“Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul. I cried to Him with my mouth, and He was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer.” – Psalm 66:16-19
Psalm 66 is a glorious psalm of praise and thanksgiving. It’s a beautiful song that teaches you wonderful things about why and how you should worship as it focuses on the only right object of your praise- the honorable, powerful, living God. As I’ve preached through it over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been struck afresh by how holy and awesome our Lord is. I’ve been blessed and desire all the more to bless His holy name for hearing our prayers and being merciful and kind to us. I’ve been humbled by the revelation of His power and awesome, or lit. terrible and dreadful works. I’m in awe of the greatness of His power that the psalmist proclaims His enemies will see and submit themselves to Him. How great is our God! Sing out the honor of His name!
Have you studied Psalm 66 lately? I encourage you to do so. Take your time working through it verse by verse. Meditate on the truths therein, praying that the Spirit would apply them in your heart and walk, and then praise God all the more. As I sometimes do in my devotional writing, let’s take some time to have further reflection.
By way of context, the psalmist opens the psalm with a command to all of the inhabitants of the earth to make a joyful shout to God. As much as it’s true that God is worthy of all praise from His people, it’s also important that it be known that not only are all the inhabitants of the world capable of praising God, but they too are called to recognize His worthiness and praise Him. And why? Because, God has given all the nations of the world good and undeniable reasons to do so. Particularly, they are called to see His awesome works and bow the knee, either in faith or fear, worship or homage to the conquering King.
Because this is true, the psalmist extends another command in verse 5 to “Come and see” the awesome works of God in judgment towards men, along with His praiseworthy works in the deliverance of His people. As you, His people, come and see these things in the Scriptures, where are you drawn? To bless your Lord and praise Him more, even as you reflect on His presence and work in the midst of severe trials and tribulation He has brought you through. Some of you may be thinking, “Wait, Pastor. What? Praising God as I reflect on pain and discomfort?” Yes.
Consider verses 10-12 “For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs. 12 You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.”
Notice the verbs are in the past tense. “You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us…”. Beloved, as you know well, being refined in the refiner’s fire isn’t pain free or peaceful. Similar to the blessings and benefits the Apostle Peter teaches and comforts you with in 1 Peter 1:6-9, God’s refining and sanctifying work is painful for a time, but bears glorious fruit that is ultimately made clear when Christ returns. In Psalm 66, see how the psalmist describes God taking you to the fire, through the fire, and out of it to “rich fulfillment”. What does this mean? Jesus brings you through troubles to a place of the superabundance of His grace as you become aware of the details of His sanctifying work! And that awareness brings what? Much rejoicing for His sustaining and sanctifying grace in you. Praise the Lord!
Whereas such knowledge and joy would move the psalmist to be faithful in worshiping God, the same should be true for you. Considering the superabundance of God grace, and how the psalmist’s cup ran over (Psalm 23:5), what a blessing, example and great testimony it is to see the psalmist then proclaim in verse 16 “Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul.”
Does this not draw you to attentively listen today? Come all of you God-fearers! Come, gather around. Come, hear, and be blessed in your soul as you hear what God has done for mine. Come and hear the wonderful news of Christ in the Gospel and how He ransomed my soul. Come and hear how God transformed my heart and life. Come and hear how God has been mercifully kind to me, holding my life in His hands, sustaining and growing me through refinement and affliction, even great dangers of death. Come and join with me in praise and thanksgiving, even as you consider your own being rescued from the pit and saved by Christ!
Beloved, never forget that it’s good and right for you to declare your experiences of God’s grace to each other, even in the details of your journey in, through, and out of refining fire. You edify, encourage, and comfort one another as you do so. You point one another to Christ and His goodness. Never forget that this is an important part of your evangelistic call as well. Therefore, you should take every occasion God gives you to first reflect, be blessed, and then tell one another of the great and kind things which God has done for your soul! Further, as you’re ready to go and tell, also be ready to listen with thanksgiving and joy for the fruit of divine grace and mercy in your brethren.
“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”
Psalm 34:1-3