Psalms 66:7-17

7 [He] rules by his might forever; his eyes keep watch on the nations. Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
8 Bless our God, O peoples, and cause the sound of his praise to be heard,
9 the one who has kept our soul among the living, and has not allowed our foot to slip.
10 For you have tested us, O God; you have tried us as silver is tried.
11 You brought us into the net; you placed a {heavy burden} on our backs.
12 You let men ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water, but you have brought us out to the place of abundance.
13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings. I will pay to you my vows
14 that my lips uttered, and my mouth spoke in my distress.
15 Burnt offerings of fat animals I will offer to you, with [the] smoke of rams. I will do cattle with rams. Selah
16 Come [and] hear, all you God-fearers, and I will tell what he has done for me.
17 I called to him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.

Psalms 66:7-17 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.

Footnotes 8

  • [a]. According to the reading tradition (Qere)
  • [b]. Literally "oppression"
  • [c]. Hebrew "man"
  • [d]. A slightly different Hebrew word yields "a broad place"
  • [e]. Or "temple"
  • [f]. That is, "offer"
  • [g]. Hebrew "my soul"
  • [h]. A slightly different Hebrew word yields "his exaltation was under my tongue"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.