May 5th, 2004
If you have your Bibles I’d invite you to turn with me to Psalm 66, as we continue to work our way through the Second Book of the Psalms. That section of the book of the Psalms, or of the Psalter, runs from Psalm 42 to Psalm 72. So we are coming to an end of this particular section of the Lord’s Hymnal right in the middle of the Bible. You will perhaps have already noted if you’ve glanced at Psalm 66 some of the common themes that it shares with Psalm 65—and you’ll also notice some of those same themes in Psalm 67—especially the desire to see the nations praising God. We see a beautiful missionary emphasis in this Psalm. This is a Psalm of thanksgiving, “A Psalm of Praise and Thanksgiving to the Prayer-Hearing God.”
That’s what this Psalm is all about. The context of this Psalm is corporate worship. The call of this Psalm is to corporate worship. But it’s interesting…Who is called to worship? The whole earth is called to worship! All the peoples are called to worship. It’s not just Israel that’s being called to worship; it’s the whole world being called to worship the living God. The whole earth is being summoned in this call to worship, and the whole earth is being called to worship by the people of God celebrating God’s redemption of them. But it will ultimately come to focus on a single individual testifying of God’s grace to him and giving praise and worship and thanksgiving to God because of God’s grace to him. This Psalm reminds us that the God whose care is worldwide and church-wide and age-long—that same God is personal and cares for individuals, even nameless individuals in the midst of Israel like the one who is mentioned in the second half of this Psalm.
Now the Psalm falls into five sections. Let me outline it for you just briefly before we pray and hear the word read. There are five sections. The first you’ll see in verses 1-4: That’s that worldwide call to worship. Then, secondly, in verses 5-7 we begin a testimony, a testimony of the people of God. And it’s a testimony about their redemption, God’s redemption of them. Then, thirdly, in verses 8-12 the testimony continues, but now the focus is not on the redemption of God. It’s not on God’s redemption of His people; the focus is on the trials of God’s people. Now that’s an interesting thing for a Psalm of thanksgiving, a Psalm of worship, to have a center section on trials. There’s a very important lesson here. So that’s the third section of the Psalm. Then in verses 13-15 you get to the fourth section of the Psalm in which the redeemed, now just one individual, expresses his indebtedness to God. So we see the testimony of the redeemed in 5-7, the trials of the redeemed in verses 8-12, and the debt of the redeemed in verses 13-15. And then finally in verses 16-20, you see the desire of the redeemed expressed. Here the people of God, in the form of this individual, bless God because of His answers to prayer. Now let’s walk through this passage together. But before we do, let’s pray for God’s Holy Spirit to illumine our hearts as we hear His word read and proclaimed. Let’s pray.
Lord God, this is Your word, and we’re struck again, just allowing our eyes to skim this Psalm. And having heard it aptly summarized in our time of prayer, we’re struck again with how applicable Your word is to us. Your word is always one step ahead of us, and it’s always right on time, and it’s always what we need; because it’s about You and it’s about Your redemption, and it’s about Your provision of Christ for that redemption. And it’s about the Holy Spirit drawing us sweetly into faith in Christ, and it’s about Your way, O God. And it’s about the future and it’s about…O, it’s about You, O God, and it’s about Your works… and so it’s always timely. It’s always applicable. Grant that our eyes would see this and that by Your Spirit You would apply this word to our hearts, and we would rejoice and we would trust and obey. We ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Hear God’s word. Psalm 66:
“For the choir director. A Song. A Psalm. 1 Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; 2 Sing the glory of His name; Make His praise glorious. 3 Say to God, ‘How awesome are Your works! Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You. 4 All the earth will worship You, And will sing praises to You; They will sing praises to Your name.’ 5 Come and see the works of God, Who is awesome in His deeds toward the sons of men. 6 He turned the sea into dry land; They passed through the river on foot; There let us rejoice in Him! 7 He rules by His might forever; His eyes keep watch on the nations; Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. 8 Bless our God, O peoples, And sound His praise abroad, 9 Who keeps us in life and does not allow our feet to slip. 10 For You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined. 11 You brought us into the net; You laid an oppressive burden upon our loins. 12 You made men ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water, Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance. 13 I shall come into Your house with burnt offerings; I shall pay You my vows, 14 Which my lips uttered and my mouth spoke when I was in distress. 15 I shall offer to You burnt offerings of fat beasts, With the smoke of rams; I shall make an offering of bulls with male goats. 16 Come and hear, all who fear God, And I will tell of what He has done for my soul. 17 I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue. 18 If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear; 19 But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer Nor His lovingkindness from me.” Amen. This is God’s word. May He add His blessing to it.
Picture the scene: Hundreds, thousands of worshipers gathered around the tabernacle in solemn thanksgiving and praise and worship to God. Some national deliverance has occurred. The people of God are somehow under threat, and God, in His mercy and in spite of their sin, has shown them favor and grace, and they are gathered to worship the living God. But as they worship God they are not satisfied to thank God for His deliverance of them. No, as they do so they call on the nations to worship this God, because this God is unspeakably great and He ought to be worshipped by all His creatures. And so they use the witness of God’s dealings with them to call the nations to the worship of the one-and-only, true God.
But in the midst of this service everything goes silent and suddenly there’s the focus on one, single worshipper in Israel as he comes before the Lord with burnt offerings and says, ‘This is the vow that I promised that I would pay if you would deliver me, O God. And You have heard and You have answered my prayer. And I am here to pay my vow and to praise You in the midst of Jerusalem.’ And it says that all the eyes of Israel are on that one worshipper. And I want us to see five things from this great scene. I want to see the worldwide worship of God with you. I want to see the testimony of the redeemed. I want to see the trials of the redeemed. I want to see the debts of the redeemed. And I want to see the desire of the redeemed with you for just a few moments.
I. God’s universal right to
worship and His people’s longing for His universal worship (1-4) [Worldwide
Worship: The peoples of the earth (even God’s enemies) are summoned to give
homage to God]
First,
look at verses 1-4. Here we see God’s universal right to worship and His
people’s longing for His universal worship. This section is about the worldwide
worship of God. The peoples of the earth—even God’s enemies! Did you notice
that in verses 1-4? Even God’s enemies are summoned to give homage to Him here
in verses 1-4. You’ve already recognized the echo of Psalm 98:4 and of Psalm
100:1 in the very first stanza, or phrase, of Psalm 66:1, “Shout joyfully to
God, all the earth.” This is based upon the reality that all people owe God
allegiance and praise. Why? Because He made them. We were made in His image.
We owe Him worship and so the Psalm begins with the people of God calling on all
the earth to shout joyfully to God, because all the peoples of the earth have
been made by God. And the people of God are expressing their longing and their
desire for all the nations to bless God. That’s how the Psalm begins. The
people of God are praising God for His deliverance of them, but as they do their
eyes are on the nations. They long for the nations to join them in the worship
of God. That is a theme which will be yet again developed in Psalm 67.
But I want to focus here on what is exactly said to do in this worship. Notice, “shout joyfully.” This is “to gladly rejoice in the rule of God our King.” This is a call for the nations to give a shout of homage. When a king is enthroned in the ceremony of enthronement, the peoples and client-states under him are called to shout their voice of allegiance to him to indicate their homage, their owning of his rule over them. And the nations are being called here to own the rule of God, to make that shout, that glad rejoicing in the rule of God the King known. But in verses 1 and 2, the second half of verse 1 and verse 2, in the midst of this call for the nations to join in this worship of the one true God, in this little verse we are told four very important things about one, important aspect of corporate worship. That aspect of corporate worship is singing.
And I want you to see four things that we’re told about singing here in verse1b, the second half of verse 1, and in verse 2. These few words address the action, the object, the content, and the quality of our singing in worship. Isn’t it amazing, the Bible’s economy of words, how the Lord in His divine wisdom, in His inspiration of Scripture, can say so much in so few words? These words here address the action, the object, the content, and the quality of our singing.
First of all, the action of our singing: We are, notice, to sing. Not simply to speak, not simply to shout, we are to sing to God’s glory. That’s not an option. Christians must sing. Now you may say, “I can’t sing.” And I’ll tell you, I stood next to my father for probably fifteen years. I’ll tell you about somebody who couldn’t sing…but he sang every Lord’s Day. He literally only could make a joyful noise, but he sang every Lord’s Day. And, you know, he taught me so much…he taught me so much with his off-pitch voice about praising God. You know he could’ve been embarrassed about the sound that was coming from his mouth, but he wasn’t. He was there to praise God. Singing isn’t an option. One of my favorite, favorite lines in all of hymnody comes from “Come We that Love the Lord” that says, “Let those refuse to sing who never knew our God”? You can’t know our God and refuse to sing. You’ve got to sing. It wells up in your heart. You’ve got to sing. In singing the heart is lifted up in praise to God from the very inner recesses. Truth and affection are welded together and we join them in praise to the living God. You’ve got to sing. And here’s the Psalmist saying, ‘Don’t just talk about God’s glory! Sing it!’ That’s where he starts. “Sing the glory of His name,” verse 2.
But we’re not only to sing to God’s glory; notice we’re to sing to God. “Sing the glory of His name.” “Shout to God all the earth.” The end of verse 1 reminds us that we are to “shout joyfully to God.” The direction of our praise is towards him. Don Carson has reminded us that “worship is a transitive verb.” That is, it requires an object. You can’t just worship; you’ve got to worship something or someone. And the Bible tells us what that something or someone is: It’s God! So the direction of our singing is God. Oh, yes, it is very appropriate and the Psalms are filled with the people of God singing to one another to encourage one another in aspects of the faith. But you know what they’re always encouraging one another about? God! He’s the direction of our singing. So we’re not only just to sing; we’re to sing to God.
And, thirdly, notice here we’re to sing about God. “Sing the glory of His name”! We’re to rejoice in His name, His reputation, His nature. Worship is about God! And so we’re to sing about Him. And that’s what we try and do in our hymns and songs and psalms: We try and sing about God.
And, fourthly, notice that our singing to Him is to be glorious. Now that doesn’t mean that from a worldly standpoint it’s spectacular. It doesn’t mean that we have to have The Boston Symphony in here every Sunday morning accompanying us. The grandeur that’s being spoken about here, the gloriousness that is being spoken about here is the vitality and faith and awe of heart which ought to characterize the singing of the people of God as we realize to whom we’re singing. Our singing is never, ever to be trivial because we’re worshipping an awesome God. And there ought to be a gloriousness and a grandeur about it. And so you see in just these few words the action and the object and the content and the quality of our singing in worship are addressed. So don’t think that those two, little verses don’t tell us much. They tell us a great deal.
Now, notice in verse 3 that the people of God are specifically exhorted to acknowledge, first, the awesomeness of God’s work. “Say to God, ‘How awesome are Your works!” This whole Psalm will be very concerned to exalt God for His works, especially His works of redemption. And, secondly, notice that we are specifically exhorted to acknowledge the greatness of God’s power. “How awesome are Your works! Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You.” In other words, God’s works—His deeds, His saving acts, and His power—are so great, the Psalmist says, that even when His enemies are in His assembly they won’t dare to not at least act like they’re doing homage to Him for fear of His greatness. And so the people of God are exhorted to acknowledge the greatness of God.
And then it goes on, verse 4, “[And] All the earth will worship You, And will sing praises to You; They will sing praises to Your name.” This Psalmist, this assembly of believers, they are longing for the day when the whole earth will worship the living God. We saw that hinted at in the very first exhortation, “Shout joyfully to God all the earth.” But here it’s made explicit: “All the earth will worship You, [All the earth] will sing praises to You; They will sing praises to Your name.” And every believer longs for that. That’s part of the deepest longings of our hearts. We long for that day when… “At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father.” That’s a deep longing of our hearts. And Christians here are exhorted to worship God for God—for who He is, for what He’s done—and to long for all others to worship that one-and-only God. You know this first phrase, this first section of Psalm 66 is so un-politically correct. Though it might seem generous to say that we long for the world to worship God…and it is…it is also a declaration that there is no other god to worship. This is the only God that there is to worship. And the gods of the nations are idols. They’re not to be worshipped; they’re to be pounded into dust. This God is the only God to be worshipped, and that declaration is all over the first four verses of this Psalm.
II. God’s people call the
peoples of the earth to behold God’s work of redemption (5-7) [The Testimony of
the Redeemed: The peoples of the earth are beckoned to consider the story of the
Exodus]
But we hasten on. Verses 5 to 7
give us a second section. The worldwide worship of God is focused on in verses
1-4. Now we see the testimony of the redeemed. The peoples of the earth are
being beckoned in verses 5-7 to consider the story of the Exodus. God’s people,
in verses 5-7, are calling on all the peoples of the earth to behold God’s work
of redemption of His people in the Exodus.
Notice, by the way, that we see here a call to corporate worship. This is not just a call to general worship. There is such a thing as worship in all of life, where in everything that we do, “whether [we] eat or drink,” we seek to glorify God. The Old Testament talks about that; the New Testament talks about that. But this is a call to corporate worship. How do I know? Listen to the word, “Come!” This is a word… ‘Stop what you’re doing and think about God. Come here and worship God.’ Not, ‘Stay where you are and worship in the abode’; ‘Stop what you’re doing and come here, and consider the most important thing you will ever learn.’
And I also want you to note: What’s being asked to be done here is not seeker-sensitive. It’s not toned down. This worship doesn’t tone down the things about God that would make pagans uncomfortable. It’s a summons that’s being set forth here. “Come and see the works of God, Who is awesome in His deeds toward the sons of men.”
Now notice in verse 5 that the source of hope, the source of the very hope which we spoke of in verse 4, the hope that all the ends of the earth would come to the living God—notice that that hope is spoken of here in verse 5. And the source of the joy of verse 1 and the praise of verse 4 is spoken of. What is it? The works of God.
What is meant by “the works of God”? Not just His works in general, such as creation and providence, but especially His works of redemption. That’s what’s being spoken about here. You see it in verse 6, “He turned the sea into dry land; They passed through the river on foot.” What’s this referring to? —the Exodus in the entrance into the Land of Promise. This is the work of redemption. That’s the source of the hope of verse 4. That’s the source of the joy of verse 1. That’s the source of the praise of verse 4. Worship is about God. It’s about who He is. It’s about what He has done. It’s about His redemptive acts.
And notice the interesting thing that these Israelites call themselves. They call themselves “sons of men.” “Come and see the works of God, Who is awesome in His deeds toward the sons of men.” You know they could’ve said, ‘He’s awesome in His deeds towards the elect,’ because they were the elect. They were the chosen ones of God. Out of all the peoples of the world He had chosen them. But they simply refer to themselves as “the sons of men.” And notice how that gives them a community of being with these nations that they’re speaking to, as if to say to them, ‘Friends, you trust in this God, and you who are sons of men like us, you too will find that His acts of redemption are great.’ But it also emphasizes that there’s nothing in them that has a claim on these mercies of God. Nothing’s special about them that demands that God show them His mercy. They’re just ordinary human beings. They’re just “the sons of men.” And He has shown His awesome deeds towards us. Israel, by viewing herself as “the sons of men,” highlights divine grace and stokes the hope of salvation in the nations.
And then as we’ve already said, in verse 6 we have this summarization of the Exodus and the entrance into the Land of Canaan. This is the feature. The redemption of God is to be the feature. Yes, the nations are called. Yes, unbelievers are called to come and see this work of redemption. Yes, we see an example here of doxological evangelism, worship evangelism. But in this worship evangelism God is not accommodated to the peoples; the peoples are accommodated to God. They are summoned to behold Him in His greatness, to behold His work of redemption.
III. God’s people call the
peoples of the earth to behold God’s upholding of them in the trial of life
(8-12) [The Trials of the Redeemed: The peoples of the earth are asked to
consider the dark providences of God]
Then in verses 8-12, having spoken of the redemption of God, we see then the
trials of the redeemed. God’s people in verses 8-12 call the peoples of the
earth to behold God’s upholding of them in the trials of life. The trials of
the redeemed now become part of the people of God’s witness to the world. The
peoples of the earth are now, having just considered the story of the Exodus,
now they’re asked to consider the dark providences of God in the lives of
His people. Again, the people of God call the peoples to worship because
Israel’s fortunes embrace the world, even as the church’s fortune embraces the
world. This is told to us all the way back in Genesis 12:1-3. Part of the
Abrahamic covenant of grace was that all the families of the earth would
be blessed. Now it’s not the redemptive acts that become the reason for the
people of God’s praise which serves as a witness to the world. What’s the
reason? —God’s preservation of them through troubles. Look at what it says,
‘You keep us in life and do not allow our feet to slip.’ Now it is God’s
preservation of His people through troubles which is the matter of praise and
the matter of witness to the nations. It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it, to
show the nations God’s redeeming work of His people? But now the trials of His
people are shown to the nation as a witness to God.
But it doesn’t stop there. This is stated in the most striking way possible. Look at verses 10-12. It is God who is trying His people. It is God who is refining His people. It is God who is casting a net over His people. It is God who is laying a burden on His people. It is God who is making men ride over His people. Listen to the words of the Psalmist, “You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid an oppressive burden upon our loins. You made men ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water, Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance.” Here we see the biblical pattern of the believer seeing the hand of God in all events, including dark providences, including suffering, including oppression, including all the bad things of life in a fallen world. And seeing the hand of God in all those events makes suffering as meaningful as deliverance because it is seen as the searching scrutiny of God and the saving discipline of God. Isn’t it amazing? ‘Even our trials,’ the people of God say. ‘Even our trials serve as witness to the glory of God and to the gospel way of salvation.’ Now you remember that. You may be in the midst of a trial right now. God will make that trial to be a witness to His glory to the nations.
IV. God’s people call the
peoples of the earth to behold just how much they owe to God (13-15) [The Debt
of the Redeemed: The peoples of the earth are asked to consider what the
Redeemed owe God]
And then in the fourth
section, in verses 13-15, this is personalized. Notice the singular now. We’ve
been talking about us, us, us; now “I shall come into Your
house.” The whole assembly focuses on a single worshipper. Some commentator
says, ‘Well, this is the king representing all of the people,’ but it certainly
does have the tone of testimony here. It’s hard to say…but here we see the debt
of one of the redeemed expressed as a witness to the peoples. The peoples of
the earth are asked to consider what the redeemed owe God through this one
worshipper coming to bring his burnt offerings and to pay his vows. God’s
people through this one worshipper are calling the peoples of the earth to
behold just how much they owe God.
The whole assembly is focused on this worshipper. And he stands and he says, ‘God has delivered me in my distress, and so I have come to His house with burnt offerings to pay my vows which my lips uttered and my mouth spoke when I was in distress. I shall offer to You burnt offerings of fat beasts, With the smoke of rams; I shall make an offering of bulls with male goats.” That, my friends, is going to be our testimony in the great day of the assembly of the Lord. Every trial which God has delivered us through, and if we are His children He will deliver us through every one, will be a matter for praise in the great assembly.
And notice here…you might have expected thank offerings. That would’ve made sense. Thank offerings would’ve made sense, but it’s burnt offerings that he’s bringing, not thank offerings. And what does that remind us of? Well, it reminds us of the gravity of the situation, of the threat of God’s judgment, of sins forgiven. This worshipper is deeply aware of how much he owes God. He ought to have been exterminated in that trial, but God delivered him. And he can’t think enough to give back to this God. Remember when you sing that stanza around communion time? “Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.” This worshipper is here with burnt offerings and he’s saying, ‘I owe you everything, God, and I’m here to pay the vow. And even what I bring, it isn’t enough, because I owe you everything.’ Our trials and God’s deliverances form the sweet matter of final worship.
V. God’s people call the
peoples of the earth to behold just how much God has done for our souls (16-20)
[The Desire of the Redeemed: The people of God are asked to hear a brother bless
God for God’s blessing]
But it doesn’t stop here, does it?
The desire of the redeemed is expressed in verses 16-20. The people of God are
asked to hear a brother bless God for God’s blessing of him, for God’s answers
to prayer. God’s people call on the people of God to behold just how much God
has done for our souls. Have you noticed the shift of focus? “Come and hear—”
You’re expecting “all you peoples of the earth.” Now it says, “Come and hear,
all who fear God, And I will tell of what He has done for my soul. I cried to
Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue. If I regard wickedness
in my heart, The Lord will not hear; But certainly God has heard; He has given
heed to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, Who has not
turned away my prayer Nor His lovingkindness from me.”
You know it’s an interesting, little, logical argument at the end of this Psalm, isn’t it? And it catches you by surprise. This is not unlike a syllogism. You know what a syllogism is in logic: a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. Major premise: All men are mortal. Minor premise: Socrates is a man. Conclusion: Socrates is mortal. Syllogism. And here’s the syllogism here: “If I regard wickedness in my heart, God will not hear”; “God has heard”; so what’s the conclusion? “I have not regarded wickedness in my heart”!? That’s not the conclusion to this Psalm. ‘If there is regard for sin in my heart, God will not hear.’ God has regarded my prayer: ‘He has heard.’ Conclusion? Look at it. Verse 20, “Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer nor His lovingkindness from me.”
You know what the Puritan Thomas Fuller says about this? “David hath tricked me here, but I do love David’s syllogism more than Aristotle’s; for he has substituted for my non-regard of sin in my heart, God’s lovingkindness towards me.” This worshipper knows that the only hope he had was the lovingkindness of God, but that hope proved enough. And then he turns to the nations and he says, ‘Will you not worship this God?’ Let’s pray.
Our Lord and our God, we bless You for You have heard our cries and delivered us from distress and saved our souls from destruction and made us to be Your people— all for Christ’s sake. And we love you and we ask, O God, that You would be exalted in the eyes of all the peoples of the world that they might come and worship You. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Would you stand for God’s blessing? Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus, the Christ. Amen.