Psalms 66

1 For the Chief Musician. A Song, a Psalm. Make a joyful noise unto God, all the earth:

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

2 Sing forth 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 unto God, How terrible are thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.

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 shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. (Selah)

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

5 Come, and see the works of God; [he is] terrible in his doing toward the children of men.

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 went through the river on foot: there did we rejoice 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 ruleth by his might for ever; his eyes observe the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. (Selah)

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 O bless our God, ye peoples, and make the voice of his praise to 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 Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.

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

10 For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.

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 Thou broughtest us into the net; thou layedst a sore burden upon our loins.

[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 Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.

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 come into thy house with burnt offerings, I will pay thee my vows,

[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 Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in 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 unto thee burnt offerings of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. (Selah)

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 hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.

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

17 I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled 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 regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear:

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

19 But verily God hath heard; he hath attended to the voice 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, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.

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