Psalms 66

Psalms 66. THE Psalm is a song of thanksgiving by the church of God, after protracted and severe trial. It is divided into three great parts. In the first, God is praised, (1-7), on account of what he does to Israel at all times, in the second. (8-12), on account of what he had just now done, and in the third, (13-20), the church vows that she will give thanks. The relation in which the second division stands to the first, which is not that of something old to something new, but that of the general to the special, bears a striking resemblance to theplan adopted in Psalms 46., in which the general idea is first brought out, and then, in the third strophe, the matter-of-fact is alluded to, which contained the special application. In the same way also, Psalms 48:48; Psalms 48:76. first describe the general relation of God to Israel, and then the individual instances of the divine grace. All the three parts contain a significant number; the first, seven, which again breaks up, according to a common custom, into a three and four, the first and second together, twelve, and the whole three, twenty.

The first main division is closed with a Selah: at the close of the second, this mark is wanting, be-cause the division is sufficiently well indicated by the context: and for a similar reason it occurs at the end of the first sub-di-vision of the first and also of the third part, ver. 4 and 16, in both places, as also in ver. 7, before an imperative which intro-duces a new address. The Title is, To the Chief Musician, a song of praise.

Its originality is supported by the first verse, which, if taken with-out the title, seems too short and abrupt, and in which the הריעו forms a sort of parallelism with שיר. The title announces neither the author, nor the occasion, nor the date of the Psalm; and modern criticism therefore is left at full liberty to indulge its diseased propensity to bring down the Psalms to as late a date as possible. It has been pretty generally affirmed, that the deliverance, celebrated in our Psalm, is the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity. The contents, however, are alto-gether against this idea. The expressions, “he suffered not our feet to slide,” in ver. 9, and, “I called to him with my mouth, and a song of Praise was on my tongue,” i. e. “I had scarcely called upon him, when, by delivering me, he gave me occasion to praise him,” exclude every reference to a calamity so grievous, and so protracted, as the Babylonish captivity. The detailed representation of suffering in ver. 9-12, does not con-tain one word about the leading away of the people into capti-vity.

The temple appears in ver. 13 as standing, and there is no expression to indicate that it had been re-built: nay, it is im-possible to entertain the idea of a re-built temple, inasmuch as the people express their determination to give thanks to God in the temple for their deliverance, immediately after having ob-tained it, and a succession of years intervened between the completing of the second temple and the return of the exiles. Finally, the idea of the captivity is excluded by verse 18th,where the people give great prominence to their innocence, and affirm that God, for this reason, had heard their prayer for deliverance.

The captivity in Babylon was throughout distin-guished as being an affliction for sin; compare the introduction to Psalms 44. If we are thus compelled to take our stand on this side of the captivity, we have another reason to prevent us from assigning to the authorship a higher date than the time of Hezekiah. The, “come, behold the deeds of the Lord,” in ver. 5, is literal-ly copied from Psalms 46:8; we cannot consider as accidental,the occurrence of מפעלות in both of these passages and nowhere else; in like manner, the throughout original character of Psalms 46 leads us to something else than a return of similar circum-stances. It would therefore seem natural to take up the position which many have done, that the deliverance celebrated in our Psalm, is, as there, the deliverance from the Assyrians. But a closer inspection leads to a different result. The trouble and the deliverance are, with manifest design, depicted in such general terms,-amid a multitude of images, there is only one specific feature, namely, that it is a deliverance from the hands of enemies that is celebrated,-that it is impossible to avoid considering our Psalm as of a general character, and applying “we shall praise thee, O Lord God,” to every deliverance from hostile power. And yet the Psalm manifestly stands in a certain relation to the deliverance under Hezekiah. Such Psalms, for the use of the church of all ages, were composed only at times when passing events made a deep impression on the mind. While Psalms 46. celebrates one great transaction, as also does Psalms 76. and even Psalms 75. specially refers to it, the author of our Psalm was led, from the same event, to compose a song which might be suitable at all times, when something similar occurred.

Psalms 66:1-7

The first strophe is ver. 1-7. After an exhortation to the whole earth to praise God, ver. 1-4, (compare at Psalms 47:1,) there follows, in ver. 4-7, the basis of the same: the Lord manifests his glory in a multitude of mighty deeds, deliver-ances on behalf of his people, and judgments on the insolent heathen world. The Psalmist, before passing on to what is par-ticular, selects the proper place in which it ought to be intro-duced, by taking a rapid glance at the mighty whole.-Ver. 1. Shout for joy to God, all lands. Ver. 2. Sing the glory of his name, give glory to his praise. Ver. 3. Say to God, How ter-rible art thou in thy works, on account of the multitude of thy strength thine enemies must feign (submission) to thee. Ver. 4. All lands worship thee, they sing to thee, they sing thy name. Ver. 5. Come and see the works of God, who is terrible in his deeds on the children of men. Ver. 6. He turns the sea into dry land, they go through the flood on foot, there we will rejoice in him. Ver. 7. He rules eternally by his power, his eyes spy out among the nations, the rebellious may not exalt themselves.-On “the glory of his name” = “the glory which belongs to him according to his glorious deeds and manifestations,” comp. Psalms 29:1; Psalms 29:2. The parallel passages, Joshua 7:19, Psalms 29:1, Isaiah 42:12, Jeremiah 13:16, John 9:24, show that we cannot translate the second clause, “make his praise glorious,” but only, “give glory as his praise,” or, “to his praise:” כבוד, isthe thing to be given, and the second object, is תהלתו, comp. Ewald, p. 480. The angels give formally glory to God, in Psalms 29:9 : compare “Holy, holy, holy, all lands are full of his glory,” in Isa. vi.– In verses 3 and 4, we have the words in which the nations of the earth should give glory to God. The translation, “how terrible are thy works,” is not grammatically incorrect, but, on comparing verse 5, it becomes manifest that we must translate, “how terrible art thou in thy works,"-theמעשיך, as well as the עלילה being an accusative; comp. Ew.§ 483. The “thou” is wanting, as in Psalms 68:36, “dreadful, God, (art thou,) from out of thy sanctuary.” In reference to “they feign,” compare Psalms 18:44. The greatness of God’s might, and the terrible nature of his deeds, are evident from the fact that all who oppose must be subject, must tamely submit, must conceal their aversion. Pharaoh’s is an example of suchforced submission, comp. ver. 6.–In ver. 4, “they feign,” ren-ders it necessary for us to consider “they worship” as, equiva-lent to “may they worship."-The “come, see the deeds of God,” in ver. 5, to which allusion is so strikingly made in John i. 46, 47, indicates the prominent place which the manifestation of the glory of God occupies before the eyes of the whole hea-then world: it is not with idle phantoms but with realities that they have to do; and this is the reason why the confident hope is entertained, by the people of the revelation, that the heathen world shall be won over to God through the influence of what has happened.

The church still addresses the same language, “come and see,” to all, whether within or without, who are afar off. The deeds of God are dreadful even to those to whomdeliverance is brought.

For his tremendous majesty is mani-fested in them, comp. Psalms 65:5; Psalms 65:8. The על points out the children of men as the object on which the deeds of God are performed:-the patient in opposition to the agent. The pre-terite הפך in ver. 6, stands, as the following future shews, in the sense of a present. The Psalmist refers to the passage through the Red Sea and the Jordan, but not as to transactions which took place and were concluded at a given period of time, but as to events which are really happening in every age. God’s guid-ance of his people is a constant drying up of the sea and of the Jordan; and the joy over his mighty deeds is always receiving new materials.

The idea, that the sole reference is to those parti-cular transactions, which took place at the origin of the nation, is inconsistent with what goes before, “Come and see the deeds of the Lord,” which implies that it is something actually pre-sent that is referred to, with the entirely general contents of verse 7, with the future יעברו following immediately the pre-terite, and lastly, even although this in every case could be ac-counted for by a realization of past events, with the נשמהה which can be translated in no other way than by “we will re-joice,” (comp. Psalms 42:4:4:2), a resolution to do that for which God is continually giving rich opportunity, and which does not admit, except in a case of absolute necessity, of being taken as a resolution adopted by the nation in an absolutely general sense.

Moreover, there is all the less reason to maintain, in spite of all these arguments, the reference to past events, inasmuch as the deliverances which took place in the days of old, are in several passages considered as pledges of deliverances to come, and the succeeding events of God’s gracious providence are described in figurative language borrowed from former events: comp. for example, Isaiah 11:15; Isaiah 11:16, where the drying up of the Red Sea and of the Euphrates, are spoken of as events which were ex-pected to take place, Zechariah 10:11, “And the Lord passes through the sea, affliction, and smites the waves in the sea, and all the floods of the Nile shall be put to shame,” and the Christology on these passages, especially on the last. If the sense of the verse in general be correctly determined, there remains no reason for departing from the usual sense in regard to “the flood,” by which is thus meant the Euphrates:-especially, as in Isaiah 11:15, the Euphrates is substituted in room of the little Jordan, and in Zechariah 10:11, the Nile is named for the purpose of announcing that the wonder at the Jordan was to be repeated on a greaterscale. “There,”-“on the theatre of these glorious transac-tions.” “We will rejoice,” is an energetic expression for “we may rejoice."-The expression, “his eyes spy among the hea-then,” ver. 7 indicates that the self-sufficiency of earthly power is only apparent. God from his high watch tower beholds every thing, guides every thing, brings down every haughty effort, which may be made against himself, or against his church. In the last clause, the expression assumes a hortatory character: “they may not exalt themselves,” i. e. “I would advise them not to do so.” For the contest against Omnipotence must bring evil upon them, and pride comes before a fall, as surely as there is a God in heaven. Compare the אל in Psalms 34:5; Psalms 41:2; Psalms 1:3. The למו shews that what they had undertaken, with a viewto their own advantage, had turned out to their own loss: Psalms 58:7; Psalms 64:5. Instead of the Hiph. of the verb רום to which we must supply the head, or some similar word, (Psalms 110:7; Psalms 67:4), the Masorites read the Kal:-this, however, is unsuitable, as it does not express the idea of action.

Psalms 66:8-12

The second strophe is ver. 8-12. The constant use of the preterites, throughout this passage, makes it evident that we have here a description of some special trouble and deliverance, in which had been manifested the glory which had been de-scribed in general terms in the preceding verses. Ver. 8. Praise ye nations our God, and cause the voice of his praise to be heard. Ver. 9. Who putteth our soul into life, and does not suffer our foot to slide.

Ver. 10. For thou didst prove us, O God, thou didst purify us as silver is purified. Ver. 11. Thou broughtest us into the net, thou laidest affliction upon our loins: Ver. 12. Thou didst let men ride upon our heads, we came into fire and into water, and thou didst lead as out to affluence.- In ver. 9 the calamity is represented as a death, and the deliver-ance as a putting of the soul into life-a revivification: comp. Psalms 30:3, “thou hast brought up my soul from hell,” and at Psalms 63:3.

In reference to the “sliding,” see Psalms 15:5; Psalms 55:22. -On “thou didst prove us,” ver. 10, the Berleb Bible: “Thou bast by many heats of trouble tried the worth and the steadfast-ness of our faith, hope and patience, as men examine metals by the fire”: compare Zechariah 13:9, 1 Peter 1:7. The “thou didst purify us,” shews that the protestation of innocence in ver. 18th, has reference only to the fundamental aim, and does not exclude manifold sins of infirmity, the existence of which justified the ap-pointment of the divine chastisement. The purification separates the dross: comp. Isaiah 1:25, “I will purify, as with prepared water, all thy dross, and I will take away all thy tin,” Zechariah 13:9. Silver requires a particularly continuous and repeated purification: comp. Psalms 12:6; Isaiah 48:10, “I have refined thee, but not as silver, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction."-The מעוקה, in ver. 11, is straitness, oppression, sorrow: compare עקה in Psalms 1 v. 3. The loins are named as the seat of strength: comp. Deuteronomy 33:11; Psalms 69:23, and Gesen. Thes. When they are weakened, the strength generally is gone, and the man is weak and miserable. Some translate erroneously: straitening, op-pressing fetters; others: an oppressing burden. But fetters are not put on the loins, and loins do not carry burdens.-In verse 12th, the head is named as the noblest part, without strict re-gard to whether, in the case of beasts, the rider sits on the head or not.

In reference to אנוש, comp. at Psalms 8:4. The more miserable the master is, the more oppressive is the servitude. On “we came into fire and water,” comp. Isaiah 43:2. The רויה occurs only here and in Psalms 23:5. Calvin: “The sum is, although God may chastise severely his own people by tem-poral punishments, yet he always gives them a happy and joy-ful issue.” Arnd: “Many thousands of pious Israelites, under the Old Testament, and many thousands of Christians, under the New, have been literally delivered out of such troubles, but many thousands have had to lay down their lives, whom God has de-livered and brought to life as regards their soul, as the pious mar-tyr Babylas said when he was led to death: Be now joyous, O my soul, the Lord is doing good to thee.'”

Psalms 66:13-20

The third strophe is from ver. 13 to 20. Calvin: “The sense is, the glory of God would be unworthily suppressed, if, as often as he stands by us in trouble, our thanksgivings did not follow upon our obtaining deliverance.” Instead of the “we,” which occurs in the preceding paragraph, we have here “I.” The speaker cannot be the Psalmist, or “every particular heart.” Against this we have the magnificent character of the sacrifices, and the circumstance that the trouble and the deliverance which are here appropriated to one individual, are manifestly the same, as what are spoken of in the preceding part of the Psalm, as be-longing to the whole. In like manner, it cannot be king Hezekiah, because the general character of the whole Psalm is against such a historical interpretation. The speaker is ratheran ideal person, the personification of the people, the “angel of the congregation.” For it is evident from the address to the fearers of God, in ver. 16th, that we cannot exactly say that it is the people who speak. Similar personifications of the people are frequent: comp. for example, Psalms 60:60; Psalms 65:3.-Ver. 13. I will come into thy house with burnt offerings, I will pay to thee my vows. Ver. 14. Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken in my trouble. Ver. 15. I will bring to thee burnt offerings of fat lambs with the smoke of rams, I will offer bullocks with goats.-Ver. 16. Come, hear, and let me tell, all ye that fear God, what he hath done to my soul. Ver. 17. I cried to him with my mouth, and a song of praise was under my tongue. Ver. 18. Had I regarded iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have heard me.

Ver. 19. But the Lord has heard me and marked my supplication. Ver. 20. Blessed be God, who has not removed my prayer nor his grace from me.-This last strophe, like the first, is complete in seven verses: the twentieth is to be considered as a conclusion: and the strophe like the first one is divided into two parts, consisting, the one of four, and the other of three verses.-The outward offerings, in ver. 13-15, are to be considered only as embodiment of the gifts of the heart. The soul is the thanksgiving of the heart. Vows have burnt offerings for their subject matter.

The full enumeration of the animals, to be offered in sacrifice, spews the zeal, with which the thanks and the offerings are given.-The פצו in ver. 14, is “to open the mouth wide,” and, secondarily, “to talk,” Job 35:16. The expression indicates the distress which called forth the vow, so that the פצו contains in it the expression of the second clause,-in my trouble.- מיהים, fat, in ver. 15, is fat sheep. The smoke of rams, (used only here in this sense: in other pas-sages always of incense), is the kindled fat of the rams. The עשה, to make, then to prepare, to set in order, is frequently used of the bringing of offerings-In ver, 16-19, the reference to the occasion of rendering thanks to God, namely, the answer which had been vouchsafed to the speaker, prepared the way for passing on to the leading idea of this paragraph, viz. the emphatic declaration that this answer had been vouchsafed to him only on the ground of his innocence, the didactic and horta-tory tendency of which is only slightly veiled, viz. that there is no way to salvation except that of well doing. The soul is named in ver. 16th, because it had been exposed to danger:comp. ver. 9.-The רומם in ver. 17, is a noun, exaltation, praise: see its plural, Psalms 149:6. “Under my tongue,” as at Psalms 10:7, indicates the fulness of the song of praise. As soon as the Psalmist cried, he got occasion, through the deliverance vouchsafed, to praise God: comp. Psalms 18:3, “I cried unto the Lord, and I was delivered from my enemies,” Psalms 34:4-6.

We cannot translate, “I cried, etc. and now there is”; for the reference to the present would have been clearly intimated. According to the analogy of the first clause, the preterite only must be supplied also in the second.

Even the deliverance itself belongs now to the past. Much less however can we translate: “I praised God in confident expectation of his help.” For in this case, no account would have been given of the result; the result, however, throughout the following verses is spoken of as having been obtained.-The following are parallel passages to verse 18th: Job 15:29, “The Lord is far from the wicked, and he hears the prayer of the righteous;” John 9:13; Isaiah 1:15, “Though ye pray ever so much, I will not hear you, your hands are full of blood;” lsa. 59:2, 3, “But your iniquities have se-parated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear, for your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity;” 1 John 3:21 “If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God, and whatsoever we ask we receive of him:” compare on the connection between righteousness and salvation, Ps. xvii, xviii, 34:11. The ראה is, as at Genesis 20:10, “to have before the eyes.” The און is always unrighteousness, wickedness, never vanity, in the sense of false gods. The exposition, “if the design of my prayer had been directed to any thing evil,” has originated in theological views. The language does not re-fer at all to the object of the prayer, but it intimates that the fundamental condition of the answer consisted in this, that not-withstanding all weakness, the inward fundamental aim of the soul is still pure and blameless, that the heart is entirely free from all secret wickedness-recondita malitia.-But God has heard, etc. ver. 19, and therefore has shewn that this hindrance to salvation does not exist in my case.-Ver. 20th, if given in full, would have been, “Who has not removed my prayer from him, and his grace from me.”