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Psalm 9 · a question people ask

"For the needy shall not always be forgotten" (9:18). Does that mean they are forgotten for a while?

In the text

The verse says "not always" (9:18) and doesn't explain it. A few verses before, the psalm says the LORD "doesn’t forget the cry of the afflicted" (9:12) (tap forget). The next psalm, which has no title, asks, "Why do you stand far off, LORD? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" (Psalm 10:1). It says of the wicked, "He says in his heart" (Psalm 10:11): "God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it" (Psalm 10:11). And it prays, "Arise, LORD! God, lift up your hand! Don’t forget the helpless" (Psalm 10:12). Psalm 13 asks, "How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?" (Psalm 13:1), with the same Hebrew verb. Near its end Psalm 10 says, "LORD, you have heard the desire of the humble" (Psalm 10:17). These verses stand side by side in the book of Psalms, and these notes don't choose how they fit together.

The verses

“For he who avenges blood remembers them. He doesn’t forget the cry of the afflicted.”
Psalm 9:12 · World English Bible
“For the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever.”
Psalm 9:18 · World English Bible
“Why do you stand far off, LORD? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?”
Psalm 10:1 · World English Bible
“He says in his heart, “God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it.” Arise, LORD! God, lift up your hand! Don’t forget the helpless.”
Psalm 10:11-12 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 9

Psalm 9: A high tower for the oppressed

"The LORD reigns forever" (9:7) has, in Hebrew, the verb of "You sit on the throne" (9:4): the LORD sits forever, and "He has prepared his throne for judgment" (9:7). And the psalm's "He will judge the world in righteousness" (9:8) is, in the WEB, word for word what Paul told Athens God will do "by the man whom he has ordained" (Acts 17:31).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions