Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 66:4
All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing [to] thy name. Selah.
4. All the earth shall worship thee and hymn thee,
Yea, hymn thy name.
This verse is part of the address to God put into the mouth of the nations.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
All the earth shall worship thee – That is, all the inhabitants of the world will bow down before thee, or render thee homage. The time will come when thy right to reign will be universally acknowledged, or when thou wilt everywhere be adored as the true God. This is in accordance with all the statements in the Bible. See the notes at Psa 22:27; Compare the notes at Isa 45:23; notes at Rom 14:11.
And shall sing unto thee – Shall celebrate thy praises. To thy name. To thee.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 66:4-7
All the earth shall worship Thee, and shall sing unto Thee.
The worlds conversion
I. The glorious and auspicious prospect which is here opened to our view. All the earth shall worship Jehovah, and shall sing unto His name.
II. All objections to the fulfilment of this declaration are triumphantly repelled. The politicians of this world tell you plainly that your object can never be accomplished. The world is against you. The carnal mind, which is enmity against God, is against you. The glorious Gospel of the grace of God must come in contact with much that is contrary to its own nature. I am fully aware, too, that Satan, the god of this world, has long kept the minds of men in subjection to his vassalage, and held his captives in an almost universal submission. But with all these appalling circumstances put in array, and leaving you room to put in a thousand more, I see something in my text which excites you to go forward, in sure and certain hope of complete and glorious victory. Come, and instead of looking on the works of men, till your hearts grow feeble, and your hands hang down, come and see the works of God. Here are two grounds of encouragement–
1. The consideration of what God has done for His ancient Church, in fulfilling His promises, and in overcoming her foes; and–
2. What He will yet do for His Church, in fulfilling all for which He has encouraged you to hope. Consider these things; and declare if God has spoken anything which He has not fulfilled. (J. Stewart, D. D.)
Worship
It is a mans duty to worship God; therefore–
I. Man can attain a true knowledge of God. Not, indeed, if left unaided. The instinct which prompts the heart to bow down before an invisible Power is one of the last to disappear in the ruin of our nature. In the absence of everything else which gives dignity to human life it still survives. The first idea of God is awakened by the words and acts of our fellow-men, but when the idea is once ours, we can verify and ennoble it for ourselves. It has been maintained that man cannot have any real knowledge of what God is; that there are impregnable barriers to every attempt of the human soul to attain the real truth about the Divine attributes. But if I am informed that the world is ruled by a Being whose attributes are infinite, but what they are we cannot learn, nor what are the principles of His government, except that the highest human morality we are capable of conceiving does not sanction them; convince me of it, and I will bear my fate as I may. But when I am told that I must believe this, and at the same time call the Being by the names which express and affirm the highest human morality, I say in plain terms that I will not. Whatever power such a Being may have over me, He shall not compel me to worship Him. As a Christian, as a Christian minister, I take my stand with those strong words of the philosopher against the theologian. Language has no meaning save the ordinary ones for the words, just, merciful, good; and if they do not mean this when applied to God, why do we use the words? Worship becomes impossible on such a theory. If the soul is to worship God, it must know what God is.
II. God finds satisfaction and delight in human worship. If I speak to Him, it is because I believe He listens. His heart is moved in response to ours. As I sat a Sunday or two ago on the sea-shore, and thought of the thirty millions of people around whom the waters on which I looked were softly and gently rolling, I had present to my mind the twenty or thirty thousand assemblies which were met that morning in the depths of manufacturing towns, to which the Sunday had brought a brighter, clearer sky, and a welcome interruption of toil; in ancient cities, which have been famous through all the stormy years of our countrys history; in scattered villages, where the life becomes more animated rather than more still on the weekly day of rest. I thought of venerable cathedrals, where vast and solemn spaces were filled with the music of ancient chants and exulting anthems, and the mighty harmonies of majestic organs, and of rude, unshapely buildings on the edge of lovely commons, and amongst the poorest and most wretched courts and streets of our populous districts, where, with loud cries and noisy hymns, poor labouring men whose hearts God had touched, were violently and passionately imploring His pardon, or thanking Him for deliverance from sin. I felt that at that moment the gates of heaven were thrown wide open as for some high festival, that before the day was over thousands of my countrymen would be regenerated by the Spirit of God, and receive from Gods own lips absolution from all sin; and that tens of thousands would be baptized afresh with the Holy Ghost and with fire, and be gentler in their words, kinder in their deeds, purer in their thoughts all the week through as the result of that days worship. I thought of all these, and I was thankful and glad. (R. W. Dale, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. All the earth] The whole land shall worship thee. There shall no more an idol be found among the tribes of Israel. This was literally true. After the Babylonish captivity the Israelites never relapsed into idolatry.
Selah.] Remark it: this is a well attested truth.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Many people of divers nations shall be so affected with thy stupendous works, that they shall worship and praise thee for them, and all people shall do so, and shall have just cause to do so; and the time will come when all nations will actually do so, to wit, in the days of the Messias.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
All the earth shall worship thee,…. The Messiah, who is equal with God; the Creator of men; the Redeemer of his people; the Head of the church, and King of saints; their Lord, and therefore to be worshipped; with internal worship, in the exercise of faith, hope, and love; and with external worship, in the word and ordinances, by prayer and praise, public and private. This universal worship, that will be yielded him, will be in the latter day; which shows that this psalm respects those times, when Christ shall be King over all the earth, and his name, worship, and religion, one, Zec 14:9;
and shall sing unto thee; the song of Moses and the Lamb, the Lamb’s new song, the song of redeeming grace; which none but the redeemed ever can sing aright, Re 14:3;
they shall sing [to] thy name; or, “they shall”, or “let them sing thy name” x; thou shall be the subject of their song; thy person, offices, kingdom, grace, and glory: or they shall sing to the honour of thy name, as in Ps 66:2.
Selah; on this word, [See comments on Ps 3:2].
x “cantent nomen tuum”, Gejerus; “cantabunt nomen tuum”, Michaelis.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
4. All the earth shall worship thee. The Psalmist had good reason for insisting upon this one point again and again. Though all tongues were tuned to the praise of God, they never could adequately extol it; and yet such are the negligence and the perversity of men, that they will scarcely lift one feeble note in celebration of a theme which should command their united strength and might. We have another prediction here, of a time being to come when God would be worshipped, not only by the Jews, a small section of the human family, but by all the nations which would be eventually brought under his government. And we are not to consider that he refers to such a worship as would be constrained, and only not withheld, because resistance might be dangerous, but to the sincere homage of the heart — they shall sing unto thee! they shall sing unto thy name Praise is the best of all sacrifices, (as we are told, Psa 50:14) and the true evidence of godliness. (470)
(470) “ Est enim hoc praecipuum laudis sacrificium, ut habetur, Psalmo 50:14, 23, ac verum etiam testimonium pietatis. — Lat. “ Car c’est le principal sacrifice, que le sacrifice de louange, etc., et aussi le vray tesmoignage de piete.” — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
4. Shall worship thee Shall prostrate themselves, as in Psa 72:11, whether in forced submission from the overawing prevalence of divine truth or from loving obedience is not stated.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 66:4 All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing [to] thy name. Selah.
Ver. 4. All the earth shall worship thee ] Heb. they shall bow down to thee, stoop to thy government, submit to the sceptre of thy kingdom; they shall become the kingdoms of our Lord Jesus Christ. O dieculam illam! O mora! Christe veni.
Selah
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the earth. See note on “ye lands”, Psa 66:1.
sing = sing psalms.
Selah. Marking the Structure by showing that (verses: Psa 66:5-7) corresponds with (Psa 66:16); and connecting the exhortation of verses: Psa 66:1-4 with the reason for it in Psa 66:5. See App-66.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 22:27, Psa 65:5, Psa 67:2, Psa 67:3, Psa 96:1, Psa 96:2, Psa 117:1, Isa 2:2-4, Isa 11:9, Isa 42:10-12, Isa 49:22, Isa 49:23, Dan 7:14, Mal 1:11, Rev 15:4
Reciprocal: Gen 24:26 – General Psa 45:5 – people Psa 65:2 – unto thee Psa 68:4 – Sing unto God Psa 86:9 – All Psa 98:4 – General Psa 100:1 – Make Psa 145:5 – will speak Isa 65:14 – my servants Dan 2:35 – and filled
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 66:4. All the earth shall worship thee, &c. Many people of divers nations shall be so affected with thy stupendous works, that they shall worship and praise thee for them, and all the people shall have just cause to do so; and the time will come when all nations will actually do so, namely, in the days of the Messiah.