When my enemies retreat, they stumble and perish before You.
Parallel translations
- WEB When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish in your presence.
- KJV When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.
- NKJV When my enemies turn back, They shall fall and perish at Your presence.
- NASB ¶When my enemies turn back, They stumble and perish before You.
- NLT My enemies retreated; they staggered and died when you appeared.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
When his enemies retreat, they stumble and perish before God's presence. The mere presence of God overturns those who oppose His people.
Overview
David attributes the defeat of his enemies not to his own strength but to God's presence, before which they fall. The image conveys that opposition to God's anointed cannot stand. It foreshadows the ultimate defeat of all enemies before the throne of God and of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 2 Th 1:9They will suffer the penalty of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might,
- Rev 6:12–17And when I saw the Lamb open the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black like sackcloth of goat hair, and the whole moon turned blood red,
- Rev 20:11Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.
- Ps 80:16Your vine has been cut down and burned; they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
- Ps 76:7You alone are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You?
- Isa 64:3When You did awesome works that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains trembled at Your presence.
- Ps 68:1–2For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A song. God arises. His enemies are scattered, and those who hate Him flee His presence.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 9:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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