Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/3_500_e.lzh/3_557.TXT

Text File | 1995-01-26 | 8KB | 160 lines

\\INTRODUCTION TO PSALMS 9\\

\*\\<<To the chief Musician upon Muthlabben, a Psalm of David>>\\.
Some, take %muthlabben% to be the name of the
tune to which this psalm was sung, and to design the
same note which we call the counter tenor: others
think, that %upon muth%, or %almuth%, are but one word,
and the same as %alamoth%, \\#Ps 45:1\\, title; and that it is
the name of a musical instrument; and that %Ben% in
%labben%, is the name of the chief musician, who was
over that sort of instrument, to whom the psalm is
inscribed {l}; and indeed R. Sol Jarchi says, that he
had seen in the great Masorah these words as one; and
so it seems the Septuagint interpreters read them, who
render them, %for the hidden things of the son%; and the
Arabic version, %concerning the mysteries of the son%:
and Ben is a name, it is said, of one of the singers,
whose kindred and companions were appointed with
psalteries on %alamoth%, \\#1Ch 15:18,20\\. And so
then the title runs thus; %to the chief musician on alamoth, [even
to] Ben%. But others are of opinion that
the subject matter or occasion of the psalm is designed
by this phrase; and that as %muth% signifies %death%, the
death of some person is intended, on account of which
this psalm was composed; some say Nabal, seeing the
word \^Nbl\^, %Laban%, inverted, or read backwards, is %Nabal% {m},
whose death affected David; as appears from \\#1Sa
25:38,39\\. Others, that it was one of the kings of
the Gentiles, whose name was Labben, and is mentioned
nowhere else, who fought with David, and
whom he slew, and upon his death penned this psalm {n}.
Others, Goliath the Philistine {o}, who is called, \\#1Sa
17:4,23\\. \^Mynbh vya\^, which we render %champion%
and dueller, one of two that fight together. But
rather the reason of the name is, as given by the
Jewish commentators {p}, because he went and stood
between the two camps of the Philistines and the
Israelites; and so the Chaldee paraphrase renders the
title of this psalm,
\*"to praise, concerning the death
"of the man who went out between the camps, a
"song of David."\*
\*And so the psalm itself, in the
Targum, and by other Jewish writers, is interpreted of
Goliath and the Philistines, and of the victory over
them; and which does not seem amiss. Arama interprets
it of the death of Saul. Others interpret Almuth
Labben %of the death of the son%; and understand it of
the death of Absalom, the son of David {q}: but David's
passion moved in another way, not in joy, but in
grief, \\#2Sa 18:33\\; nor is there any thing in the
psalm that can be referred unto it. Others, of the
death of the son of God; but of that there is not the
least hint in the psalm. Theodoret interprets it of
Christ's victory over death by dying, which was a
mystery or hidden thing. Rather, I should think,
it might be interpreted of the death of the son of
perdition, the man of sin and his followers; who
may be typified by Goliath, and the Philistines:
and so, as Ainsworth observes, as the former psalm
was concerning the propagation of Christ's kingdom,
this is of the destruction of antichrist. And Jerom,
long ago said, this whole psalm is sung by the prophet
in the person of the church, concerning antichrist:
and to this agrees the Syriac version; which makes the
subject of the psalm to be,
\*"concerning Christ, taking
"the throne and kingdom, and routing the enemy."\*
\*And also the Arabic version, according to which the
argument of the psalm is,
\*"concerning the mysteries
"of the son, with respect to the glory of Christ, and
"his resurrection and kingdom, and the destruction
"of all the children of disobedience."\*
\*To which may be added, that this psalm, according to R.
Sol Jarchi, belongs to the time to come, to the days of
the Messiah, and the future redemption by him.

\*Ver. 1. \\I will praise [thee], O Lord, with my whole,
heart\\, &c.] This is what is called in the New Testament
making melody in the heart, or singing with
grace in the heart, \\#Eph 5:19 Col 3:16\\; and yet does
not signify mere mental singing, but vocal singing, the
heart joining therein; for the word here used for
praise signifies to confess, to speak out, to declare
openly the praises of God in the public congregation,
as David elsewhere determines to do, \\#Ps 111:1
138:1,2\\; the heart ought to, be engaged in every,
part of divine service and worship, whether in preaching
or in hearing, or in prayer, or in singing of praise;
and the whole heart also: sometimes God has nothing
of the heart in worship, it is removed far from, him, and
gone after other objects; and sometimes it is divided
between God and the creature; hence the psalmist
prays that God would unite his heart to fear him, and
then he should praise him with all his heart, with
all that was within him, with all the powers and faculties
of his soul; see \\#Ps 86:11,12 103:1\\.
This phrase is not expressive of the perfection of
this duty, or of performing it in such manner as that
there would be no imperfection in it, or sin attending
it; for good men fail in all their performances,
and do nothing good without sin; hence provision
is made for the iniquities of holy things; but
of the heartiness and sincerity of it; and in such an
undissembled and upright manner the psalmist determines,
in the strength of divine grace, to praise the
Lord;
\*\\I will show forth all thy marvellous works\\; such as
the creation of all things out of nothing, and the bringing
them into the form and order in which they are by the
word of God; and in which there is such a display of
the power and wisdom of God; and particularly the
formation of man out of the dust of the earth, in
the image, and after the likeness of God; the sustentation
of the whole world of creatures in their
being, the providential care of them all, the preservation
of man and beast; and especially the work of
redemption: it is marvellous that God should think of
redeeming sinful men; that he should fix the scheme
of it in the way he has; that he should pitch upon
his own son to be the Redeemer; that ungodly men,
sinners, the chief of sinners, and enemies, should be
the persons redeemed; and that not all the individuals
of human nature, but some out Of every kindred,
tongue, people, and nation: as also the work of grace,
which is a new creation, and more marvellous than the
old; a regeneration, or a being born again, which is
astonishing to a natural man, who cannot conceive
how this can be; a resurrection from the dead, or a
causing dry bones to live; a call of men out of darkness
into marvellous light; and it is as wondrous how
this work is preserved amidst so many corruptions of
the heart, temptations of Satan, and snares of the
world, as that it is; to which may be added the wonderful
works yet to be done, as the setting up of the
kingdom of Christ, the destruction of antichrist, the
resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, and the
eternal glory and happiness of the saints; and doubtless
the psalmist may have respect to the many victories
which he, through the divine power, obtained
over his enemies; and particularly the marvellous one
which was given him over Goliath with a stone and
sling: these the psalmist determined to make the subject
of his song, to dwell and enlarge upon, to show
forth unto others, and to point out the glories, beauties,
and excellency of them: and when he says %all% of
them, it must be understood of as many of them as
were within the compass of his knowledge, and of as
much of them as he was acquainted with; for otherwise
the marvellous works of God are infinite and without
number, \\#Job 5:9 9:10\\.

{l} Kimchi & Abendana in Miclol Yophi in loc.
{m} So some in Jarchi & Aben Ezra in loc.
{n} Donesh Hallevi in ibid.
{o} Kimchi & Ben Melech in loc.
{p} Jarchi, Kimchi, Levi Ben Gersom, R. Isaiah, & Ben Melech in
    1 Sam. xvii.4.
{q} So some in Jarchi in loc.