Blessed be God, Who hath not turned away my prayer, Nor his lovingkindness from me.
Blessed be God. Be his name honoured and loved. Which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me. He has neither withdrawn his love nor my liberty to pray. He has neither cast out my prayer nor me. His mercy and my cries still meet each other. The psalm ends on its key note. Praise all through is its spirit and design.
Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer,.... Has not been angry against it, shut it out, or covered himself with a cloud that it might not pass through, which sometimes saints have complained of, Psa 80:4; but graciously heard and received it; nor his mercy from me; for that endures for ever, and is from everlasting to everlasting on them that fear...
The psalmist celebrates one deliverance, but means it as proof of God's constant mercy to His people through all ages. His point is comfort: our subjection to enemies has been the furnace proving us as silver, and God's hearing of the faithful proves His acceptance of them alone, not the wicked.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 66:1-20