We are not told who wrote this psalm. In it, the unknown author praises God for his amazing displays of his power, first to the world (vv. 1-4), then to his people (vv. 5-12), and finally to himself (vv. 13-17).
As far as the world is concerned, they should praise God because of the way he defeats his enemies. Maybe the surrounding nations had heard how God prevented enemies from defeating his people; indeed, he had caused those enemies to cringe. Maybe the defeat of those enemies liberated other peoples from their grip and caused them to thank the God of Israel for such liberation. Or perhaps the verbs in this section should be regarded as future, meaning that the author was praying for the days when the Messiah would reign in a global manner.
In verses 5-7, the author celebrates what the Lord had done in the past for his people. He had provided a dry path through the Red Sea when Moses led the people out of Egypt and he enable them to pass across the Jordan when Joshua invaded Canaan and marched towards Jericho. Although it happened long previously to his time, he regarded those victories as belonging to him because he too belonged to the same people of God. Those God-given victories reminded all his rejoicing people that he was in control, keeping an eye on any who would try and oppose his kingdom.
Such triumphs had not been the only experiences that God’s people had known. Verses 8-12 describe occasions when God allowed his people to go through hard and difficult times. Yet even when they occurred, he powerfully kept them and eventually brought them out of such situations into a state of prosperity. The psalmist recognised that such occasions were tests sent by the Lord.
In verses 13-15, the author describes his own experience. He had been in trouble, but he had prayed to God about his circumstances, saying that he would publicly thank the Lord if he delivered him. Since God had delivered him, he intended to go to the sanctuary in Jerusalem and offer several burnt offerings, which certainly would be costly in financial terms. A burnt offering symbolised dedication because all of the offering was consumed on the altar.
The author issues a kind of invitation to others to come and hear him at the sanctuary when he would describe how the Lord had delivered him. He knew that those who feared God were in need of encouragement. The encouragement would be that God answers prayer, although he did qualify his words by reminding others that allowing sin to flourish in his heart would result in unanswered prayers. When such an attitude is present in a believer’s heart, his prayers go no higher than the sound of his words. But he knew that his prayers had been answered, so he was glad that the answers proved that God still loved him.
The psalm reminds us of the corporate unity of God’s people. Even as the Exodus and the Entrance into the land belonged to all the generations of Israel, so the triumphs of the church in all centuries belongs to all the church. Those events are not merely their history, but they are also our history.
The psalm also reminds us that periods of testing can come for God’s people. Yet though they are hard, they eventually lead to prosperous times. We are in times of testing today, but the point is where are we going to. We need to remain faithful in such times and leave the route to prosperity with God.
A third lesson from the psalm, and one that is found in other psalms as well, is the importance of public testimony to the fact that the Lord answers prayer. What better encouragement can we give? But in order for that to happen, we must first pray.
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