Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 66:13
I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,
13. I will go ] R.V. I will come, the usual word for approaching God in the sanctuary (Psa 5:7; Psa 42:2; Psa 43:4; Psa 65:2; &c.). The transition from the plural in Psa 66:1-12 (‘we,’ ‘us,’ ‘our’) to the singular is more naturally explained by supposing that the king comes forward to speak as the representative of the people than by supposing that the congregation speaks as an individual. He comes with ‘burnt offerings,’ expressing the devotion of the worshipper to God, and ‘peace offerings’ in fulfilment of his vows (Psa 65:1; cp. Lev 22:21).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
13 15. The people’s leader and representative enters the Temple to pay the vows which he made in the hour of national distress.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I will go into thy house with burnt-offeriings – To thy temple – the place of worship. This is language designed to represent the feelings and the purpose of the people. If the psalm was composed on occasion of the return from the Babylonian captivity, it means that, as their first act, the people would go to the house of God, and acknowledge his goodness to them, and render him praise. On the word burnt-offerings, see the notes at Isa 1:11.
I will pay thee my vows – I will keep the solemn promises which I had made; that is, the promises which the people had made in the long period of their captivity. On the word vows, see the notes at Psa 22:25.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 66:13-15
I will go into Thy house with burnt offerings; I will pay Thee my vows.
Religious individualism
Here is a deep conscious selfhood; the speaker is concerned with his own feelings and his own obligations to God. It is all I. Men can never feel too deeply their religious selfhood, feel that they stand alone in relation to God, detached from all, occupying a position which no other can take. Here is a personal resolution to worship and to worship publicly, faithfully, and heartily.
I. Publicly. I will go into Thy house. Public worship is no arbitrary institution; it is founded in the reason of things, it grows out of the religious nature of man. There are two instincts that urge to it.
1. That of self-satisfaction. We are so formed that strong emotions urge expression. The sublimest satisfaction of a man is to tell to his fellow-men what a glorious thing personal religion is. The other instinct that urges to public worship is–
2. That of social love. The principle of social sympathy is implanted in every man; in some by nature it is stronger than others, in some by sin it is transmuted even into antipathy. Still the principle is there. Religion quickens it, strengthens and develops it. As sunbeams go forth to bless the world, the happiest sentiments in man yearn to pour themselves into other souls.
II. Faithfully. I will pay Thee my vows, etc.
1. Great trouble has a tendency to excite men to make religious vows.
2. The godly man will ever be faithful to these vows.
III. Heartily. I will offer unto Thee, etc. Nothing is a better test of a persons love for you than the sacrifices he is prepared to make on your behalf. The love that cannot give the best things it has to its object, is of little worth. (Homilist.)
Religious vows a help to godliness
I. Davids uttering with his lips religious vows. Where I observe that it is commendable in religion to make solemn vows unto God. By these I mean no other than this, a voluntary obliging ourselves, by promise made unto God, to do some good and holy thing for the future, as namely, to bid adieu to such and such vices, to enterprise such and such virtuous actions, to undertake and perform this or that pious work. This is the general account of a religious vow. And it is necessary that I superadd this, that it is a solemn promise made to God of such things as are in our power: for we must not promise that which we are not able, by the Divine assistance, to perform. Moreover, a religious vow is a more solemn thing than a bare purpose or promise, because there is a particular invoking of God. If you find in yourselves an averseness to your duty, bind yourselves to it by solemn vows. Make serious promises before God that you will not forget and slight His laws, as you have formerly done, but that for the future you will be very observant of them, and make conscience of walking in the ways of holiness and righteousness, and let the world see that you perform the vows you made.
II. Davids paying those vows which his lips had uttered. As vows are to be made, so they are no less religously to be performed. I doubt not but some of you have solemnly vowed and promised that if God would spare you from going down to the pit, when you laboured under such sickness as threatened death; if He would relieve your necessities, when you were in great straits and dangers; if He would dispel your fears as to this or that calamity which you were under; then you would for the time to come forsake your former sins, and devote yourselves to the service of God more entirely than ever. And in the discharging of these your promises, and paying your vows, observe these three plain rules.
1. Do it willingly and cheerfully. We are taught by reason and philosophy that no act is moral, and consequently cannot have the tincture of virtue, unless it be free and voluntary. The Christian institution also hath no regard to forced performances, to actions that proceed from violence and compulsion. These cannot be genuine, and then they cannot be acceptable.
2. See that you speedily perform your vows and promises. And truly, if you do it cheerfully, you cannot but do it speedily. The direction given for performing of vows under the law must be applied to our evangelical vows (Deu 23:21).
3. Pay your vows fully and completely. Remember that Heaven will not be served by halves, God will not accept of lame and imperfect sacrifices. If thou hast at any time made vows and promises, see thou fulfillest them to the utmost. Erasmus tells us of a passenger at sea, who, being in no small danger by the fury of a great tempest, and now expecting every minute to be a sacrifice to the incensed ocean, after the fashion of that religion which he had adopted, he solemnly vowed to the Virgin Mary, that if she would be pleased to rescue him from his present danger, and make the sea calm, and set him safe on shore, he would offer to her, and burn out at her altar a great taper as thick as the mast of the ship wherein he was then in danger. But when this man was got safe to shore, and had escaped all danger, he was neglectful of his promise, and instead of a great massy taper he put her off with a farthing candle, and thought that that would serve her turn. This in some measure represents to us our dealings with the God of heaven. We promise great things, but perform very little ones. We profusely make vows, but very niggardly keep them. But this ought not to be so. You must be careful above all things to call to mind the past circumstances you were in, and f: reflect on your behaviour at that time; you must remember the promises and engagements which you then made, and the mercies which you have since received; and you must offer unto God thanksgiving, and pay your vows unto the Most High, as He hath expressly commanded. (J. Edwards.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 13. I will go into thy house with burnt-offerings] Now that thou hast restored us to our own land, and established us in it, we will establish thy worship, and offer all the various kinds of sacrifices required by thy law.
I will pay thee my vows] We often vowed, if thou wouldst deliver us from our bondage, to worship and serve thee alone: now thou hast heard our prayers, and hast delivered us; therefore will we fulfil our engagements to thee. The old Psalter gives this a pious turn: – I sall yelde till the my woues, that is, the vowes of louying (praising) the; whilk vowes my lipes divisid sayand, that I am noght, and thou arte all: and I hafe nede of the, noght thou of me. This is a right distinction – It is certainly a good distinction, and it is strictly true. The all-sufficient God needs not his creatures.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
13-15. These full and variedofferings constitute the payment of vows (Le22:18-23).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I will go into thy house with burnt offerings,…. The psalmist here represents the saints and faithful in those times, who being delivered out of all their troubles, and brought into a large, free, plentiful, and comfortable condition, will come together into the place of public worship, and there unite in their sacrifices of praise to God; will come and present themselves as a whole burnt offering to the Lord; will come with hearts inflamed with love to God and one another, which is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices,
Mr 12:33;
I will pay thee my vows; thanksgivings promised in time of distress, as follows; see Ps 50:14.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
From this point onwards the poet himself speaks, but, as the diversity and the kind of the sacrifices show, as being a member of the community at large. The stand first, the girts of adoring homage; is the Beth of the accompaniment, as in Lev 16:3; 1Sa 1:24, cf. Heb 9:25. “My vows” refer more especially to also occurs elsewhere of the involuntary vowing to do extraordinary things urged from one by great distress (Jdg 11:35). is an accusative of the object relating to the vows, quae aperuerunt = aperiendo nuncupaverunt labia mea (Geier). In Psa 66:15 , used directly (like the Aramaic and Phoenician ) in the signification “to sacrifice” (Exo 29:36-41, and frequently), alternates with , the synonym of . The sacrifices to be presented are enumerated. (incorrect for ) are marrowy, fat lambs; lambs and bullocks ( ) have the most universal appropriation among the animals that were fit for sacrifices. The ram ( ), on the contrary, is the animal for the whole burnt-offering of the high priest, of the princes of the tribes, and of the people; and appears also as the animal for the shelamim only in connection with the shelamim of Aaron, of the people, of the princes of the tribes, and, in Num 6:14, of the Nazarite. The younger he-goat ( ) is never mentioned as an animal for the whole burnt-offering; but, indeed, as an animal for the shelamim of the princes of the tribes in Num. 7. It is, therefore, probable that the shelamim which were to be offered in close connection with the whole burnt-offerings are introduced by , so that signifies the fat portions of the shelamim upon the altar smoking in the fire. The mention of “rams” renders it necessary that we should regard the poet as here comprehending himself among the people when he speaks thus.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
David Resolves to Praise God; David Declaring What God Has Done for His Soul. | |
13 I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows, 14 Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble. 15 I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah. 16 Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. 17 I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. 18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: 19 But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.
The psalmist, having before stirred up all people, and all God’s people in particular, to bless the Lord, here stirs up himself and engages himself to do it.
I. In his devotions to his God, v. 13-15. He had called upon others to sing God’s praises and to make a joyful noise with them; but, for himself, his resolutions go further, and he will praise God, 1. By costly sacrifices, which, under the law, were offered to the honour of God. All people had not wherewithal to offer these sacrifices, or wanted zeal to be at such an expense in praising God; but David, for his part, being able, is as willing, in this chargeable way to pay his homage to God (v. 13): I will go into thy house with burnt-offerings. His sacrifices should be public, in the place which God had chosen: “I will go into thy house with them.” Christ is our temple, to whom we must bring our spiritual gifts, and by whom they are sanctified. They should be the best of the king–burnt-sacrifices, which were wholly consumed upon the altar, to the honour of God, and of which the offerer had no share; and burnt-sacrifices of fatlings, not the lame or the lean, but the best fed, and such as would be most acceptable at his own table. God, who is the best, must be served with the best we have. The feast God makes for us is a feast of fat things, full of marrow (Isa. xxv. 6), and such sacrifices should we bring to him. He will offer bullocks with goats, so liberal will he be in his return of praise, and not strait-handed: he would not offer that which cost him nothing, but that which cost him a great deal. And this with the incense of rams, that is, with the fat of rams, which being burnt upon the altar, the smoke of it would ascend like the smoke of incense. Or rams with incense. The incense typifies Christ’s intercession, without which the fattest of our sacrifices will not be accepted. 2. By a conscientious performance of his vows. We do not acceptably praise God for our deliverance out of trouble unless we make conscience of paying the vows we made when we were in trouble. This was the psalmist’s resolution (Psa 66:13; Psa 66:14), I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered when I was in trouble. Note, (1.) It is very common, and very commendable, when we are under the pressure of any affliction, or in the pursuit of any mercy, to make vows, and solemnly to speak them before the Lord, to bind ourselves out from sin and bind ourselves more closely to our duty; not as if this were an equivalent, or valuable consideration, for the favour of God, but a qualification for receiving the tokens of that favour. (2.) The vows which we made when we were in trouble must not be forgotten when the trouble is over, but be carefully performed, for better it is not to vow than to vow and not pay.
II. In his declarations to his friends, v. 16. He calls together a congregation of good people to hear his thankful narrative of God’s favours to him: “Come and hear, all you that fear God, for, 1. You will join with me in my praises and help me in giving thanks.” And we should be as desirous of the assistance of those that fear God in returning thanks for the mercies we have received as in praying for those we want. 2. “You will be edified and encouraged by that which I have to say. The humble shall hear of it and be glad, Ps. xxxiv. 2. Those that fear thee will be glad when they see me (Ps. cxix. 74), and therefore let me have their company, and I will declare to them, not to vain carnal people that will banter it and make a jest of it” (pearls are not to be cast before swine); “but to those that fear God, and will make a good use of it, I will declare what God has done for my soul,” not in pride and vain-glory, that he might be thought more a favourite of heaven than other people, but for the honour of God, to which we owe this as a just debt, and for the edification of others. Note, God’s people should communicate their experiences to each other. We should take all occasions to tell one another of the great and kind things which God has done for us, especially which he has done for our souls, the spiritual blessings with which he has blessed us in heavenly things; these we should be most affected with ourselves, and therefore with these we should be desirous to affect others. Now what was it that God had done for his soul? (1.) He had wrought in him a love to the duty of prayer, and had by his grace enlarged his heart in that duty (v. 17): I cried unto him with my mouth. But if God, among other things done for our souls, had not given us the Spirit of adoption, teaching and enabling us to cry, Abba, Father, we should never have done it. That God has given us leave to pray, a command to pray, encouragements to pray, and (to crown all) a heart to pray, is what we have reason to mention with thankfulness to his praise; and the more if, when we cried to him with our mouth, he was extolled with our tongue, that is, if we were enabled by faith and hope to give glory to him when we were seeking for mercy and grace from him, and to praise him for mercy in prospect though not yet in possession. By crying to him we do indeed extol him. He is pleased to reckon himself honoured by the humble believing prayers of the upright, and this is a great thing which he has done for our souls, that he has been pleased so far to unite interests with us that, in seeking our own welfare, we seek his glory. His exaltation was under my tongue (so it may be read); that is, I was considering in my mind how I might exalt and magnify his name. When prayers are in our mouths praises must be in our hearts. (2.) He had wrought in him a dread of sin as an enemy to prayer (v. 18): If I regard iniquity in my heart, I know very well the Lord will not hear me. The Jewish writers, some of them that have the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, put a very corrupt gloss upon these words: If I regard iniquity in my heart, that is (say they), If I allow myself only in heart-sins, and iniquity does not break out in my words and actions, God will not hear me, that is, he will not be offended with me, will take no notice of it, so as to lay it to my charge; as if heart-sins were no sins in God’s account. The falsehood of this our Saviour has shown in his spiritual exposition of the law, Matt. v. But the sense of this place is plain: If I regard iniquity in my heart, that is, “If I have favourable thoughts of it, if I love it, indulge it, and allow myself in it, if I treat it as a friend and bid it welcome, make provision for it and am loth to part with it, if I roll it under my tongue as a sweet morsel, though it be but a heart sin that is thus countenanced and made much of, if I delight in it after the inward man, God will not hear my prayer, will not accept it, nor be pleased with it, nor can I expect an answer of peace to it.” Note, Iniquity, regarded in the heart, will certainly spoil the comfort and success of prayer; for the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. Those that continue in love and league with sin have no interest either in the promise or in the Mediator, and therefore cannot expect to speed in prayer. (3.) He had graciously granted him an answer of peace to his prayers (v. 19): “But verily God has heard me; though, being conscious to myself of much amiss in me, I began to fear that my prayers would be rejected, yet, to my comfort, I found that God was pleased to regard them.” This God did for his soul, by answering his prayer, he gave him a token of his favour and an evidence that he had wrought a good work in him. And therefore he concludes (v. 20), Blessed be God. The Psa 66:18; Psa 66:19 are the major and minor propositions of a syllogism: If I regard iniquity in my heart, God will not hear my prayer; that is the proposition: but verily God has heard me; that is the assumption, from which he might have rationally inferred, “Therefore I do not regard iniquity in my heart;” but, instead of taking the comfort to himself, he gives the praise to God: Blessed be God. Whatever are the premises, God’s glory must always be the conclusion. God has heard me, and therefore blessed be God. Note, What we win by prayer we must wear with praise. Mercies in answer to prayer do, in a special manner, oblige us to be thankful. He has not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy. Lest it should be thought that the deliverance was granted for the sake of some worthiness in his prayer, he ascribes it to God’s mercy. This he adds by way of correction: “It was not my prayer that fetched the deliverance, but his mercy that sent it.” Therefore God does not turn away our prayer, because he does not turn away his own mercy, for that is the foundation of our hopes and the fountain of our comforts, and therefore ought to be the matter of our praises.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
13 I will come into thy house with burnt offerings Hitherto the Psalmist has spoken in the name of the people at large. Now he emphatically gives expression to his own private feelings, and calls upon them, by his example, to engage individually in the exercises of religion, it being impossible that there should be any hearty common consent unless each entered seriously upon the service of thanksgiving for himself and apart. We are taught that when God at any time succours us in our adversity, we do an injustice to his name if we forget to celebrate our deliverances with solemn acknowledgements. More is spoken of in this passage than thanksgiving. He speaks of vows having been contracted by him in his affliction, and these evidenced the constancy of his faith. The exhortation of the Apostle James is worthy of our special notice —
“
Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.” (Jas 5:13)
How many are there who lavish their hypocritical praises upon God in the career of their good fortune, while they are no sooner reduced to straits than the fervor of their love is damped, or gives place to the violence of fretfulness and impatience. The best evidence of true piety is when we sigh to God under the pressure of our afflictions, and show, by our prayers, a holy perseverance in faith and patience; while afterwards we come forward with the expression of our gratitude. The words, which my lips have uttered, are not an unmeaning addition, but imply that he had never allowed himself to be so far overcome by grief as not to throw his desires into the express form of petition, declaring that he cast himself for safety into the hands of God. On the subject of vows, I may just shortly repeat the remarks which have been given at greater length elsewhere. First, the holy fathers never vowed anything to God but what they knew to be sanctioned by his approval. Secondly, their sole end in vowing was to evidence their gratitude. The Papists, therefore, can find no warrant, from their example, for the rash and impious vows which they practice. They obtrude upon God whatever chances to come first into their lips; the end which they propose to themselves is the farthest removed from the right one; and with devilish presumption they engage themselves to things which are not allowed them.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
13. I will go into thy house Here begins the closing division of the psalm. The poet changes the first person plural, “our,” “we,” for the first person singular, “I.” Hitherto he has spoken for the Church, now he speaks as an individual; yet from the heart of the Church. “Thy house,” here, must be understood of the place where God was worshipped, whether a temple or a tent, (1Sa 10:20,) or the place of the great altar. Ezr 3:1-6. Compare Gen 28:19, where “Bethel,” house of God, applies to a place.
With burnt offerings “In the burnt offering the animal was entirely burnt, and the act of burning was the culminating point. It was the sacrifice designed to give expression to entire, full, unconditional self-surrender to Jehovah.” Kurtz. This was befitting in acknowledgment of so great a deliverance as the nation had experienced.
I will pay thee my vows The , ( neder,) or sacred vow, was a solemn promise to do something in consideration of some good, yet future, which God should bestow. Such vows never became due till after the blessing for which they had been made was received, but then they must be promptly fulfilled, (Deu 23:21-23,) with or without sacrifice, according to the conditions. Here, as appears from the connexion, (Psa 66:15,) the object of the vow was sacrifice the most costly, profuse and spiritually significant, and the psalmist hastens with joy to perform it.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
PART 2). ISRAEL’S GRATEFUL RESPONSE TO GOD’S DELIVERANCE REVEALED IN OFFERINGS AND THE FULFILMENT OF VOWS, AND A CALL FOR CONSIDERATION OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS IN ANSWERING PRAYER ( Psa 66:13-20 ).
a) Deliverance Having Been Accomplished Each Individual In Israel, Speaking In Unison, (Or The King As The Representative Of His People), Approaches God And Explains How He Will Express His Gratitude Ritually ( Psa 66:13-15
The change of person from plural to singular (from ‘we/us’ to ‘I/me’) is vivid and expressive. But there is no reason for seeing it as any other than intended. It expresses the thoughts of each individual worshipper, each speaking individually, but as part of a whole (in the same way as we recite the creed). Alternately it may be seen as the words of the king as he acts in gratitude as mediator for his people. In this sense it would essentially mirror what our Lord Jesus Christ has offered up in the offering up of Himself on our behalf (compare especially Heb 10:1-14).
Psa 66:13-14
‘I will come into your house with burnt-offerings,
I will pay you my vows,
Which my lips uttered,
And my mouth spoke, when I was in distress.’
The speaker asserts that he will come into God’s house with ‘burnt-offerings’ (‘whole-offerings’), offerings which would be wholly consumed and not partaken of, being the expression of a full-hearted praise and dedication to God.
Furthermore he would fulfil the vows that he had made at the time of his distress. Whilst death, and worse, had threatened at the hands of the enemy, both the king, and every one of the people, would have felt constrained to make promises to God of full-hearted future obedience if only He delivered them. In their case this would include the offering of a multiplicity of offerings as here, but it would also include promises of loyalty and obedience. Now each is assuring God that those vows would be fulfilled.
We are all good at making promises to God when trouble threatens and we feel dependent on Him. Would that we would all afterwards also say, and mean, that we would fulfil those promises. Sadly, for so many, as the danger recedes, so does the likelihood of our fulfilling our promises. When we consider this Psalm we should ask ourselves afresh, ‘have I truly fulfilled the promises which I made to God when I was in distress?’
Psa 66:15
‘I will offer to you burnt-offerings of fatlings,
With the sweet smelling (or ‘incense’) of rams,
I will offer bullocks with goats. [Selah.’
The multiplicity of offerings suggests either the wide variety of people included under ‘I’ as each individual speaks, whilst conscious of others speaking along with him. Along with him these others will offer other different sacrifices. Alternately the ‘I’ may be the king, who, as representative of his people, offers a wide range of offerings in gratitude for God’s deliverance.
In Psa 66:13 he had said, ‘I will come to your house with burnt offerings’. Now this idea is expanded on further as the burnt offerings are seen to include:
o The fattest of the lambs (fatlings; the fat was always seen as the best part of the offerings – Gen 4:4, and regularly).
o The sweet smelling of rams (compareGen 8:21 where God smelled the sweet savour of the sacrifices. See also Exo 29:18).
o The offering of bullocks with he-goats.
Bullocks and rams, and he-goats, were seen as the very best of offerings. Bullocks were the sin offerings required on behalf of priests (Lev 4:3) and of the whole people (Lev 4:14), and he-goats were required of rulers (Lev 4:23; Num 7:17 ff.). Rams were a priestly burnt offering (Exodus 29; Lev 8:18-22; Lev 9:2), but also offered as a burnt offering on behalf of all the people (Lev 16:5). Thus the thought here is of the offering of the very best.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
It is sweet and profitable to go up to God’s house, under the leadings of God’s Spirit, at all times, and upon all occasions; and it is doubly sweet when, after sickness or detention from God’s ordinances, we are permitted once more to enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Reader, have you known what it is to be kept back by various causes; to have pined for the enjoyment of ordinances; and at length to have been blessed in the renewed privilege? Psa 42:1-2 . But how vast are our advantages, over our elder brethren in the old church. They went up with the burnt-offerings of the temple service, the legal sacrifices of the blood of rams and other beasts: and although , these were offered (when offered properly) by faith with reference to Christ; yet, blessed be our God! we draw nigh in the blood of Christ, as a Lamb without blemish and without spot. We have the substance; they had but the shadow. Precious Lord! thou art indeed become an High Priest, and by thine own blood thou hast entered, once for all, into the holy place, there to appear in the presence of God for us. Heb 9:11-12 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 66:13 I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,
Ver. 13. I will go into thine house, &c. ] I will begin to others in that public solemn thanksgiving, and not grudge at the cost; I will be Vir gregis, as the he-goat before the flocks, Jer 50:8 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 66:13-20
Psa 66:13-20
THE GRATITUDE OF THE PSALMIST HIMSELF
“I will come into thy house with burnt-offerings;
I will pay thee my vows.
Which my lips uttered,
And my mouth spake, when I was in distress.
I will offer unto thee burnt-offerings of fatlings,
With the incense of rams;
I will offer bullocks with goats. (Selah)
Come, and hear, all ye that fear God,
And I will declare what he hath done for my soul.
I cried unto him with my mouth,
And he was extolled with my tongue.
If I regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not hear:
But verily God hath heard;
He hath attended the voice of my prayer.
Blessed be God,
Who hath not turned away my prayer,
Nor his lovingkindness from me.”
“I will come into thy house … I will pay … I will offer … I will offer … I will declare” (Psa 66:13; Psa 66:15-16). The future tenses here reveal that the psalmist wrote this psalm immediately after the great deliverance and even before he had had time to offer all the sacrifices and thanksgiving appropriate for such a marvelous answer of his prayers.
“Which my lips uttered … my mouth spake when I was in distress” (Psa 66:14). Many a soul has made solemn promises to God in the anxieties of some awful crisis and then forgot all about it when the crisis passed. As the ancient proverb has it:
The devil was sick; the devil a saint would be;
The devil was well; and the devil of a saint was he!
The public avowal of the psalmist’s intentions here indicate that he did not forget to do what he had pledged to do. Incidentally the abundance and value of the sacrifices to be offered indicate ability and wealth upon the part of the psalmist.
“With the incense of rams” (Psa 66:15). “The reference here is not to `actual incense’ but to the `sweet savour’ of the burning sacrifice.
“All ye that fear God” (Psa 66:16). There is no way that these words can be restricted to Israel alone. “They are addressed in the widest extent, as in Psa 66:5 and Psa 66:2, to all who fear God wheresoever such are to be found on the face of the earth.
“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Psa 66:18). The psalmist here offers an explanation of why his prayers (presumably those for the nation of Israel as well as those for his own recovery) have been so signally answered. The integrity and sincerity of his heart are assigned as a background requirement for such a glorious answer.
“Hengstenberg points out that this part of the Psalm is didactic, teaching that, `There is no way of salvation except that of well-doing.’
God’s answer to the psalmist’s prayer was the only proof needed that he indeed had asked in faith and integrity of heart. Such a truth was understood as axiomatic among the Hebrew people. As the man born blind stated it in the New Testament, “We know that God heareth not sinners” (Joh 9:31).
“Blessed be God who hath not turned away my prayer, nor his lovingkindness” (Psa 66:20). In addition to the faith and integrity of heart on the part of men who pray, there is another precondition of God’s answering deliverance. “That pre-condition, without which no words or works of men could avail, is the steadfast love of God, his lovingkindness to men, and his unchanging goodwill for His people.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 66:13-14. There were certain sacrifices that were required by the congregation, and others demanded of individuals. Besides these, a devoted Jew was encouraged to vow to make sacrifices when his circumstances suggested them. David had promised some of such offerings in the midst of his afflictions. God had given him deliverance and now his gratitude prompted the statements of this paragraph.
Psa 66:15. The sacrifices under the Mosaic system might be classified as the major and minor ones. Fatlings were the larger and rams were the smaller sacrifices. Also, bullocks were the larger and goats were the smaller. The thought is that David wished to go the full extent of sacrificial devotions.
Psa 66:16. Soul is used to include the entire person of David. He meant he was desirous of telling others of what God had done for him.
Psa 66:17. The mouth and tongue are both used when addressing the Lord. This form of speech was used to please the sense of variety in emphasis.
Psa 66:18. To regard iniquity means to be favorable toward it. God will not hear the prayer of one who is in that frame of mind.
Psa 66:19. On the basis of the foregoing truth David was not guilty for God had heard and granted his prayer.
Psa 66:20. God was blessed in that he was acknowledged to be the source of David’s blessings. They were manifested in the form of mercy in the time of his trouble.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
go into: Psa 51:18, Psa 51:19, Psa 100:4, Psa 118:19, Psa 118:27, Deu 12:11, Deu 12:12, Heb 13:15
pay: Psa 22:25, Psa 56:12, Psa 116:14, Psa 116:17-19, Ecc 5:4, Jon 2:9, Nah 1:15
Reciprocal: Gen 28:20 – vowed Gen 35:3 – who answered Lev 7:16 – be a vow Lev 22:18 – vows Num 30:2 – he shall do Deu 12:26 – thy vows Deu 23:21 – General Deu 23:23 – That which Jdg 11:31 – shall surely 2Ki 20:5 – thou shalt go 1Ch 15:26 – they Job 22:27 – pay thy Psa 26:7 – That Psa 27:6 – therefore Psa 43:4 – Then Psa 50:15 – deliver Psa 54:6 – freely Psa 61:8 – that I Psa 119:106 – sworn Psa 122:4 – to give Psa 132:2 – he sware Psa 132:7 – will go Psa 150:1 – in his sanctuary Isa 38:20 – therefore Jon 1:16 – made Joh 5:14 – in the
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 66:13-15. I will go, &c. The psalmist, having before endeavoured to excite all people in general, and all Gods people in particular, to praise the Lord, here declares it to be his own resolution to worship and serve him. I will go unto thy house, and set a good example to all my people; with burnt-offerings; I will pay thee my vows I will not present myself before thee with empty praises, but acknowledge thy benefits with burnt-offerings, and faithfully discharge whatever vows I have made. When I was in trouble Which I was not more forward to make when I was in distress than I will be to perform with all solemnity now that thou hast graciously delivered me out of it. I will offer burnt-sacrifices of fatlings
I will not bring thee a niggardly present; but offer sacrifices of all sorts, and the best and choicest in every kind. It is very common and very commendable, when we are under the pressure of any affliction, or in the pursuit of any mercy, to make vows, and solemnly to name them before the Lord, in order that we may bind ourselves more closely to our duty; but we must take care that the vows which we made when we were in trouble be not forgotten when the trouble is over, but carefully performed; otherwise we contract fresh guilt, and bring upon ourselves fresh chastisement, from him whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem, and who will not fail to chastise with severity such instances of unfaithfulness in his people.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
66:13 I will go into thy {h} house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,
(h) The duty of the faithful is here described, who are never mindful to render God praise for his benefits.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. The psalmist’s praise 66:13-20
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The psalmist now spoke to God for himself. He provided an example for the people. He personally would praise God by offering burnt and peace sacrifices in fulfillment of his promises to God. These sacrifices were primarily for worship rather than for the removal of sin.