Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 9:18
For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall [not] perish forever.
18. For the needy shall not perpetually be forgotten;
Nor the hope of the afflicted be disappointed for ever.
Man forgets God; but God does not forget man.
expectation ] The patient hope which waits upon God in faith (LXX : Vulg. patientia). Comp. the frequent use of the cognate verb generally rendered wait: Psa 25:3; Psa 25:5; Psa 25:21, Psa 27:14, Psa 37:9; Psa 37:34, Psa 40:1, Psa 130:5; Isa 25:9; Isa 26:8: and elsewhere.
the poor ] Here the traditional reading is ‘ aniyym, ‘afflicted,’ though the text has ‘anvm, ‘meek.’ See note on Psa 9:12.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For the needy – The poor; those who are dependent and helpless.
Shall not always be forgotten – That is, by God. He will interfere and save them by destroying their enemies. He will not suffer the wicked always to persecute and oppress the righteous. In due time he will vindicate his own cause; will deliver the oppressed and down-trodden, and will consign their oppressors to deserved punishment. This is as true now, in regard to all the oppressed and their oppressors, as it was in the time of the psalmist.
The expectation of the poor – Of the afflicted and the oppressed. The word expectation refers to their hope; their desire; their earnest looking for deliverance. In that state men naturally look for the divine interposition, and the psalmist says that in that they will not always be disappointed.
Shall not perish for ever – The word not is supplied here by our translators, but not improperly. It is thus supplied in the Targum, and in the Syriac, the Vulgate and the Greek. Such forms of construction are not uncommon. Compare Psa 1:5; Deu 33:6. The negative is repeated from the preceding member. – Michaelis.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 9:18
For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.
Good cheer for the needy
The value of a text depends very much upon the man to whom it comes. The song of the troubadour was very charming to Richard, because he knew the responsive verses. The trail is full of meaning to the Indian, for his quick eye knows how to follow it. So will those who are spiritually poor and needy eagerly lay hold on this promise. It is literally true that the needy are remembered of God. In bitter times He will so order governments that they shall look with peculiar interest upon the poor. In text we have–
I. Two bitter experiences ended.
1. The needy shall not always be forgotten by former friends and admirers; in arrangements made and plans projected; in judgments formed and in praises distributed; in help estimated and reliance expressed. Such are usually left out of our calculation, forgotten as a dead man out of mind. But this will not be always so.
2. The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. You have been disappointed, in your natural expectation from justice, gratitude, relationship, age, sympathy, charity, etc.; in your confidence in man; in your judgments of yourself; in your expectations of providence.
II. Two sad fears removed.
1. Not forever shall you be forgotten. You shall not meet with final forgetfulness. Nor in the day of severe trouble. In the night of grief and alarm for sin. In the hour of death.
2. Nor shall your expectation perish. Your weakness shall not frustrate the power of God, nor your sin dry up the grace of God. Your constitutional infirmities shall not cause your overthrow.
III. Two sweet promises given.
1. You shall not be overlooked by the Father, Son, or Holy Ghost.
2. You shall not be disappointed. Peace shall visit your heart, sin vanquished, and an abundant entrance into glory. Then, hope in God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
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Psa 10:1-18
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 18. The needy shall not alway be forgotten] The needy, and the poor, whose expectation is from the Lord, are never forgotten, though sometimes their deliverance is delayed for the greater confusion of their enemies, the greater manifestation of God’s mercy, and the greater benefit to themselves.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The needy shall not alway be forgotten, though God for a time may seem to neglect or forget them, and suffer their enemies to triumph over them.
Shall not perish; which negative particle is fitly understood out of the former clause, as it is Psa 1:5; 44:18; Isa 23:4; 28:27,28.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. (Compare Ps13:1-6).
the needyliterally,”poor,” as deprived of anything; hence miserable.
expectation of the pooror,”meek,” “humble,” made so by affliction.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For the needy shall not always be forgotten,…. The people of God are poor and needy for the most part; they are so in things temporal, and they are poor in spirit, or in things spiritual, of which they are sensible; their needs are many, and frequently return; but God has provided a throne of grace for them to come to for help in time of need, and he will supply all their wants out of the fulness of grace in Christ; nor is he unmindful of them, and of his covenant with them; strictly speaking, they are never forgotten by him, being engraven on his hands, and set as a seal on his heart; but they sometimes seem to be so both to themselves and others, Ps 42:3; and they may continue so long; God may seem for a long time to take no notice of them, but suffer them to lie under affliction and persecution; the holy city is trodden under foot forty two months, or one thousand two hundred and sixty days, that is, so many years; so long the witnesses prophesy in sackcloth, so long the church is in the wilderness, and so long will be the reign of antichrist,
Re 11:2; but as great Babylon will come up in remembrance before God, and he will remember her sins, and render her double; the set time to favour his poor and needy will come, and he will arise and have mercy on them, and bring them into a glorious and comfortable state and condition;
the expectation of the poor shall [not] perish for ever; the negative particle, though not in the original text, is rightly supplied from the preceding clause, as it is by the Targum, Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi, and as the sense requires; and the expectation of Christ’s poor ones is not only a supply of grace here and eternal happiness hereafter; but they expect a glorious state of the church on earth, and that Christ will descend in person from heaven, and his tabernacle will be among men; and that they shall be kings and priests, and possess the kingdom, and reign with Christ a thousand years; and though these things may seem to be deferred, and their expectation put off to a length of time, yet it shall not perish for ever; there will be a performance of the things promised and expected.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
18. For the poor shall not always be forgotten. The assertion that God will not forsake the poor and afflicted for ever, is a confirmation of the preceding sentence. By it he intimates, that they may indeed seem to be forsaken for a time. Let us, therefore, remember that God has promised his assistance to us, not in the way of preventing our afflictions, but of at length succouring us after we have been long subdued under the cross. David speaks expressly of hope or expectation, thereby to encourage us to prayer. The reason why God seems to take no notice of our afflictions is, because he would have us to awaken him by means of our prayers; for when he hears our requests, (as if he began but then to be mindful of us,) he stretches forth his powerful hand to help us. David again repeats that this is not done immediately, in order that we may persevere in hoping well, even although our expectations may not be instantly gratified.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(18) Not alway.In the original the negative comes emphatically at the commencement, ruling both clauses, as in Psa. 35:19.
The expectation of the poor.The sufferers hope will at some time be realised: the hope of being righted. In this confidence the psalmist goes on to call on Jehovah to appear as judge.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
This is a sweet promise for a thousand occasions, and when pleaded before the throne in his name who comprehends in himself every promise, and is indeed himself the great Promise of the Bible, it will be found, like all others, yea and amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 9:18 For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall [not] perish for ever.
Ver. 18. For the needy shall not always be forgotten ] Because he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. The Lord is at hand to help those that are forsaken in their hopes. Julian Lining was apprehended by Dale the promoter (in Queen Mary’s days), who said unto him, You hope and hope, but your hope shall be aslope. For though the queen fail, she that you hope for shall never come at it; for there is my Lord Cardinal’s grace and many others between her and it, &c. But the cardinal died soon after the queen, and (according to father Latimer’s prayer) Elizabeth was crowned, and England yet once more looked upon (Acts and Mon. 1871).
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the needy = a needy one.
poor = oppressed. Compare Psa 9:12.
not. Ellipsis of second negative. See note on Gen 2:6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
For the: Psa 9:12, Psa 12:5, Psa 72:4, Psa 72:12-14, Psa 102:17, Psa 102:20, Psa 109:31, Luk 1:53, Luk 6:20, Jam 2:5
expectation: Pro 23:18, Pro 24:14
Reciprocal: 1Ki 2:9 – hold him Job 5:16 – the poor Psa 10:17 – Lord Psa 18:27 – save Psa 74:21 – O let not Isa 29:19 – the poor
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 9:18. The needy shall not always be forgotten Though God, for a time, may seem to forget or neglect them, and suffer their enemies to triumph over them; The expectation of the poor Namely, of their receiving help from God, shall not perish for ever Though they may be tempted to think it shall. The vision is for an appointed time, and at the end it shall speak. He that believeth shall not make haste.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
9:18 For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation {i} of the poor shall [not] perish for ever.
(i) God does not promise to help us before we have felt the cross.