The Psalm Project: Psalm 9
Adapted from
A Mizmor of David
(Psalm 9)
I lift up my hands.
I cast forth praise
Unto YAHUAH.
With a complete soul—
All my mind,
All my heart,
All my will,
All my understanding—
I revere You,
EL, Strong Leader.
I confess Your character,
And Your name,
O, YAHUAH.
I recount the number
Of extraordinary things
You do.
With my mouth,
I declare with authority
Your wonders,
Your marvels,
Your miracles.
I plead for Your judgments.
Exult!
Jump for joy!
In triumph
Make music!
Strike fingers
Upon the stringed instrument.
I will play
Upon the pipe,
Upon the reeded flute.
I will sing forth praise
Unto the character,
The fame,
The splendor
Of EL YON.
When my haters are turned back,
They shall falter,
They shall totter and fall,
Be cast down.
My enemies shall
Be blotted out.
They shall be utterly lost
Before Your faces.
For You have fashioned justice.
You act effectively
To secure my rights,
My Privileges.
YAHUAH Who Hears
My plea,
My cause,
My legal suit.
When You sit down
To judge,
Upon the throne
Of authority and power,
Upon Your seat of honor:
YOU govern,
YOU vindicate,
YOU decide the controversy.
With low, loud cries,
Rebuke those
Who are without the covenant.
Chide the nations
Hostile to You.
Refuse their harvest.
Let them wander,
Become lost.
Erase
The conspicuous position
Of the condemned and guilty.
Wipeout
Their character and renown.
Let judgement
Pass on continually,
As far as the eye
Can see or perceive,
To the edge
Of the horizon
And beyond.
My haters,
Those strong ones
Who work against me,
They are finished.
Failed
Consumed
Their strength
Falls perpetually.
Their ruin endures—
Constant,
Preeminent.
Their desolation—
Absolute in scope.
And their encampments,
The cities—though guarded—
Shall be plucked up by the roots,
Expelled as waste.
They shall wander,
Lost,
Broken,
No way to flee.
Even the memory of them,
As odious perfume,
Shall dissipate.
But YAHUAH,
HE WILL EXIST
For as far
As the eye can see or perceive,
To the edge of the horizon
And beyond.
He shall remain.
His, the place of judgment.
His throne shall abide,
Firm,
Fixed,
He shall act as law-giver.
He shall determine the right.
And HE will,
With strength and firmness,
Enter the controversy.
He shall work:
Vindicate the innocent,
Condemn the guilty,
Punish the wicked—
His judgment
Shall encompass the world
And its inhabitants.
In righteousness—b’tsedek–
HE will judge
For the kindred,
His tribe,
The people of the covenant.
And HE SHALL EXIST—
YAHAYAH—
As a high place,
As a refuge,
For the crushed
And oppressed.
YAHUAH—
A Defense,
A Stronghold,
A High Tower—
At seasons of distress,
In affliction,
Or in a time of trouble.
Celebrate in song!
With fingers,
Skillfully play
The stringed instrument!
With the reeded flute,
Make music!
With your voice,
Sing forth praises
Unto YAHUAH,
Who dwells in Zion!
Be conspicuous,
Stand out boldly
And announce
Among the kindred,
Among those
Who have taken hold
Of the covenant,
All of the exploits and works
Of HE WHO EXISTS!
When YAHUAH
Investigates,
When He diligently enquires,
Concerning the shedding
Of innocent blood,
He will bring them to mind.
He will remember.
He will not forget
The cry of distress
From the poor and afflicted,
The weak and humble.
Chaneni!
Be gracious unto me!
Show Your favor!
YAHUAH,
Self-Existent, Eternal One,
See and consider
My affliction and poverty
Caused by
Those hostile to me,
My haters.
You, my ALOHIM,
Exalted me.
You raised me up
From realm of the dead,
For the purpose
Of Your praise,
That I may make the declaration,
That I may enscribe
A hymn of thanksgiving
And enumerate
All Your praise.
In the marketplace,
In the meeting houses,
At the entrance
Of the city,
The Daughter of Zion,
There, I will rejoice and be glad
In Your Yeshua.
A troop of animals,
The swarm of locusts—
Are those nations outside
The covenant,
Those who are hostile to You.
The rebels
Have drowned
In the grave
They fashioned.
They are caught
And in the trap
Which they laid
In secret,
Their own foot
Becomes snagged.
The Self-Existent One,
YAHAYAH!
Observe and perceive
The process and procedures
Of His justice!
YAHUAH has brought forth
Judgment and right rulings.
In the work of his own doing,
The condemned and guilty are caught.
Disaster strikes
With the speed
Of a venomous snake,
For the guilty one,
The person hostile to ALOHIM,
Is trapped.
<higgayown: music is performed with gentleness>
[Selah: A dramatic pause in the music]
The criminal,
The condemned and guilty one,
Shall be turned back
And be lead away
To Sheol,
The underworld,
As will all the nations
Hostile to
The HE WHO EXISTS,
And those outside the covenant
Who have forgotten
ALOHIM.
As for the poor and needy,
Those who exist in want,
They shall not always be forgotten,
The lifeline
Of the afflicted and meek
Shall not snap
Or unravel,
For a time continuing
Beyond counting,
And longer than
Ancient mountains endure.
The arising—
The time when HE WHO EXISTS–
YAHUAH–
Stands up to establish
Judgement!
Let not mortal man
Become imprudent,
Lifting the shoulder,
Raising the fist.
Let not the goyim,
The nations who oppose You,
Prevail.
Punish those hostile
To Your covenant.
Let them not strengthen themselves
Before Your faces.
Their appointment with terror
Has arrived.
YAHUAH,
O, Self-Existent, Eternal One,
Lead them into chaos,
Into the Abyss,
Then they shall perceive
And understand
Themselves to be
Frail,
Weak,
Subject to death.
[Selah: A sudden cessation of the music]
Pamela Glasgow
The Psalm Project represents my desire for a deeper understanding of the Word of YAHUAH. It is not a mechanical translation, a one-word-for-word exchange from Hebrew to English. We have those. This is is a lyrical adaptation of the many possibilities hidden in the Hebrew, arranged with consideration for the poetic and musical intent of the original writer. I pray you are as enriched in the reading as I was in the transcribing.
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