PART 1.
1). God's Call To The Nations (Psalms 66:1-11). a) A Call For The Whole Earth To Praise And Worship, And To Express Appreciation of God, In View Of The Deliverance That He Has Accomplished (Psalms 66:1-4).
‘Make a joyful noise (or ‘shout') to God,
All the earth,
Sing forth the glory of his name,
Make his praise glorious.'
When a king returned in honour after victory over his enemies all the people would give joyful shouts of victory and acclamation as they welcomed him. Indeed it was incumbent upon them. So here all the nations of the world are called on to make such a joyful noise, as God, as it were, returns in victory. They are to sing forth His glorious Name, and His triumphs which gave Him that Name, and give Him splendid and overwhelming praise in accordance with what He deserves. He is to be given the honour due to His Name.
‘ Say to God, “How terrible are your works!
Through the greatness of your power will your enemies submit themselves to you,
All the earth will worship you, and will sing to you,
They will sing to your name. [Selah.'
The peoples are even told what to say. They are to declare how awesome are His works, amazing beyond belief, and terrible for those on whom they were perpetrated and in the eyes of the onlookers. They are to recognise that so great and awesome is His power that it will continually make His enemies submit to Him. And as a consequence the whole world will of necessity worship Him, and sing to Him, and sing to His Name. When Sennacherib returned from besieging Jerusalem to Assyria leaving behind an unconquered Jerusalem, the whole world would have been amazed. Who was this God Who had ensured that Judah remained unbowed and unbroken, when all the other nations in the conspiracy had fallen before Him? And the humiliation of their common enemy Assyria would indeed have filled them with rejoicing, and praise towards the God Who had done this. Note that they sing to His Name, the Name that has been established on the basis of what He has done.
‘Selah.' A break in the music, or a loud crescendo, indicating ‘Pause, and think of that.'