Psalms 66:9-20

9 He has kept us alive and has not allowed us to fall.

10 You have put us to the test, God; as silver is purified by fire, so you have tested us.

11 You let us fall into a trap and placed heavy burdens on our backs.

12 You let our enemies trample us; we went through fire and flood, but now you have brought us to a place of safety.

13 I will bring burnt offerings to your house; I will offer you what I promised.

14 I will give you what I said I would when I was in trouble.

15 I will offer sheep to be burned on the altar; I will sacrifice bulls and goats, and the smoke will go up to the sky.

16 Come and listen, all who honor God, and I will tell you what he has done for me.

17 I cried to him for help; I praised him with songs.

18 If I had ignored my sins, the Lord would not have listened to me.

19 But God has indeed heard me; he has listened to my prayer.

20 I praise God, because he did not reject my prayer or keep back his constant love from me.

Psalms 66:9-20 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] [Some ancient translations] safety; [Hebrew] overflowing.