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« 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.

Upon Muth-labben — This was the name of a certain instrument, say some; the beginning of a song, say others, to the tune whereof this psalm was to be sung. Montanus and many more hold it to be an anagrammatism, and render it, For the death of Nabal, viz. by a covert intimation, and inversion of the letters. So in the title of Psalms 7:1 , Cush Beniemini for Kish the Benjamite. That is,

I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart This is a gratulatory psalm, wherein David shows his thankfulness, which a very heathen calleth Maximam imo matrem omnium virtutmn reliquarum, the mother of all the rest of the virtues (Cicero). True thankfulness, as one well observeth, is here and in the next verse described, 1. By the matter of it. 2. By the manner. First, for matter, the psalmist delivereth it in four parts. 1. The acknowledging of God in all. 2. A ciphering and summing up of special mercies (of ñôø seems to come Cipher). 3. An expression of spiritual joy in God, as well as in his gifts. 4. A dedication of our songs and selves to his name.

Secondly, for the manner, he presseth, 1. Integrity for the subject and object, Psalms 9:12 . Sincerity for affection and end, Psalms 9:2 .

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I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.

I will be glad and rejoice in thee — Spiritual cheerfulness is the mother of thankfulness, James 5:13 . Birds, when got in the air, or on the top of trees, and have taken up a stand to their mind, sing most sweetly.

O thou most High — God was so first called by Melchizedek, upon a like occasion as here by David, Genesis 14:19-20 . The Greeks might have their ηλιος , for the sun, which they worshipped, from this Hebrew Helion , most High.

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When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.

When mine enemies — This, Tremellius maketh to be the form of praise which the psalmist professeth that he will sing to God, and rendereth it thus, That mine enemies returning back are fallen, …

And perish at thy presence — The victory is of God, and to him alone to be ascribed. The Romans in their triumphs presented a palm to Jupiter. The Grecians also thankfully ascribed to Jupiter their deliverance from the Persians, wrought by Themistocles, and there hence called him ελευθεριος , that is, deliverer.

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For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.

For thou hast maintained my right — Heb. Thou hast done me judgment. Locus hic insignis est, saith Polanus. This is an excellent place, and maketh much to the comfort of God’s poor people that are oppressed by the world; the righteous Judge will not fail to right them. See Luke 18:7-8 .

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Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.

Thou hast rebuked the heathen, … — God first chideth the Church’s enemies by lighter judgments; if these be not improved, he destroyeth them, Psalms 119:21 ; and, because they sought to obscure and extirpate his name from among men, therefore he puts out their name, that is, their fame and reputation, for ever and yet, or for ever and a day, as we use to say: Ingloria vita recedit, they go out in a snuff, as did the primitive and modern persecutors, of abhorred memory.

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O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.

O thou enemy — The same whom he called wicked one in the former verse; where the word wicked is of the singular number: q.d. O thou implacable wretch, that wouldst never be reconciled till thou wast ruined; which now thou art, … Some read it interrogatively, and with it ironically, O enemy, are destructions come to an end? and cities so wasted that they can never be repaired? q.d. So indeed thou hast designed it, but art fairly disappointed. And the like befell Antiochus, Nero, Dioclesian, Philip II of Spain, Charles IX of France, and other bloody persecutors, with tbeir devilish thoughts and threats; which they could never effect and accomplish.

Their memorial is perished with them — Heb. Of them, of them (twice), for more vehemency. The Vulgate (alter the Greek) hath it cum sonitu, with a humming noise, so that the sound thereof ringeth all the world over. R. David rendereth it, Memoria eorum periit; suntne illi? Their memorial is perished; have they yet a being anywhere?

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But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.

But the Lord shall endure for ever — Vivit Christus regnatque; alioqui lotus desperassem, said that good Dutch divine, upon the view of the Church’s enemies; i.e. Christ liveth and reigneth for ever, setting one foot on the earth and the other on the sea, as Lord of both; otherwise I should have been altogether hopeless. "Blessed be God that he is God," was a learned divine’s motto.

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And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.

And he shall judge the world, … — See on Psalms 9:4 .

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