Psalms 66

At the close of the previous psalm, you hear nature praising the Lord, and this psalm exhorts all mankind to join creation in celebrating God’s greatness. It appears that Israel had gone through severe trials (vv. 8–12) and yet won a great victory with the Lord’s help. Some students believe this event was the Lord’s miraculous defeat of Assyria (Isa. 36—37) and that the individual speaking in verses 13–20 was King Hezekiah, whose prayer the Lord answered (37:14–20). The exhortation to praise the Lord begins with the Gentile nations (vv. 1–7), moves to Israel (vv. 8–12), and concludes with the individual believer (vv. 13–20).

The psalmist invited all the Gentile nations to praise God for what He had done for Israel! Why? Because through Israel, the Lord brought truth and salvation to the Gentiles. “Salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). This is a missionary psalm showing the importance of taking the good news of Jesus Christ into all the world. God’s purpose is that all the nations shall praise Him (98:4; 100:1; Rom. 15:9–12), but they can’t do that until they trust Him (Rom. 10:l1ff.). It’s tragic that the nations today attack and persecute Israel instead of thanking God for her spiritual contribution to them. But the nations don’t know the Lord, and Israel has been blinded and hardened by her unbelief (Rom. 11:25ff.). When Israel sees her Messiah and trusts Him, then the world situation will change (Zech. 13— 14), and all the nations will worship the Lord. One day there shall be universal praise lifted for Jesus Christ (Phil. 2:10–11; Rev. 11:15–18).

The nations are invited to “come and see what the Lord has done,” and the writer reviews some of the miraculous history of Israel: the exodus from Egypt, the crossing of the Jordan, and the defeat of the nations in Canaan (vv. 5–7; see Ex. 15:18). The exodus was the “birthday” of the Jewish nation and has always been Israel’s main exhibition of the glorious power of the Lord (77:14–20; 78:12ff.; 106:7–12; 114; 136:13; Isa. 63:10–14). What the resurrection of Jesus Christ is to believers today, the exodus was to Israel (Eph. 1:15–23). The Jews remember the exodus at Passover, and the church remembers the death and resurrection of Christ at the Lord’s Supper. “God’s work is never antiquated,” wrote Alexander Maclaren. “It is all a revelation of eternal activities. What He has been, He is. What He did, He does. Therefore faith may feed on all the records of old time and expect the repetition of all that they contain” (Expositor’s Bible [Eerdmans, six vol. edition], vol. 3, 170).

A National Proclamation: “Israel, Praise the

If any nation has reason to praise the Lord, it is Israel; for He rescued them from slavery, guided them through the wilderness, took them into their land, and enabled them to defeat their enemies and claim their inheritance. He gave them His law, His sanctuary, and His priests and prophets, and He blessed them with all they needed. When they disobeyed, He disciplined them. Like a careful craftsman, He put them through the furnace and removed the impurities. (See 17:3; 26:2; Jer. 9:7; Mal. 3:2–3; 1 Peter 1:6–7; 4:12.) When they turned to the Lord, He transformed their sufferings into blessings and enlarged them (v. 12; see 4:1; 18:19, 36; 25:17). So it has been with the church. When the Lord has permitted persecution, this has invariably led to growth and blessing. We can go through fire and water and be the better for it (Isa. 43:2).

The change from “we/our” to “I/my” is significant, for corporate worship is the ministry of many individuals, and God sees each heart. During his times of trial, the psalmist had made vows to God, and now he hastened to fulfill them. He brought many burnt offerings to the altar, the very best he had, and they symbolized his total dedication to the Lord. We today obey Romans 12:1–2 and present ourselves as living sacrifices. When the Lord does something wonderful for us, we ought to share this with other believers and help to strengthen their faith. The entire Bible is a record of God’s gracious dealings with His people, and while our words are not inspired, our witness can bring glory to the Lord. Prayer and praise go together (v. 17).

The verb “regard” (v. 18) means “to recognize and to cherish, to be unwilling to confess and forsake known sins.” It means approving that which God condemns. When we recognize sin in our hearts, we must immediately judge it, confess it, and forsake it (1 John 1:5–10); otherwise, the Lord can’t work on our behalf (Isa. 59:1–2). To cover sin is to invite trouble and discipline (Prov. 28:13; Josh. 7).