“Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 9:13 Mean?
David prays with two hands simultaneously: one reaching down into the pit of his trouble, the other reaching up toward the God who lifts him out. "Consider my trouble" looks downward at reality. "Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death" looks upward at God's track record. The prayer holds both honestly — present suffering and past deliverance.
The phrase "them that hate me" identifies the source of David's trouble as personal enemies. This isn't random misfortune; it's targeted hostility. David is asking God to see not just the suffering but its cause — people who actively want him destroyed.
The image "gates of death" depicts death as a walled city with gates. David has been at those gates — close enough to read the inscription. But God lifted him out. The past tense is important: David is praying from experience. He's not speculating about whether God can rescue; he's testifying that God has. The prayer for present mercy is grounded in historical deliverance.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What 'gates of death' has God lifted you from in the past? How does remembering that affect your current faith?
- 2.How do you hold present suffering and past deliverance in the same prayer?
- 3.What does David's double-vision — reality and history — teach about honest prayer?
- 4.Is there a past rescue you've forgotten that could strengthen your trust in the present?
Devotional
David prays from two directions at once: down into the pit of his current suffering and back to the evidence of God's past rescue. He doesn't pretend the trouble isn't real. He doesn't pretend God hasn't delivered him before. Both are true. Both inform his prayer.
The best prayers are often this kind of double-vision. Here is my reality — I'm suffering from people who hate me. And here is my history — You've lifted me from the gates of death before. When you hold both in the same breath, your prayer becomes neither denial nor despair. It's honest faith: things are bad, and God is real.
The "gates of death" image is startling. David has been close enough to death to describe its entrance architecture. This isn't metaphorical drama — it's the language of someone who has genuinely faced annihilation and survived. When he says God lifts him from those gates, he's not theorizing. He remembers.
What gates of death has God lifted you from? What past deliverance can you name that informs your present prayer? If you can't see evidence of God's faithfulness ahead of you, look behind you. The history you have with God is the foundation for the prayers you need to make now.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
That I may show forth all thy praise,.... That is, all thy bounties and acts of goodness, deserving of praise; even as…
Have mercy upon me, O Lord - The cry for mercy implies that though God had interposed and granted them surprising…
In these verses,
I. David, having praised God himself, calls upon and invites others to praise him likewise, Psa 9:11.…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture