The Book of Psalms

Word Study

"praise," Hebrew odeh (אוֹדֶה) from yadah, to give thanks, praise, confess. David begins with a resolve of whole-hearted praise: "I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart." Praise is not vague sentiment but the glad rehearsal of God's mighty acts.

"whole heart," be'khol-libbi (בְּכָל־לִבִּי), with all my heart. Not with half a heart, not with divided affections, but with all of it. This is the standard of true worship, undivided devotion. The great commandment is to love God "with all thine heart" (Deuteronomy 6:5), and true praise flows from such love. A heart divided between God and idols cannot praise Him rightly; but the heart wholly given to God overflows in thanksgiving.

"shew forth," asapperah (אֲסַפְּרָה), recount, declare. And David's praise takes a specific form: "I will shew forth all thy marvellous works." He will recount, declare, tell out the wonders God has done.

"marvellous works," niphle'otekha (נִפְלְאוֹתֶיךָ), wonders. To praise God with the whole heart is to remember and proclaim His works, His deliverances, His faithfulness, His marvellous doings. This is the fountain from which the whole psalm flows: a heart wholly devoted to God, delighting to declare His wonders. Let this be the resolve of every believer: to praise the LORD with the whole heart, and to tell out all His marvellous works.

Explanation

There is a hidden order in this praise. Psalms 9 and 10 were very likely composed as a single poem, an acrostic running through the Hebrew alphabet from one psalm into the next; Psalm 9 carries the opening letters and Psalm 10 finishes them. So when David says he will praise God "with my whole heart," the very shape of the poem backs the words: he marshals the whole alphabet, first letter to last, to tell out God's works, an offering meant to leave nothing unsaid. And note the form his praise takes, "I will shew forth all thy marvellous works." The verb (saphar) means to recount, to narrate; praise here is storytelling, the glad retelling of what God has done. The pairing matters too: this alphabet begins in Psalm 9's triumph and ends in Psalm 10's lament, so the single acrostic holds thanksgiving and grief together, teaching that the whole alphabet of life, its highs and its lows, belongs in the mouth of praise.

Gospel Focus

"I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works", the greatest of all God's marvellous works, and the fountain of the church's whole-hearted praise, is the redemption accomplished in Jesus Christ. The Gospel gives us more to declare than David ever knew: the wonder of God manifest in the flesh, the cross where our sins were carried away, the empty tomb, the risen and reigning Lord. These are the "marvellous works" the redeemed shew forth, "that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1 Peter 2:9). And the Gospel gives us a new, whole heart with which to praise, for the Lord promised, "a new heart also will I give you" (Ezekiel 36:26), so that we can love and worship God with undivided devotion. Whole-hearted praise is the response of a redeemed heart to the marvellous work of grace. So let the believer's life be a shewing forth of God's wonders in Christ, telling out to the world what great things the Lord has done. We praise Him not merely for temporal deliverances but for the eternal salvation wrought by His Son. With the whole heart, made new by grace, let us praise the LORD and declare His marvellous works, chief of which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the wonder of the ages.

Word Study

"know," Hebrew yod'ei (יוֹדְעֵי) from yada, to know intimately, be acquainted with. David states a deep spiritual principle: "they that know thy name will put their trust in thee." The more truly we know who God is, the more we rely on Him. Those who do not trust God do not really know Him; those who know Him cannot help but trust Him.

"thy name," shmekha (שְׁמֶךָ). Knowing God's name, that is, knowing His revealed character, His faithfulness, His power, His covenant love, produces trust. This is why the believer can trust: not because circumstances are easy, but because he knows the name, the character, of a God who has never forsaken those who seek Him.

"put their trust," yivtechu (יִבְטְחוּ) from batach, to trust, rely, feel secure. Trust is the natural fruit of a true knowledge of God. The word batach is to lean and rely, to feel secure in another; such reliance grows straight out of knowing the One on whom we lean.

"forsaken," azavta (עָזַבְתָּ). And the ground of that trust is His unfailing faithfulness: "for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee." God has a perfect record with those who seek Him: He has never once abandoned a soul that truly sought Him. This is the testimony of all the saints and of all Scripture. To seek God is never in vain, for He rewards those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6), and He never forsakes them. Deepen your knowledge of God, and your trust will deepen with it; for to know His name is to know that He will never let you go.

Explanation

Notice who is promised God's faithfulness at the end of the verse. Not only those who have arrived at full knowledge, but "them that seek thee", people still on the way, still searching. The verse pairs the two, "they that know thy name" and "them that seek thee," the settled and the searching, and it holds a promise for both. God does not wait until a soul has found Him to keep it from being forsaken; He holds the seeker mid-search. This is a mercy for every half-formed faith. You do not need a complete knowledge of God before He will keep you; you need only to be truly seeking Him, and the God with an unbroken record, He "hast not forsaken" a single one, is already holding you on the road.

Gospel Focus

"They that know thy name will put their trust in thee", the name of God is revealed most fully in Jesus Christ, and to know Him is to trust Him, for He has promised never to forsake His own. Jesus made the Father's name known: "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me" (John 17:6); "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). To know God savingly is to know Him in Christ, "this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). And the assurance that God never forsakes those who seek Him is sealed forever in Christ, who bore our forsakenness on the cross, "my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46), so that we would never be forsaken. Because He was forsaken in our place, God says to us, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5), and Christ promises, "him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37), "lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20). So the more we know the Lord Jesus, the more we trust Him, and the deeper our knowledge of His faithful name, the firmer our confidence that He will never let us go. Seek Him, and you will find Him; know His name in Christ, and you will trust Him; and rest in this: the God who was forsaken for you will never forsake you.

Word Study

"needy," Hebrew evyon (אֶבְיוֹן), the destitute, poor. David comforts the suffering poor with a promise: "the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever." God has a special care for the destitute and afflicted; He hears "the cry of the humble" (v12); He is "a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble" (v9).

"forgotten," yishakach (יִשָּׁכַח). It may seem, in the present distress, that God has forgotten the poor, that the humble are overlooked while the wicked prosper. But David insists: this is not for ever. The needy shall not always be forgotten; the hope of the poor shall not perish. God has not forgotten you, and your hope will not be disappointed.

"expectation," tiqvath (תִּקְוַת), hope. Their present affliction is real, but it is temporary; God's remembrance and vindication are certain, though sometimes delayed. The word "alway" and "for ever" are the key: your affliction is not the final word. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" (Psalm 30:5).

"poor," anavim (עֲנָוִים), the afflicted, humble. This is a great comfort to every believer who feels forgotten, overlooked, and crushed by circumstances. The poor and needy who trust in God have a hope that outlasts every trouble, for the God who seems silent now will surely remember them, and their expectation will not perish but be gloriously fulfilled.

Explanation

The word for "expectation" (tiqvah) has a picture inside it. Its root means a cord or a line; it is the very word used of the scarlet "line" that Rahab bound in her window, the rope that marked the house to be spared (Joshua 2:18). Hope, in Hebrew, is a lifeline, a cord let down to the drowning. So the promise that "the expectation of the poor shall not perish" is the promise that this rope will not be cut. It may hang a long while before it is pulled; the psalm is honest that the needy can feel forgotten now, saying only that they shall not "alway" be forgotten, nor perish "for ever." But the cord itself will not snap. The poor who trust God are holding a line that reaches all the way up to heaven and is fastened at the top, and heaven does not let go of its end.

Gospel Focus

"The expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever", this promise is secured and magnified in the Gospel, for Jesus came especially to the poor and gives His people a hope that can never perish. He announced His mission with the words, "he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor" (Luke 4:18), and pronounced the poor and mourning and meek blessed, with the kingdom, comfort, and the earth as their inheritance (Matthew 5:3-5). The world forgets the poor, but God does not; in Christ, "hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom?" (James 2:5). And the expectation of God's people is a "living hope... to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away" (1 Peter 1:3-4), a hope that "maketh not ashamed" (Romans 5:5). Whatever affliction the believer suffers now, however forgotten and overlooked he feels, his hope in Christ shall not perish, for it rests on the risen Lord who will right every wrong, wipe away every tear, and lift up the humble at the last. "The last shall be first" (Matthew 20:16); the poor and needy who trust in Jesus will be remembered and vindicated for ever. So if you feel forgotten and your hope seems to be fading, hold fast: the God who came to the poor in Christ has not forgotten you, and your expectation, anchored in Him, shall not perish but be fulfilled in glory everlasting.