For years I have called Psalm 66, “The Invitation Psalm”. In verse 5 we are invited
to “come and see the works of God”. In verse 16, we are again invited to
“come and hear, all you who fear God”. First, come and see God’s awesome
works. God’s mighty deeds on behalf of Israel is a testimony to us concerning
the power of God to deliver us from the enemy of death.
Second, come and hear about what God can do for an individual soul (v. 16). Creation
and history reveal to the world that there is a sovereign God Who rules
supremely over all the earth. History is His story! We can see the hand of God
throughout the centuries especially in His deliverance of the nation of Israel
from Egypt. Over and over again we read in Scripture and also see how He
protected them from their enemies.
The title of this Psalm does not reveal to us who the specific writer is. Some commentators,
like Spurgeon believe that David is the writer because of the style and the way
it reads. Others believe there are good reasons for thinking that it was
written by godly King Hezekiah after the final overthrow of Sennacherib before
the gates of Jerusalem. They believe this event was the Lord's miraculous
defeat of Assyria (Isaiah 36-37) and that the
individual speaking in verses 13-20 was King Hezekiah,
whose prayer the Lord answered (Isaiah 37:14-20).
Whoever wrote this Psalm is encouraging and exhorting the Gentile nations to praise the Lord
(vv. 1-7). Then in verses 8-12, he moves to Israel and their praise for His
deliverance from Egypt. And he concludes
with the individual believer praising the Lord and inviting us to join him (vv. 13-20). As we read in the
title it is a song to be sung or a Psalm to be read, and probably both, as we
remember how awesome our God is!
But there is more to it than that. If this psalm has its roots in history, it has its
realization in prophecy. It looks on to the coming millennial reign of Christ.
It thus stands shoulder to shoulder with the Psalm which precedes it and the
two which follow it. The four Psalms—65, 66, 67, and 68—form a quartet of
prophetic utterance extolling the coming golden age. We shall see this constant
mingling of Israel's yesterdays and bright tomorrows as we read this happy
Hebrew hymn.
In verses 1-7, 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. Jesus said, "Salvation is of the Jews" in 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 (Psalm 98:4; 100:1; Rom. 15:9-12), but they can't do
that until they trust Him (Romans 10:l0-20).
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. 11:25-36). When Israel sees her
Messiah and trusts Him, then the world situation will change (Zechariah 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 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; 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 (Psalms 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 and every Sunday that we go to church!
God bless!
