is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever. Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight. Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah. Structure The Psalm is an acrostic Hebrew poem, and with Psalm 10 forms a single combined work. Old Testament scholar Hermann Gunkel divided Psalm 9 as follows: Verses 2-3: hymn-like opening song of thanksgiving Verses 4-5: main piece of the peace song Verse 6-17: transition to an eschatological hymn In describing the structure of Psalm 9/10 there are some quite different approaches. Gunkel rated the Psalm by the alphabetical arrangement as "artificial" or "forced", saying, "One cannot place overly strict demands on the internal coherence of such a forced product. The writer was likely glad to have found a fitting word for each letter; he did not have the literary ability to mould his poem into a fully unified work of art." Anders, by contrast, calls the shape of the Psalm an elegant correspondence of form. The French theologian Pierre Auffret gives the following structure for Psalm 9: Psalm 9:2 to 9 corresponds to Psalm 10:6 to 15: in respect to the heart relative to the face in respect to the throne in respect to the wicked in respect to eternity. Psalm 9 is the first of the acrostic Psalms, covering half of the Hebrew alphabet, with Psalm 10 covering the rest of the alphabet. There is some tension between psalms 9 and 10. Psalm 9 has a tone of victory over evil and its ancient Chaldean title suggests that it was written to celebrate David's victory over Goliath. Then, as the acrostic continues into Psalm 10, the tone becomes a lament: God seemingly stands afar off. Victory over evil may be 'here and not yet'. Dating Some scholars question the Davidic authorship of this psalm: Bernhard Duhm and Emil Kautzsch date it to Maccabean times while form critic Hermann Gunkel links it the Persian era. Uses Judaism Verse 4 is found in the repetition of the Amidah on Rosh Hashanah. Verse 11 is part