“Shout
for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to
him glorious praise! Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds! So
great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. All the
earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to
your name’.” Psalm 66:1-4 (ESV) [Read Psalm 66]
Psalm
66 is not “signed”; that is, no authorship is given to it in the
introductory remarks. The Psalm begins with a global invitation for
all nations to praise the Lord (vv. 1-7). It continues with a
national proclamation for Israel to praise the Lord (vv. 8-12). Then
comes the invitation to personally praise God: “Praise the Lord
with me” (vv. 13-20). The severe trials God’s people had endured
as shown in Psalm 66:8-12 are believed to be the historical events
told about in Isaiah 36-37 when King Sennachrib of Assyria came
against King Hezekiah of Judah. Hezekiah prayed for victory and the
Lord answered his prayer. Some scholars think the words of Psalm
66:13-20 are from King Hezekiah himself.
What
do we learn from this Psalm? Not only is the historical context of
interest, but there are strong admonitions for persons of any age.
In the “global invitation” verses, indeed all peoples everywhere
should “Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds
toward the children of man” (v. 5). As Paul wrote in Romans, there
is enough evidence all about any peoples who show the awesomeness and
majesty of God, so that they are “without excuse” of following
God, obeying Him, and accepting His salvation (see Romans 1:19-20;
2:1)
In
the national proclamation verses, the psalm notes the people have
gone “through fire and through water, yet God has brought them to a
place of abundance” (v 12). This certainly was true of the
Israelite nation. As we apply this verse to America and how God led
our founding fathers to establish the constitution and to uphold it,
we can agree with the Psalmist (Ps. 33:12): “Blest is the nation
whose God is the Lord,” as we have long declared. I just this week
got a message online about a now-popular gospel song that has the
testimony: “In God We Still Trust.” Those who want no mention
of God as related to America want the song banned. Many are urging
that the message be passed on and the song be sung, over and over
again.
In
the personal affirmation and the invitation to “worship the Lord
with me,” (vv 13-20) we can exult in the testimony expressed in
verse 20: “Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me!” There is a true saying:
“A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” This Psalm
invites us to examine the awesome deeds of God, globally, nationally
and individually and see how strong our personal link is in the chain
of this circle of obedience and follow-ship of God. We often
admonish others to draw closer to God. Do we examine our own
relationship with God and see what sins should be confessed, what
commitments should be made to make us a stronger link in the chain of
believers? God’s awesome deeds should, indeed, inspire each of us
to a closer walk with Him. -Ethelene
Dyer Jones 03.06.2016
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