Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.
After God struck down the Assyrian army and delivered Jerusalem, the people sang this psalm in the temple in solemn praise and thanksgiving. In that song of deliverance they acknowledged that God himself had defeated their enemy and that even human wrath had been turned to serve his praise. For those who have received such deliverance, the verse is a call to make vows to the Lord their God and to keep and fulfill them.
A vow made to God is sacred and must be paid, not treated lightly or left unfulfilled. To withhold what was vowed or to dishonor the pledge profanes the offering. The verse also calls all who are round about him — including the surrounding nations and all who honor him — to bring gifts and offerings to God because he is to be feared with reverence.
It is also a call to renew vows to God. That renewing belongs to camp-meetings as a time to lay aside business cares, to seek the Lord, to examine the heart, to confess sins, and to renew vows to him.
After God struck down the Assyrian army and delivered Jerusalem, the people sang this psalm in the temple in solemn praise and thanksgiving. In that song of deliverance they acknowledged that God himself had defeated their enemy and that even human wrath had been turned to serve his praise. For those who have received such deliverance, the verse is a call to make vows to the Lord their God and to keep and fulfill them.
A vow made to God is sacred and must be paid, not treated lightly or left unfulfilled. To withhold what was vowed or to dishonor the pledge profanes the offering. The verse also calls all who are round about him — including the surrounding nations and all who honor him — to bring gifts and offerings to God because he is to be feared with reverence.
It is also a call to renew vows to God. That renewing belongs to camp-meetings as a time to lay aside business cares, to seek the Lord, to examine the heart, to confess sins, and to renew vows to him.