서론
無題
英語原文
This is a thanksgiving-psalm, and it is of such a general use and application that we need not suppose it penned upon any particular occasion. All people are here called upon to praise God, I. For the general instances of his sovereign dominion and power in the whole creation, Ps 66:1-7. II. For the special tokens of his favour to the church, his peculiar people, Ps 66:8-12. And then, III. The psalmist praises God for his own experiences of his goodness to him in particular, especially in answering his prayers, Ps 66:13-20. If we have learned in every thing to give thanks for ancient and modern mercies, public and personal mercies, we shall know how to sing this psalm with grace and understanding.
1-7
All Mankind Exhorted to Praise God
全人類に神をほめたたえるよう勧める
聖歌隊の指導者に向かって。歌、また詩篇。
¹ 全地よ、神に向かって喜びの声をあげよ。
² そのみ名の栄光を歌え。その誉れを輝かせよ。
³ 神に言え、「あなたのくすしきみわざは恐るべきかな。あなたの力の大いなるにより、敵はあなたに服従するであろう」と。
⁴ 全地はあなたを拝み、あなたに向かって歌う。彼らはあなたのみ名に向かって歌う。セラ。
⁵ 来て、神のみわざを見よ。人の子らに対するそのなすところは恐るべきである。
⁶ 神は海を変じて陸地とされた。彼らは川を歩いて渡った。その所でわれらは神を喜んだ。
⁷ 神は永遠にその力をもって治められる。その目はもろもろの国をみそなわす。そむく者たちに高ぶらせないようにせよ。セラ。
一、これらの節で、詩篇の作者はすべての民に—すべての地、全地、神をほめたたえることのできる世界のすべての住民に—神をほめたたえるよう呼びかける（詩66:1）。1. これは神の栄光を語る。すべての者によってほめたたえられる価値がある方である。すべての者に善であり、すべての国にほめたたえる事柄を備えられるから。2. 人の義務。すべての者が神をほめたたえる義務がある。それは創造の律法の一部であり、それゆえすべての被造物に求められる。3. 異邦人のキリストの信仰への回心の預言。すべての地が神をほめたたえる時が来る。この香があらゆる所で神に献げられる。4. 詩篇の作者が神をほめたたえるこの良いわざに対して持つ心からの善意。彼は自らそれに豊かになろうとし、神がイスラエルの地だけでなく、地のすべての国々からその貢ぎ物を受けることを願う。彼はすべての地を励ます、(1) 神に向かって喜びの声をあげることに。聖なる喜びは、すべての賛美を活気づけるべき信心深い感情である。宗教において騒ぐことを神が受け入れられる（偽善者はその声を高く聞かせると言われる、イザヤ58:4）わけではないが、神をほめたたえるにおいて、[1] 私たちは心から熱心でなければならず、すべての力をもって、うちにあるすべてをもってしなければならない。[2] 私たちは公でなければならず、自分たちの主を恥じない者として。この両方が、喜びの声を立てることに含まれる。(2) 喜んで歌い、他者の徳のために歌い出すこと。そのみ名の栄光を。すなわち、神がご自身を知らせたすべてのもの（詩66:2）。神のみ名の栄光であるものは、私たちの賛美の事柄でなければならない。(3) できる限りその誉れを輝かせること。神をほめたたえるにおいて、私たちは神を栄光化するようにしなければならない。そしてそれがすべての賛美の範囲と方向でなければならない。*「神をほめたたえることを自分の最大の栄光とせよ」*とある者は言う。被造物が至り得る最高の誉れは、造り主のために名と称賛となることである。
二、彼はすべての地に神をほめたたえるよう呼びかけ（詩66:1）、彼らがそうすると預言する（詩66:4）。「全地はあなたを拝み」。地のすべての部分の、最も遠い地のある者。永遠の福音がすべての国と部族に宣べ伝えられるから。そしてその趣旨はこれである。「天と地を造られた方を拝め」（黙示録14:6,7）。このように遣わされて、それは空しく返らず、全地を多かれ少なかれ神を拝み、神に歌うように導く。福音の時代に、神は詩篇を歌うことによって礼拝される。彼らは神に歌う。すなわちそのみ名に歌う。私たちが賛美によって何かを寄与できるのは、神がご自身を知らせた宣言的な栄光に対してだけであり、本質的な栄光に対してではないから。
三、私たちがほめたたえる事柄を備えられるために、来て、神のみわざを見よと呼ばれる。神のご自身のみわざは神をほめたたえる。私たちがそうしようとしまいと。そして私たちが神をもっと良くほめたたえないのは、私たちがそれを適切に注意深く観察しないから。それゆえ神のみわざを見、その中に神の知恵と力と誠実さの実例を観察しよう（詩66:5）。そしてそれについて語り、神に向かって語ろう（詩66:3）。「神に言え、あなたのくすしきみわざは恐るべきかな。あなたのなすところは恐るべきかな」。1. 神のみわざはそれ自において素晴らしい。適切に考慮されるとき、正当に私たちを驚嘆で満たし得るような。神はそのみわざにおいて恐るべき（すなわち賞賛すべき）である。その力の大いなるによって。それはそのようであり、神のなすすべてにおいてそれほど明るく強く輝く。神のみわざに等しいみわざはないと真に言える。それゆえ神はほめたたえにおいて恐るべきと呼ばれる（出エジプト15:11）。人の子らに対する神のすべてのなすことは恐るべきであり、聖なる畏れをもって見られなければならない。宗教の多くは神の摂理への畏敬にある。2. それらは神の敵にとって恐ろしく、何度も彼らを力づくで、恐怖によって偽りの服従に追い込んだ（詩66:3）。「あなたの力の大いなるにより」、その前に立つ者はなく、「敵はあなたに服従するであろう」。「彼らはあなたに向かって偽る」（ことばはそうである）。すなわち、彼らはどんな条件でも平和を結ぶよう、ひどく不本意ながら強いられる。恐怖によって強要された服従はまれに真実であり、それゆえ力は宗教を広める適切な手段ではない。結局は教会に対して偽る者であることが見出だされるような改宗者から多くの喜びを持てない（申命33:29）。3. それらは神の民にとって慰め多く有益である（詩66:6）。イスラエルがエジプトから出たとき、神は彼らの前に海を変じて陸地とされた。それは彼らが荒野を通して神の導きに従うことを励ました。そして彼らがカナンに入るとき、戦いにおける励ましのために、ヨルダンが彼らの前に分けられ、彼らはその川を歩いて渡った。そしてそのように天によって特別に認められた足は、主の戦いにおいて歩兵というよりは騎兵とみなされてもよい。そこで敵は彼らの前に震えた（出エジプト15:14,15、ヨシュア5:1）。しかしそこでわれらは神を喜んだ。神の力を信じ（神に頼ることはしばしば神において喜ぶことで表される）、神の賛美を歌った（詩106:12）。そこで私たちは喜んだ。すなわち、私たちの父祖たちが喜び、私たちは彼らの腰において喜んだ。父祖たちの喜びは私たちの喜びであり、私たちは自分自身をその中にあずかる者と見なさなければならない。4. それらはすべての者に命令する。神はそのみわざによって世におけるその支配を保たれる（詩66:7）。「神は永遠にその力をもって治められる。その目はもろもろの国をみそなわす」。(1) 神は命令する目を持っておられる。天の高さから神の目は世界のすべての住民を指揮し、すべてを明瞭に完全に見通される。「その目は地をあちこち走る」。最も遠く、最も不明な国々もその検査の下にある。(2) 神は命令する腕を持っておられる。その力は治める。永遠に治め、決して弱まらず、決して妨げられない。その手は強く、その右の手は高い。それゆえ彼は推論する。「そむく者たちに高ぶらせないようにせよ」。反逆と背反の心を持つ者たちが、アドニヤが*「私が王となる」と言って自分を高くしたように、神に対する反逆のあからさまな行いにおいて立ち上がることを敢てしないように。神に背く者たちが、まるで自分たちの目的を達する見込みがあるかのように、自分自身を高くしてはならない。いや、彼らに静かにさせよ。神は「わたしは高くされる」と言われた*。そして人はそれに異議を唱えられない。
英語原文
All Mankind Exhorted to Praise God
To the chief musician. A song or psalm.
¹ Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands:
² Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious.
³ Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.
⁴ All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah.
⁵ Come and see the works of God: he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men.
⁶ He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him.
⁷ He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah.
I. In these verses the psalmist calls upon all people to praise God, all lands, all the earth, all the inhabitants of the world that are capable of praising God, Ps 66:1. 1. This speaks the glory of God, that he is worthy to be praised by all, for he is good to all and furnishes every nation with matter for praise. 2. The duty of man, that all are obliged to praise God; it is part of the law of creation, and therefore is required of every creature. 3. A prediction of the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith of Christ; the time should come when all lands should praise God, and this incense should in every place be offered to him. 4. A hearty good-will which the psalmist had to this good work of praising God. He will abound in it himself, and wishes that God might have his tribute paid him by all the nations of the earth and not by the land of Israel only. He excites all lands, (1.) To make a joyful noise to God. Holy joy is that devout affection which should animate all our praises; and, though it is not making a noise in religion that God will accept of (hypocrites are said to cause their voice to be heard on high, Isa 58:4), yet, in praising God, [1.] We must be hearty and zealous, and must do what we do with all our might, with all that is within us. [2.] We must be open and public, as those that are not ashamed of our Master. And both these are implied in making a noise, a joyful noise. (2.) To sing with pleasure, and to sing forth, for the edification of others, the honour of his name, that is, of all that whereby he has made himself known, Ps 66:2. That which is the honour of God's name ought to be the matter of our praise. (3.) To make his praise glorious as far as we can. In praising God we must do it so as to glorify him, and that must be the scope and drift of all our praises. Reckon it your greatest glory to praise God, so some. It is the highest honour the creature is capable of to be to the Creator for a name and a praise.
II. He had called upon all lands to praise God (Ps 66:1), and he foretels (Ps 66:4) that they shall do so: All the earth shall worship thee; some in all parts of the earth, even the remotest regions, for the everlasting gospel shall be preached to every nation and kindred; and this is the purport of it, Worship him that made heaven and earth, Re 14:6,7. Being thus sent forth, it shall not return void, but shall bring all the earth, more or less, to worship God, and sing unto him. In gospel times God shall be worshipped by the singing of Psalms. They shall sing to God, that is, sing to his name, for it is only to his declarative glory, that by which he has made himself known, not to his essential glory, that we can contribute any thing by our praises.
III. That we may be furnished with matter for praise, we are here called upon to come and see the works of God; for his own works praise him, whether we do or no; and the reason why we do not praise him more and better is because we do not duly and attentively observe them. Let us therefore see God's works and observe the instances of his wisdom, power, and faithfulness in them (Ps 66:5), and then speak of them, and speak of them to him (Ps 66:3): Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works, terrible in thy doings! 1. God's works are wonderful in themselves, and such as, when duly considered, may justly fill us with amazement. God is terrible (that is, admirable) in his works, through the greatness of his power, which is such, and shines so brightly, so strongly, in all he does, that it may be truly said there are not any works like unto his works. Hence he is said to be fearful in praises, Ex 15:11. In all his doings towards the children of men he is terrible, and to be eyed with a holy awe. Much of religion lies in a reverence for the divine Providence. 2. They are formidable to his enemies, and have many a time forced and frightened them into a feigned submission (Ps 66:3): Through the greatness of thy power, before which none can stand, shall thy enemies submit themselves unto thee; they shall lie unto thee (so the word is), that is, they shall be compelled, sorely against their wills, to make their peace with thee upon any terms. Subjection extorted by fear is seldom sincere, and therefore force is no proper means of propagating religion, nor can there be much joy of such proselytes to the church as will in the end be found liars unto it, De 33:29. 3. They are comfortable and beneficial to his people, Ps 66:6. When Israel came out of Egypt, he turned the sea into dry land before them, which encouraged them to follow God's guidance through the wilderness; and, when they were to enter Canaan, for their encouragement in their wars Jordan was divided before them, and they went through that flood on foot; and such foot, so signally owned by heaven, might well pass for cavalry, rather than infantry, in the wars of the Lord. There did the enemies tremble before them (Ex 15:14,15, Jos 5:1), but there did we rejoice in him, both trust his power (for relying on God is often expressed by rejoicing in him) and sing his praise, Ps 106:12. There did we rejoice; that is, our ancestors did, and we in their loins. The joys of our fathers were our joys, and we ought to look upon ourselves as sharers in them. 4. They are commanding to all. God by his works keeps up his dominion in the world (Ps 66:7): He rules by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations. (1.) God has a commanding eye; from the height of heaven his eye commands all the inhabitants of the world, and he has a clear and full view of them all. His eyes run to and fro through the earth; the most remote and obscure nations are under his inspection. (2.) He has a commanding arm; his power rules, rules for ever, and is never weakened, never obstructed. Strong is his hand, and high is his right hand. Hence he infers, Let not the rebellious exalt themselves; let not those that have revolting and rebellious hearts dare to rise up in any overt acts of rebellion against God, as Adonijah exalted himself, saying, I will be king. Let not those that are in rebellion against God exalt themselves as if there were any probability that they should gain their point. No; let them be still, for God hath said, I will be exalted, and man cannot gainsay it.
8-12
The Saints Exhorted to Praise God
聖徒たちが神を賛美するよう勧められる
⁸ もろもろの民よ、私たちの神をほめよ。その賛美の声を聞かせよ。 ⁹ 神は私たちのたましいをいのちに保ち、私たちの足のすべるのを許されない。 ¹⁰ まことに神よ。あなたは私たちを調べ、銀をためすように私たちをためされた。 ¹¹ あなたは私たちを網の中に連れて行き、私たちの腰に重荷を負わせられた。 ¹² あなたは人々に私たちの頭の上を乗り越えさせられた。私たちは火の中を、水の中を通ってきた。しかし、あなたは私たちを豊かな所へ連れ出された。
これらの節において、詩人は神の民を特に神を賛美するよう招く。すべての地がそうするように。しかしイスラエルの地はとりわけ。私たちの神をほめよ。私たちのものとして、私たちと契約を結ばれた神として、ご自身のものとして私たちを顧みられる方として。彼らに「その賛美の声を聞かせよ」（詩 66:8）。というのも、神の特別に寵愛される者たち、選ばれた侍従たちから以外に、だれから聞かれるべきであろうか。私たちが神に感謝する二つの理由がある。
一、日常の保護（詩 66:9）。「神は私たちのたましいをいのちに保ち」、それが自ずと落ちないように。たましいは絶えず私たちの手の内にあり、指の間を滑り落ちやすいからである。私たちがいのちとたましいを共に保つのは神の良い摂理であり、私たちの霊を保つのは神の訪れであることを認めなければならない。「神は私たちのたましいをいのちに置かれる」、ことばはそうである。私たちに存在を与えられた方が、絶えず新しくされるわざによって私たちを存在の中に支えられる。その摂理は継続的な創造である。私たちが弱り滅びようとするとき、神は私たちのたましいを回復し、それによって新しい慰めを与え、いわば新しいいのちに置かれる。Non est vivere, sed valere, vita — いのちという名に値するのは、存在ではなく幸福である。しかし私たちはつまずき倒れやすく、多くの破壊的な事故、致死的な災害にさらされ、致死的な病気と同様である。それゆえこれらについても私たちは神の御力によって守られている。神は「私たちの足のすべるのを許されない」。私たち自身がその危険に気づかなかった多くの予期せぬ悪を防ぐ。私たちがずっと以前に永遠の滅びに落ちていないのは神にある。神は「その聖徒たちの足を守られる。」
二、大いなる苦悩からの特別な救い。観察せよ。
- 苦悩と危険がどれほどひどかったか（詩 66:11,12）。教会のどの特定の悩みにこれが言及するかは明らかでない。おそらく一部の個人や家族の悩みのみであったかも。しかし、それが何であれ、彼らは鳥がわなに捕らえられるように、魚が網に包まれ絡め取られるように、それに驚かされた。「腰の上に」重荷のように押し下げられ、その下に保たれた（詩 66:11）。しかし彼らはその中に神の御手を認めた。私たちが網の中にあるのは神が私たちをそこに連れて行かれたゆえであり、苦悩の下にあるのは神がそれを私たちに負わせられるゆえである。火や水より危険なものがあろうか。私たちは「両方を」通ってきた。すなわち異なる種類の苦悩。一つの悩みの終わりは他の始まりであった。一種の危険から逃れたとき、他の種類の危険に巻き込まれているのを見出した。神の最も良い聖徒たちの悩みはこのようであり得る。しかし神は約束された。「あなたが水を通るとき、火を通るとき、わたしはあなたと共にいる」（イザ 43:1）。しかしそれでも、誇り高く残酷な人々は火や水と同様に、いやそれ以上に危険であり得る。「人に気をつけよ」（マタ 10:17）。人々が私たちに向かって立ち上がったとき、それは火や水、すべての脅かすものであった（詩 124:2,3,4）。そしてここでもそうであった。「あなたは人々に私たちの頭の上を乗り越えさせられた。」私たちを踏みつけ、侮辱し、威圧し、乱用するために。いや、私たちを完全な奴隷にするために。「彼らは私たちのたましいに言った、『かがめ。そうすれば私たちは乗り越えよう』」（イザ 51:23）。良い君主がその臣民の心の中で治めるのを喜びとする間、暴君の誇りは彼らの頭の上を乗り越えることである。しかしこれにおいても悩む教会は神の御手を認める。「あなたは彼らがこのように私たちを乱用するようにされた。」というのも、最も激しい抑圧者でさえ上から与えられた以外の力を持たないからである。
- この苦悩と危険の中に彼らを導く神のご計画がどれほど恵み深かったか。その意味を見よ（詩 66:10）。「まことに神よ。あなたは私たちを調べ、銀をためすように私たちをためされた。」私たちが自分の苦悩をこの観念の下に見るとき、それによって善を得る可能性がある。というのも、そのとき私たちはそれらの底に神の恵みと愛を見、その終わりに私たち自身の誉れと益を見ることができるからである。苦悩によって私たちは火の中の銀のようにためされる。（1）私たちの恵みが試されることによってより明らかとなり、それゆえ私たちが是認されるように。銀が触れられ正金と刻印されるときのように。これは「イエス・キリストが現れるとき」（ペテ一 1:7）の私たちの賛美となり、おそらくこの世においてもそうなるであろう。ヨブの誠実と恒常は彼の苦悩によって明らかにされた。（2）私たちの恵みが exercised されることによってより強く活発となり、それゆえ私たちが改善されるように。銀が火によって精錬され、その滓からより清くされるときのように。これは私たちの語り尽くせない益となる。こうして私たちは神の聖性にあずかる（ヘブ 12:10）。公の悩みは教会のきよめのためである（ダニ 11:35、黙 2:10、申 8:2）。
- ついに結末がどれほど栄光に満ちたか。教会の悩みは確実に良い終わりを持つ。これらもそうである。というのも（1）悩みの出口は幸いである。彼らは火と水の中にいるが、それらを通り抜ける。「私たちは火の中を、水の中を通ってきた」。炎や洪水の中で滅びなかった。聖徒たちの悩みが何であれ、神をほめたたえよう、それらを通る道がある。（2）より良い状態への入口はさらに幸いである。「あなたは私たちを豊かな所へ連れ出された。」「潤された所」（ことばはそうである）、「主の園のよう」に、それゆえ実りある所へ。神はご自身の民を悩みの中に導き、それによって後の彼らの慰めがさらに甘く、彼らの苦悩が義の平和な実を結ぶようにされる。それは世界で最も貧しい所を豊かな所とするであろう。
英語原文
The Saints Exhorted to Praise God
⁸ O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard:
⁹ Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.
¹⁰ For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
¹¹ Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins.
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.
In these verses the psalmist calls upon God's people in a special manner to praise him. Let all lands do it, but Israel's land particularly. Bless our God; bless him as ours, a God in covenant with us, and that takes care of us as his own. Let them make the voice of his praise to be heard (Ps 66:8); for from whom should it be heard but from those who are his peculiar favourites and select attendants? Two things we have reason to bless God for:—
I. Common protection (Ps 66:9): He holdeth our soul in life, that it may not drop away of itself; for, being continually in our hands, it is apt to slip through our fingers. We must own that it is the good providence of God that keeps life and soul together and his visitation that preserves our spirit. He puts our soul in life, so the word is. He that gave us our being, by a constant renewed act upholds us in our being, and his providence is a continued creation. When we are ready to faint and perish he restores our soul, and so puts it, as it were, into a new life, giving new comforts. Non est vivere, sed valere, vita—It is not existence, but happiness, that deserves the name of life. But we are apt to stumble and fall, and are exposed to many destructive accidents, killing disasters as well as killing diseases, and therefore as to these also we are guarded by the divine power. He suffers not our feet to be moved, preventing many unforeseen evils, which we ourselves were not aware of our danger from. To him we owe it that we have not, long ere this, fallen into endless ruin. He will keep the feet of his saints.
II. Special deliverance from great distress. Observe,
1. How grievous the distress and danger were, Ps 66:11,12. What particular trouble of the church this refers to does not appear; it might be the trouble of some private persons or families only. But, whatever it was, they were surprised with it as a bird with a snare, enclosed and entangled in it as a fish in a net; they were pressed down with it, and kept under as with a load upon their loins, Ps 66:11. But they owned the hand of God in it. We are never in the net but God brings us into it, never under affliction but God lays it upon us. Is any thing more dangerous than fire and water? We went through both, that is, afflictions of different kinds; the end of one trouble was the beginning of another; when we had got clear of one sort of dangers we found ourselves involved in dangers of another sort. Such may be the troubles of the best of God's saints, but he has promised, When thou passest through the waters, through the fire, I will be with thee, Isa 43:1. Yet proud and cruel men may be as dangerous as fire and water, and more so. Beware of men, Mt 10:17. When men rose up against us, that was fire and water, and all that is threatening (Ps 124:2,3,4), and that was the case here: "Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads, to trample upon us and insult over us, to hector and abuse us, nay, and to make perfect slaves of us; they have said to our souls, Bow down, that we may go over," Isa 51:23. While it is the pleasure of good princes to rule in the hearts of their subjects it is the pride of tyrants to ride over their heads; yet the afflicted church in this also owns the hand of God: "Thou hast caused them thus to abuse us;" for the most furious oppressor has no power but what is given him from above.
2. How gracious God's design was in bringing them into this distress and danger. See what the meaning of it is (Ps 66:10): Thou, O God! hast proved us, and tried us. Then we are likely to get good by our afflictions, when we look upon them under this notion, for then we may see God's grace and love at the bottom of them and our own honour and benefit in the end of them. By afflictions we are proved as silver in the fire. (1.) That our graces, by being tried, may be made more evident and so we may be approved, as silver, when it is touched and marked sterling, and this will be to our praise at the appearing of Jesus Christ (1Pe 1:7) and perhaps in this world. Job's integrity and constancy were manifested by his afflictions. (2.) That our graces, by being exercised, may be made more strong and active, and so we may be improved, as silver when it is refined by the fire and made more clear from its dross; and this will be to our unspeakable advantage, for thus we are made partakers of God's holiness, Heb 12:10. Public troubles are for the purifying of the church, Da 11:35, Re 2:10, De 8:2.
3. How glorious the issue was at last. The troubles of the church will certainly end well; these do so, for (1.) The outlet of the trouble is happy. They are in fire and water, but they get through them: "We went through fire and water, and did not perish in the flames or floods." Whatever the troubles of the saints are, blessed be God, there is a way through them. (2.) The inlet to a better state is much more happy: Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place, into a well-watered place (so the word is), like the gardens of the Lord, and therefore fruitful. God brings his people into trouble that their comforts afterwards may be the sweeter and that their affliction may thus yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness, which will make the poorest place in the world a wealthy place.
13-20
David Resolves to Praise God; David Declaring What God Has Done for His Soul
神を賛美する決意、ダビデがそのたましいのために神がされたことを宣言する
¹³ 私は全焼のいけにえを持ってあなたの家に行く。私は私の誓いをあなたに払おう。
¹⁴ 悩みの中にあった時、私のくちびるの語った、私の口の述べた誓いを。
¹⁵ 私は肥えた獣の全焼のいけにえを、雄羊の香と共にあなたに献げる。雄牛とやぎを献げる。セラ。
¹⁶ 神を恐れる者はみな来て聞け。主が私のたましいのためにされたことを私が告げよう。
¹⁷ 私は口をもって彼に呼ばわり、私の舌をもって彼をほめたたえた。
¹⁸ もし私が心に不義を顧みるなら、主はお聞きにならない。
¹⁹ しかし、まことに神は私をお聞きになった。私の祈りの声に心を留められた。
²⁰ 私の祈りを、またその恵みを私から退けられなかった神はほむべきかな。
詩篇作者は前に、すべての民、特に神の民のすべてを主をほめたたえるように駆り立てたが、ここで自らを駆り立て、それを行うことに自らを関与させる。
一、彼の神への祈りにおいて（詩66:13-15）。彼は他の者たちに神の賛美を歌い、彼らと共に喜び叫ぶよう呼びかけた。しかし彼自身にとって、彼の決意はさらに進む。彼は神を賛美する。
-
高価ないけにえによって。それは律法の下で神の栄誉のために献げられた。すべての民がこれらのいけにえを献げるものを持っていたわけではなく、神を賛美するためにそのような費用をかける熱心さを欠いていた。しかしダビデは、自分の分としては、能力があるので、この費用のかかる方法で神に敬意を払うのと同じくらい喜んでいる（詩66:13）。「私は全焼のいけにえを持ってあなたの家に行く」。彼のいけにえは公でなければならない。神が選ばれた場所で。「私はそれらを持ってあなたの家に行く」。キリストこそ私たちの宮。私たちは霊的な賜物を彼に携え、彼によってそれらが聖別される。それらは最も良いものでなければならない。「全焼のいけにえ」。祭壇の上で完全に消費され、神の栄誉に帰し、献げる者が何の分け前も持たないもの。肥えた獣の全焼のいけにえ。足の不自由なものややせたものではなく、最もよく肥えたもの。彼自身の食卓で最も受け入れられるもの。最も良い方である神は、私たちの持つ最も良いもので仕えられなければならない。神が私たちのために設けられる宴は「髄の満ちた肥えたものの宴」（イザ25:6）であり、そのようなものを私たちは彼に携えるべきである。彼は「雄牛とやぎを献げる」。彼は賛美の返礼においてこれほど気前が良く、けち臭くない。彼は自分に何も費用のかからないものを献げず、自分に多大な費用のかかるものを献げよう。そしてこれを「雄羊の香と共に」。すなわち雄羊の脂肪と共に。それが祭壇の上で燃やされる時、その煙は香の煙のように立ち上る。あるいは「雄羊を香と共に」。香はキリストのとりなしの型であり、それなしには私たちの最も脂肪分の豊ないけにえも受け入れられない。
-
誓いの良心に基づく履行によって。私たちは、悩みの中にあった時に立てた誓いを良心に刻んで守らなければ、悩みからの救い出しのために神を受容的に賛美しない。これが詩篇作者の決意であった（詩66:13,14）。「私は私の誓いをあなたに払おう。悩みの中にあった時、私のくちびるの語ったものを」。注意せよ。
（1）私たちが何かの患難の圧力の下にある時、あるいは何かの恵みを求める時に、誓いを立て、それを主の前に厳かしく語り、自分自身を罪から縛り、自分の務めにより密接に縛ることは、非常に一般的であり、非常に称賛すべきことである。これが神の恵みの同等物あるいは価値ある対価であるかのようにではなく、その恵みのしるしを受けるための資格として。
（2）悩みの中にあった時に立てた誓いは、悩みが過ぎた後に忘れてはならない。
英語原文
David Resolves to Praise God; David Declaring What God Has Done for His Soul
¹³ I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,
¹⁴ Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble.
¹⁵ I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah.
¹⁶ Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.
¹⁷ I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.
¹⁸ If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
¹⁹ But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
²⁰ Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.
The psalmist, having before stirred up all people, and all God's people in particular, to bless the Lord, here stirs up himself and engages himself to do it.
I. In his devotions to his God, Ps 66:13-15. He had called upon others to sing God's praises and to make a joyful noise with them; but, for himself, his resolutions go further, and he will praise God, 1. By costly sacrifices, which, under the law, were offered to the honour of God. All people had not wherewithal to offer these sacrifices, or wanted zeal to be at such an expense in praising God; but David, for his part, being able, is as willing, in this chargeable way to pay his homage to God (Ps 66:13): I will go into thy house with burnt-offerings. His sacrifices should be public, in the place which God had chosen: "I will go into thy house with them." Christ is our temple, to whom we must bring our spiritual gifts, and by whom they are sanctified. They should be the best of the king—burnt-sacrifices, which were wholly consumed upon the altar, to the honour of God, and of which the offerer had no share; and burnt-sacrifices of fatlings, not the lame or the lean, but the best fed, and such as would be most acceptable at his own table. God, who is the best, must be served with the best we have. The feast God makes for us is a feast of fat things, full of marrow (Isa 25:6), and such sacrifices should we bring to him. He will offer bullocks with goats, so liberal will he be in his return of praise, and not strait-handed: he would not offer that which cost him nothing, but that which cost him a great deal. And this with the incense of rams, that is, with the fat of rams, which being burnt upon the altar, the smoke of it would ascend like the smoke of incense. Or rams with incense. The incense typifies Christ's intercession, without which the fattest of our sacrifices will not be accepted. 2. By a conscientious performance of his vows. We do not acceptably praise God for our deliverance out of trouble unless we make conscience of paying the vows we made when we were in trouble. This was the psalmist's resolution (Ps 66:13,14), I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered when I was in trouble. Note, (1.) It is very common, and very commendable, when we are under the pressure of any affliction, or in the pursuit of any mercy, to make vows, and solemnly to speak them before the Lord, to bind ourselves out from sin and bind ourselves more closely to our duty; not as if this were an equivalent, or valuable consideration, for the favour of God, but a qualification for receiving the tokens of that favour. (2.) The vows which we made when we were in trouble must not be forgotten when the trouble is over, but be carefully performed, for better it is not to vow than to vow and not pay.
II. In his declarations to his friends, Ps 66:16. He calls together a congregation of good people to hear his thankful narrative of God's favours to him: "Come and hear, all you that fear God, for, 1. You will join with me in my praises and help me in giving thanks." And we should be as desirous of the assistance of those that fear God in returning thanks for the mercies we have received as in praying for those we want. 2. "You will be edified and encouraged by that which I have to say. The humble shall hear of it and be glad, Ps 34:2. Those that fear thee will be glad when they see me (Ps 119:74), and therefore let me have their company, and I will declare to them, not to vain carnal people that will banter it and make a jest of it" (pearls are not to be cast before swine); "but to those that fear God, and will make a good use of it, I will declare what God has done for my soul," not in pride and vain-glory, that he might be thought more a favourite of heaven than other people, but for the honour of God, to which we owe this as a just debt, and for the edification of others. Note, God's people should communicate their experiences to each other. We should take all occasions to tell one another of the great and kind things which God has done for us, especially which he has done for our souls, the spiritual blessings with which he has blessed us in heavenly things; these we should be most affected with ourselves, and therefore with these we should be desirous to affect others. Now what was it that God had done for his soul? (1.) He had wrought in him a love to the duty of prayer, and had by his grace enlarged his heart in that duty (Ps 66:17): I cried unto him with my mouth. But if God, among other things done for our souls, had not given us the Spirit of adoption, teaching and enabling us to cry, Abba, Father, we should never have done it. That God has given us leave to pray, a command to pray, encouragements to pray, and (to crown all) a heart to pray, is what we have reason to mention with thankfulness to his praise; and the more if, when we cried to him with our mouth, he was extolled with our tongue, that is, if we were enabled by faith and hope to give glory to him when we were seeking for mercy and grace from him, and to praise him for mercy in prospect though not yet in possession. By crying to him we do indeed extol him. He is pleased to reckon himself honoured by the humble believing prayers of the upright, and this is a great thing which he has done for our souls, that he has been pleased so far to unite interests with us that, in seeking our own welfare, we seek his glory. His exaltation was under my tongue (so it may be read); that is, I was considering in my mind how I might exalt and magnify his name. When prayers are in our mouths praises must be in our hearts. (2.) He had wrought in him a dread of sin as an enemy to prayer (Ps 66:18): If I regard iniquity in my heart, I know very well the Lord will not hear me. The Jewish writers, some of them that have the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, put a very corrupt gloss upon these words: If I regard iniquity in my heart, that is (say they), If I allow myself only in heart-sins, and iniquity does not break out in my words and actions, God will not hear me, that is, he will not be offended with me, will take no notice of it, so as to lay it to my charge; as if heart-sins were no sins in God's account. The falsehood of this our Saviour has shown in his spiritual exposition of the law, Mt 5:7-48 But the sense of this place is plain: If I regard iniquity in my heart, that is, "If I have favourable thoughts of it, if I love it, indulge it, and allow myself in it, if I treat it as a friend and bid it welcome, make provision for it and am loth to part with it, if I roll it under my tongue as a sweet morsel, though it be but a heart sin that is thus countenanced and made much of, if I delight in it after the inward man, God will not hear my prayer, will not accept it, nor be pleased with it, nor can I expect an answer of peace to it." Note, Iniquity, regarded in the heart, will certainly spoil the comfort and success of prayer; for the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. Those that continue in love and league with sin have no interest either in the promise or in the Mediator, and therefore cannot expect to speed in prayer. (3.) He had graciously granted him an answer of peace to his prayers (Ps 66:19): "But verily God has heard me; though, being conscious to myself of much amiss in me, I began to fear that my prayers would be rejected, yet, to my comfort, I found that God was pleased to regard them." This God did for his soul, by answering his prayer, he gave him a token of his favour and an evidence that he had wrought a good work in him. And therefore he concludes (Ps 66:20), Blessed be God. The Ps 66:18,19 are the major and minor propositions of a syllogism: If I regard iniquity in my heart, God will not hear my prayer; that is the proposition: but verily God has heard me; that is the assumption, from which he might have rationally inferred, "Therefore I do not regard iniquity in my heart;" but, instead of taking the comfort to himself, he gives the praise to God: Blessed be God. Whatever are the premises, God's glory must always be the conclusion. God has heard me, and therefore blessed be God. Note, What we win by prayer we must wear with praise. Mercies in answer to prayer do, in a special manner, oblige us to be thankful. He has not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy. Lest it should be thought that the deliverance was granted for the sake of some worthiness in his prayer, he ascribes it to God's mercy. This he adds by way of correction: "It was not my prayer that fetched the deliverance, but his mercy that sent it." Therefore God does not turn away our prayer, because he does not turn away his own mercy, for that is the foundation of our hopes and the fountain of our comforts, and therefore ought to be the matter of our praises.
これは感謝の詩であり、特定の機会に書かれたと考える必要のないほど、一般的な用途と適用を持つ。ここではすべての民が神を賛美するよう呼ばれる。一、全創造における神の主権的支配と力の一般的な実例のゆえに（詩66:1-7）。二、教会、神の特性の民に対する神の恵みの特別なしるしのゆえに（詩66:8-12）。そして三、詩篇者は、特に彼の祈りに答えてくださったことにおいて、神の慈しみを自分自身が経験したことを賛美する（詩66:13-20）。もし私たちが、すべてのことにおいて、古きも新しき恵み、公の恵みも個人の恵みにも感謝することを学んだなら、私たちはこの詩を恵みと悟りをもって歌う方法を知るであろう。