprehensive praise, That's the foundation.
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But then in verse 3, the camera angle shifts dramatically.
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We move from the worshipper to the judge.
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And this is where that theme of God's terrifying justice comes
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into full view. It is a jarring and powerful
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shift. Verse 3.
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When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish
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at thy presence. The phrase at thy presence is
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what jumps out. It's not perished by thy sword
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or by thy army. It's just your presence.
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Yes. Yes, Poole really leans into
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that. He highlights the phrase from
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thy face. He interprets this to mean that
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God is like a general marching at the head of the army.
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A general leading the charge. But a general who doesn't need a
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weapon. Eoole's commentary uses the
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phrase 1 angry look. He says 1 angry look of thine is
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able to confound and destroy them.
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Just think about that for a second.
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The sheer effortless power. God doesn't need to exert
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himself. He just looks with righteous
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anger and entire armies crumble. There's this other phrase Poole
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uses that's so vivid, he says they stumble as if gall traps
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were laid for them. Yes, gall traps.
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It's an old term. We'd probably say cow traps
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today. Spikes on the ground, basically.
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Right, metal spikes you'd scatter on a battlefield to stop
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a cavalry charge or maim infantry.
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So the pictures of the enemies turning to run away from God's
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face, but they can't even flee. Effectively, they're tripping,
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stumbling, falling into chaos and ruin.
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Their retreat is a complete disaster.
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In verse 4 tells us why this road is so total.
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It's because this isn't just a battle, it's a verdict.
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For Thou has maintained my right and my cause, Thou sadist in the
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throne, judging right. And there's the courtroom
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imagery. He's not just the general, he's
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the judge. The throne is the symbol of
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ultimate authority and justice, Poole says.
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God is the maintainer of the righteous 'cause.
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This feels like the heart of Reformed theology, doesn't it?
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Victory isn't about David being a better fighter or Israel
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having superior strategy. Not at all.
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It's sully do Gloria all glory to God alone.
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David, as Poole points out, ascribes the victory to God.
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Only the battle was won the moment God the judge banged the
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gavel and issued his sentence. David's actions on the field
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were just the carrying out of a verdict that had already been
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decided in the heavenly court. And that verdict for the wicked
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is annihilation. Verse 5 is stark.
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Thou has rebuked the heathen. Thou has destroyed the wicked.
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Thou has put out their name forever and ever.
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Put out their name. That was the ultimate terror in
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the ancient world. Your legacy, your memorial, your
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name continuing through your sons, That was everything.
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To have your name put out or blotted out was to be utterly
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erased from history. Total oblivion.
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And then we come to verse 6, where pool spots a really
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interesting literary device. He says David is using sarcasm
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here. Yes, or irony.
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It's a sudden change in a dress. It's a figure of speech called
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an apostrophe, where the speaker suddenly turns and talks
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directly to someone or something that isn't really there.
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So he's talking to the now defeated enemy.
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Exactly. He says, Oh, thou enemy
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distractions are come to a perpetual end, and thou hast
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destroyed cities. Their memorial is perished with
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them. It's a taunt.
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It sounds a little confusing at first read.
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It does, but Poole clarifies the irony David is saying so, Mr.
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Enemy, you thought you were the great destroyer, right?
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You thought your work of destruction would last forever.
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But look now, your own memorial, your own name has perished right
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along with the cities you conquered.
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So. The thing you prided yourself
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on, destruction has been turned back on you and you yourself
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have been destroyed. It's the great reversal.
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It's a divine mockery of the enemy's ambitions, Poole also
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notes. This could be what's called the
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prophetic perfect, where a future certain judgement is
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spoken of as if it's already happened.
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Because from God's perspective, it's a done deal.
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It's as good as done. The sentence has been passed.
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And that absolute certainty of the enemy's destruction sets up
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this incredible contrast in verse 7.
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But the Lord shall endure forever.
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The Great, but this is the anchor.
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Empires vanish, memorials perish, enemies are forgotten,
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but the Lord endures. This is the doctrine of God's
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immutability. He doesn't change.
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He doesn't decay. He is the one fixed point in a
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collapsing universe. Poole says he has prepared his
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throne. What exactly does that word
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prepared get at? It means it's established, it's
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fixed, it's secure, and Poole attaches 2 weighty theological
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concepts to it. He says God's throne is prepared
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by his immutable purpose and his irrevocable.
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Promise, immutable purpose and irrevocable promise.
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Think about what that means. His purpose cannot be changed.
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His promise cannot be broken. The foundation of his rule is
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his own unchangeable character and his unbreakable word.
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That throne isn't going anywhere.
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OK, so if you're an enemy of God, everything we've just
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talked about is the most terrifying news imaginable.
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An immutable judge with an inescapable gaze who has already
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sentenced to you. Utterly terrifying.
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But then verses 9 and 10 pivot, and they show the other side of
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that same coin for the oppressed, for the believer,
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that same sovereign power is not a terror but a comfort.
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It's the whole story. Verse 9.
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The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in
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times of trouble. The same God of the throne is
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the God of the refuge. And Poole makes a really key
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point about the timing of this refuge, doesn't he?
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He does. He's very practical.
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He says God isn't just a judge at the end of time.
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He offers present protection. This refuge is available now in
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times of trouble, so often we can think of God's help is
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something we just have to wait for in the eschaton, you know,
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in the final judgement. Right, just hang on till you get
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to heaven. But Paul says no.
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This Psalm is promising A refuge right now in the messy,
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difficult middle of your life. So who gets access to this
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refuge? That leads us to verse 10.
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What you said is one of the most important verses in the whole
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Psalm. I think it is.
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And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee.
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Know thy name. That's another one of those
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phrases we hear all the time. But what does it actually mean
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to know God's name? Is it just knowing the word
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Yahweh? Pool is adamant that it's so
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much more than knowing a label. To know God's name is to
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thoroughly understand and duly consider His nature and
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perfections. So it's about his character, who
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he is. Yes, Pool even list some of them
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out for us. His infinite power, His wisdom,
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His goodness, His faithfulness. And here's the logical
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connection he makes, which is so powerful.
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If you truly, deeply know that God is all powerful, all wise,
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and perfectly faithful, what is the only logical response?
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Will you trust him? How could you not?
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You can't help but trust Him. Trust is the natural fruit of
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true knowledge, Poole says. These attributes make God the
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most fit and proper object for trust.
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The reason we fail to trust God isn't a failure of our will as
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much as it's a failure of our knowledge.
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Wow. Wait, say that again.
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The root of our anxiety and our lack of trust is often a failure
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to truly know His name. We forget how powerful he is.
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We doubt how good he is. We don't really believe he is
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faithful. So if I'm struggling with worry,
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the answer isn't to just try harder to have more faith.
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The answer is to go back and study the character of God.
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That's it exactly. Go back to the name, Remind
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yourself of His attributes, meditate on His perfections,
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because as the verse goes on to say, For thou Lord has not
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forsaken them that seek thee. Your past experience of His
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faithfulness becomes the ground for your future confidence.
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And Poole has a definition for seeking too.
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It's not passive, no, it's. Fervent prayer mixed with faith.
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It is an active, intentional pursuit of God.
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OK, so that brings us to the next section, verse 11.
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The setting shifts to a specific place, Zion.
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Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion.
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Right at this point in history, the Ark of the Covenant, the
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sign of God's special localized presence with his people, was in
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Zion. So that's the center of worship.
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But look at the command that's attached to that worship.
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Declare among the people his doings.
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Among the people. And Poole is quick to point out
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that the people here means the heathen, the gentile nations.
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So this is missional even here. Absolutely.
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Israel's praise was never meant to be a private affair.
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Their deliverance was a testimony.
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They were supposed to be a light to the nation's declaring God's
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great work so that others will be drawn in to worship the one
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true God. The call has always been global.
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Always. And then verse 12, this one is,
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I mean, it's another one of those jarring, intense verses.
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When he maketh Inquisition for blood, he remembereth them.
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Inquisition for blood. It's a very strong judicial
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phrase. What's Pool's take on it?
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He first points to the Hebrew, noting that the word is actually
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plural bloods. Bloods.
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Yes, and he interprets that to mean the violent shedding of the
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blood of God's innocent and holy people.
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God is launching a formal investigation into every single
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drop of martyr's blood, every act of violent oppression
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against his own. He's not just the judge, he's
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the chief investigator. He's building a case.
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He is, and Poole uses a fascinating old word to describe
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God's patience with the wicked. In the meantime, he says, God
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may seem to connive at their sin for a season.
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Connive that that sounds really negative to our ears, like God
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is scheming with them. It does, and this is a great
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example of how language changes for us.
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Connive means to conspire to do something immoral, but in the
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17th century it came more directly from the Latin, which
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meant to shut one's eyes or to wink at.
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So it means to overlook something, to deliberately not
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see it for a time. Exactly.
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God may appear to be winking at the injustice, tolerating it for
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a time, but Poole's point is that this period of overlooking
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is temporary. He will certainly call the
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authors of it to a very severe account.
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The Inquisition is coming, and the bill will come due.
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And in that investigation, the verse says he remembereth them.
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Who is them? The humble, the oppressed.
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And Poole gives a wonderful definition of the humble here.
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He says they are those who do not and cannot and will not
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avenge themselves. That's the definition, not
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taking revenge, yeah. Yes, it's the person who,
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instead of taking matters into their own hands, commits their
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cause to God. They truly believe vengeance is
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mine, says the Lord. So they wait for him to act, and
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Poole says God never ever forgets the cry of that person.
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That's a powerful call to meekness.
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It's trusting the divine investigators so much that you
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don't have to conduct your own. You don't have to.
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You can rest knowing the ultimate judge is on the case.
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And is from that position of trust that David then praise in
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verse 13, Have mercy upon me. O Lord, consider my trouble
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which I suffer of them that hate me.
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And that word consider, Poole says, isn't just a casual
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glance. It means to look upon with
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compassion and to look upon it effectually, to look in a way
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that leads to action, to deliverance.
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And he describes his trouble with this incredible metaphor.
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Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death.
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The gates of death. This sets up the great contrast
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of the next section. We have two sets of gates in
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this Psalm. The gates of death and the gates
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of Zion. Exactly a tale of two gates.
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So what are the gates of death? Poole says it's a metaphor for
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being at the very brink of the grave.
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You're so close to death that you can see the entrance.
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You're standing at the gates of the City of the Dead.
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And he's crying out to be lifted up from there.
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Yeah, but why? What's the purpose of his
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deliverance? Is it just so we can live
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longer? No, and this is absolutely
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central to a right understanding of prayer.
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Look at verse 14. Lift me up, that I may show
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forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion.
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The goal of his rescue is to be able to give praise.
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The ultimate purpose of deliverance is worship.
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He wants to be pulled from the gates of death so he can go
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stand in the gates of Zion, which Poole identifies as the
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public assemblies of God's people, and declare God's
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goodness out loud. I like how Poole even breaks
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down the phrase daughter of Zion, he says.
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Could either mean Jerusalem, which is the daughter of the of
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mother cities? I am.
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Or, and I find this very beautiful, he says, it could
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refer to the people themselves as the daughters of the city.
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The city is like a mother who gives birth to and nurtures its
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inhabitants. How he wants to be back in the
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family, back in the community, worshippers.
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He wants to rejoice in God's salvation publicly.
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Pool makes the point that this has to be a spiritual joy.
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You can't pray, Lord, save me from this mess so I can go back
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to enjoying my selfish pleasures.
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The motive has to be God centered.
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Save me so I can glorify you. That's a filter we should
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probably run all of our own prayer requests through.
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What's the ultimate that I may clause?
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An excellent practice. Then in verses 15 and 16 we get
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this. It feels like a law of the
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universe being described, this boomerang effect of wickedness.
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It's divine justice in action. Verse 15.
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The heathen are sump down in the pit that they made in the net
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which they hid is their own foot taken.
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It's the classic cartoon of the villain digging a trap and then
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falling into it himself. It is, Poole says.
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They fall into the very destruction which they design
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for others. You think of Haman being impaled
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on the very stake he built for Mordecai.
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It happens again and again in Scripture.
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It's God's poetic justice. It is, and verse 16 says this is
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one of the primary ways God reveals Himself.
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The Lord is known by the judgement which He executed,
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Poole says. God makes himself famous through
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these acts. When an evil person's own scheme
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blows up in their face, even unbelievers are often forced to
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say, wow, there must be a God. His hand becomes undeniable.
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And right there at the end of that thought, in verse 16, we
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get these two strange, untranslated words.
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Hey, Guyon Sila. Hey, Guyon.
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Most of us just, you know, mumble over them or skip them
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entirely. We figure it's a musical note
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for the choir director. And it might be partly, but
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Poole and many others think there's more to it.
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He notes that the root of the word Higayan has to do with
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meditation, with deep thought. So it's not just a pause for the
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music, it's a pause for the mind.
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Yes, he calls it a note of attention, like the old Latin
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phrase no de bene note. Well, it's the biblical
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equivalent of a big flashing arrow in the margin pointing to
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the previous sentence and saying Think about this.
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And what is this? What's the truth that deserves
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such deep meditation? It's the truth we just read.
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The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands, Poole says.
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That idea is worthy of deep and frequent contemplation.
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Why that one in particular? Because it is a profound comfort
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to the righteous. It reassures us that we don't
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need to take vengeance. We don't have to scheme and plot
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against our enemies, and they're a very act of plotting against
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us. They are building their own
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gallows. They're weaving their own snare.
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Evil is ultimately self defeating.
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That is a truth worth stopping and meditating on.
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That's a Higuain moment. Definitely.
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But the Psalm doesn't end on that note of poetic justice.
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It goes to a much harder, much starker place in verse 17.
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Yes, this is probably the most difficult verse in the chapter
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for a modern reader. The wicked shall be turned into
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hell and all the nations that forget God.
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Turned into hell, It's blunt, and Poole dives right into the
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controversy over the Hebrew word here she'll.
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He has to, because many will argue that she'll simply means
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the grave, the common destination of all the dead,
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good and bad. But Poole rejects that
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interpretation in this context. He does, and his logic is very
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sharp. He argues that this verse is
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clearly a threat, a description of a punishment that is unique
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to the wicked. If it just meant the wicked will
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die and go to the grave, well, so will the righteous.
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David will go to the grave, so do the prophets.
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It wouldn't be a unique punishment.
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So for the threat to have any meaning, it has to be talking
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about something worse than ordinary physical death.
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That is his argument. It has to refer to the place of
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eternal perdition of torment, and he even analyzes the
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specific phrasing Shall be turned into or shall return to
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hell. That's a weird phrase.
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Return to hell as if they've been there before.
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It's a chilling idea. Poole offers a couple of
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possible interpretations. The first is that hell is their
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proper place. He references Acts chapter 1,
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where Judas goes to his own place.
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The idea is that because they are spiritually children of the
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devil, hell is their native country.
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They are just returning home. That is a terrifying thought.
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It is. His second interpretation is
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military. The wicked set themselves up in
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battle array against God. They advance on Him, but they
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are utterly defeated and beaten back into hell.
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They are driven away from His presence in a final, decisive
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route. And who are these wicked people?
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The verse defines them. It's not just, you know, violent
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criminals, it says. And all the nations that forget
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God. That's the category forgetting
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God. It's the opposite of knowing His
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name, which we talked about earlier.
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What does it mean to forget God in this sense?
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Poole says it's those who do not consider nor regard God.
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They don't pay attention to his commands, his warnings, or his
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promises. They just go on securely in
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their sins. It's not necessarily active
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philosophical atheism, it's practical atheism.
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It's living as if he isn't there or as if he doesn't matter.
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Indifference is a damnable thin. According to this verse, yes, a
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fatal indifference. But right after that incredibly
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heavy verse, verse 18 comes in like a ray of light.
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For the needy shall not always be forgotten.
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The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.
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The contrast again. The wicked forget God and are
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sent to their proper place. The needy who feel forgotten by
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God are promised that they will be remembered, and pull zooms in
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on that one little word. Shall not always be forgotten.
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Which of course, implies that for a season, it can feel like
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they are forgotten, Poole says. God may seem to neglect them for
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a while. He may allow their enemies to
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prosper. But that season has an
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expiration date. It will not be forever.
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That's the essence of faith, isn't it?
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Trusting God during that season of seeming neglect.
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It is holding on to the promise that the expectation of the
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poor, their hope in God, will not ultimately perish.
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And so the Psalm closes with a prayer, verses 19 in 20 David
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cries out, Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail.
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Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves
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to be but. Men, but men.
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It sounds so simple. Of course there are men.
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What's the point? But Poole points out that the
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specific Hebrew word for men used here is enosh.
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And that word carries a specific connotation.
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It does. It doesn't just mean mankind.
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Enosh specifically implies man in his weakness, his frailty,
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his mortality, man as a miserable break, likeable
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creature. So the prayer is Lord, remind
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these arrogant nations that they are just frail mortal dust.
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That's it, precisely. Poole writes that powerful and
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majestic men are very prone to forget their own frailty.
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They start to act like gods. They think their power is
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absolute and their lives are their own.
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We see that play out in history over and over and over again.
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Constantly. And so David's prayer is, put
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them in fear, send terror into their hearts.
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And why? Not just for punishment sake,
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but that they may know themselves.
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So self knowledge comes through the fear of God.
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That's a fascinating idea. They need that divine rebuke to
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shock them out of their delusion and remind them that they are
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creatures, not the Creator. They are simply Enosh.
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So as we wrap this up, thinking through pool on Psalm 9, we've
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really seen the whole spectrum. The sovereign judge whose face
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melts armies and the gentle refuge for those who are crushed
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and oppressed, we see in the intricate traps the wicked lay,
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only to be caught in them themselves.
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It's a complete worldview. It tells you that the universe
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is not random chaos. It's a moral universe because it
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has a moral judge. And that is the worst possible
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news for those who forget God. But it is the best and most
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comforting news for those who flee to Him for refuge.
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And that one inside from Poole about knowing the name is going
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to stick with me. That trust is the child of
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knowledge. It challenges me not just read
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about God, but to really meditate on his character until
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it changes how I feel, how I react to trouble.
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That's the heart of it is moving from knowing about God to truly
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knowing Him. When you know, really know, that
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He is a rock, you're not afraid to put your full weight on Him.
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Which brings me to a final thought for you, the listener,
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to chew on that last prayer from David.
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Let them know they are but men. The challenge for us is this.
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Do you know that about yourself? Do you live with a constant
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awareness of your own shalty, your own weakness, your absolute
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dependence on God for your next breath?
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Or does it take a crisis, a divine rebuke, to humble you and
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remind you of your proper place before the throne?
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That's a sobering question. We spend so much energy trying
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to be strong, self-sufficient, in control.
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But this Psalm suggests that true safety, true wisdom, begins
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when we admit I am but enosh, I am weak.
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Because it's only when we know our weakness that will finally
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run to the one who is truly strong.
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When I am weak, then I am strong.
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That's the gospel paradox. Well, that's all the time we
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have for this deep dive with reformed thinking.
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We hope these thoughts from Matthew Poole have given you
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fresh eyes for Song Glen. And don't forget to pause for
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the Higuain. Absolutely.
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Until next time, keep digging deep.