Psalms 66:16-20

16 1Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
17 I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on[a] my tongue.[b]
18 If I had 2cherished iniquity in my heart, 3the Lord would not have listened.
19 But truly 4God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!

Psalms 66:16-20 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician, A Song [or] Psalm. This psalm does not bear the name of David in the title of it, yet is generally thought to be one of his; but because the plural number is used in it, which is not so common in David's psalms, Aben Ezra is of opinion it is not his, but written by the singers. This is not a sufficient objection: and besides, in Psalm 66:13, the singular number is used. The Arabic version ascribes it to David, and that version makes the subject matter of it to be "concerning the resurrection"; as do the Septuagint, Ethiopic, and Vulgate Latin versions. The title of the Syriac version is, "concerning sacrifices and burnt offerings, and the incense of rams; the spiritual sense intimates to us the calling of the Gentiles, and the preaching, that is, of the Gospel;" which comes nearest the truth: for the psalm respects Gospel times, and the church of Christ under the New Testament, spread throughout the world, and especially as it will be in the latter day; see Psalm 66:1; and so in Yalkut Simeoni on the psalm, it is said to be a psalm for time to come, and agrees with Zephaniah 3:9; "I will turn to the people a pure language," &c. Kimchi says it is a psalm concerning the gathering of the captives of Israel; and so Jarchi and Obadiah expound it; and Theodoret says David wrote this psalm for the captives in Babylon.

Cross References 4

  • 1. ver. 5; Psalms 34:11
  • 2. Job 36:21
  • 3. [Proverbs 28:9; Isaiah 59:2; John 9:31; James 4:3; See Job 27:9]
  • 4. Psalms 116:1, 2

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Hebrew under
  • [b]. Or and he was exalted with my tongue
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.