Somebody Else’s Mail (19)

Psalm 9 is the first acrostic psalm, a structural poetry convention in which each line begins with a consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. (Psalm 119 is the most famous example of this technique.) As others have noted, this one is an imperfect acrostic: some letters are missing. The pattern of starting each line with the next letter continues into Psalm 10, leading analysts to conclude they were originally two movements of the same psalm.

Jewish tradition suggests David wrote this psalm after his victory over Goliath.

While not impossible, I think that highly unlikely for reasons that will become evident as we look at the text in more detail. A teenage David with a single triumph over the Philistines under his belt simply didn’t have the requisite life experience or knowledge of the world that seems to inform the psalm.

Psalm 9:1-2 — It Starts with Commitment

To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

“I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”

The Superscription

Depending on the source you look at, Muth-labben means either “death of a son”, “death of a fool”, or death of some unknown guy named Labben. At least everybody agrees that mûṯ means “death”. Experts offer the usual speculations: that “Death of a Son” was a familiar Hebrew melody or style of musical performance, etc. The upshot is that, as with most superscriptions in the Psalms, we are too far removed in time from the temple services of David’s era to opine with confidence about the meaning of specialty words scripture uses only once.

The word “choirmaster” (ESV) or “Chief Musician” (KJV) is simply the standard Hebrew word for “overseer”. It appears 55 times in the Psalms, all but one in the superscriptions, the only place other than Habakkuk where it seems to be a formal title. There is a single reference in 1 Chronicles to several Levites appointed to this responsibility. There is it variously translated “lead”, “direct” or “play”.

I Will

The four English “I wills” (in bold above) in these first two verses are inferred from the verb forms that begin each of the four clauses. This is common in Hebrew, which does its heavy lifting with fewer words than most modern languages. The same single word in each case can serve as either an expression of intent or a command to others, as in “Give thanks to the Lord” or “Be glad and exult!” Because it’s first person singular here, it’s very likely an expression of intent, hence the “I wills”.

It’s a reminder that those who love the Lord love him with heart, soul and might, the last referring to the exercise of the will. A believer without self-control is a believer who can’t summon the will to follow through on his good intentions. When those commitments are made before God, that’s a bad thing.

Four Commitments

David’s four commitments begin with giving sincere thanks. The words “with my whole heart” imply this is not merely a pro forma exercise. We’ve all heard Christians pray and sing like they are just going through the motions or performing a duty. It’s always encouraging to hear a man express his thanks to the Lord with the kind of energy and passion that shows his subject matters to him, or to sing with gusto. The third clause implies this sort of joy and exuberance is a desirable part of honoring the Lord.

The second and fourth clauses are commitments to verbalize his love of the Lord before others, reminding them of God’s great works and singing praise to his name. Not all men are gifted or competent speakers in the congregation of God’s people, but vocalizing God’s glories, even if quite succinctly, is a privilege all men ought to cultivate. (“I desire then that in every place the men should pray …”)

Psalm 9:3-4 — God on the Throne

“When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence. For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.”

Spiritual Blindness and Acuity

The believer has spiritual insight no secular instructor can teach and nobody without personal acquaintance with God can grasp. The enemy is spiritually blind, while the believer sees all the players on the battlefield.

If we assume David is speaking here of his own flesh-and-blood enemies at the time he wrote — which may have included any or all of Philistines, Moabites, Syrians, Arameans, Edomites or Ammonites — it is unlikely most of them would have imagined they were under the judgment of God when they lost battles and wars to David’s armies. After all, even though Israel beat them on the battlefield when David served as Saul’s general and later Israel’s king, their actual experience was of men with swords, shields and armor just like their own charging into battle against them. David’s victories were not generally accompanied by miraculous events.

So then, the more superstitious among David’s enemies may have framed their defeat as a contest between deities in which their own gods were the losers, but nobody could see in that conflict YHWH enthroned and dealing out righteous judgment, maintaining David’s cause, and issuing in their own humiliation. Certainly, few among them recognized they were stumbling and perishing before the presence of God. His hand was invisible to them.

David sees war as a judicial exercise. God is on this throne maintaining David’s cause and ensuring justice is done. So then, perhaps David is summarizing his experience of receiving God’s help in the various battles he fought with surrounding nations during his lifetime.

The Prophetic Angle

Of course, it’s also possible David is speaking prophetically here, and I actually think that’s very likely. As in Psalm 6, we will shortly come across indications in David’s word choices that he may be speaking on behalf of the personified Israelite remnant of the end times, not least his abundant references to “the nations”, “peoples” and “enemies” in the plural. In the historical accounts of David’s battles, most were against one nation or another at any given time. I cannot think of any time in David’s reign when whole groups of nations gathered against Israel.

So then, much depends on whether we take David historically or prophetically as the psalm progresses. We will look at that more closely next week.