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Psalm 66:16-20 Commentary from: https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-66/
“This Psalm is said to be recited on Easter day, by the Greek church:
it is described in the Greek Bible as A Psalm of the Resurrection,
and may be understood to refer, in a prophetic sense, to the regeneration of the world, through the conversion of the Gentiles.”
(Daniel Cresswell, cited in Spurgeon)

a. Come and hear, all you who fear God: The vow of the psalmist was not fulfilled through sacrifice alone. He also had an obligation to proclaim God’s goodness, to declare what He has done for my soul. His actions spoke, but did not take away the need for his mouth to also speak.

i. “We may picture the scene of public worship, perhaps at Passover or at a victory celebration, in which the corporate praise gives way to the voice of this single worshipper, who stands with his gifts before the altar, and speaks of the God whose care is not only world- and nation-wide, but personal: I will tell what he has done for me.” (Kidner)

b. I cried to Him with my mouth, and He was extolled with my tongue: As the psalmist spoke to others about God’s goodness, he described how he spoke to God. He offered both the sacrifice of animals and the sacrifice of praise.

c. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear: No one should think that God could be persuaded merely through sacrifices or vows. It was important to make clear that the psalmist did not only sacrifice but also gave God the better: obedience. He did not hold on to iniquity in his heart.

i. “Iniquity; any sin whatsoever, and especially idolatry, which is oft expressed by this word, to which the Israelites were very prone, and to which they had most powerful temptations.” (Poole)

ii. “The prayer which is ‘heard,’ is the prayer of the penitent, heartily grieved and wearied with sin, hating and longing to be delivered from it.” (Horne)

d. Certainly God has heard me: When he cried out to God, God heard. He answered, giving more reasons to praise Him.

3. (20) The conclusion of praise.
Blessed be God,
Who has not turned away my prayer,
Nor His mercy from me!

a. Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer: We often take the privilege of prayer for granted. The psalmist understood how wonderful it was that God received his prayer, and how it made God more to be praised.

b. Nor His mercy from me: This was a final and wonderful reminder that the answer to prayer did not come from what the psalmist deserved, but as a gift from the great love and mercy [hesed] of God.

i. “The final word of gratitude is not for the answered request alone, but for what it signifies: an unbroken relationship with God.” (Kidner)

ii. Thomas Fuller (cited by Spurgeon) composed a syllogism from Psalm 66:19-20. It works something like this:

· If I regard iniquity in my heart, God will not hear my prayer.

· God has heard my prayer.

We would expect the next line to be, Therefore, there is no iniquity in my heart. Yet the psalmist completed the syllogism in an unexpected way, praising the mercy of God. “I looked that he should have clapped the crown on his own, and he puts it on God’s head. I will learn this excellent logic.” (Fuller)

iii. “This is the conclusion of David’s syllogism, in this and the two former verses; and herein his logic is better than Aristotle’s.” (Trapp)