Psalm 66:2-12

2 Sing forth the glory of his name, make his praise glorious;

3 Say unto God, How terrible are thy works! because of the greatness of thy strength, thine enemies come cringing unto thee.

4 All the earth shall worship thee, and sing psalms unto thee: they shall sing forth thy name. Selah.

5 Come and see the works of God: he is terrible in [his] doings toward the children 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 ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes observe the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah.

8 Bless our God, ye peoples, and make the voice of his praise to be heard;

9 Who hath set our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.

10 For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.

11 Thou broughtest us into a net, thou didst lay a heavy burden upon our loins;

12 Thou didst cause men to ride over our head; we went through fire and through water: but thou hast brought us out into abundance.

Psalm 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.

Footnotes

• [a] See Ps. 46.8.
• [b] Or 'refined:' see Ps. 12.6; 18.30, &c.
• [c] 'Runneth over,' in Ps. 23.5, is the same word.