(To the chief Musician. Upon Muthlabben. A Psalm of David.) I will praise Jehovah with my whole heart; I will recount all thy marvellous works.
Psalm 9 opens with singing, not sighing. The rest of the psalm deals with enemies, judgment, and God setting things right for the oppressed. So why does praise come first, and who is the "I" who gives his whole heart to it?
Praise Placed First
One writer sees the same order in many psalms:
This psalm shows the righteous judgment of God. Even so, it begins with vibrant praise, untouched by anything foreign. So we see the end from the beginning. Many psalms follow this pattern. The rejoicing end comes first, then the struggles that led to that end. The psalmist praises God with all his heart: nothing can intrude on this worshipping adoration. He gladly declares all the wondrous works of the Lord, whether in creation, in redemption, or in the new creation.
The Whole Heart
The same words come back later in the Psalms. One writer draws from them a demand on Christians:
Both the Old and New Testaments show this in their general tone. But to mark how very important it is, we find it stated again and again in plain terms. The psalmist desires more than once to praise Jehovah with his "whole heart" (Ps. 9:1; 111:1; 138:1). And the Christian, with higher privileges and greater responsibilities, is not to fall behind the Jew.
Another writer defines the same words by what they rule out:
The psalmist praises the Lord, not only with lip profession, but with his whole heart — an undistracted heart taken up with its object.
Works That Make God Known
The "wonderful deeds" are the acts that rescued the ones who tell them. And the telling runs from David to Christ:
The psalm begins with an outburst of praise to the Most High — that millennial name of God with which the seventh psalm ended. Israel's tongue is loosed, the whole heart united in this praise. It is Jehovah who now appears as this — the covenant God, the Living and Unchangeable. His wondrous works have made Him known, and those works were the means of Israel's own deliverance. With their newly opened mouth, Israel will declare them. David the Israelite led such songs long ago, and he leads them still. And Christ, the true David whom he pictured, will lead them "in the midst of the assembly," in the days to come.
Two Names in One Breath
reason: unsupported claim "deliberate"; passives; 31-word sentence
Jehovah is the covenant name for Israel. Most High is the name that marks the kingdom in power, when heaven and earth are shown to be His.
The Voice That Speaks
So who is the "I" of the psalm? One writer hears two voices in it:
Psalm 9 presents to us Jehovah, the Most High. These names of God connect with the Jews, and with the millennial fulfilment of the promises made to Abraham. He delivers the people by judgment from the oppression of the nations, and destroys the wicked. The delivered Jew celebrates this goodness, which has upheld the right and cause of the righteous. The Spirit of Christ speaks fully in this, as having taken up their interests. It is really His right. If the Jew has any, it is through Him. If they say it, He has put the words in their mouth.
The Heading Above the Song
A heading word, Muth-labben, stands above the psalm, and commentators differ over it. Some treat it as a musical direction: the term is "supposed to be the name of a tune" (William Kelly). Another writer weighs the language itself, including the reading of the Septuagint, the old Greek translation of the Old Testament:
Muth-Labben is one of the terms in the inspired headings of the Psalms whose meaning is unclear. Scholars have not agreed on a satisfactory meaning for the word. But the best evidence from the language favours the translation "the Death of the" (or His) "Son." The Septuagint gives it as: "Concerning the secret things of the Son."
Summary
- Whole heart, first — praise opens a psalm about judgment. The singer already sees the end from the beginning.
- Whole heart, undivided — this is not praise that stops at the lips. It is an undistracted heart, taken up with its object.
- Whole story — the "wonderful deeds" are the acts of deliverance that made God known to those who tell them.
- Whole name — Jehovah is the covenant God. Most High marks the kingdom in power. One act of thanks names both.
- Whole chorus — David led this song. Israel's freed tongue will take it up. Christ will lead it "in the midst of the assembly."