Be gracious to me...

"Be gracious to me, O LORD! See my affliction from those who hate me, O you who lift me up from the gates of death, that I may recount all your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in your salvation." Psalm 9:13-14

I've been sick the last few days and it has been difficult for me to compose my thoughts around some of my bible study. My bible reading has been very good. I've been reading through Job and I finally made it to the Lord's words at the end. I'll finish out Job today and look forward to that. First, though, I'm going to try to put down some of my study notes from yesterday's study in Psalm 9.

I wish I was sitting in a library of commentaries sometimes. From what I can find, the "gates of death" refer to physical death, or I suppose it could refer to spiritual death. In the phrase "gates of the daughter of Zion" Zion most usually refers to Jerusalem and the daughter of Zion refers to the inhabitants thereof. So the gates of the daughter of Zion would seem to be indicating the gates to Jerusalem or perhaps it could be referring to something else (maybe heaven???)?

The writer is asking for mercy, something I most definitely need. He asks God to see his affliction at the hands of "those who hate me" and have mercy of him so that when looking back, he can praise God for his mercies and rejoice in the salvation provided by God. I do this often. Maybe not due to persecution at the hands of those who hate God, but for other afflictions. I ask God for mercy and I reflect on past mercies and praise God for them. I also rejoice in the salvation that is of the Lord and that He has blessed me with.