Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 66

Make a joyful noise unto God - literally, “Shout.” It is a call for exultation and praise.

All ye lands - Margin, as in Hebrew, all the earth. The occasion was one that made universal exultation and praise proper. Those who had been so deeply affected by the gracious interposition of God, could not but call on all the nations of the earth to unite with them in the expression of joy. The deliverance was so great that they wished all to rejoice with them (Compare to Luke 15:6 and Luke 15:9); and the intervention of God in the case of his people, provided lessons about his character which gave all people occasion to rejoice.

Sing forth the honor of his name—That is, celebrate in appropriate praise the honor due to his name. Make that honor known in connection with songs.

Make his praise glorious—literally, “place honor, his praise”; that is, Give him honor; give him praise. The meaning is, Set forth his praise with songs, with music, with shouts—that will be the appropriate expression of the praise which is due to him.

Say to God – In your songs of praise. Let your songs be directly addressed to Him, setting forth the grounds of that praise, or the reasons why it is due to Him.

How terrible are You in Your works! – How fearful! How much to be reverenced! The meaning is that the manifestations of His power and greatness, in the events which occur under His government, are suited to impress the mind with awe and reverence.

Through the greatness of Your power – By the putting forth of Your power. Or, You have such power over Your enemies as to be able to compel them to submit to You.

Shall Your enemies submit to You – Margin: Lie, or yield feigned obedience. The Hebrew word means to lie, to speak lies; then, to feign, to flatter, to play the hypocrite. It is thus applied to the vanquished, who make a hollow profession of submission and love to their victors. See the word explained in the notes at Psalm 18:44; compare Psalm 81:15, Deuteronomy 33:29, and Job 31:28.

The meaning here is that He had power to subdue them and to compel them to acknowledge His right to reign. It is the putting forth of mere power which is referred to here, and all that such power can do is to secure outward and feigned submission. It cannot of itself secure the submission of the heart, the will, and the affections.

That is to be secured by love, not by power. The difference between the submission of the true people of God and that of all others is that the former are subdued by love, the latter by power; the submission of the former is genuine, while that of the latter is forced.

The inhabitants of heaven will be submissive to God because they love Him; the dwellers in hell will be restrained by power because they cannot deliver themselves. So now, the submission of a true child of God is that of love, or is a willing submission; the submission of a hypocrite is that of fear, when he feigns obedience because he cannot help it, or because he simply dreads the wrath of God.

The object here is to celebrate the power of God, and it was sufficient, in order to set that forth, to say that it awed and outwardly subdued the enemies of God.

All the earth shall worship thee - That is, all the inhabitants of the world will bow down before you, or render you homage. The time will come when your right to reign will be universally acknowledged, or when you will everywhere be adored as the true God. This is in accordance with all the statements in the Bible. See the notes at Psalms 22:27; Compare the notes at Isaiah 45:23; notes at Romans 14:11.

And shall sing unto thee - Shall celebrate your praises. To thy name. To you.

Come and see the works of God - See the notes at (Psalms 46:8), where substantially the same expression occurs. The idea is, “Come and see what God has done and is doing; come and learn from this what he is; and let your hearts in view of all this, be excited to gratitude and praise.” The particular reference here is to what God had done in delivering his people from their former bondage in Egypt (Psalms 66:6); but there is, connected with this, the idea that he actually rules among the nations, and that in his providence he has shown his power to govern and subdue them.

He is terrible in his doing - That is, His acts are suited to inspire awe and veneration. See the notes at (Psalms 66:3).