Psalms 66:2-12

2 sing forth the glory of his name; put glory into thy praise.

3 Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.

4 All the earth shall worship thee and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah.

5 Come and see the works of God; he is terrible in his doing toward the sons of men.

6 He turned the sea into dry land; they went through the river on foot; there did we rejoice in him.

7 He rules by his power for ever; his eyes watch the Gentiles; the rebellious shall not exalt themselves. Selah.

8 O bless our God, ye peoples, and make the voice of his praise to be heard.

9 It is he who placed our soul into life and did not suffer our feet to slip.

10 For thou, O God, hast proved us; thou hast refined us as silver is refined.

11 Thou didst bring us into the net; thou didst lay affliction upon our loins.

12 Thou hast placed a man over our head; we went through fire and through water, but thou didst bring us out into abundance.

Psalms 66:2-12 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.