Psalm 66:8-20

“We went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.” (Psalm 66:12)

The second half of Psalm 66 narrows from the nations to a single voice. It begins still in the plural, with a testing recalled in metallurgical terms, tried as silver is tried (v. 10), an image Israel’s prophets use of the exile (Isaiah 48:10; Zechariah 13:9), followed by the startling admission that God let others ride over their heads. The passage through fire and water describes deliverance as an ordeal survived rather than avoided. From v. 13 the speaker is an individual discharging vows, and the offerings listed, bulls with goats, rams and fatted animals, indicate someone of means making a substantial public thanksgiving. Verse 18 is the theological crux: had the psalmist cherished iniquity, the Lord would not have listened, so an answered prayer functions as a verdict. The psalm ends blessing God for not removing his steadfast love.

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