Both the patterns and the inter ruptions are important in seeing the way God works in our lives.
It turns out that Psalms 9 and 10 are a couplet. Psalm 10 has no title, and the subject of God being both the dispenser of wrath against the wicked and the hiding place of those who trust Him is carried over. In the Septuagint these two psalms are written as one with a total of 38 verses. Another clue to the unity of the two psalms is seen in a special arrangement. Together they form the first of the Alphabetic Psalms. Some psalms are spontaneous expressions, but the Alphabetic Psalms are like counted cross-stitch, carefully constructed to show their reasoned concern about the subject. Alphabetic (or Acrostic) Psalms are composed so the first letter of each verse matches the order of the Hebrew alphabet. These include Psalms 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119 (where eight verses in each of the 22 sections begin with subsequent letters), and 145. In Psalms 9 and 10 this order is seen, but only in the first letter of each two verses. So verse 1 begins with a word starting with the Hebrew letter aleph; verse 3 starts with a word beginning with beth, and so on. So the twenty verses of Psalm 9 use the first ten Hebrew letters. The pattern continues in Psalm 10, except it’s interrupted in verses 3-11. Why? Psalm 10 reminds us that sometimes God hides Himself “in times of trouble” (v 1). The acrostic pattern is interrupted in verses 3-11 because the anticipated pattern of God’s mercy for those who trust Him and His judgment for those who reject Him is also interrupted—for a time! Eventually faith will be vindicated. Verses 3-13 give a graphic description of an atheist. Such wicked men’s belief that “You will not require an account” (v 13) will prove false, and eventually God will “do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed” (v 18).