Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 9:9
The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
9, 10. So may Jehovah be a high tower for the down-trodden,
A high tower in times of extremity;
And let them that know Thy name trust in Thee,
Because Thou hast not forsaken them that seek Thee, O Jehovah.
These verses express the result of Jehovah’s judgement in the deliverance of those who are crushed and down-trodden (Psa 10:18; Job 5:4) by the world’s magnates, and the consequent encouragement of the faithful.
a refuge ] A high tower or fort; in the Psalter always metaphorically of God. Cp. Psa 18:2, &c., and the use of the cognate verb in Psa 20:1 and elsewhere. The figure may well be derived from the experience of David in his outlaw life. The down-trodden victim is lifted up far out of the reach of his tormentors. Cp. Pro 18:10.
trouble ] A word occurring elsewhere only in Psa 10:1. It seems to mean the extremity of trouble in which all hope of deliverance is cut off. The idea may be that the precipice which apparently barred the fugitive’s escape proves to be his retreat from his pursuers.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The Lord also will be a refuge – Margin, an high place. The margin expresses the more exact sense of the, Hebrew word – misgab. It means properly height, altitude; then a height, rock, crag; and then, as such localities, being inaccessible to an enemy, were sought in times of danger as places of secure retreat, it comes to denote a place of security and refuge, Psa 18:2; Psa 46:7, Psa 46:11; Psa 48:3; Psa 59:9, Psa 59:17; Psa 94:22. The declaration here is equivalent to what is so often said, that God is a refuge, a rock, a high tower, a defense; meaning, that those referred to might find safety in him. See the notes at Psa 18:2.
For the oppressed – literally, for those who are crushed, broken; hence, the dejected, afflicted, unhappy – dak – from mor dakak – to beat small; to break in pieces; to crush. The allusion here is to those who are wronged or down-trodden; to the victims of tyranny and injustice. Such may look to God to vindicate them and their cause, and they will not look in vain. Sooner or later he will manifest himself as their protector and their helper. See Psa 9:12.
A refuge in times of trouble – Not only for the oppressed, but for all those who are in trouble. Compare Psa 46:1. That is, all such may come to him with the assurance that he will be ready to pity them in their sorrows, and to deliver them. The psalmist had found it so in his own case; and he infers that it would be so in all cases, and that this might be regarded as the general character of God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 9:9-10
The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed.
The refuge of the oppressed
I. The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed.
1. What is a refuge? Shelter–in the cities of refuge; strongholds (2Sa 22:23); a harbour of refuge, as on a rocky, dangerous coast. Thus the leading idea is shelter. Now the Lord Jehovah as Father, Son, and Spirit is such refuge.
2. But who are the oppressed? Not only those who are oppressed in natural things, as many are; but in things spiritual. The heavy burden of sin. By Satan. Daily conflict with sin. Now the Lord is a refuge for such.
II. A refuge in times of trouble. The Scriptures always put together the malady and the remedy. As to these times of trouble, they are sometimes–
1. Seasons of temporal trouble;
2. Of spiritual trouble. These make us know that the Lord is our refuge, for we can find none elsewhere. There is no definition of what troubles, so that in all trouble we may claim this promise.
III. And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee. The name means the revealed perfections of God. His eternal faithfulness. His loving kindness and tender mercy. His infinite wisdom. But who are they that know His name? They to whom the name of God has been revealed to their consciences. It is an experimental knowledge, and here is the grand line betwixt life and death.
IV. For Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee. This takes in the poor, the halt, the lame, the little ones of Gods family. In order to seeking God–
1. We must have a desire to find something; and then,
2. Know that God, from whom we seek what we would find. (J. C. Philpot.)
The Lord our refuge
It is reported of the Egyptians that, living in the fens, and being vexed with gnats, they used to sleep in high towers, whereby, these creatures not being able to soar so high, they were delivered from the biting of them. So would it be with us when bitten with cares and fear, did we but run to God for refuge, and rest confident of His help. (John Trapp.)
A free refuge
The Hospice of St. Bernard, and the wild scenery surrounding it. The place is so cold that fish will not live in the lake, and we have seen the snow lying knee deep at mid-summer. The Hospice is a refuge from the storm in which many travellers have rested securely, who otherwise might have been lost in the snow. This noble institution receives all passers freely, whoever they may be, without money and without price; and in this respect it is like the salvation of our Lord Jesus, for Jesus gives freely of His grace to those who have nothing to offer in return.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. A refuge] misgab, a high place, where their enemies can neither reach nor see them. He who has God for his portion has all safety in him.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9, 10. The oppressed, and allwho know Him (Psa 5:3; Psa 7:1),find Him a sure refuge.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed,…. The poor and weak, such as have no might nor power, and are thrown down and trampled upon, as the word i signifies; and such are the people of God. They are oppressed with the burden of sin; they are bowed down with Satan and his temptations; and are sometimes pressed out of measure, and above their strength, with the persecutions of men; they are trodden under foot by antichrist, or otherwise are borne down with a variety of sorrows and afflictions; but the Lord is a refuge for them. The Chaldee paraphrase renders it as before, “the Word of the Lord”, the eternal Logos, the Son of God: he is a refuge for poor sensible sinners, fleeing from wrath to come; being typified by the cities of refuge, whither the manslayer fled from the avenger of blood: he is the strong hold for the prisoners of hope to turn into; his name is a strong tower and place of defence for oppressed saints; he is a refuge when all others fail, and at all times, in the day of affliction, and in the hour of death, and at judgment;
a refuge in times of trouble; of which the saints have many, as when God hides his face, when corruptions prevail, when grace is low in exercise, and temptations are strong, yet even then Christ is the refuge from the storm; the salvation of his people is of him, and he is their strength in every time of trouble; see Isa 25:4.
i “attrito”, Cocceius, Gejerus: “contrito”, Michaelis.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(Heb.: 9:10-11) Thus judging the nations Jahve shows Himself to be, as a second -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 Psa 9:11. , a high, steep place, where one is removed from danger, is a figure familiar to David from the experiences of his time of persecution. (in pause ) is properly one who is crushed (from = , to crush, break in pieces, to pulverize), therefore one who is overwhelmed to the extreme, even to being completely crushed. The parallel is with the datival (as probably also in Psa 10:1). from (time, and then both continuance, Psa 81:16, and condition) signifies the public relations of the time, or even the vicissitudes of private life, Psa 31:16; and is not with (Bttch.), which gives an expression that is meaninglessly minute (“for times in the need”), but one word, formed from (to cut off, Arab. to see, prop. to discern keenly), just like ekil from , prop. a cutting off, or being cut off, i.e., either restraint, especially motionlessness (= , Jer 17:8, plur. Jer 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 signifies in distinction from ), have now experienced that He also does not forget them, but makes Himself known to them in the fulness of His power and mercy.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
9. And Jehovah will be a refuge for the poor. David here furnishes a remedy for the temptation which greatly afflicts the weak, when they see themselves, and those who are like them, abandoned to the will of the ungodly, while God keeps silence. (173) He puts us in mind that God delays his aid, and to outward appearance forsakes his faithful ones, in order at length to succor them at a more convenient season, according to the greatness of their necessity and affliction. From this it follows, that he by no means ceases from the exercise of his office, although he suffer the good and the innocent to be reduced to extreme poverty, and although he exercise them with weeping and lamentations; for by doing this he lights up a lamp to enable them to see his judgments the more clearly. Accordingly, David expressly declares, that God interposes his protection seasonably in the afflictions of his people. The Lord will be a protection to the poor in seasonable times in trouble From this we are taught the duty of giving his providence time to make itself at length manifest in the season of need. And if protection by the power of God, and the experience of his fatherly favor, is the greatest blessing which we can receive, let us not feel so uneasy at being accounted poor and miserable before the world, but let this consolatory consideration assuage our grief, that God is not far from us, seeing our afflictions call upon him to come to our aid. Let us also observe, that God is said to be at hand in seasonable times when he succours the faithful during their affliction. (174) The Hebrew word בצרה, batsarah, which occurs in the end of the 9 verse, is understood by some as if it were the simple word which signifies defense; but here they render it metaphorically distress, denoting those trying circumstances in which a person is so closely shut up, and reduced to such extremity, that he can find no escape. I, however, think there is more probability in the opinion of those who take ב, the first letter of בצרה, batsarah, as a servile letter meaning in, which is its ordinary signification. (175) What is here said, then, is, that God assists his own people in the time of need, namely, in affliction, or when they are weighed down with it, for then assistance is most necessary and most useful.
(173) “ Exposez a l’appetit et cruaute des meschans, sans que Dieu fkee semblant d’en rien veoir ne scavoir.” — Fr. “Exposed to the desire and cruelty of the wicked, while God seems neither to see nor to know any thing about it”
(174) “ Notons aussi que Dieu est dit estre prest en temps opportun quand il subvient aux fideles lors qu’ils sour, affligez.” — Fr.
(175) “ In critical times, לעתות, leitoth; in [the season of] distress, בצרה , batsarah, בצרה is the substantive צרה under its own preposition ב, and is not so well rendered as a genitive following עתות.” — Horsley
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) The Lord also.Better, but let Jehovah.
Refuge.Properly, a stronghold: a citadel into which the persecuted would retreat.
Oppressed.Properly, crushed.
Trouble.From root meaning to cut off from. Sc., provisions, water, and the like. Its cognate in Jer. 14:1; Jer. 17:8, means drought. The phrase in times of trouble recurs in Psa. 10:1.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘YHWH also will be a high tower for the oppressed,
A high tower in times of trouble;
And those who know your name will put their trust in you;
For you, YHWH, have not forsaken those who seek you.’
But it is not only the Davidic king who enjoys God’s protection, it is he and all God’s true people. God protects all who, because they are righteous and trust in Him, are oppressed by the unrighteous, and He will be a fortress tower on their behalf, into which they can enter and be safe. While they may be laid siege to, or may be bombarded, they will be totally secure. Those who know Him for what He is will put their trust in Him, knowing that He will never forsake those who seek Him. They know by faith that he is totally reliable, and that they can shelter securely in His hands.
‘A high tower.’ A regular description of YHWH’s protecting hand (e.g. Psa 18:2; Psa 144:2; see also Pro 18:10)
‘In times of trouble.’ That is, in the extremity of trouble when all hope of deliverance seems to be cut off.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psa 9:9 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
Ver. 9. The Lord also will be a refuge, &c. ] Heb. a high tower, edita, arx, wherein men are secured, and escape the impressions of an enemy. The very lame and blind, those most shiftless creatures, when they had gotten stronghold of Zion over their heads, thought that then they might securely scorn David and his host, 2Sa 5:6-7 ; yet their hold failed them. So did the tower of Shechem those that ran into it. Not so the Almighty his poor oppressed. Universal experience sealeth to this truth; neither can one instance be given of the contrary. Higgaion. Selah. It is reported of the Egyptians, that, living in the fens, and being vexed with gnats, they use to sleep in high towers, whereby, those creatures not being able to soar so high they are delivered from the biting of them (Herod. lib. 2); so would it be with us, when bitten with cares and fears, did we but run to God for refuge, and rest confident in his help.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the oppressed = the crushed one. Compare Psa 10:18.
times of trouble = the great time of trouble: i.e. the tribulation of Mat 24, Jer 30, &c. Compare Psa 10:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 9:9-10
Psa 9:9-10
“Jehovah also will be a high tower for the oppressed,
A high tower in times of trouble;
And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee;
For thou, Jehovah, hath not forsaken them that seek thee.”
Knowing God’s name, as mentioned here, implies something far beyond merely being able to pronounce it. For one truly to know God’s name when this psalm was written meant loving and serving him; and in our times, it means to confess his Son Jesus Christ, obey the Gospel, and walk righteously before him. See Luk 6:46.
The blessed promise of these verses is that God never forsakes his children. They may indeed be sorely tried and tempted as was Job, hunted like a wild beast by vicious enemies as was David himself, or even, at times, feel forsaken, as did the Christ himself on Calvary; but nevertheless they are never forsaken. As stated in Psa 37:28, “Jehovah forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved forever.”
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 9:9. The assistance the Lord renders to the oppressed may be said to be negative and positive. The negative consists in overthrowing the oppressor, and the positive consists in offering a haven to the unfortunate victims.
Psa 9:10. To know Ms name as David was considering it meant to realize the power of that name over the workers of iniquity. However, to get the benefit of the holy name it is necessary that they have sought after the Lord; this idea is taught in the New Testament. (Mat 7:7.)
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
The Lord: Psa 18:2, Psa 32:7, Psa 37:39, Psa 46:1, Psa 48:3, Psa 62:8, Psa 91:1, Psa 91:2, Psa 142:4, Deu 33:27, Pro 18:10, Isa 4:5, Isa 4:6, Isa 8:14, Isa 32:2, Nah 1:7, Luk 13:34, Heb 6:18
be a refuge: Heb. be a high place, Psa 20:1, Psa 46:7, *marg.
in times: Psa 50:15, Psa 77:1, Psa 77:2, Psa 108:12
Reciprocal: Exo 2:5 – when she Num 35:6 – six cities for refuge 2Sa 22:3 – my refuge 2Ch 16:8 – because Psa 14:6 – Lord Psa 34:22 – none Psa 59:9 – defence Psa 103:6 – executeth Jer 14:8 – in time
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
9:9 The LORD also will be a refuge for the {d} oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
(d) Our miseries are meant to cause us to feel God’s present care over us.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The concept of God as a refuge occurs often in the psalms. A "stronghold" (Heb. misgob, also translated "refuge" and "fortress") is a high place of security and protection. When David fled from Saul he often took refuge in strongholds (1Sa 23:14; 1Sa 23:19; 1Sa 23:29). However, he regarded the Lord Himself as the best of these (cf. Mat 28:20; Heb 13:5).