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Psalm 66 · a question people ask

The psalm speaks as "we", then as "I". Who is the "I" of 66:13-20?

In the text

The psalm doesn't say. Its title names no one: "For the Chief Musician. A song. A Psalm" (66:1). Up to 66:12 it speaks as we: "There, we rejoiced in him" (66:6), "who preserves our life among the living" (66:9), "For you, God, have tested us" (66:10). Then, with no word about who is speaking, one person: "I will come into your temple with burnt offerings. I will pay my vows to you" (66:13), and "Come and hear, all you who fear God. I will declare what he has done for my soul" (66:16). The psalm doesn't say whether this is one of the we of 66:6-12 or someone else, and these notes don't guess. What it does say is where this voice speaks from: vows made "when I was in distress" (66:14), and a prayer God has heard (66:19-20).

The verses

“For the Chief Musician. A song. A Psalm. Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!”
Psalm 66:1 · World English Bible
“He turned the sea into dry land. They went through the river on foot. There, we rejoiced in him.”
Psalm 66:6 · World English Bible
“who preserves our life among the living, and doesn’t allow our feet to be moved. For you, God, have tested us. You have refined us, as silver is refined.”
Psalm 66:9-10 · World English Bible
“I will come into your temple with burnt offerings. I will pay my vows to you, which my lips promised, and my mouth spoke, when I was in distress.”
Psalm 66:13-14 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 66

Psalm 66: Come and see, come and hear

Psalm 66 calls twice: "Come, and see" (66:5) and "Come and hear" (66:16). The same two verbs come back at the end: the WEB's cherished in "If I cherished sin in my heart" (66:18) is the see of 66:5, and both listeneds in 66:18-19 are the hear of 66:16.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions