Psalms 66

1 To the Overseer. -- A Song, a Psalm. Shout ye to God, all the earth.

2 Praise ye the honour of His name, Make ye honourable His praise.

3 Say to God, `How fearful [are] Thy works, By the abundance of Thy strength, Thine enemies feign obedience to Thee.

4 All the earth do bow to Thee, They sing praise to Thee, they praise Thy name.' Selah.

5 Come ye, and see the works of God, Fearful acts toward the sons of men.

6 He hath turned a sea to dry land, Through a river they pass over on foot, There do we rejoice in Him.

7 Ruling by His might to the age, His eyes among the nations do watch, The refractory exalt not themselves. Selah.

8 Bless, ye peoples, our God, And sound the voice of His praise,

9 Who hath placed our soul in life, And suffered not our feet to be moved.

10 For Thou hast tried us, O God, Thou hast refined us as the refining of silver.

11 Thou hast brought us into a net, Thou hast placed pressure on our loins.

12 Thou hast caused man to ride at our head. We have entered into fire and into water, And Thou bringest us out to a watered place.

13 I enter Thy house with burnt-offerings, I complete to Thee my vows,

14 For opened were my lips, And my mouth spake in my distress:

15 `Burnt-offerings of fatlings I offer to Thee, With perfume of rams, I prepare a bullock with he-goats.' Selah.

16 Come, hear, all ye who fear God, And I recount what he did for my soul.

17 Unto Him [with] my mouth I have called, And exaltation [is] under my tongue.

18 Iniquity, if I have seen in my heart, The Lord doth not hear.

19 But God hath heard, He hath attended to the voice of my prayer.

20 Blessed [is] God, Who hath not turned aside my prayer, And His loving-kindness, from me!

Psalms 66 Commentary

Chapter 66

Praise for God's sovereign power in the creation. (1-7) For his favour to his church. (8-12) And the psalmist's praise for his experience of God's goodness. (13-20)

Verses 1-7 The holy church throughout all the world lifts up her voice, to laud that Name which is above every name, to make the praise of Jesus glorious, both by word and deed; that others may be led to glorify him also. But nothing can bring men to do this aright, unless his effectual grace create their hearts anew unto holiness; and in the redemption by the death of Christ, and the glorious deliverances it effects, are more wondrous works than Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage.

Verses 8-12 The Lord not only preserves our temporal life, but maintains the spiritual life which he has given to believers. By afflictions we are proved, as silver in the fire. The troubles of the church will certainly end well. Through various conflicts and troubles, the slave of Satan escapes from his yoke, and obtains joy and peace in believing: through much tribulation the believer must enter into the kingdom of God.

Verses 13-20 We should declare unto those that fear God, what he has done for our souls, and how he has heard and answered our prayers, inviting them to join us in prayer and praise; this will turn to our mutual comfort, and to the glory of God. We cannot share these spiritual privileges, if we retain the love of sin in our hearts, though we refrain from the gross practice, Sin, regarded in the heart, will spoil the comfort and success of prayer; for the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination of the Lord. But if the feeling of sin in the heart causes desires to be rid of it; if it be the presence of one urging a demand we know we must not, cannot comply with, this is an argument of sincerity. And when we pray in simplicity and godly sincerity, our prayers will be answered. This will excite gratitude to Him who hath not turned away our prayer nor his mercy from us. It was not prayer that fetched the deliverance, but his mercy that sent it. That is the foundation of our hopes, the fountain of our comforts; and ought to be the matter of our praises.

Chapter Summary

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.