Along with Saint Vitus' self-titled debut album from the same year, Psalm 9 is considered by many critics to be one of the first doom metal releases.

[citation needed] The album has been released on CD on several occasions: in 1991 by Metal Blade Records, both by itself and bundled with Trouble's second studio album The Skull (1985), one year after the release of then-current album Trouble; remastered using the original master tapes and reissued again by Metal Blade in 1994 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of its release; remastered and reissued by Escapi Music on October 26, 2006 with a bonus DVD containing video footage of the band from 1982; and remastered and reissued by Hammerheart Records, cooperating alongside Trouble, Inc., on May 20, 2020.

Trouble guitarist Rick Wartell said in April 2013 that the recording of the album was done, "in a week including mixes.

"[11] Psalm 9's songs and lyrical content are primarily from the Bible; the title track contains verses directly from the King James Version.

The track "Assassin" was released as a single in 1984 and included a cover of British rock band Cream's 1967 song "Tales of Brave Ulysses" as a B-side.