Psalms 66:14
in Psalms 66the vows that my lips promised and my mouth spoke in my distress.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Which my lips uttered, And my mouth spake, when I was in distress.
KJV
Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble.
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This verse in Psalms 66
Commentary
10 notes on this verseWhich my lips have uttered,.... Or "opened" (e); publicly and distinctly declared, and from which there is no going back; see Jdg 11:33; and my mouth hath spoken when I was in trouble; this refers to the time when the people of God were under antichristian tyranny and bondage; and when they vowed and promised, that, if the Lord would deliver them, they would give him all praise and glory. (e) פצו "aperuerunt", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Gejerus.
This site's exposition
I will enter Your house with burnt offerings
on Psalms 66:13-15
The voice narrows from the congregation to one worshiper. He enters the house with burnt offerings and pays vows his lips spoke when he was in distress. Spurgeon marks the abundance of it, fatlings and rams and bulls and goats brought together.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Therefore, because we have been speaking of the nature of marriage as the Lord has given it, consequently, this must be examined with the greatest care, namely, what you devoutly willed beforehand (if there could have been anything). Because the use of things conceded by …
If you require evidence from the Old Testament also in order for me to convince you that the judgment of God occurs in this way [as I have presented it], Moses says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength," and "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." To this the Lord adds, "On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets." The apostle also bears witness in the words: "Love, therefore, is the fulfilling of the law."
"I will render to You my vows, which my lips have distinguished" [Psalm 66:14]. What is the distinction in vows? This is the distinction, that yourself thou censure, Him thou praise: perceive yourself to be a creature, Him the Creator: yourself darkness, Him the Enlightener, to whom you should say, "You shall light my lamp, O Lord my God, You shall enlighten my darkness." For whenever you shall have said, O soul, that from yourself you have light, you will not distinguish. If you will not distinguish, you will not render distinct vows. Render distinct vows, confess yourself changeable, Him unchangeable: confess yourself without Him to be nothing, but Himself without you to be perfect; yourself to need Him, but Him not to need you. Cry to Him, "I have said to the Lord, My God are You, for my good things You need not." Now though God takes you to Him for a holocaust, He grows not, He is not increased, He is not richer, He becomes not better furnished: whatsoever He makes of you for your sake, is the better for you, not for Him that makes. If you distinguish these things, you render the vows to your God which your lips have distinguished.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
(2.) The vows which we made when we were in trouble must not be forgotten when the trouble is over, but be carefully performed, for better it is not to vow than to vow and not pay.
By costly sacrifices, which, under the law, were offered to the honour of God. All people had not wherewithal to offer these sacrifices, or wanted zeal to be at such an expense in praising God; but David, for his part, being able, is as willing, in this chargeable way to pay his homage to God (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
If we have learned in every thing to give thanks for ancient and modern mercies, public and personal mercies, we shall know how to sing this psalm with grace and understanding. All Mankind Exhorted to Praise God. 1 Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: 2 Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
When I was in trouble - This is generally the time when good resolutions are formed, and vows made; but how often are these forgotten when affliction and calamity are removed!
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Which my lips have uttered ... - Margin, “opened.” The Hebrew word, however - פצה pâtsâh - means properly to tear apart; to rend; and then, to open wide, as the mouth, for example - or the throat, - as wild beasts do, Psa 22:13. Then it means to open the mouth in scorn Lam 2:16; Lam 3:46; and then, to utter hasty words, Job 35:16. The idea would be expressed by us by the phrases to bolt or blurt out; to utter hastily; or, to utter from a heart full and overflowing to utter with very little care as to the language employed. It is the fullness of the heart which would be suggested by the word, and not a nice choice of expressions. The idea is, that the heart was full; and that the vows were made under the influence of deep emotion, when the heart was so full that it could not but speak, and when there was very little attention to the language. It was not a calm and studied selection of words. Such vows are not less acceptable to God than those which are made in the best-selected language. Not a little of the most popular sacred poetry in all tongues is of this nature; and when refined down to the nicest rules of art it ceases to be popular, or to meet the needs of the soul, and is laid aside. The psalmist here means to say, that though these vows were the result of deep feeling - of warm, gushing emotion - rather than of calm and thoughtful reflection, yet there was no disposition to disown or repudiate them now. They were made in the depth of feeling - in real sincerity - and there was a purpose fairly to carry them out. When I was in trouble - When the people were in captivity, languishing in a foreign land. Vows made in trouble - in sickness, in bereavement, in times of public calamity - should be faithfully performed when health and prosperity visit us again; but, alas, how often are they forgotten!
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
I shall come to Your house when You build the Temple, we shall pay our vows that we vowed in exile.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| פָּצ֥וּ | patzu | they opened | H6475 → | 15 times |
| שְׂפָתָ֑י | sefatai | lips my | H8193 → | 176 times |
| וְדִבֶּר־ | vediber- | and it spoke | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| פִּ֝֗י | pi | mouth my | H6310 → | 498 times |
| בַּצַּר־ | batzar- | when <the> it was distress | H6862 → | 109 times |
| לִֽי׃ | li | to me |
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
פָּצ֥וּthey opened
patzuH6475 →15 times
שְׂפָתָ֑יlips my
sefataiH8193 →176 times
וְדִבֶּר־and it spoke
vediber-H1696 →1141 times
פִּ֝֗יmouth my
piH6310 →498 times
בַּצַּר־when <the> it was distress
batzar-H6862 →109 times
לִֽי׃to me
li
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 18:6In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears.
it leads to
- Psalms 50:15
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
- 2 Samuel 22:7
In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried out to my God. And from His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for help reached His ears.
- Psalms 34:15
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.
- Psalms 130:1–2
Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD!
- Psalms 120:1
In my distress I cried to the LORD, and He answered me.
- Psalms 50:15
Through
1 Samuel 1:11And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then…
it leads to
- Judges 13:5
For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. And no razor shall come over his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he will…
- Numbers 6:5
For the entire period of his vow of separation, no razor shall pass over his head. He must be holy until the time of his separation to the LORD is complete; he must let…
- Judges 13:5
Through
Numbers 30:2If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.
it leads to
- Psalms 50:14
Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
- Psalms 50:14
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 66; Basil of Caesarea, CONCERNING BAPTISM 2:8; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Fulgentius of Ruspe, LETTER 1:11; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.