Psalm Chapter 66 (KJV) Unless otherwise stated all scriptures in this devotional are from the King James Version of the Bible-which is public domain!
Context
According to VanGemeren 2017, 501, this is a psalm that embodies two glorious celebrations. 1) A national hymn of thanksgiving (verses 1-12), and 2) A personal hymn of praise (verses 12-20). The psalmist speaks on behalf of the nation when he laments. He also speaks on behalf of the nation when he offers up praise to his Jehovah Jireh.
I will praise God!
David declares his loyalty and praise for The Almighty. He leads the people to understand that all honor belongs only to YHWH. When you lift your voices in praise why do you do it? As I walk in my garden and look at the varieties of butterflies I praise him for his creative power and the beauty of his creation.
3 Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee. 4 All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah. Acts 9:15; Col. 3:16;Matt. 12:21 The time will come when all of humanity will bow down before the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. They will gladly sing his praises. At the end time, the enemies of Christ will not submit to him because they are happy to see him. They will submit to him because they have no choice (Rev 20-21). As parents, we know that children have their own ideas of what they will and will not do. Eventually, they do submit to the authority of their parents. They do so not because they are smart. They do so because they have learned that disobedience is not an option.
Come and see what he has done for me!
5 Come and see the works of God: he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men. 6 He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him. Now David reminds the people of God’s “terrible works” and how he opened the sea to let them cross over, but their enemies did not. Moses wrote a song of deliverance in Exodus about this very event. ” (See Exodus 15). We are also reminded that in Exodus 14:19-20 the people were shielded from their enemies in a miraculous way. “And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:” “And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness [to them], but it gave light by night [to these]: so that the one came not near the other all the night.” To personalize this a little, when the Lord has delivered you from something terrible what do you do? I know that I praise him when I am afraid, sad, or even when I have received a victory over something that was insurmountable. 7 He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah. Basically, David is saying that the same power that YHWH used to deliver Israel in the past he has used to deliver them during his reign. We also know that the same power of God is available to us today. He has done it before and he will do it again. He is the same God today that he was in the Old Testament times (Hebrews 13:18).
He preserves us from harm.
8 O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard: 9 Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved. It is reassuring to know that the enemy cannot take our souls from the hands of God. John 10:28-29 declares it to all of God’ people. “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any [man] pluck them out of my hand.” “My Father, which gave [them] me, is greater than all; and no [man] is able to pluck [them] out of my Father’s hand.”
10 For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. When the trial of life that feel like “silver” being purified come upon us remember Job. When silver is being purified it is heated to over 2000 degrees. The intense burn out the impurities and leaves a beautifully purified metal that can be used for many objects. Are we willing to allow the Lord to burn out our impurities to make us his refined children?
11 Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. The enemy has snares prepared for the people of God. Only he can bring them out of “the net” (see 2 Timothy 2:26). 12 Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.
Because you have delivered me, I will go to your temple and praise you.
13 I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows, 14 Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble. 15 I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah. David did not shirk his responsibility to the law of God. He lived by giving back to his deliverer. (Lev. Chapter 1; 22:18, 21; Psalms 56:12; 61:8; 65:1). Today most of us will give to anything but the work of God. We are called give to ministries that are serving and feeding us spiritually. I tithe to my local congregation and give what I can to other ministries. I cannot give more than I have, but I give something. This article will explain why giving, consistently, to the work of God is an act of obedience and bring blessings.
Come and hear about what God has done for me.
16 Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. There is no better witness than a person telling others about God’s hand of blessing on their lives. There is never a reason to declare that one has been so righteous that they do not remember a time in their lives when they realized that they needed Jesus.
17 I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. Philippians 4:6 (KJV) explains the importance of prayer. “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” David is not just saying pray when you need something from God. He is telling us to pray prayers of thanksgiving to God. Why? Because God heard our prayers and and we know that he will answer them. Here is the caveat.18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: Hatred, of anyone, is sin. Fear of any human being where they become the focus of our lives, is sin. Why? Because that type of fear means that I do not believe that God is my shield, my fortress, and that his mercies are new every morning. We listen to people who live in an atmosphere of fear, insecurity, and they tap into our fears. Then they throw God out of the picture because they tell us that only they can protect us. That is lie from the very pit of hell. It made me smile when I read the last two verses of this psalm. 19 But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. David knew that he harbored no animosity toward others. He knew that his soul was well with God. How? He answered his prayers. Sin was not blocking them. Then he ends the psalm by saying, “20 Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me. “
References
Longman, Tremper, III. 2014. Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. Accessed September 17, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central.
VanGemeren, Willem A. 2017. Psalms. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=5397265.
You Are Not the Only One 
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