66
A psalm which is a song for the choir director
1 Tell everyone on the earth
that they should sing joyfully to praise God!
2 They should sing songs that say that God [MTY] is very great,
and they should tell everyone that he is very glorious!
3 They should say to God, “The things that you do are awesome!
Your power is very great,
with the result that your enemies ◄cringe/bow down► in front of you.”
4 Everyone on the earth should worship God
and sing to praise him
and honor him [MTY].
(Think about that!)
5 Come and think about what God has done!
Think about the awesome things that he has done among people.
6 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,
and he keeps watching all the pagan nations to see what evil things they do,
so those nations that want to rebel against him should not be proud.
(Think about that!)
8 You people of all nations, praise our God!
Praise him loudly in order that people will hear you as you praise him.
9 He has kept us alive,
and he has not allowed us to ◄stumble/be defeated►.
10 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 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 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 are safe/we have plenty►.
13 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 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 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►.
(Think about that!)
16 All you people who have a reverential respect for God, come and listen,
and I will tell you what he has done for me.
17 I called out to him to help me,
and I praised him while I was speaking to him [MTY].
18 If I had ignored the sins that I had committed,
the Lord would not have paid any attention to me.
19 But because I confessed my sins, God has listened to me
and he paid attention to my prayers.
20 I praise God
because he has not ignored my prayers
or stopped faithfully loving me.