Psalm 9
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
TITLE. To the Chief Musician upon Muth-labben, a Psalm of David.
The meaning of this title is very doubtful. It may refer to the
tune to which the Psalm was to be sung, so Wilcocks and others think;
or it may refer to a musical instrument now unknown, but common in
those days; or it may have a reference to Ben, who is mentioned in 1
Chronicles 15:18, as one of the Levitical singers. If either of these
conjectures should be correct, the title of Muth-Labben has no
teaching for us, except it is meant to show us how careful David was
that in the worship of God, all things should be done according to
due order. From a considerable company of learned witnesses we gather
that the title will bear a meaning far more instructive, without
being fancifully forced: it signifies a Psalm concerning the death of
the Son. The Chaldee has, "concerning the death of the Champion who
went out between the camps," referring to Goliath of Gath, or some
other Philistine, on account of whose death many suppose this Psalm
to have been written in after years by David. Believing that out of a
thousand guesses this is at least as consistent with the sense of the
Psalm as any other, we prefer it; and the more especially so because
it enables us to refer it mystically to the victory of the Son of God
over the champion of evil, even to enemy of souls (verse 6). We have
here before us most evidently a triumphal hymn; may it strengthen the
faith of the militant believer and stimulate the courage of the timid
saint, as he sees here THE CONQUEROR, on whose vesture and
thigh is the name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
ORDER. Bonar remarks, "The position of the Psalms in their
relation to each other is often remarkable. It is questioned whether
the present arrangement of them was the order to which they were
given forth to Israel, or whether some later compiler, perhaps Ezra,
was inspired to attend to this matter, as well as to other points
connected with the canon. Without attempting to decide this point, it
is enough to remark that we have proof that the order of the Psalms
is as ancient as the completing of the canon, and if so, it seems
obvious that the Holy Spirit wished this book to come down to us in
its present order. We make these remarks, in order to invite
attention to the fact, that as the eighth caught up the last line of
the seventh, this ninth Psalm opens with an apparent reference to the
eighth:
"I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart;
I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.
I will be glad and rejoice in thee. (Compare Song 1:4; Revelation
19:7)
I will sing to THY NAME, O thou Most High." Verses 1, 2.
As if "The Name," so highly praised in the former Psalm,
were still ringing in the ear of the sweet singer of Israel. And in
verse 10, he returns to it, celebrating their confidence who "know"
that "name" as if its fragrance still breathed in the
atmosphere around.
DIVISION. The strain so continually changes, that it is difficult
to give an outline of it methodically arranged: we give the best we
can make. From verses 1 to 6 is a song of jubilant thanksgiving; from
7 to 12, there is a continued declaration of faith as to the future.
Prayer closes the first great division of the Psalm in verses 13 and
14. The second portion of this triumphal ode, although much shorter,
is parallel in all its parts to the first portion, and is a sort of
rehearsal of it. Observe the song for past judgments, verses 15, 16;
the declaration of trust in future justice, 17, 18; and the closing
prayer, 19, 20. Let us celebrate the conquests of the Redeemer as we
read this Psalm, and it cannot but be a delightful task if the Holy
Ghost be with us.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. With a holy resolution the songster begins his hymn; I
will praise thee, O Lord. It sometimes needs all our
determination to face the foe, and bless the Lord in the teeth of his
enemies; vowing that whoever else may be silent we will bless
his name; here, however, the overthrow of the foe is viewed as
complete, and the song flows with sacred fulness of delight. It is
our duty to praise the Lord; let us perform it as a privilege.
Observe that David's praise is all given to the Lord. Praise is to be
offered to God alone; we may be grateful to the intermediate agent,
but our thanks must have long wings and mount aloft to heaven.
With my whole heart. Half heart is no heart. I will show
forth. There is true praise to the thankful telling forth to
others of our heavenly Father's dealings with us; this is one of the
themes upon which the godly should speak often to one another, and it
will not be casting pearls before swine if we make even the ungodly
hear of the loving-kindness of the Lord to us. All thy marvellous
works. Gratitude for one mercy refreshes the memory as to
thousands of others. One silver link in the chain draws up a long
series of tender remembrances. Here is eternal work for us, for there
can be no end to the showing forth of all his deeds of love.
If we consider our own sinfulness and nothingness, we must feel that
every work of preservation, forgiveness, conversion, deliverance,
sanctification, etc., which the Lord has wrought for us, or in us is
a marvellous work. Even in heaven, divine loving-kindness will
doubtless be as much a theme of surprise as of rapture.
Verse 2. Gladness and joy are the appropriate spirit in which to
praise the goodness of the Lord. Birds extol the Creator in notes of
overflowing joy, the cattle low forth his praise with tumult of
happiness, and the fish leap up in his worship with excess of
delight. Moloch may be worshipped with shrieks of pain, and
Juggernaut may be honoured by dying groans and inhuman yells, but he
whose name is Love is best pleased with the holy mirth, and
sanctified gladness of his people. Daily rejoicing is an ornament to
the Christian character, and a suitable robe for God's choristers to
wear. God loveth a cheerful giver, whether it be the gold of
his purse or the gold of his mouth which he presents upon his altar.
I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High. Songs are
the fitting expression of inward thankfulness, and it were well if we
indulge ourselves and honoured our Lord with more of them. Mr. B. P.
Power has well said, "The sailors give a cheery cry as they weigh
anchor, the ploughman whistles in the morning as he drives his team;
the milkmaid sings her rustic song as she sets about her early task;
when soldiers are leaving friends behind them, they do not march out
to the tune of the 'Dead March in Saul,' but to the quick notes of
some lively air. A praising spirit would do for us all that their
songs and music do for them; and if only we could determine to praise
the Lord, we should surmount many a difficulty which our low spirits
never would have been equal to, and we should do double the work
which can be done if the heart be languid in its beating, if we be
crushed and trodden down in soul. As the evil spirit in Saul yielded
in olden time to the influence of the harp of the son of Jesse, so
would the spirit of melancholy often take flight from us, if only we
would take up the song of praise.
Verse 3. God's presence is evermore sufficient to work the defeat of
our most furious foes, and their ruin is so complete when the Lord
takes them in hand, that even flight cannot save them, they fall to
rise no more when he pursues them. We must be careful, like David, to
give all the glory to him whose presence gives the victory. If we
have here the exultings of our conquering Captain, let us make the
triumphs of the Redeemer the triumphs of the redeemed, and rejoice
with him at the total discomfiture of all his foes.
Verse 4. One of our nobility has for his motto, "I will maintain it;"
but the Christian has a better and more humble one, "Thou hast
maintained it." "God and my right," are united by my faith: while God
lives my right shall never be taken from me. If we seek to maintain
the cause and honour of our Lord we may suffer reproach and
misrepresentation, but it is a rich comfort to remember that he who
sits on the throne knows our hearts, and will not leave us to the
ignorant and ungenerous judgment of erring man.
Verse 5. God rebukes before he destroys, but when he once comes to
blows with the wicked he ceases not until he has dashed them in
pieces so small that their very name is forgotten, and like a noisome
snuff their remembrance is put out for ever and ever. How often the
word "thou" occurs in this and the former verse, to show us that the
grateful strain mounts up directly to the Lord as doth the smoke from
the altar when the air is still. My soul send up all the music of all
thy powers to him who has been and is thy sure deliverance.
Verse 6. Here the Psalmist exults over the fallen foe. He bends as it
were, over his prostrate form, and insults his once vaunted strength.
He plucks the boaster's song out of his mouth, and sings it for him
in derision. After this fashion doth our Glorious Redeemer ask of
death, "Where is thy sting?" and of the grave, "Where is thy
victory?" The spoiler is spoiled, and he who made captive is led into
captivity himself. Let the daughters of Jerusalem go forth to meet
their King, and praise him with timbrel and harp.
In the light of the past the future is not doubtful. Since the same
Almighty God fills the throne of power, we can with unhesitating
confidence, exult in our security for all time to come.
Verse 7. The enduring existence and unchanging dominion of our
Jehovah, are the firm foundations of our joy. The enemy and his
destructions shall come to a perpetual end, but God and his throne
shall endure for ever. The eternity of divine sovereignty
yields unfailing consolation. By the throne being prepared for
judgment, are we not to understand the swiftness of divine
justice. In heaven's court suitors are not worn out with long delays.
Term-time lasts all the year round in the court of King's Bench
above. Thousands may come at once to the throne of the Judge of all
the earth, but neither plaintiff nor defendant shall have to complain
that he is not prepared to give their cause a fair hearing.
Verse 8. Whatever earthly courts may do, heaven's throne ministers
judgment in uprightness. Partiality and respect of persons are things
unknown in the dealings of the Holy One of Israel. How the prospect
of appearing before the impartial tribunal of the Great King should
act as a check to us when tempted to sin, and as a comfort when we
are slandered or oppressed.
Verse 9. He who gives no quarter to the wicked in the day of
judgment, is the defence and refuge of his saints in the day of
trouble. There are many forms of oppression; both from man and from
Satan oppression comes to us; and for all its forms, a refuge is
provided in the Lord Jehovah. There were cities of refuge under the
law, God is our refuge-city under the gospel. As the ships when vexed
with tempest make for harbour, so do the oppressed hasten to the
wings of a just and gracious God. He is a high tower so impregnable,
that the hosts of hell cannot carry it by storm, and from its lofty
heights faith looks down with scorn upon her enemies.
Verse 10. Ignorance is worst when it amounts to ignorance of God, and