 Key Verse
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul. Meditation Mature faith in Jesus is marked by flourishing gratitude. Psalm 66 provides (at least) three categories to fertilize the growth of gratitude in the life of a disciple of Jesus. Celebrate God’s work in God’s world (1-4): The “wonderful works of God” (Acts 2:11) propel God’s people into praise. God’s “awesome deeds” and “great power” executed through His work is fuel for worship, praise, and gratitude. Celebrate God’s grace as God’s people (5-12): As Aspen trees share a root system to strengthen a single tree through community, so too gratitude is strengthened in communal praise. “Come and see what God has done” (5) is a call to corporate worship, remembering and celebrating God’s redemption of Israel through the Exodus (specifically Exodus 5-7). God’s people must cultivate a communal gratitude, celebrating God’s redemptive work. Celebrate God’s love as God’s child (13-20): The psalmist’s transition from “we” to “I” helps us see that communal gratitude is fruitful when each person cultivates a heart of gratitude. Gratitude grows when worshippers offer sacrifices (13-15), testimony (16-19), and personal praise (20). God’s people worship because of God’s redemptive work in our lives! We love because He has first loved us (1 John 4:19). Jesus and His work nourish the soil of salvation in our soul, ground from which gratitude grows in and through our lives. Jesus is climax of God’s redemptive work in the world, the headwaters of grace for God’s people, and the vehicle of God’s love. Elevating Jesus and His work will grow gratitude in our lives personally and worship corporately. Today’s Reading Shout for joy to God, all the earth; 2 sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! 3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. 4 All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah 5 Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. 6 He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him, 7 who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations— let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah 8 Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard, 9 who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. 10 For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. 11 You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; 12 you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you, 14 that which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble. 15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals, with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah 16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul. 17 I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. 18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. 19 But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me! Richly Dwelling -What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially ways the Psalmist cultivates gratitude through celebrating God’s redemptive work, God’s grace, and God’s love? -Does gratitude mark your life as a disciple of Jesus? If not, where can focusing on Jesus through the categories above fertilize the growth of gratitude? -How can you share the awesome deeds of the Lord with others in your life? Who is someone who needs to hear of God’s redemptive work in your life, His grace and love shown to you through the person and work of Jesus? Key Verse 16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
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