Psalms 66:17

17 For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke.

Psalms 66:17 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 66:17

I cried unto him with my mouth
Crying designs prayer, and supposes distress; and crying with the mouth denotes vocal, ardent, and fervent prayer;

and he was extolled with my tongue:
at the same time the psalmist prayed for deliverance out of his distresses, he praised God for the mercies he had received: and did, as the Apostle Paul directs, make known his requests with thanksgiving, ( Philippians 4:6 ) ; or "he was exalted under my tongue" ^F7; that is, in his heart, as some interpret it; his heart and his mouth went together; and out of the abundance of his heart his tongue spoke of the goodness, kindness, and mercy of God to him. The Targum is,

``and his promise was under my tongue;''

and so he was very different from a wicked man, who keeps iniquity under his tongue, as a sweet morsel, ( Job 20:12 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 (ynwvl txt) "sublingua mea", Montanus, Tigurine version, Vatablus, Musculus, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis.

Psalms 66:17 In-Context

15 That is why I am sacrificing burnt offerings to you— the best of my rams as a pleasing aroma, and a sacrifice of bulls and male goats. Interlude

16 Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me.

17 For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke.

18 If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

19 But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer.