"Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!"
Psalm 66:20
Psalm 66 is a beautiful poem or song that recounts the never ending faithfulness of God. There is not an author mentioned for the Psalm, but David is a safe assumption due to the timing and style. Either way, the psalmist starts with a call to joyous praise from all people to God. This call is for all people around the world to praise his name, and in the next section of verses the psalmist recount the acts of God, specifically a reference to the parting of the Red Sea and perhaps the crossing of at the Jordan. These are miraculous events in the history of the Jewish people that the hearer of the psalm would surely know and understand the importance. So often, when we are in the midst of the difficulty it can be so hard to bring to mind the past faithfulness of the Lord in our circumstances, but this is the purpose of the beginning verses. After encouraging all people to praise God because of his faithful acts in the past, the writer then gets a bit more personal. He begins to recount the difficulties in life that he is going through. In verse 10 he proclaims, "For you, oh God, have tested us; you have tried us like silver". In order to shape and mold silver, a metal worker or blacksmith has to heat it up and bang it with a big hammer into shape. This process repeats itself several times, until he is pleased with the final shape of the piece of silver. The psalmist is taking this metaphor and applying it to his life. He is recounting all the times when things in life are "heating up". He is recounting all the times where he was feeling beaten down and reshaped by the challenges in life. Often God's discipline in our lives comes through the difficult challenges that we are facing. These may be expected trials, or unexpected; but either way they can make it seem like we are all alone in the challenge. These are the exact times when we need to recount the past faithfulness of the Lord, remember the times in the past he has delivered us and saved us, and I think that is exactly why the writer starts the psalm calling for praise because of the past times of deliverance of the Jewish people. Because the writer knows so well that life will get challenging. He knows so well that it can feel like you are getting beaten down and harshly molded through hard times. But, the writer also knows that God is ALWAYS faithful. After recounting some personal trials, the psalmist encourages the readers once again that the Lord was faithful, not just in big miraculous ways of the past, but in his own very personal life. In fact, he refers to his prayer life. The verse of scripture above is how the psalm ends. The writer can look back and see God's faithfulness, he can look at himself in the moment of the challenge and realize the need to call out to the Lord, and the psalmist even looks to the answered prayer on a very personal level, as a call for us to consider the love and faithfulness of our God. Today, as you face whatever challenges life has for you, be encouraged that God has always been faithful in the past, He is with you in the moment right now, and He will always keep His promises and remain faithful! Today, pray and ask God to calm your storm, ask the Lord for peace in the midst of the difficulty, and ask Him for the ability to count all of your trials joy because you know that He is working in you and for you! Be encouraged today that the love of the Lord is steadfast, never failing, and never ending! Love you all! Praying for you and yours! Have a blessed day, it's your choice!
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