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Psalms

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Psalm 9

1 For the music director, according to the alumoth-labben style; a psalm of David. I will thank the Lord with all my heart! I will tell about all your amazing deeds. 2 I will be happy and rejoice in you. I will sing praises to you, O Most High. 3 When my enemies turn back, they trip and are defeated before you. 4 For you defended my just cause; from your throne you pronounced a just decision. 5 You terrified the nations with your battle cry. You destroyed the wicked; you permanently wiped out all memory of them. 6 The enemy’s cities have been reduced to permanent ruins. You destroyed their cities;⁠ all memory of the enemies has perished.⁠ 7 But the Lord rules forever; he reigns in a just manner. 8 He judges the world fairly; he makes just legal decisions for the nations. 9 Consequently the Lord provides safety for the oppressed; he provides safety in times of trouble. 10 Your loyal followers trust in you, for you, Lord, do not abandon those who seek your help. 11 Sing praises to the Lord, who rules in Zion. Tell the nations what he has done. 12 For the one who takes revenge against murderers took notice of the oppressed; he did not overlook their cry for help⁠ 13 when they prayed: “Have mercy on me, Lord! See how I am oppressed by those who hate me, O one who can snatch me away from the gates of death! 14 Then I will tell about all your praiseworthy acts; in the gates of Daughter Zion I will rejoice because of your deliverance.” 15 The nations fell into the pit they had made; their feet were caught in the net they had hidden. 16 The Lord revealed himself; he accomplished justice. The wicked were ensnared by their own actions. (Higgaion. Selah) 17 The wicked are turned back and sent to Sheol; this is the destiny of all the nations that ignore God, 18 for the needy are not permanently ignored, the hopes of the oppressed are not forever dashed. 19 Rise up, Lord! Don’t let men be defiant. May the nations be judged in your presence. 20 Terrify them, Lord.⁠ Let the nations know they are mere mortals. (Selah)

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 9:5 and Psalm 9:12

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Psalm 9 declares that God remembers the cry of bloodshed, a theme that echoes Genesis 9 where God demands an account for human life and blood. Such literary and theological patterns recur across distinct Biblical genres.

Passages

Genesis 9:5

Hebrew Bible
3 You may eat any moving thing that lives. As I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. 4 “But you must not eat meat with its life (that is, its blood) in it. 5 For your lifeblood I will surely exact punishment, from every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person I will exact punishment for the life of the individual since the man was his relative. 6 “Whoever sheds human blood, by other humans must his blood be shed; for in God’s image God has made humankind. 7 “But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Psalm 9:12

Hebrew Bible
10 Your loyal followers trust in you, for you, Lord, do not abandon those who seek your help. 11 Sing praises to the Lord, who rules in Zion. Tell the nations what he has done. 12 For the one who takes revenge against murderers took notice of the oppressed; he did not overlook their cry for help 13 when they prayed: “Have mercy on me, Lord! See how I am oppressed by those who hate me, O one who can snatch me away from the gates of death! 14 Then I will tell about all your praiseworthy acts; in the gates of Daughter Zion I will rejoice because of your deliverance.”
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

"... Most commentators recognize a direct link between the crying out of the souls and the first murder recorded in the Hebrew Bible, which later inspired the motif of shedding innocent blood. In Genesis 4:10, the postmortem cry of Abel’s blood is essentially an outcry for justice and judgment that God did not ignore, whereas the fifth seal displays, as Jean Delorme and Isabelle Donegani rightly noted, the slain souls as speaking out not as “victims of an accepted sacrifice, but as the innocent ones of a murder that, like the blood of Abel, cries to heaven and stays unvindicated.” The crying out of Abel’s blood, like that of all innocent blood, rises to God because the life of every living creature belongs to God ... (Compare Genesis 9:4-5; Leviticus 4:7, 18, 25, 30, 34; 5:9; 8:15; 9:9; 17:11, 14; Deuteronomy 12:23; 2 Samuel 4:11; Psalm 9:12. Also compare 1 Enoch 47:1-4 where “the blood of the righteous” is mentioned three times) ..."
Patrice Allet, Revelation 6:9-11: An Exegesis of the Fifth Seal in the Light of the Problem of the Eschatological Delay (Andrews University, 2015), 107.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Genesis 9:5 and Psalm 9:12

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