Part of our prayer life comes in praising God for Who He Is and What He Has Done. One way is by giving testimony to His mighty deeds. Public witness is an important part of the Christian's life. The remarkable Psalm 9 shows us an example of that. This is a Psalm written by David and set to music as praise and thanksgiving for God's justice and judgments upon David's enemies. In verse 1 of Psalm 9, David said, "I will show forth all Thy marvelous works." The 'show forth' means to declare, to tell of, to speak of, and that's what David is doing in this Psalm, declaring what God has done for him to his people, the nation of Israel.
David privately praised The Lord for what He had done, and David also publicly declared what The Lord had done. Verse 14 of Psalm 9 says: 'That I may show forth all Thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion'. That's a reference to the city gates of Jerusalem, the most public area of the city, the place where everyone came in and went out. David wanted the words of this Psalm to be sang in the temple and taken to the streets, so all would hear how great God is.
As Christians, we are to 'show forth', to declare what God has done for us. Verse 11 of Psalm 9 tells us that we are to sing praises to the Lord.....declare among the people His doings.
Psalm 40 verse 5 tells us 'Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which Thou hast done, and Thy thoughts are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto Thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered'. The Lord's wonderful works and good thoughts towards us are more than we can even number!
We are to speak of this, to declare this, to others. Privately thanking and praising The Lord is very wonderful and must be done as a part of your prayer life. But public witness must also be done. Praise the Lord!
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