Psalm 66 - Come and Praise
INTRODUCTION:
Interest:
Do you find yourself filled with a joyful spirit this morning? Is your heart full of praise and thanksgiving? After all, this is 2020, the year of unique trials. We still have a pandemic underway after dealing with it for 9+ months. Pandemic fatigue has certainly set in. Schooling has presented a unique challenge for many parents. Home offices and home school rooms have become the rage. Some of us have suffered financial hardships as a result. Others have endured health challenges. We all know people who have caught COVID, some of whom have been hit quite hard by the virus.
Then there was the election this past week…and there still is some question as to who won the presidency. Furthermore, it is likely that some of your preferred candidates didn’t win somewhere along the ballot no matter what political stance you took. So, it is likely that you are frustrated or disappointed by that.
And this is not to mention all the regular struggles that come up in life as we live in a sin-broken world interacting constantly with sin-broken people.
So, with all those things to consider, do you find yourself nonetheless filled with a joyful spirit this morning?
Involvement:
As we will see from our psalm, the answer really should be, “Yes.” It should be yes because God exists and He has revealed Himself to us.
Context:
This morning we are looking at a psalm that doesn’t have any context whatsoever. We don’t know who wrote it. We don’t know why it was written. All we know is that it obviously was inspired by God and became a song in the repertoire of ancient Israel, used within in their worship.
Preview:
There are several ways in which we could break this psalm down this morning, but I have decided to divide it into two main sections.
Transition from introduction to body:
In the first section, verses 1–12, we see that…
BODY:
I. The entire earth should praise our God, vv. 1–12
“Shout joyfully to God, all the earth.” What a great call to praise! Let’s go ahead and read these verses…<read Ps 66:1-12>.
Transition:
If you look carefully you can notice that the first 9 verses that we just read are addressed to people in general, “all the earth” as we have it stated in verse 1. Verses 10-12, though are addressed directly to God. Observing this transition, we can recognize that the first 9 verses teach us that the entire earth should praise our God because…
A. God’s mighty works are visible to everyone, vv. 1–9
Illustration
This past week, we had new tile installed in one of our showers. We had been planning this project for several months and had been waiting on the tile guy that we were hiring to be available to do the project. The tile we selected…using “we” loosely as Grace does most of the selection in a project like this…the tile we chose for the walls was a large piece 2’ X 2’. We also wanted to install it on the diagonal. Making that work takes skill, skill I certainly don’t possess. Yet, all you have to do is look at the final result in our bathroom to see the tile guy who did the install for us clearly had the skill required.
Well, the point our psalmist is making is that all people have to do is look around to see the greatness of God; it is on display all around us. God’s skill and majesty is clearly evident.
Transition:
Within these first nine verses, I want us to note three demonstrations of God’s greatness that are on display so that everyone can see them. First,…
1. God’s greatness rules over all people
Last week, Pastor Aaron talked about the awe that God’s revelation of Himself through His creation and His actions inspires in us as he took us through Psalm 65. This morning, the same idea comes up in verse 3 of our psalm. God’s works are awesome. They are so awesome that humans cannot help being captivated by them.
Illustration
Last week, Pastor Aaron mentioned the Grand Canyon; how the mere sight of it naturally provokes awe.
Throughout human history God has done things that generate awe among people. One of those awesome thing is how He demonstrates His rule over all people. Human history will end with God bringing judgment upon all who oppose Him and rewards to all who honor Him in such a way that no one will deny that He is awesome. Rev 6:16 says that those in rebellion against God will wish that the mountains would fall on them in order to hide them from the wrath that God is pouring out on them through the Lamb—Jesus Christ, our Savior. Yet, we know from Phil 2:10 that in the end every knee will bow before Christ. That is the idea that our psalmist is communicating in verse 3 as well. Even those in rebellion against God will be forced to acknowledge God’s greatness. As one commentator expressed it, they will be so overwhelmed by His works that they must at least put on a submissive face. They will pay homage to God’s greatness as He rules over them.
Application
It is very important for us to remember this truth. Often what begins to sap our joy is what looks to us like the wicked winning. We need to remember that the wicked will not finish victorious; Christ will. The wicked will bow before the King, in awe of God’s greatness as He rules over them. It has been written so by God.
Second,…
2. God’s greatness governs the nations
Verses 5–7 reflect on Israel’s history, specifically the time when God formed the nation. In the process of making them a nation God performed the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea and the Jordan River. He had promised that He was going to make Israel a nation and He did so.
The psalmist’s point is that such was by no means a one-time event for God. God continues to govern the nations. Nothing transpires among them without passing under His watchful eyes.
Illustration
Again, this is something that we need to remember so that our joy is not sapped by the circumstances in our country. Even our election is under the watchful eyes of God. Neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden could be victorious in their bid for the presidency of our country without the watchful eyes of God observing it. And the reason that God observes is so that His ruling of the nation will never fail. “He rules by His might forever.”
God is the One who ultimately governs the nations. His mighty rule is a display of His greatness. The same might that parted the Red Sea will deal with any feeble human attempt to overthrow His plan that covers all of human history. Israel needed to remember that truth. We need to remember that truth. We, as believers, should be the last people that are distressed over the election or lose our joy regardless of its outcome. Rather, we should be calling for others to recognize God’s greatness that is governing the nations. It is a display of God’s greatness that is visible to everyone,
Third,…
3. God’s greatness preserves our lives
That is the point of verse 8 and 9. Our psalmist calls on all the people to paise God because God is the One who is preserving their lives. They, like us, faced various trials. Yet, God sustained His people, not allowing them to succumb to the testing trials of life.
Illustration
This is the same idea that Jesus was conveying when He stated that God does not even allow a sparrow to fall to the ground without His awareness and concern. Since we are certainly more significant to God than a sparrow—after all, God sent His Son to die for us, not for sparrows—then we can be assured that God is concerned for our physical lives as well.
Application
Now, I believe that most of us know this truth; we acknowledge this idea: God’s greatness preserves our lives. Yet push comes to shove when life gets difficult—when we get the diagnosis that we did not want to hear or even as we feel the increasing aches with age. It is at these times when the challenge to continue to praise God and to call others is tested.
Yet, everyone should know that God is the one preserving their lives and they can know that as we proclaim that God is the One preserving our lives. Our life each and every moment is a testimonial of God’s greatness.
Transition:
Three ways in which God’s mighty works are visible to everyone: 1) through their awe-inspiring nature, 2) through His government of the nations, and 3) through the preservation of our lives.
Being visible to everyone, God’s mighty works should cause the entire earth to praise our God. We see that communicated in the call to shout joyfully in verses 1-9. In verses 10-12 there is a second reason for the entire earth to praise God, because…
B. God’s mighty works purify His people, vv. 10–12
In verse 10-12, the psalmist speaks on behalf of the nation, reflecting on the outcome of the trials they have endured as a people. Yes, Israel had suffered some hard times, but the important thing to the psalmist was the purpose that underlay them; God used the trials like a refining fire to purify the nation. God led the people through adversity, but in the end He will bring them to a place of blessing, a place of abundance. This is the mighty purpose behind God’s mighty works.
Application
Again, we have many NT parallels to this idea. James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
So, let me ask you, are you rejoicing that 2020 has been a difficult year? Are you thankful for the hardships that have come into your life recently? Do you see every disappointment as an opportunity to see God further refine you? To purify you?
Look at the picture that the psalmist uses in verse 12. He says that God’s refining process may feel like God has “made men ride over our heads.” That is a image of conquered people being forced to lied down and be trampled underfoot as soldiers rode horses over them. The refining process can feel like utter defeat and destruction. But faith allows us to recognize it for what it is and rejoice that God is in the process of purifying His people.
Transition:
God’s mighty works purify His people. The entire earth should praise our God. Every person should do so because God’s mighty words are visible to everyone and they purify His people.
Really it’s becoming clear at this point that main idea of the psalm is that we should be issuing the call that is the title of this message, Come and Praise! Come and Praise! Our God is worthy of praise! As believers we are in the privileged position of issuing this call on God’s behalf. We know God. We know how God has revealed Himself to everyone. And we know how to interpret God’s revelation. We can call to the world: Come and Praise! Our God is worthy of praise!
As we move into the second main section of the psalm, though, we see that the global response to God should also become personal;…
II. We personally should praise our God, vv. 13–20
Let’s read verses 13–20…<read Ps 66:13–20>.
Did you see how our psalmist switched to the first person, “I,” in verse 13? He begins to give us his personal testimony of praise to God. Praise is not meant to remain general, it should be personal. Yes, we call on the whole world to praise God. But we also are to lead the world by praising Him ourselves.
Transition:
In verses 13-15 he talks about public praise he gave as part of worship and then in verses 16-20 he talks about praise he gave through prayer. We will consider what we can learn from each of these sets of verses. In verses 13-15, we learn that…
A. Our devoted worship praises God, vv. 13–15
As I mentioned at the outset, we have no idea who or when this psalm was written, so we don’t know what was going on that prompted our writer to take a vow before God. What we do have, though, is a record of his commitment to fulfill his vow, a record that shows us how one individual personalized his experience of praising God.
In the OT, a vow often was made when an Israelite faced particular adversity. God had given the nation instructions as to who the believer could express his devotion and faith in God by promising to bring a sacrifice to the central center of worship—the tabernacle or later the temple—as soon as God answered his prayer. The exact nature of the offering was spelled out in Leviticus.
In this particular case, the offering that our psalmist gives is most extravagant. He is going to offer a burnt offering. With many of the offerings available, the worshipper shared some of the meal with other worshippers. But with the burnt offering, the entire offering was burnt on the altar. It was the offering that signified total devotion to God. Furthermore, rather than offering a single burnt offering, the psalmist is going to off rams, bulls, and male goats. These are the most valuable offerings that could be given, and he is going to give them all.
We should also note that the purpose of the offering was to provide a means for the worshipper to demonstrate and communicate before the nation how God had blessed him. By giving so many extravagant burnt offerings, the psalmist clearly wants the nation to know how God has blessed him. He wants his devotion to God to be obvious. He wants a chance to share what God had done. He wants to worship and praise his God.
Application
In two weeks we are having our annual afternoon Thanksgiving service. This service has become a favorite tradition in our church. It is meant to give us a chance to essentially the same thing as we see the psalmist doing in these verses.
For some of you, this may be your first Thanksgiving service so you may not know what we do. We have our noon potluck—I hope you pay attention to the details about that in the bulletin that went out this week—and then after the potluck we have an afternoon service. Most of the afternoon is dedicated to an open microphone before which we can all take turns telling one another about what God has done over the past year in our lives. This is an opportunity to praise God. I encourage you to bring something for show-and-tell if there is some special item that reminds you of God’s grace and faithfulness in your life. It is time to tell about the trials that God has brought you through. You can tell about the purifying work that God is doing. You can tell about the obvious governance over your life that you have experienced. You can tell about God’s deliverance and God’s blessings. Whatever you tell, this is an opportunity to tell what God has done so that you can make worship personal. I encourage you to plan ahead what you will share. Be extravagant in giving God praise. Bring an offering of praise so that you give God devoted worship.
Transition:
We personally should praise our God. Our devoted worship praises God. We see that displayed in verses 13-15. The final verses show us that…
B. Our confident prayer praises God, vv. 16–20
As I said, our writer switches from the describing the devoted worship that he will give God to describing his prayer. His prayer was given in private, apparently, but he wants all of God’s people to know about it, “Come and hear, all who fear God.” That’s actually a double command in the original, “Come! Listen!”
Illustration
I am sure that we have all had experiences that we are anxious to share. It is not at all unusual for Grace to come home from a day at work excited to tell me something about a patient that she met. Not too long ago she met a patient who was interested in coffee roasting. Apparently, they had quite a conversation about it and she was able to share with the patient some of the things that I like about roasting.
We share things that we are excited about. How many times have we been excited to share about our prayers? Our psalmist had cried out to God when he had an urgent need and God had answered his prayer. We probably understand why he would want to share that even if we tend not to get that excited about our own prayers.
Yet, I want us to notice a few of things about his prayer that are more significant than the simple fact that his prayer was answered. First, notice in verse 17 that even as he was cry to God with his mouth—in other words, even when he was in urgent need—he included praise for God—God was extolled with his tongue.
Application
Folks, praise should be part of our prayers at all times, even when our prayers happen to be an urgent cry for help; the simple fact that we are able to cry out to the God who governs this world and who preserves our life is cause for praise.
Second, notice that his prayer was grounded in personal integrity. Verse 18 makes it clear that the psalmist has examined himself and honestly concluded that he is not harboring a personal enjoyment of evil within his heart.
Third, he is confident that God has heard his prayer which, of course, also means that God has answered his prayer. The phrase in verse 20 “has not turned away my prayer” means that God has not avoided his prayer. The image is that God has not batted his prayer aside like one might bat aside a bug. Instead, because of God’s hesed—His covenant loyalty, His lovingkindness, God has answered his prayer with blessing. God’s response to His prayer demonstrates the unbroken relationship that he has with God—a relationship that was exercised by his confident prayer.
Application
Do we relish our unbroken relationship with God? Original sin completely severed our relationship with God, but faith in Jesus Christ restores it. Because of that we experience God’s lovingkindness; God will never bat us away when we approach Him in prayer. In fact, our confident prayer praises God.
Transition from body to conclusion:
We personally should praise our God. Our confident prayer praises God as does our devoted worship.
CONCLUSION
Come and Praise! Our God is worthy of praise!
Has 2020 been filled with discouragements? Come and Praise! Our God is worthy of praise!
Has your life been filled with hardships? Come and Praise! Our God is worthy of praise!
Is the future in this world fill of uncertainties? Come and Praise! Our God is worthy of praise!
The central message of this psalm is that we are to Come and Praise! Our God is worthy of praise!
From Psalm 66, we have seen this morning that this call should be both general and personal. The entire earth should praise our God. Let’s do our part to call for the entire earth to Come and Praise! Our God is worthy of praise! At the same time, we personally should praise our God. Let’s do our part to Come and Praise! Our God is worthy of praise!
Come and Praise! Our God is worthy of praise!