A poetic start to the weekend

Psalm 9, 10: These two Psalms are supposed to be read as a unit, and in Hebrew they followed an alphabetic acrostic pattern, the notes say in the Harper Collins Study Bible. It's only sheer dumb luck that I'm reading them as a unit, and at first glance, they're not that unified. Psalm 9 begins with thanksgiving and praise, and Psalm 10 has the superscription "prayer for deliverance from enemies." But taken as a whole, the Psalm moves from proclaiming a wonderful and mighty God who rebuked the wicked and "let the nations know they are only human" (10: 20) to times of trouble where the wicked are arrogant in their prosperity and feel invincible, back to a victorious God. Another theme running throughout these two Psalms is the need for care and justice for the poor and oppressed.
A musical inspiration: The contemporary hymn Je louerai l'Eternel or Praise, I will praise you, Lord by Claude Fraysee is based on Psalm 9: 1-2. It's in my hymnal (HWB 76) but I know this is one that is widely sung across the Christian traditions.