Psalm 9 & 10 were, apparently, originally ONE PSALM. How do we know that? In the Greek OT, which was translated before Jesus was born, there is ONE LESS PSALM because Psalms 9 & 10 are just ONE PSALM - Psalm 9 in the Greek. Also, it is an acrostic Psalm. It begins with the first 3 letters of the hebrew alphabet and ends with the last four. So what we call Psalm 9 starts with the first 3 letters and what we call Psalm 10 ends with the last four letters. There is another alphabetic section in the middle of Psalm 9 with 5 letters in sequence. Then it jumps to the letter (Kuph) in an obvious way - which begins the final sequence in Psalm 10.
So Psalm 9/10 contain an exceptionally interesting "riddle" for us. And the CONTENT of what is alphabetic versus what is not alphabetic is particularly interesting.
I'd like YOU to have a shot at deciphering this "riddle". So I'll give you the verses.
Here's the break out of the alphabetic and non-alphabetic sections. You figure it out.
First three letters
Verse 1 - alpha ("A")
Verse 3 - beta ("B")
Verse 5 - gimmel ("G")
It skips 2 letters to jump to waw ("W") in verse 7, then stays with "W". It also uses the holy name with the first "W".
Verse 9 - waw ("W") again
Verse 11 - zain("Z")
Verse 13 - chet (hard "H")
Verse 15 - tet (hard "T")
Verse 17 - yood ("Y")
It skips 8 letters to jump to kuph (hard "K") in verse 19. This connects with the holy name. It says "Rise Lord"
Then jump all the way down to Psalm 10 verse 12 where it once again has the kuph (hard "K") with the same phrase "Rise Lord".
Verse 14 - resh ("R")
Verse 15 - sheen ("SH") (Note that 14 should be two verses. It's twice as long. So just think of it as 2).
Verse 17 - tav(soft "T") Tav is the last letter of the hebrew alphabet.
So with this information, you should be able to read Psalms 9 & 10 and see why the non-alphabetic portion is non-alphabetic. The keys to the "jumps" become obvious - especially the second jump - for which I've given you a huge hint.
I have found several amazing "riddles" in scripture. They aren't weird letter games that could be unintentional. These riddles are certainly intentional on the part of the author. The word "Proverbs", in Hebrew, actually MEANS "riddles".
The bible is designed to provide captivating, exciting "food for thought" - just as Jesus loved to tell "parables" - and treated them as riddles - attempting to make his disciples figure them out on their own.
So Jesus will enjoy communing with you as you attempt to "solve" the Psalm 9/10 "riddle".
Then, too, there is an amazing "pattern language" in scripture. An example is the connection between "The Red Sea", the "Jordan River", "baptism", and the concepts of "death and rebirth".
So why aren't we enjoying these "mysteries"? It's clear that they are there by God's design. The early church greatly enjoyed these mysteries as you can see in the writings of the apostles. They held God's word in AWE. The sad fact is that a "wooden literalism" has afflicted fundamentalist churches. In their desire to get away from the "Catholic" heritage of mystifying everything, they threw out the baby with the bath water. What a mistake! Let's return back to a BIBLICAL APOSTOLIC mindset - which greatly enjoys "The Mystery Of Christ" and the other "pattern language" of scripture.
Example:
Psalm 9:3 points to when Jesus made those who were about to arrest him stumble backwards and fall.
Psalm 9:6 "Endless ruin has overtaken them". This connects with the book of Joshua which is a very strong parallel to the book of Acts. The Jordan River is the cross (death and rebirth). The book of Acts has the actual death and resurrection of Jesus providing the VICTORY and NEW LIFE.
So it's both simple and profound. Some things you will see immediately. Other things will require you to study the entire bible very carefully and fully grasp the "pattern language" of scripture.
Don't expect to get this in bible school. Better to just compare notes with your fellow Christian and study the word with humility and awe.
Just FYI. I think Psalm 119 and 122 are perfect accrostic Psalms, with no letters skipped. I think this is the only Psalm using "tricky" acrostics. In all cases, the writer had to have special inspiration to choose WHICH WORD to use for the letter that's next in sequence. You could stay busy from now until Jesus comes back studying Psalm 119 alone! (It's the largest Psalm)
