Even though God’s earthly home is Jerusalem (verse 2), he lives in heaven, and from there he pronounces his sentence as judge of all humankind. Judgment is not simply an impartial decision about right and wrong; as verse 9 makes clear, God’s judgment is his active intervention on behalf of the poor and the defenseless.
Two different Hebrew words are used in verses 8 and 9 for judgment: in verse 8 it is the noun din and in verse 9 the verb shafat. In 7.8, line a, the verb din is translated “judges,” and in line b shafat is translated “judge me”; similarly, in 9.4a “just cause” translates what is literally “my right (mishpat, the noun from shafat) and my cause (din)” (see comments at both 7.8 and 9.4). In this context Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation translate both terms identically, and the translator may wish to do so as well.
In languages in which the goal of judgment must be expressed, it is possible in this case to shift the goal from verse 9; for example, “from heaven you decided in favor of the oppressed and saved them all” or, idiomatically, “you cut the words in favor of the poor and saved them all.”
In languages in which inanimate objects do not express emotions, it may be necessary to say in verse 8b “the people of the earth.” If on the other hand the reference is to all life on the earth, then one may say, for example, “everything on the earth feared God and….” The first interpretation is to be preferred.
Arose in verse 9a takes on added significance if, as maintained by some, at that time the judge would stand “to pronounce judgment.” But it is possible that the meaning is not “pronounce judgment” but “execute judgment,” that is, that God got roused up and went into action to impose justice on the world. For the word translated the oppressed, see comments on “the afflicted” in 9.12. Earth: here, as elsewhere, the Hebrew word may mean “the land (of Israel)” (so New International Version); here, however, it seems best to translate “all the oppressed people in the world” (see the same phrase in 75.8c).
It should be noted that in verse 9 God is referred to in the third person; Good News Translation keeps the second person of address, consistent with the preceding verses.
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .