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Psalm 66: Make a joyful noise!
This Psalm is anonymous but reminds us of David in some of his most stirring and lofty moments. We can deduce that it was composed after a time of national trial and testingin which the people of Israel were oppressed. It was probably composed no earlier thanDavid’s time because of the references to the Chief Musician and paying vows in God’shouse.
(1)
To the chief Musician, A Song or Psalm.
Make a joyful noise to God, all you lands; (2) Sing forth the honor of His name; make His praise glorious.
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This first section is obviously a call for the nations of the world to worship Him,and not with a begrudging sort of acknowledgement, but with a knowingappreciation of Who He is.
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In verse 1 the Psalmist calls the nations to worship God with a great shout.Perhaps the KJV translators were too unaccustomed to this form of worship totranslate it as “shout” wherever it appears, but it is clear that the word means ashout. It is in fact the same word used when God commands the Israelites toshout and bring down the walls of Jericho. The seven principal words for praisein Hebrew are not at all as timid or refined as we would wish for them to be –some of them call for expressions of joy which are positively boisterous:
o
Ruah
, the word used here, means to mar, and so figuratively it means tosplit the ears with sound.
Psalms Bible Study Psalm 66
o
Yadah
means to extend the hand. Leah named her son Judah, when at her birth she said, “This time, I will praise (
yadah
) the Lord.” (Gen. 29:35)
o
Tehillah
speaks of adoration. In Psalm 22 David says that God inhabits the
tehillim
(plural of
tehillah
) of His people. In Hebrew, the Jews refer to theBook of Psalms as the
Tehillim
, the praises.
o
Barak
means to kneel, to bless God. It’s what David said in Psalm 103 when he said, “Bless the Lord, O my soul!”
o
Halal
means to shine, to boast – even to be clamorously foolish! In Psalm34, David says “My soul shall make her boast (
halal
) in the Lord; thehumble shall hear and be glad.”
o
Todah
means to extend the hand and is used to express confession, praiseand thanksgiving. In Psalm 100 we read, “Enter into His gates withthanksgiving (
todah
)…”
o
Zamar
means to sing with instruments; more literally it probably meansto touch, as in touching the strings of an instrument with your fingers. In Verse 2 of this Psalm when David says “sing forth” he is really telling us to
zamar
.
o
Shabach
is praise that addresses God in a loud tone. In Psalm 63, Davidsays, “Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise(
shabach
) You.”
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It’s important to know that almost all of these words speak plainly of an outwardaction. Knowing the particular word that the Psalmist uses in any given case willhelp us pick up important shades of meaning.
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Psalms Bible Study Psalm 66
(3) Say to God, “How awesome You are in Your works! Through thegreatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You. (4) All the earth shall worship You, and shall sing to You; they shall sing to Your Name.” Selah.
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This is how the Psalmist says the nations should worship God: recognize thegreatness of His works. Remember that the nations surrounding Israel had various gods of weather, fertility, etc. The point was to emphasize that God, theOne God, was greater than all the “Baals” who claimed dominion over differentareas or facets of men’s daily lives. He says that the enemies of God have nooption but to praise Him.
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The distinguishing feature of the last age of history is all of humanity worshipingthe God of Israel. In verse 4 they will worship Him (prostrate themselves) andsing (
zamar
– on instruments); he emphasizes that they will sing to His Name.
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In the Psalms and prophets there is a consistent theme of all the nations engagingin worship (even formalized worship) of the God of Israel, for example: “
And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which cameagainst Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.”
(Zech. 14:6)
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This would also mean recognizing the people of Israel as God’s priests on earth; atotal reversal from the current time of Man’s dominion on Earth, when they haveendured millennia of persecution. So in Isaiah we read,
“The sons also of themthat afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised theeshall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The
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