Psalms 66

1 For the choirmaster. A song. A Psalm. Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth!

[Tell] everyone on the earth that they should sing joyfully to praise God!

2 Sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious.

They should sing songs that say that God [MTY] is very great, and they should tell everyone that he is very glorious!

3 Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cower before You.

They should say to God, “The things that you do are awesome! You are very powerful, with the result that your enemies (cringe/bow down) in front of you.”

4 All the earth bows down to You; they sing praise to You; they sing praise to Your name.”

Everyone on the earth [should] worship God and sing to praise him and honor him [MTY].

5 Come and see the works of God; how awesome are His deeds toward mankind.

Come and think about what God has done! Think about the awesome things that he has done.

6 He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the waters on foot; there we rejoiced in Him.

He caused the [Red] Sea to become dry land, [with the result that our] ancestors were able to walk right through it. There we rejoiced because of what he [had done].

7 He rules forever by His power; His eyes watch the nations. Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.

By his great power he rules forever, and he keeps watching all the nations [to see what things they do], [so] those nations that want to rebel [against him] should not be proud.

8 Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of His praise be heard.

You people [of all nations], praise our God! Praise him loudly in order that people will hear you as you praise him.

9 He preserves our lives and keeps our feet from slipping.

He has kept us alive, and he has not allowed us to (stumble/be defeated).

10 For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us like silver.

God, you have tested us; you have allowed us to experience great difficulties [to make our lives become pure] as [people] put precious metals in a hot fire [to burn out what is impure] [MET].

11 You led us into the net; You laid burdens on our backs.

[It is as if] you allowed us to fall into traps [MET], and you [forced us to endure difficult things which were like] putting heavy loads on our backs [MET].

12 You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but You brought us into abundance.

You allowed [our] enemies to trample on us; we [experienced difficulties/troubles that were like] [MET] walking through fires and floods, but now you have brought us into a place where we have plenty.

13 I will enter Your house with burnt offerings; I will fulfill my vows to You—

[Yahweh], I will bring to your temple offerings that are to be completely burned [on the altar]; I will offer to you what I promised.

14 the vows that my lips promised and my mouth spoke in my distress.

When I was experiencing [much] trouble, I said that I would bring offerings to you [if you rescued me]; [and you did rescue me, so] I will bring to you what I promised.

15 I will offer You fatlings as burnt offerings, with the fragrant smoke of rams; I will offer bulls and goats.

I will bring sheep to be burned on the altar, and I will [also] sacrifice bulls and goats, and when they are burning, [you will be pleased when] the smoke [rises up] ([to you/to the sky]).

16 Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for me.

All you [people] who revere God, come and listen, and I will tell you what he has done for me.

17 I cried out to Him with my mouth and praised Him with my tongue.

I called out to him to help me, and I praised him while I was speaking to him [MTY].

18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

If I had ignored the sins that I had committed, the Lord would not have paid any attention to me.

19 But God has surely heard; He has attended to the sound of my prayer.

But because [I confessed my sins], God has listened to me and he paid attention to my prayers.

20 Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld from me His loving devotion!

I praise God because he has not ignored my prayers or stopped faithfully loving me.