Lessons from the Psalms: God’s Awesome Deeds

“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

The Importance of Telling What God Has Done

“Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what He has done for my soul. I cried to Him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened: He has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because He has not rejected my prayer or removed His steadfast love from me!” -Psalm 66:16-20 (ESV)

Psalm 66, a Psalm encouraging general worship and also recounting historically the mercies and blessings of God, ends with statements urging how important it is to tell what God has done for the believer.

In Christian circles, we call this ‘giving our personal testimony.’ The Christian ought to be able to share with others what the Lord has done in bringing salvation to him/her personally and in leading the believer to live life by the Bible’s guidance and with Christian principles.

The Psalmist makes it very clear that if the believer “cherishes iniquity in his heart” the Lord will not listen to prayers the Christian makes. Of course, this does not mean that the Lord will not hear and answer the sincere prayer of repentance from sin and a plea for strength to walk in the way of the Lord. We rejoice that God “has not rejected my prayer or removed His steadfast love from me!”

Peter the Apostle admonished in his letter that Christians should always be able to give a testimony of what the Lord has done in their lives. Read carefully what he wrote: “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason or the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.” (1 Peter 3:13-17. ESV).

In my life as a minister’s wife, as a Bible teacher, and as one who has assisted in seeking to disciple new Christians—teaching them “new member classes” and other discipleship classes, I have urged them to try to put their personal testimony of salvation into a concise presentation they could tell in one, two or not more than three minutes. Persons can argue many things about beliefs, even about the Bible itself, but there is no denying what the Lord has done for a person. That is personal and unique to each believer. That is why the personal testimony is so vital in sharing the way to salvation with others.

Have you given thought to your own personal testimony? Can you tell briefly and clearly what the Lord did to save your soul? When have you shared this with an unbeliever or with a Christian who might have gone astray and needs encouragement? The Psalmist stated clearly that we should tell others about the Lord. “Come and hear…and I will tell what He has done for my soul!” Peter urged, “Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” These are strong invitations—yea, even commands—God gives us to tell others what He has done for us! May we seek out and find persons with whom to share this good news during the coming week. –Ethelene Dyer Jones 06.28.2015

Requirements for Answered Prayer

“Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what He has done for my soul.  I cried to Him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue.  If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.  But truly God has listened.  He has attended to the voice of my prayer.  Blessed be God, because He has not rejected or removed His steadfast love from me.  –Psalm 66:16-20 (ESV)  “And He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” –Luke 18:1 (ESV).  “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” –James 5:16b (ESV).

What are God’s requirements for our prayers to be answered?  The focal scriptures for today give us very useful clues.  First is to fear God.  This means we hold Him in awe, as Sovereign, Majestic, Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent—and a God of love who wants our best interests if we meet His requirements for godly living.  He alone is worthy of our reverence and honor.  Because of Who He is and what He does, we ought always to give Him our highest praise. 

Second, we must recognize that He wants us to come before Him with a clean heart.  If I “cherish iniquity in my heart,”  I cannot expect Him to hear and answer my prayers.  If I am beset by sins of resentment, rebellion, or any sin that separates me from His love and forgiveness, I cannot expect Him to answer my prayers.  We pray after first repenting of any iniquity we hold, approaching Him as the Psalmist says, “with clean hands and a pure heart (Psalm 24:4).  How reassuring to know that God hears and answers prayers of His followers when they have made themselves right with Him.  With the Psalmist we can then declare:  “He has attended to the voice of my prayer.”

Jesus gave a parable that well illustrates what He meant to “pray and not lose heart.”  He told the story of a widow who kept approaching the judge to plead for what she needed.  At first the judge did not grant her plea, but because of her persistence, her request was granted.  It is not that God does not hear when we first approach Him with a request.  But to keep on asking, as the widow did to the judge in the parable, God is pleased with our persistence—and at the same time we have learned to patiently wait. 

James wrote a great truth about fervency in prayer.  We probably memorized this verse in the King James Version:  “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).  In these words are bound up all the characteristics of earnest prayer:  coming from a righteous person, being fervent (intense, ardent, zealous, heart-felt); then it “availeth much”—or brings assistance, aid, profit and gain.

Let us measure our regular, daily praying by these standards:  fear God; cleanse ourselves of iniquity; be persistent (zealous, intense, earnest).  Then, when God hears and answers our prayers, as He will—either with an immediate answer, and  usually much more than we even prayed for; with a “No,” and turning us in another better direction; or with a “wait awhile” because we are not yet ready to receive His answer.  And then when answers come, let us not forget that our gratitude and thanksgiving are vital characteristics of prayer.  Thank Him! Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote, “More things are wrought through prayer than this world dreams of.” 

                                                              -Ethelene Dyer Jones  02.23.2014