“To the chief Musician upon Muthlabben, A Psalm of David. I will praise Thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all Thy marvellous works.” (Psalm 9:1)
As most times David inscribes the psalm to be sung and given to the chief musician. It is very interesting that He chose the tune “Muthlabben.” It happens to be the tune of probably a familiar tune meaning on the death of a son. There is only one Son whose death is worthy of song. And that is Jesus, the Messiah and Son of God. Here again we have a peek in the Old Testament of prophetically what was to come. We do that today also. We sing songs without knowing the background stories. Most composers are talented and use their life experiences to write songs. David prophetically wrote about the Son of God and His death. And Muthlabben was a tune that was familiar just by its name.
Praise to the Lord was something with which David was very familiar. Since his times watching his father’s sheep, he spent his time singing and praising the Lord. He knew the Lord intimately. It’s no wonder that God said about him that he was a man after God’s heart. (1Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22) In our Scripture of study, the first verse David writes is his declaration that he will praise the Lord. Notice that in the Old Testament Lord is often written all in capital letters. Sometimes it’s not. LORD indicates “YHWH,” or Yahweh written without vowels in Hebrew. It means the “I Am,” the Self-Existent, Eternal God. When it's written Lord with only the first letter capitalized, it means “Adonai,” or master.
David declares that he will praise “I Am” with his whole heart. The LORD was his God. He was always faithful to God and besides the prophets, Noah, Moses, Abraham and Jacob (Israel), they were the only ones who had communication with the LORD. They listened, followed and obeyed God. God anointed David and chose him to be king because from his youth, he loved the LORD. In many of his psalms, David exhorts the people to praise God. In psalms 9, he makes his declaration that he will praise the LORD and tell about His marvelous works.
The author of Hebrews writes, “By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.” (Hebrews 13:15) It is by God that we make the sacrifice of praise. It is Holy Spirit inspired and therefore a holy thing. Our human spirit which is one with God also agrees and influences us to praise Him aloud. I praise Him aloud in the congregation. It’s a time to shout our praise. I’m not saying those with tight lips are not praising Him. In their hearts I am sure they are, but during worship in our services, that is the time to shout and openly and unashamedly lift our voices to Him. Can you imagine how that will change the atmosphere of the worship? His manifest presence will fill the place like it did on Pentecost. Praises and gratitude we declare aloud are the fruit of our lips. We give thanks to His Name. He is Abba, Adonai, Elohim, El Shaddai, Yahweh Rapha, Yahweh Nissi, Yahweh Jireh and Yahweh Shalom to name a few. He is the “I AM” and there is no other. We praise Him because He has made Himself known to us. The world has no idea. God is distant from them. But He is near us. “Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” (James 4:8)
How do we clean our hands and purify our hearts? We surrender to Him. We surrender who we are, all we have and all our past and future to Him. And He lovingly graces us with forgiveness, purity and holiness. Jesus said, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:33)
David said in Psalm 9 that he would “shew forth all Thy marvellous works.” He would in his praise celebrate all God’s marvelous works. God has done marvelous works for us. Celebrate all those miracles and answered prayers during worship. Recall them and celebrate them in worship. Do not forget them. Keep them ever before you. “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it you.” (John 15:16) Recall and celebrate His faithfulness, His grace and love.
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