Psa 66:5-7 | TDavid | STEP | EXPOSITION Verse 5 . Come and see the works of God. Such glorious events, as the cleaving of the Red Sea and the overthrow of Pharaoh, are standing wonders, and throughout all time a voice sounds forth concerning them -- "Come and see." Even till the close of all things, the marvellous works of God at the Red Sea will be the subject of meditation and praise; for, standing on the sea of glass mingled with fire, the triumphal armies of heaven sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. It has always been the favourite subject of the inspired bards, and their choice was most natural. He is terrible in his doing toward the children of men. For the defence of his church and the overthrow of her foes he deals terrific blows, and strikes the mighty with fear. O thou enemy, wherefore dost thou vaunt thyself? Speak no more so exceeding proudly, but remember the plagues which bowed the will of Pharaoh, the drowning of Egypt's chariots in the Red Sea, the overthrow of Og and Sihon, the scattering of the Canaanites before the tribes. This same God still liveth, and is to be worshipped with trembling reverence. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 5 . Come and see the works of God . An indirect censure is here passed upon that almost universal thoughtlessness which leads men to neglect the praises of God. John Calvin. Verse 5 . Come and see . The church at all times appeals to the world, Come and see, as Jesus said to the two disciples of John the Baptist, and Philip to Nathanael. John 1:39,46 . God's marvels are to be seen by all, and seeing them is the first step towards believing in their divine author. A. R. Faussett. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 5 . Here is -- A subject for general study: the Works of God. For particular study: his doings towards, etc. These are the most wonderful. In these we are most concerned.

Psalms 66:5-7

EXPOSITION Verse 5 . Come and see the works of God. Such glorious events, as the cleaving of the Red Sea and the overthrow of Pharaoh, are standing wonders, and throughout all time a voice sounds forth concerning them -- "Come and see." Even till the close of all things, the marvellous works of God at the Red Sea will be the subject of meditation and praise; for, standing on the sea of glass mingled with fire, the triumphal armies of heaven sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. It has always been the favourite subject of the inspired bards, and their choice was most natural. He is terrible in his doing toward the children of men. For the defence of his church and the overthrow of her foes he deals terrific blows, and strikes the mighty with fear. O thou enemy, wherefore dost thou vaunt thyself? Speak no more so exceeding proudly, but remember the plagues which bowed the will of Pharaoh, the drowning of Egypt's chariots in the Red Sea, the overthrow of Og and Sihon, the scattering of the Canaanites before the tribes. This same God still liveth, and is to be worshipped with trembling reverence. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 5 . Come and see the works of God . An indirect censure is here passed upon that almost universal thoughtlessness which leads men to neglect the praises of God. John Calvin. Verse 5 . Come and see . The church at all times appeals to the world, Come and see, as Jesus said to the two disciples of John the Baptist, and Philip to Nathanael. John 1:39,46 . God's marvels are to be seen by all, and seeing them is the first step towards believing in their divine author. A. R. Faussett. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 5 . Here is -- A subject for general study: the Works of God. For particular study: his doings towards, etc. These are the most wonderful. In these we are most concerned.

EXPOSITION

Verse 6. He turned the sea into dry land. It was no slight miracle to divide a pathway through such a sea, and to make it fit for the traffic of a whole nation. He who did this can do anything, and must be God, the worthy object of adoration. The Christian's inference is that no obstacle in his journey heavenward need hinder him, for the sea could not hinder Israel, and even death itself shall be as life; the sea shall be dry land when God's presence is felt.

They went through the flood on foot. Through the river the tribes passed dry shod, Jordan was afraid because of them. "What ailed thee, O thou mighty sea?

Why rolled thy waves in dread?

What bade thy tide, O Jordan, flee

And bare its deepest bed?"

"O earth, before the Lord, the God

Of Jacob, tremble still;

Who makes the waste a watered sod,

The flint a gushing rill."

There did we rejoice in him. We participate this day in that ancient joy. The scene is so vividly before us that it seems as if we were there personally, singing unto the Lord because he hath triumphed gloriously. Faith casts herself bodily into the past joys of the saints, and realises them for herself in much the same fashion in which she projects herself into the bliss of the future, and becomes the substance of things hoped for. It is to be remarked that Israel's joy was in her God, and there let ours be. It is not so much what he has done, as what he is, that should excite in us a sacred rejoicing. "He is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 6. He turned the sea into dry land. The psalmist refers to the passage through the Red Sea and the Jordan, not as to transactions which took place and were concluded at a given period of time, but as happening really in every age. God's guidance of his people is a constant drying up of the sea and of the Jordan, and the joy over his mighty deeds is always receiving new materials. E. W. Hengstenberg.

Verse 6. There did we rejoice in him; where those things have been done, there have we rejoiced in him, not taking any credit to ourselves as if they were our acts, but rejoicing and glorying in God, and have praised him, as may be seen in Exodus 15 and Joshua 3. The prophet uses the future for the past, unless, perhaps, he meant to insinuate that these miracles would be succeeded by much greater ones, of which they were only the types and figures. A much greater miracle is that men should pass over the bitter sea of this life, and cross the river of mortality, that never ceases to run, and which swallows up and drowns so many, and still come safe and alive to the land of eternal promise, and there rejoice in God himself, beholding him face to face; and yet this greater miracle is so accomplished by God, that many pass through this sea as if it were dry land, and cross this river with dry feet; that is to say, having no difficulty in despising all things temporal, be they good or be they bad; that is to say, being neither attached to the good things, nor fearing the evil things, of this world, that they may arrive in security at the heavenly Jerusalem, where we will rejoice in him, not in hope, but in complete possession for eternity. Robert Bellarmine.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 6. Great difficulties, unexpectedly overcome, made the theme of joy.

Verse 6. (last clause). Our share in the past deliverances of the church.

EXPOSITION

Verse 7. He ruleth by his power for ever. He has not deceased, nor abdicated, nor suffered defeat. The prowess displayed at the Red Sea is undiminished: the divine dominion endures throughout eternity.

His eyes behold the nations. Even as he looked out of the cloud upon the Egyptians and discomfited them, so does he spy out his enemies, and mark their conspiracies. His hand rules and his eye observes, his hand has not waxed weak, nor his eye dim. As so many grasshoppers he sees the people and tribes, at one glance he takes in all their ways. He oversees all and overlooks none.

Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. The proudest have no cause to be proud. Could they see themselves as God sees them they would shrivel into nothing. Where rebellion reaches to a great head, and hopes most confidently for success, it is a sufficient reason for abating our fears, that the Omnipotent ruler is also an Omniscient observer. O proud rebels, remember that the Lord aims his arrows at the high soaring eagles and brings them down from their nest among the stars. "He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree." After a survey of the Red Sea and Jordan, rebels, if they were in their senses, would have no more stomach for the fight, but would humble themselves at the Conqueror's feet.

Selah. Pause again, and take time to bow low before the throne of the Eternal.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 7. His eyes behold the nations. The radical meaning of the word hkc is augazein, to shine, and metonymically to examine with a bright eye; to inspect with a piercing glance, and thence to behold, for either good or evil, as Proverbs 15:3: "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." Here it is taken in an adverse sense, and means, to watch from a watch tower, to threaten from a lofty place. Psalms 37:32: "The wicked watcheth the righteous;" and Job 15:22: He is waited for "from the watch tower for the sword;" that is to say, the sword is drawn above the head of the wicked, as if it threatened him from the watch tower of God. But, at the same time, there is also a reference to God's looking from the pillar of fire, and of cloud, upon the host of Pharaoh in the Red Sea. Exodus 14:24. Hermann Venema.

Verse 7. His eyes behold the nations. This should give check to much iniquity. Can a man's conscience easily and delightedly swallow that which he is sensible falls under the cognizance of God, when it is hateful to the eye of his holiness, and renders the action odious to him? "Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?" saith Job, (Job 31:4)... The consideration of this attribute should make us humble. How dejected would a person be if he were sure all the angels in heaven, and men upon earth, did perfectly know his crimes, with all their aggravations! But what is created knowledge to an infinite and just censuring understanding? When we consider that he knows our actions, whereof there are multitudes, and our thoughts, whereof there are millions; that he views all the blessings bestowed upon us; all the injuries we have returned to him; that he exactly knows his own bounty, and our ingratitude; all the idolatry, blasphemy, and secret enmity in every man's heart against him; all tyrannical oppressions, hidden lusts, omissions of necessary duties, violations of plain precepts, every foolish imagination, with all the circumstances of them, and that perfectly in all their full anatomy, every mite of unworthiness and wickedness in every circumstance... should not the consideration of this melt our hearts into humiliation before him, and make us earnest in begging pardon and forgiveness of him. Stephen Charnock.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 7. Sovereignty, immutability ("for ever"), and omniscience, -- the enemies of proud rebels.