An Invitation and a Test

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:

1        Shout for joy to God, all the earth!

2            Sing the glory of his name;

    make his praise glorious.

3        Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!

    So great is your power

    that your enemies cringe before you.

4        All the earth bows down to you;

    they sing praise to you,

    they sing the praises of your name.”

5        Come and see what God has done,

    his awesome deeds for mankind!

6        He turned the sea into dry land,

    they passed through the waters on foot—

    come, let us rejoice in him.

7        He rules forever by his power,

    his eyes watch the nations—

    let not the rebellious rise up against him.

8        Praise our God, all peoples,

    let the sound of his praise be heard;

9        he has preserved our lives

    and kept our feet from slipping.

10      For you, God, tested us;

    you refined us like silver.

11      You brought us into prison

    and laid burdens on our backs.

12      You let people ride over our heads;

    we went through fire and water,

    but you brought us to a place of abundance.

13      I will come to your temple with burnt offerings

    and fulfill my vows to you—

14      vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke

    when I was in trouble.

15      I will sacrifice fat animals to you

    and an offering of rams;

    I will offer bulls and goats.

16      Come and hear, all you who fear God;

    let me tell you what he has done for me.

17      I cried out to him with my mouth;

    his praise was on my tongue.

18      If I had cherished sin in my heart,

    the Lord would not have listened;

19      but God has surely listened

    and has heard my prayer.

20      Praise be to God,

    who has not rejected my prayer

    or withheld his love from me. (Psalm 66, NIV)

REFLECTIONS:

Psalm 66 contains several invitations that are tied to the word “come”—“come and sing”; “come and see”; “come and sacrifice”; and “come and hear.” Today, let's look at the first two of these invitations…

The first invitation is come and sing. Or, to put it in our common lingo, praise the Lord. “Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious” (verse 2). For whatever reason, sometimes we act as if praising God is tedious. It becomes a burden to wake up early to gather for worship. Sometimes we praise him in a tired fashion—we simply go through the motions. But the psalmist asks for glorious praise. Why? “So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you” (verses 3-4). This is missionary zeal! We aren't to praise the Lord by ourselves. We come and sing, and we invite the whole world to join us. For our God is the living God, and he is worthy to be praised!

The second invitation is come and see the works of God. Today people call the works of God, natural law or scientific law. We try to explain everything, but we can't. Come and see the works of God—what happens in the heavens, what happens in your body, and what's happened throughout history. This is the work of God. Today, I'm loving the message of verse 7: “He rules forever by his power.” Satan is not ruling this world system—God is. He is allowing Satan some measure of freedom, but he's going to use even that to glorify himself. God is ruling by his power, and his rule will last forever!

If you want to enjoy today, come and sing. If you've lost your song, come and see the works of the Lord. You'll be singing before long. When we're singing, we find it much easier to offer sacrifices to God (verses 13-15) and to declare his praise among the people surrounding our lives (verse 16).

…………

Another thing strikes me about this psalm. As with many of the songs and prayers in the Psalter, this psalm is meant to bring hope and strength to the discouraged. “Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard” (verse 8). Why? “He has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping” (verse 9). God holds our life in his hand. As we read elsewhere: “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). So, let's praise him.

The psalmist continues: “For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver” (verse 10). The reason God tests us and tries us is to prove us. He's proving nothing to himself. He knows us from top to bottom, inside and out. No, God is proving something to us. God considers us to be more valuable than silver (or gold, for that matter). And, because he values us so much, he puts us into situations that test and strengthen us (Romans 5:1-5; 1 Peter 4:12-19).

Notice the images in the following verses: “You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance” (verses 11-12). This indicates total defeat. We go through fire and water, but we are brought out to a place of abundance. The word

“abundance” stands out to me—a land of milk and honey, of running water and fruitfulness, of security and peace, of satisfaction and delight. The wilderness of Judea, where so often David found himself, was dry and barren. But he knew that because of God's presence and character, he would be brought to a “place of abundance” where he would “dwell” with contentment, joy and hope.

The psalmist does not say: “Well, here I am again.” No, he says: “God brought me into this place, and God's going to be with me through it. And when he brings me out, I'm going to be in a place of abundance and delight.” God always enriches us when we go through difficulty. He tests us and tries us and refines us and molds us in order to make us more like Jesus.

PRAYER:

We praise you, Father, for who you are and what you've done in our lives. Forgive us, Lord, for the ways we worship you halfheartedly. You are worthy of so much more! You are the great Creator who, out of the goodness of your heart, made all things. You have loved us with an everlasting love and you've lavished our lives with blessings upon blessing. So, Father, we declare your praise. We say you are great and awesome, powerful and good. We love you and rejoice to declare your praise. Renew our minds. Enliven our hearts. May your Spirit, enlighten us to see your glory afresh and new today, so that we might joyfully lay down our lives in sacrifice and service to your kingdom. For you are worthy!

WHO AM I?

I am Tres Sansom, and I've been loving the cold weather. We've spent the last few days huddled together in our living room, enjoying our fireplace and watching movies together. Good times!