“Put them in fear, O Lord: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.”
The psalmist's petition that nations recognize their human limitations reveals a profound theological insight about the futility of human pride and self-reliance when set against divine sovereignty. By asking God to make nations know their mortality, the psalmist advocates for an eschatological reckoning where all powers must acknowledge the God who transcends temporal authority and human schemes. This verse completes the thematic arc of Psalm 9, moving from celebration of God's justice to a fervent prayer that all creation will ultimately submit to divine will. The final plea for fear of God among the nations suggests that true social order and peace emerge only when earthly powers recognize their subordination to heaven's throne.
Church Fathers on Psalms 9:20
1. The inscription of this Psalm is, “To the end for the hidden things of the Son, a Psalm of David himself.” As to the hidden things of the Son there may be a question: but since he has not added whose, the very only-begotten Son of God should be understood. For where a Psalm has been inscribed of the son of David, “When,” he says, “he fled from the face of Absalom his son;” although his name even was mentioned, and therefore there could be no obscurity as to whom it was…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!