Psalms 9:3-6

3-6. A graphic description of the desolating effect of the war.

When mine enemies are turned back Or, because “mine enemies are turned back.” The preposition may denote both time ( when) and reason ( because.)

Perish at thy presence Literally, at thy appearance, or, at thy face. God appeared, or looked on them, and they retreated backward, stumbled, and perished. See Exodus 14:24.

For thou Because thou hast executed my judgment and my cause. The language in Psalms 9:4-5 is strictly juridical.

O thou enemy Rather read this line, the enemy are perished, [they are] perpetual desolations.

Cities… their memorial is perished The very names of the cities are forgotten, so complete is their ruin. David’s second Syrian war extended from Ammon in Arabia to Helam in Syria, a distance of about three hundred miles, and probably in no district in the world, of equal extent, are there at this day more ruins of ancient cities whose very names have perished, than in this.

Thou… destroyed cities “Thou,” here, refers not to his enemies, but to God, as in Psalms 9:4-5. God alone is the dispenser of these judgments, and this blotting out of cities and peoples is the threatened doom of his enemies. Exodus 17:14; Deuteronomy 25:19