Psalms 66:8 - Meaning and Application

In these verses, the psalmist calls on God’s people to praise him in a special way. Let all lands do it, but Israel especially. “Bless our God” means, bless him as our own God, the God in covenant with us, who cares for us as his people. Let them make the sound of his praise heard (Psalm 66:8), because who should speak well of him if not those who are his chosen friends and close servants?

We have good reason to bless God for two things. First, there is his common protection (Psalm 66:9). He keeps our souls alive, so they do not slip away from us on their own. Our lives are always in danger, and it is God’s providence that keeps body and soul together. He gives us life, and he keeps renewing that gift by his care. His providence is like a continuing act of creation.

When we are ready to faint and fail, he restores our soul and, as it were, gives us a fresh life with new comfort. Real life is not just existing, but enjoying well-being. We are also in danger of many harms, from deadly accidents as well as sickness, so we are guarded by God’s power in those things too. He does not let our feet slip. He keeps us from many dangers we never even saw, and to him we owe it that we have not long ago fallen into ruin. He will keep the feet of his saints.

Second, there is special rescue from great trouble. The psalm now shows how bad the distress was (Psalm 66:11, 12). We are not told exactly what trouble the church faced, and it may have been the trouble of private people or families. However it came, they were caught in it like a bird in a snare or a fish in a net. They were weighed down by it, as if a heavy load were on their backs (Psalm 66:11).

Yet they saw God’s hand in it. We are never in the net unless God brings us there, and we are never under affliction unless he lays it on us. The psalm says they went through fire and water, meaning troubles of different kinds. When one danger ended, another began. That can be the path of even God’s best saints, but he has promised, “When you pass through the waters, and through the fire, I will be with you” (Isaiah 43:1).

At times, wicked and cruel people can be as dangerous as fire and water, and even more so. “Beware of men” (Matthew 10:17). When people rose up against us, that was like fire and water, and everything threatening (Psalm 124:2-4). That seems to be the case here. “You have made men ride over our heads,” that is, they trampled on us, insulted us, and treated us like slaves. They said to our souls, “Bow down, so we can go over you” (Isaiah 51:23). Good rulers want to rule in the hearts of their people, but tyrants are proud to ride over their heads.

Even so, the afflicted church still owned God’s hand in it: “You caused them to abuse us like this.” The fiercest oppressor has no power except what is given from above.

The psalm also shows how gracious God’s purpose was in allowing this distress and danger (Psalm 66:10). “You, O God, have tested us and tried us.” We are most likely to gain from our troubles when we think of them this way. Then we can see God’s grace and love at the bottom of them, and our own good and honor at the end of them. Afflictions test us like silver in a fire.

This testing has two good aims. First, our graces may become clearer through trial, so that we are approved, like silver marked as genuine. That will bring praise at the appearing of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:7), and perhaps even in this world. Job’s integrity and steadfastness became clear through his suffering. Second, our graces may become stronger and more active through exercise, so that we are improved, like silver refined by fire and made purer by losing its dross. That will greatly benefit us, because in this way we become partakers of God’s holiness, that is, we share in his holy character in a real and growing way (Hebrews 12:10). Public troubles are also meant to purify the church (Daniel 11:35; Revelation 2:10; Deuteronomy 8:2).

Finally, the outcome is glorious. The troubles of the church will surely end well, and these did too. The way out of trouble is happy. They were in fire and water, but they came through them. They did not perish in the flames or floods. Whatever troubles God’s people face, there is a way through them, and we should bless God for that.

Even better is the entrance into a better state. “You brought us out into a wealthy place” means, literally, into a well-watered place, like the gardens of the Lord, and therefore fruitful. God sometimes brings his people into trouble so that their comfort afterward will be sweeter, and so that their suffering may produce the peaceful fruit of righteousness. In that way, even the poorest place in the world can become a wealthy place.