Psalms 66:1-8

1 To victory, the song of [the] psalm. All the earth, make ye joy heartily to God (All the earth, heartily make ye joy to God),

2 say ye psalm to his name; give ye glory to his praising. (sing ye a song to his name; give ye him glorious praise.)

3 Say ye to God, Lord, thy works be full dreadful; in the multitude of thy virtue thine enemies shall lie (down) to thee. (Say ye to God, Lord, thy works be very fearful/how awesome be thy works; because of thy great strength thy enemies shall fall down before thee.)

4 God, all the earth worship thee, and sing to thee; say it psalm to thy name. (God, let all the earth worship thee, and sing to thee; yea, sing they a song to thy name.)

5 Come ye and see ye the works of God; fearedful in counsels on the sons of men (fearful, or awesome, in his counsels toward the sons and daughters of men).

6 Which turned the sea into dry land; in the flood they shall pass [through] with foot, there we shall be glad in him. (Who turned the sea into dry land; yea, they passed through the river on foot, and there we rejoiced in him.)

7 The which is Lord in his virtue [into] without end, his eyes behold on folks; they that make sharp be not enhanced in themselves. (Who is the ruler by his might, or his power, forever, and his eyes look on the nations; let not they who rebel against him exalt themselves.)

8 Ye heathen men, bless our God; and make ye heard the voice of his praising. (All ye heathen, bless our God; and make ye the sound of your praises heard.)

Psalms 66:1-8 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.