Psalms 67 - Introduction

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 67

To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm [or] Song. According to the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, this psalm is a psalm of David; and very probably it was written by him, since the spirit and language of it agree with that sweet singer of Israel, though his name is not in the title; wherefore Aben Ezra says, we know not who composed it: and so the inscription of the Syriac version pronounces the same uncertain; which adds,

"the people sung it when they brought David over Jordan;''

meaning after Absalom's rebellion was over, 2 Samuel 19:41; but what follows better expresses the occasion and intent of it;

"but to us it intimates a prophecy in it concerning the calling of the Gentiles, and the preaching of the apostles; likewise concerning the judgments of the Lord:''

and it seems indeed to breathe out the desires of the church after the coming of Christ, and spiritual blessings by him, and the spread of the Gospel among the Gentiles, as what would bring forth much fruit in the earth, and be the occasion of great joy. The ancient Jews i apply it

לעתיד לבא, "to future time"; the world to come, the times of the Messiah: and Kimchi understands it of the gathering of the present captivity when the Messiah comes, and of the destruction of Gog and Magog. Of the word "neginoth", Psalms 4:1, title.

i Debarim Rabba, s. 1. fol. 233. 4. Yalkut Simeoni in loc.