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"Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul."

~Psalm 66:16

 

The opening verses of this psalm invites and anticipates the spread of God’s rule and of his worship to all the earth (v.1-4).  This psalm was penned thousands of years ago, and we do not yet experience this reality, yet the author confidently expects and describes the certainty of this reality.  May our hearts, too, be confidently settled in the anticipation, expectation and participation of the worship of God and of his rule over all the earth.

The psalm progresses, though, from this glorious future anticipation to a brief recollection of God’s awesome deeds in the past (v.5-7).  The author then addresses the current ‘people of God’ (all those who fear him) imploring them to “bless [their] God” and “sound..his praise” (v.8-12); appealing to the faithfulness of who God is in his character, word and deed.

Lastly, having moved from the whole earth to the currently redeemed, the psalmist brings final application to the individual level.  He speaks of what he himself has done and will (must) do in response to God’s grace (v.13-20).  He has brought sacrifice and offering (v.13-15), invited others (v.16), cried out, given high praise and hated iniquity (v.17-18); and while continuing to hate iniquity, he will pray and bless God for all of his days (v.19-20).

Believer, anticipate and expect the day when the whole earth worships and praises God, shouting for joy and singing the glory of his name; actively participate in the worship of God with those who currently fear him (the Church); and be faithfully diligent in personal responsibility for hating iniquity, praying to God and blessing his name with high praise.