Psalms 66

Psalms 661. (Psalms 66:1) To the Chief Musician. A Song. A Psalm. Shout unto God, all the earth! The second clause of the inscription represents it as a psalm of praise. See above, on Psalms 65:1.

This is confirmed by the contents and structure of the psalm itself, in which we have, first, a general celebration of God’s wonderful dealings with his people in all ages, Psalms 66:1-7; then a similar acknowledgment of what he had done in a particular case, Psalms 66:8-12; and lastly, a pledge or promise of thanksgiving, Psalms 66:13-20. The resemblance to the forty-sixth psalm has led some to suppose that this psalm was occasioned by the same event, or composed in imitation of the other, for the use of the church in similar emergencies. The verb shout is plural in its form, which shews that earth has a collective sense.

2. (Psalms 66:2) Sing the honour of his name; give (him) honour, (give) him praise. The honour or glory of his name is that due to his manifested excellence. See above, on Psalms 29:2. Give, literally place or put, the verbs expressing these ideas being often interchanged in Hebrew. The same phrase that is here used occurs also in Joshua 7:19, Isaiah 42:12, and is clearly equivalent to give honour in Psalms 68:34, Jeremiah 13:16. The form of the last clause is peculiar, give honour (as or to) his praise.

3. (Psalms 66:3) How fearful are thy doings! In the greatness of thy strength shall thine enemies lie to thee. Here begin, as some interpreters suppose, the words in which the required praise is to be rendered to Jehovah; an admissible, though not by any means a necessary supposition. The first clause may likewise be translated, how fearful (art thou in) thy doings, after the analogy of Psa 66:5 below, the ellipsis of the pronoun being similar to that in Psalms 68:35. In the greatness of thy strength, i.e. because of it, or rather in the knowledge and belief of it. See above, on Psalms 5:7. Lie to thee, make false professions of allegiance, yield a feigned obedience, through the influence of fear. See above, on Psalms 18:44.

4. (Psalms 66:4) All the earth shall worship thee and sing to thee; they shall sing thy name. Selah. Here again the verbs are plural, shewing that all the earth is to be taken in a collective sense, as meaning all lands, or all the dwellers upon earth. See above, on ver. 1. Worship thee, bow or prostrate themselves before thee, as an act both of civil and religious homage. See above, on Psalms 5:7.

They shall not only sing to thee, but sing thy name, i.e. not only celebrate thy being but thy manifested nature, theattributes revealed by thy previous works. This anticipation of universal homage to Jehovah is in strict accordance with the whole spirit and design of the Mosaic dispensation.5. (Psalms 66:5) Go, see the works of God, fearful (in) action on the sons of man. The verb go is often used in Hebrew, as a formula of invitation or of challenge, where in English we say come. See below, Psalms 66:16, and compare Isaiah 2:3; Isaiah 2:5. In this case, however, go may be intended to express something more than would have been expressed by come. The meaning may be, if you do not believe these general declarations of God’s power and dominion, go and see for yourselves the proofs already given in the history of mankind, and more especially in that of Israel: go to Egypt, to the Red Sea, to the Wilderness, to Jordan, and in the wonders there performed and still repeated in the experience of the church, see the evidence that God is indeed possessed of a tremendous power to control and influence mankind.

With the first clause compare Psalms 46:8, the only other place where the word tvlfpm occurs.

6. (Psalms 66:6) He turned the sea into the dry land ; through the river they shall pass on foot; there will we rejoice in him. There is an obvious allusion to the crossing of the Red Sea and the Jordan, not as mere historical events, but as types or samples of God’s extraordinary interpositions on behalf of Israel, such as might be realized again in their experience. Hence the promiscuous use of preterite and future forms, as if to say, the God of Israel will again turn the Red Sea into dry land for the passage of his people; if need be, they shall again cross the Jordan dry shod; there, on the scene of these miraculous events, shall we again rejoice in him. The combination of sea and river seems to show that by the latter we must understand Jordan, and not, as some interpreters suppose, the Euphrates, which is commonly so called. But see Isaiah 11:15-16, Zechariah 10:11.

7. (Psalms 66:7) Ruling by his might for ever; his eyes over (or among) the nations watch; let not the rebels exalt themselves. Selah. The participle in the first clause is expressive of habitual action, “he iconstantly, habitually rules.” See above, Psalms 22:28. By his might, with which he was before described as girded. See above, Psalms 65:6. The noun eternity is used adverbially to mean for ever.

The divine inspection here described implies that man can no more evade God’s power than resist it. The last clause may be either a prayer to God or an admonition to his enemies. Exalt themselves: the Keri or marginal reading is, be high for them (or for themselves); the Kethib or textual reading, lift (or raise) for themselves, in which case horn may be supplied from Psalms 75:4-5, or head from Psalms 110:7. The rebels, i.e. against God, his stubborn and incorrigible enemies.

8. (Psalms 66:8) Bless, O ye nations, our God, cause to be heard the voice of his praise! To the general description of God’s gracious dispensations towards his people there seems now to be added the commemoration of a particular event of this kind; not one of merely local interest, however, but of such importance, that the nations are invited to unite in praising God for it. See above, on Psalms 18:49; Psalms 22:27.

9. (Psalms 66:9) The (one) putting, who puts, our soul in life, and has not given (up) to removal our foot, has not allowed it to move or slip. The unusual expression in the first clause seems to mean restoration to life, a figure for relief from great distress, which is not unfrequently described as death. See above, on Psalms 30:3; Psalms 49:15. To set in life is not unlike the phrase to set in safety, Psalms 12:5. The form of expression in the last clause is analogous to that in Psalms 55:22 above, and identical with that in Psalms 121:3 below. Given up to removal, suffered to be moved from its firm position or its place of safety.

10. (Psalms 66:10) For thou hast tried us, O God, thou hast purged (or assayed) us like the purging of silver, as silver is purged, with particular reference, as some suppose, to the long-continued and repeated process of refinement necessary in the case of silver. See above, on Psalms 12:6; Psalms 26:2, and compare Isaiah 1:25; Isaiah 48:10, Zechariah 13:9, 1 Peter 1:7. The general idea here is that of affliction, as a means both of trial and purgation, and is carried out in the following verses.

11. (Psalms 66:11) Thou hast caused us to come into the net; thou hast put pressure on our loins. The first clause is descriptive of complicated difficulties and embarrassments, the second of suffering and weakness. The word translated net occurs above in the very different sense of a tower or fortress, Psalms 18:2. But even when so used, it strictly means a hunting tower, i.e. a post of observation and of safety used by hunters, and from the same root (to hunt) may be deduced the sense of net or snare, as a customary implement of hunting, in which sense it is certainly employed by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 12:13. The word translated pressure occurs only here, but its essential meaning is clear from its etymological affinities. Compare the cognate form in Psalms 55:3.

Some suppose the idea to be that of a superincumbent pressure, load, or burden, corresponding to the verb as used in Amos 1:13. Others make pressure mean contraction, stricture, and by necessary implication, pain or anguish. The loins are mentioned as the seat of strength (Deuteronomy 33:11), an injury to which implies both pain and weakness. See below, on Psalms 69:23.

12. (Psalms 66:12) Thou hast caused (or suffered) men to ride at our head, we came into the fire and into the waters, and (now) thou hast caused us to come forth to abundance, overflow, i.e. of enjoyment. Man, frail or mortal man, whose tyranny is therefore the more insupportable. See above, on Psalms 8:4. This first clause is ambiguous, in Hebrew as in English. To ride at our head, though an exact translation, suggests only the idea of command or guidance, whereas some kind of suffering is required by the context. The common version, to ride over our heads, presents the image of horsemen trampling on their conquered enemies.

Some suppose the idea to be that of riding on us, as a man controls and guides the horse that carries him. The head must then be mentioned only as the noblest part, without implying that the rider actually sits upon it. But this very circumstance makes the interpretation an unnatural and forced one. Fire and water, as the two great destroying elements, are common figures for distress and danger. Compare Isaiah 23:2. The last Hebrew word in the verse occurs only here and in Psalms 23:5. 13. (Psalms 66:13) I will come (to) thy house with burnt-offerings; I will pay to thee my vows, i.e. the offerings thus promised. His acknowledgments shall not be merely verbal or mental, but ceremonial, i.e. expressed in the symbolical form required by the dispensation under which he lived. The reference isneither to internal feelings nor to outward rites exclusively, but to both together. See above, on Psalms 40:6; Psalms 41:8; Psalms 51:16. With the last clause, compare Psalms 65:1. The sudden change of number, from the plural to the singular, shows that what follows is the words of an ideal speaker, representing the same persons who had spoken in the foregoing context, if not identical with their.

14. (Psalms 66:14) Which my lips uttered and my mouth spake in my distress. The first verb is a very strong and expressive one, in this connection not unlike our familiar phrases, bolted, blurted out, implying that he spoke from some irresistible impulse, and thus suggesting what is afterwards explicitly affirmed, that the vows in question were occasioned by extreme distress. The Hebrew verb originally means to open or distend the lips, whether as a gesture of mockery (Lamentations 2:16), or menace (Psalms 22:14), or for the purpose of articulate speech (Job 35:16). That its absolute use, in special reference to vows spontaneously and hastily uttered, was familiar to the ancients, may be seen from Judges 11:35-36. In my distress; the original expression is, in the distress to me. See above, on Psalms 18:6.

15. (Psalms 66:15) Burnt-offerings of fatlings will I offer to thee, with incense of rams; I will make (an oblation of) cattle with he-goats. Selah. The word translated fatlings is especially applied to lambs, Isaiah 5:17. The verb is the first clause in the one from which the noun rendered burnt-offering is derived, and strictly means I will cause to ascend, i. e. upon the altar, or in vapour from it. Incense may here be taken in its etymological sense of something burnt sacrificially, although in usage limited to aromatic fumigations, which is also the case with the Hebrew word in every place but this, where it seems to mean the sacrificial fat that was burned upon the altar. The verb to make is absolutely used, as a technical term of the Mosaic Law, to denote the act of sacrifice.

See Exodus 29:36, Leviticus 9:7, and compare Judges 6:19, 1 Kings 18:23; 1 Kings 18:26. The different species of victims are enumerated here, to convey the idea of a regular and perfect sacrifice, implying more than ordinary thankfulness.

16. (Psalms 66:16) Go (or in our idiom, come), hear, all ye fearers of (ye that fear) God, and I will tell you what he hath done to (or for) my soul. The fearers of Jehovah is a common description of believers or the people of God. See Psalms 60:4; Psalms 61:5. The invitation is like that in Psalms 22:23. Tell, in the primary sense of counting or numbering, and the secondary one of recounting or relating. To my soul, i.e. to me, whose life or soul was threatened. To me as the object of the act alluded to, or for me, as the person to be benefited. This address prepares the way for the ensuing declaration, founded on his own experience, that it is only by sincere submission and devotion to God that his protection is to be secured.

17. (Psalms 66:17) To him (with) my mouth I called, and high praise (exaltation) was under my tongue. By a slight change in the pointing, or by supposing an irregularity of punctuation, the last clause may be rendered, he was extolled nder my tongue, i.e. by means of it as an instrument of praise. But as a corresponding plural form occurs below, Psalms 149:6, the Hebrew words here meaning lofty praise, or exaltation by means of praise. Under my tongue may be simply equivalent to on or with my tongue, or it may be intended to suggest the additional idea of a store or deposit of such praises still in reserve, to be employed hereafter, which some suppose to be the meaning of the phrase in Psalms 10:7.

18. (Psalms 66:18) Iniquity if I have seen in my heart, the Lord will not hear. If I had any wicked end in view, God would not hear my prayer. The same idea is expressed in Proverbs 15:29, Isaiah 1:15; Isaiah 59:2, John 9:31, 1 John 3:22. It is here stated as the ground on which he means to argue his own innocence of any such corrupt design, and actually does so in the next verse.

19. (Psalms 66:19) (But) verily God hath heard; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. The Hebrew particle at the beginning is strictly not adversative but affirmative. See above, on Psalms 31:22. It is equivalent in force to our expressions, whereas, really, in fact, etc. The doubt subjected in the foregoing verse had been removed in his case by the application of the test there mentioned. God had already heard his prayer and thereby borne

20. (Psalms 66:20) Blessed (be) God who hath not put away my prayer (from him) and his mercy from me. Here as elsewhere, when applied to God, blessed can only mean praised or entitled to be praised. The double application of the verb in the last clause cannot well be imitated in translation. The same witness that he was not guilty of the duplicity in question. The words in Hebrew may be used to express the act of rejecting a petition, and that of withdrawing or withholding favour.