The Meaning of Psalms 66:16 Explained

Psalms 66:16

KJV: Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.

YLT: Come, hear, all ye who fear God, And I recount what he did for my soul.

Darby: Come, hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.

ASV: Come, and hear, all ye that fear God, And I will declare what he hath done for my soul.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Come  [and] hear,  all ye that fear  God,  and I will declare  what he hath done  for my soul. 

What does Psalms 66:16 Mean?

Study Notes

fear
.
fear of the Lord
The "fear of the Lord," a phrase of the O.T. piety, meaning reverential trust, with hatred of evil.

Context Summary

Psalms 66:16-20 - "let All The Peoples Praise Thee"
Come and hear, Psalms 66:16-20
The psalm began with Come and see, Psalms 66:5. Compare Mark 5:19-20; John 4:29. It will be one of the employments of heaven to go from group to group to tell what God has done for us. But each hearer will have a tale as wonderful as ours. We must praise without stint, and pray with pure and unselfish motives. From such prayers God will not turn away.
Psalms 67:1-7, like Psalms 65:1-13, was composed for use at an annual festival. "Bless us," say the saints in yearning prayer. "God shall bless us," is the certain answer of faith, Psalms 67:1; Psalms 67:7. We desire blessing, not to hoard for ourselves, but that all mankind may share with us. Ask for God's smile on yourself alone, and you will miss it; ask for it that you may reflect and pass it on, and the Lord will become your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be ended.
Four times the psalmist cries, Let the peoples praise thee, R.V. In answer to his appeal, it seemed as if the whole world had broken out into fresh fertility. Our own God, Psalms 67:6. He has given Himself to us, and each may have the whole of the fullness as an estate of boundless extent and wealth, Numbers 18:20; Psalms 16:5. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 66

1  David exhorts to praise God
5  observe his great works
8  to bless him for his gracious benefits
12  He vows for himself reverent service to God
16  He declares God's special goodness to himself

What do the individual words in Psalms 66:16 mean?

Come [and] hear and I will declare all you who fear God what He has done for my soul
לְכֽוּ־ שִׁמְע֣וּ וַ֭אֲסַפְּרָה כָּל־ יִרְאֵ֣י אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר עָשָׂ֣ה לְנַפְשִֽׁי

לְכֽוּ־  Come 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
שִׁמְע֣וּ  [and]  hear 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.
וַ֭אֲסַפְּרָה  and  I  will  declare 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: סָפַר 
Sense: to count, recount, relate.
יִרְאֵ֣י  you  who  fear 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural construct
Root: יָרֵא  
Sense: fearing, reverent, afraid.
אֱלֹהִ֑ים  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
עָשָׂ֣ה  He  has  done 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
לְנַפְשִֽׁי  for  my  soul 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: נֶפֶשׁ  
Sense: soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion.