When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish in your presence.
Parallel translations
- KJV When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.
- BSB When my enemies retreat, they stumble and perish before You.
- 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 1:9who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
- Rev 6:12–17I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became as blood.
- Rev 20:11I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them.
- Ps 80:16It’s burned with fire. It’s cut down. They perish at your rebuke.
- Ps 76:7You, even you, are to be feared. Who can stand in your sight when you are angry?
- Isa 64:3When you did awesome things which we didn’t look for, you came down, and the mountains quaked at your presence.
- Ps 68:1–2For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. A song. Let God arise! Let his enemies be scattered! Let them who hate him also flee before him.
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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.