“All I have needed Thy hand hath provided: Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!” —T.O. Chisolm
Psalm 66, in the small collection of Psalms 65-68, is not only a psalm but also a song. There are 31 “songs” in the Psalter. “Psalm” emphasizes the accompaniment, and “song” stresses the singing of the words. But obviously—as with this one—both can be done at the same time. As a school boy, I loved to participate in what the teacher called “Show & Tell.” We could bring special items from home to describe to our classmates. It might be a pet turtle or baseball cards, a favorite stuffed animal or a picture book. One week I brought my science kit—test tubes, chemicals, and all. Psalm 66 is just such an event. “Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men” (v 5), begins the psalmist. There are five verses, most divided by Selahs. Stanza 1 is a call for us to join the singer in making “a joyful shout to God, all the earth!” (v 1). “Shout…sing…honor…praise…say…worship” (vv 1-4). His name, His praise, His works, and the greatness of His power are all to be on display. Stanza 2 (vv 5-8) describes some of those works. Here the KJV uses the word “terrible,” replaced by the NKJV “awesome.” Terrible is appropriate if we understand its original meaning, “to strike terror into the hearts of His foes.” That was exactly the case in the story cited here. “He turned the sea into dry land; they went through the river on foot” (v 6). The Exodus brought the world’s great superpower down, and thus the understated warning, “Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves” (v 7). I’ll say! But there’s so much more to this psalm. “Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul” (v 16), he says, drawing to his conclusion. There’s so much more for us to Show & Tell!