THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: God's Nurture Of The Inner Man In The Life Of Faith

LXVI: God's Deliverance For Those Who Align With His Word

(Psalm 66:1-20)

I. Introduction

A. Gaining God's deliverance from trouble is always a rich, rewarding blessing for the believer, but not always do believers enjoy such deliverance because of their failure to align with God's Word, 1 John 3:22!

B. Psalm 66:1-20 encourages God's people in this regard, and we view it for our insight and edification:

II. God's Deliverance For Those Who Align With His Word, Psalm 66:1-20.

A. The introductory remarks in the English Bible comprise the first part of verse one in the Hebrew text (Kittel, Bib. Heb., p. 1030), so we stay with the verse numbering system of the English Bible for clarity in this lesson.

B. We thus translate Psalm 66:1-20 as follows:

1. "Shout for joy to Elohim, all the earth," Psalm 66:1.

2. "Sing the glory of His Name; make the praise of Him glorious," Psalm 66:2.

3. "Say to Elohim, 'How awesome [lit. fearful] are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cringe before You," Psalm 66:3.

4. "All the earth bows down to You; they sing praise to You, they sing praise to Your Name. Selah," v. 4.

5. "Come and see what Elohim has performed, how awesome [fearful] are His deeds in behalf of the sons of man," Psalm 66:5.

6. "He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot -- come, let us rejoice in Him," Psalm 66:6.

7. "He rules forever by His power; His eyes spy out the nations -- let not the rebellious rise up against Him. Selah," Psalm 66:7.

8. "Praise our Elohim, O peoples, and let the sound of His praise be heard," Psalm 66:8.

9. "He has preserved our life principles with our earthy lives and kept our feet from slipping," Psalm 66:9.

10. "Because, O Elohim, You tested us; You refined us like silver," Psalm 66:10.

11. "You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs," Psalm 66:11.

12. "You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but You brought us to a place of abundance," Psalm 66:12.

13. "I will come to Your temple with burn offerings and fulfill my vows to You," Psalm 66:13.

14. "Vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke when I was in distress," Psalm 66:14.

15. "I will sacrifice fat animals to You and an offering of rams; I will offer bulls and goats. Selah," Psa. 66:15.

16. "Come and listen, all who revere Elohim; let me tell you what He had done for my life principle!" v. 16.

17. "I cried out to Him with my mouth; His praise was on my tongue," Psalm 66:17.

18. "If I had looked favorably upon, cherished (ra'ah, Ibid., p. 1031; B. D. B., A Heb.-Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 906-909) vain departures from God's Word, iniquity ('aven, Ibid., Kittel; Robert B. Girdlestone, Syns. of the O. T., 1973, p. 83) in my heart, Adonai would not have heard me," Psalm 66:18.

19. "But Elohim has surely hearkened; He inclined His ear to my voice in prayer," Psalm 66:19.

20. "Praise be to Elohim Who has not rejected my prayer nor withheld His loyal love from me!" (Psalm 66:20)

C. We note significant observations and applications of this psalm (as follows):

1. The anonymous author, a representative leader of the nation of Israel, praises God for His deliverance of the nation, likening it to God's deliverance of Israel at the crossing of the Red Sea (v. 1-12) before giving personal testimony of God's having heard his personal prayer for that deliverance, Psalm 66:13-20.

2. A great lesson resides in verse 18, that God will hear the prayer of the believer who does not harbor vain departures from God's Word in his life, empty, self-help violations of Scripture, a thought also mentioned in 1 John 3:22 of the New Testament. Since violations of God's Word are sin (cf. 1 John 3:4), we must not harbor unconfessed sin in our lives if we would expect God to heed our prayers for His help!

Lesson: The psalmist testified that God had heard his prayer for God's help as a leader in Israel, and God had thus saved the nation from trouble since the psalmist did not harbor unconfessed sins, violations of Scripture in his life.

Application: May we align our thinking and actions with God's Word to find Him answering our prayers in times of great need. If we sin, may we immediately confess it to escape His discipline and keep our prayer life effective!