Psalms 66-68

Psalm 66

How Awesome Are Your Deeds.To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm.

• Some Greek churches recite this on Easter due to some ties to the Resurrection 

Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
All the earth worships you
and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name.” Selah

• All nations and creation are invited to praise.
• “Awesome” = נוֹרָאוֹת (nora’ot)  inspiring fear and wonder.
• God’s power is so great that even His enemies submit

Come and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
He turned the sea into dry land;
they passed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in him,
who rules by his might forever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations—
let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

• References to the Red Sea and Jordan River 
• God rules eternally 

Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
who has kept our soul among the living
and has not let our feet slip.
For you, O God, have tested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
You brought us into the net;
you laid a crushing burden on our backs;
you let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

• Nations are called to hear Israel’s praise 
• God preserves life (“kept our soul among the living”) 
• Trials are compared to refining silver 
• Imagery of nets, burdens, oppression, fire, and water showssuffering.

I will come into your house with burnt offerings;
I will perform my vows to you,
that which my lips uttered
and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.
I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,
with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah

• The vows were made “in trouble” and now are being fulfilled.
• Multiple sacrifices reflect gratitude

Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
I cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
But truly God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me!

• Answered prayer becomes the center of the writer’s story

Psalm 67

Let the Nations Be Glad. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

• Similar to the Aaronic blessing (Num. 6:24–26): grace, blessing, shining face.
• “Saving power” = יְשׁוּעָתֶךָ (yeshuatekha) – the root of Jesus (Yeshua)’s name

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

• The nations rejoice under His leadership.
• God “guides”  the nations – He wants to help us

The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him!

• Harvest imagery 
• “All the ends of the earth” shows the ultimate goal

Psalm 68

God Shall Arise, His Enemies Shall Be Scattered. To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;
and those who hate him shall flee before him!
As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
as wax melts before fire,
so the wicked shall perish before God!
But the righteous shall be glad;
they shall exult before God;
they shall be jubilant with joy!

• Similar to Moses in Numbers 10:35: “Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered.”
• God’s presence is pictured as fire melting wax 
• Wicked perish, but the righteous rejoice 

Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the LORD; exult before him!
Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
God settles the solitary in a home;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

• God’s care for vulnerable (orphans, widows, lonely) 
• “Settles the solitary” God gives us a family

O God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness, Selah
the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;
you restored your inheritance as it languished;
your flock found a dwelling in it;
in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

• Remembers God’s march from Sinai through the wilderness.
• Sinai imagery: quaking earth, storm 

The Lord gives the word;
the women who announce the news are a great host;
“The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!”
The women at home divide the spoil—
though you men lie among the sheepfolds—
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
its pinions with shimmering gold.
When the Almighty scatters kings there,
let snow fall on Zalmon.

• Women proclaiming victory reflects victory celebrations in Israel (Exod 15; Judg 5).
• Some men stayed home “among the sheepfolds,” while God won the battle for them anyway.
• Dove, silver, gold imagery suggests beauty and peace after war.
• Snow on Zalmon = another name for Mt. Ebal, a dark mountain. 

O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!
Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,
at the mount that God desired for his abode,
yes, where the LORD will dwell forever?

• Zion chosen by God
• “Look with hatred” shows mountains as jealous of God’s choice.

The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
thousands upon thousands;
the Lord is among them;
Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
You ascended on high,
leading a host of captives in your train
and receiving gifts among men,
even among the rebellious,
that the LORD God may dwell there.

• God’s heavenly armies are countless 
• “You ascended on high” describes God as victorious king (quoted in Eph. 4:8).

Blessed be the Lord,
who daily bears us up;
God is our salvation. Selah
Our God is a God of salvation,
and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
But God will strike the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.

• God “daily bears us up” showing continuous care.
• God saves from death itself, not just earthly dangers.

The Lord said,
“I will bring them back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
that you may strike your feet in their blood,
that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”

• God promises to recover His people from any distance.
• Victory imagery is intense: ancient Near Eastern battle language.

Your procession is seen, O God,
the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—
the singers in front, the musicians last,
between them virgins playing tambourines:
“Bless God in the great congregation,
the LORD, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!”

• a worship procession entering the sanctuary.
• “Israel’s fountain” emphasizes God as the source of all blessing.

There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,
the princes of Judah in their throng,
the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.

• Representatives from north and south signify a unified Israel.

Summon your power, O God,
the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.
Because of your temple at Jerusalem
kings shall bear gifts to you.

• God rules over all

Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.
Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute;
scatter the peoples who delight in war.
Nobles shall come from Egypt;
Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God.

• “Beasts” and “bulls” symbolize violent nations 
• Egypt and Cush (Ethiopia) represent far nations worshiping God.

O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
sing praises to the Lord, Selah
to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
Ascribe power to God,
whose majesty is over Israel,
and whose power is in the skies.
Awesome is God from his sanctuary;
the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!

• Universal call to worship
• God’s voice is powerful as His word commands creation.
• God gives strength to His people 

Questions

Application

Psalm 66 show us that God’s blessing is meant to be public. When God answers our prayers – rejoice and tell others! Psalm 67 tells us that global worship is God’s ultimate goal. All people will one day bow.  Psalm 68 is a long Psalm showing God’s care for the vulnerable, God’s righteous past acts, God’s overwhelming power, God’s protection, and so much more!