| Psalm 66:8-20 |
GOD RULES THE WORLD - This psalm opens with an invitation for all of creation to shout to the Lord, yet in the same breath, the psalmist also reminds us that praise is breaking out through creation all the time, all around us (v. 4). Such praise occurs because God’s name and power rule the world. Here, as elsewhere throughout the psalms, a pattern develops-we worship God because of who God is (of which the very titles and names of God is suggestive); but God’s being is most reflected through God’s creative acts. In short, God rules the world by virtue of God’s personal presence and power.
A PSALM OF RESURRECTION - In the 16th
century, John Bunyon drew from this psalm to describe his experience from spiritual death to life: Come and hear all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul (66:16). Thus follows his autobiographical account titled, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. The Vulgate titles this psalm as "The Psalm of Resurrection."CHRISTIANS AND PSALM 66 - For Christians, the ultimate paradigm of God’s life-giving activity is found in the death and resurrection of Jesus . . . Just as Christians affirm participation in the paradigmatic death and resurrection of Jesus, so also the psalmist affirms participation in the paradigmatic event of exodus. [1]
SPACIOUS PLACE - Though some of the resurrection language follows in the verses beyond our lesson, verses 11 and 12 reflects some of the anticipation of life that carries us beyond death: you brought us into the net . . . yet you brought us out to a spacious place.
What "resurrections" have you experienced? A death of one thing and the newness of another?
This psalm invites us to ponder the sheer majesty of God: Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds! . . . all earth bows down to you (vs. 3, 4). Where do you go to gain such a vision of God’s majesty? What visuals remind you of the grand artistry of God?
If you are a praise-song singing congregation, Worship His Majesty reflects some of the language and imagery of Psalm 66. That might be a good way to begin a meditation on this psalm.
You might point out how the language itself is beautiful and suggests that life in God is a series of deaths and resurrections.
Suggest how this has been true in your experience (if it is so).
Move us from language and image to the Christian understanding of resurrection and beyond that how we also are invited to participate with Christ in our own deaths and resurrections.
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[1] The New Interpreter’s Bible IV (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996), page
938.
