Psalms 9:5

5 You have rebuked the nations: You have destroyed the wicked; You have erased their name forever and ever.

Psalms 9:5 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 9:5

Thou hast rebuked the Heathen
The people of the Philistines, as the Targum and Kimchi explain it, though some Jewish writers ^F1 understand it of Amalek the chief of the Heathen nations; but it rather refers to Gospel times, and to the rebukes of the Heathen, by the preaching of the Gospel, for their idolatry and superstition; and especially to the latter day, and to the rebukes of the antichristian states, the Papists who are called Gentiles; which will be with flames of fire, and will issue in their utter extirpation, upon which a profound peace and prosperity will succeed in the Christian churches, according to ( Isaiah 2:4 ) ; which is a prophecy of those times;

thou hast destroyed the wicked;
the wicked man; for it is in the singular number, "labben", as Aben Ezra observes, or who is meant by him; Goliath, according to the Targum and Kimchi; or Esau, as other Jewish writers ^F2, that is, his posterity the Edomites; and each of these were figures of antichrist, the man of sin, the wicked one, whom Christ will slay with the breath of his lips, ( Isaiah 11:4 ) ;

thou hast put out their name for ever and ever;
that is, the glory and reputation of their name, a good and honourable one, which they sought to transmit to the latest posterity; for though the names of wicked men may continue, as Pharaoh, Judas, and others; yet they continue with a scandal and reproach upon them that shall never be wiped off, their names rot and stink; see ( Proverbs 10:7 ) ; the whole of this denotes the utter ruin and shameful end of the enemies of Christ and his church, and which is matter of joy to the saints.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 Jarchi in loc. & Pesikta in ibid. in v. 1.
F2 Ibid.

Psalms 9:5 In-Context

3 When my enemies retreat, they stumble and perish before You.

4 For You have upheld my just cause; You are seated on Your throne as a righteous judge.

5 You have rebuked the nations: You have destroyed the wicked; You have erased their name forever and ever.

6 The enemy has come to eternal ruin; You have uprooted the cities, and the very memory of them has perished.

7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever; He has established His throne for judgment.