In the year 715 BC, Shalmanezer, the King of Assyria besieged the Northern Kingdom of Israel. For three years, his army starved the nation of Israel until finally they surrendered. In 712 BC, the northern Kingdom crumbled, Israelite citizens were marched off to a foreign land, and Assyria began to rule over part of the land that God had promised to his people.
All of this had been warned by the prophets - and yet the kings and most of the people refused to worship they one true God in the ways that he had prescribed (2 Kings 17:7-23). They had syncretized the Jewish rituals with other pagan rituals, worshiped idols, sacrificed to false gods, and even sacrificed some of their children in the manner of the surrounding nations. God had ordained that Assyria would be his instrument of judgment on the northern kingdom. (2 Kings 18:11-12)
Meanwhile, in the south, 31 year-old King Hezekiah of Judah observed the fall of the Northern Kingdom. He continued to lead the people of Judah (the southern kingdom) to follow God in the ways that God prescribed.
Eight years later, there was a new King in the vast Assyrian empire - Sennacherib. He knew that this little strip of land between his nation and Egypt would be a profitable piece of property for trade and so he began to flex his military muscles. He began to extort money and resources from King Hezekiah. It wasn’t long before Sennacherib wanted more than just the resources. He began to take some cities and was threatening the capitol city of Jerusalem.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, that this incident prompted Hezekiah to pray fervently to Yahweh, who responded by distracting and then destroying 185,000 of the Assyrian Army. Within a short period of time, even King Sennacherib lost his life as two of his sons killed him.
Many commentators believe that this event is what prompted the writing of Psalm 66 and even speculate that Hezekiah himself may have composed this corporate psalm of thanksgiving.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been considering gratitude and praise as we have reflected on this psalm together. We’ve considered the call to worship or give thanks and the need to bear witness about what God has done so that others can respond.
Today, we’ll be looking at the central portion of the Psalm.
Before we do that though, I want to point out a bit of the greater structure. It is common throughout the Bible and especially the Psalms to find a chiastic structure. This structure creates a sort of balance in the text in order to highlight some portion of the material - drawing that to our attention.
This Psalm has that same sort of structure. Let me encourage you to have your Bible or the Pew Bible out in order to see this most clearly. In the Bible that I use to prepare with, I made some of these markings and labels so that I could see it more clearly.
A: Worship (1-4) - with the imperatives to sing, shout, give and say praise to God.
B: Witness (5-7) - an invitation for outsiders to see God’s work (which requires testimony) and then respond.
C: Corporate Worship (8-12) - this central stanza of the Psalm is almost a double stanza - beginning with a corporate call to worship - as we will see, this seems to reference the pain experienced by the nation
C’: Personal Worship (13-15) - this central stanza concludes with a personal worship.
B’: Witness (16-19) - instead of an invitation to come and see, this one is an invitation to come and hear as the Psalmist talks about answered prayer.
A’: Worship (20) - finally the Psalm concludes with praise to God.
(Adapted from the “Exalting Jesus is Psalms 51-100” Commentary)
Worship or praise is a key part of this Psalm - and given the fact that the central stanza or segment of this Psalm applies worship both corporately and individually helps us to see that this is something for the congregation and the Christian.
Let’s look at those central verses once again. As we read these words aloud together, notice the shift between first person plural pronouns (our, us, we) and first person singular (I, my):
Psalm 66:8–15 ESV
Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard,
who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip.
For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.
You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs;
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.
I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you,
that which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.
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
Let’s pray.
My hope is that by the time we finish considering these verses together, we will be convinced that…
Theme: In our worship and gratitude, we should recognize God’s presence in our pain and prosperity; and respond with personal piety.
Let’s think back to the beginning of Hezekiah’s reign. While he was a distant descendent of David, his predecessors included a mixture of good and bad kings. Their goodness and badness, according to the books of 1 and 2 Kings was predicated on whether or not they led the nation to worship God in God’s ways or would lead them to follow the practices of other nations.
Hezekiah’s own father had led the nation to set up false altars and even commissioned an altar in Jerusalem after an altar to a false deity that he found in Lebanon. He even went so far as to sacrifice one of his sons by burning him.
When he died, Hezekiah became king. Notice how the author of Kings marks the beginning of Hezekiah’s reign.
2 Kings 18:1–3 ESV
In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.
Periodically, the writer of Kings will give us insight into other family members. Here, he wants us to know about Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. Incidentally, this is not the Zechariah that has a book named after him, he came along about 2 centuries later. This Zechariah was likely the man who instructed King Uzziah, another of Judah’s godly kings (2 Chr. 26:5).
Hezekiah had a godly mom who raised her son in a godly way, even though her husband was a godless king.
Mom’s, you have a profound impact in the lives of your children. I know for some of you, your husbands don’t yet believe. I pray regularly for their salvation - and I know I’m not alone in this. I believe Abi or Abijah, taught Hezekiah to recognize God’s presence and that made a difference in how he ruled. Even if your husbands never turn to the Lord, keep teaching your children the ways of God. Keep instructing them in His word! Help them recognize God’s presence - I believe it will make a difference in their lives.
But this is not just for moms, but for all of us. We need to…
Recognize God’s presence (8-12)
Notice, in verse 8-9 of our passage today, the Psalmist calls for God’s people to worship Him, to praise Him, to give him thanks.
We should recognize God’s presence generally.
In the comfort of our society, we can get easily lulled into a stupor that causes us to forget God. We can be enticed to trust in wealth or politics or people. We can easily sacrifice our corporate patterns of gathering for worship or meeting in discipling groups. After all, for most of our society - Sunday is just another Saturday or even just another day of the week. Some people choose to work on Sundays. Youth sports get scheduled on Sunday mornings.
It has creeped into the church as well. Statistics reveal that many Christians who consider themselves average church attenders only attend once a month - or less. Would our bosses or teachers accept a 20-25% attendance?
We may not sacrifice children by burning them on the altar to Molech, but are we sacrificing them on the altar of success by teaching them that participation in church is a matter of convenience rather than conviction? Are we modeling lives that recognize the sovereignty of God? Do our calendars and our bank accounts acknowledge his presence in our lives?
Frankly, even as I prepared this week I was convicted about this. In a couple of weeks Danielle and I are going on a cruise to celebrate our anniversary. Unfortunately, because of the dates that were available, we are missing two Sundays together here with you.
Now, I realize, we’re here together so in some ways I’m preaching to the choir and to myself.
But are there other places where we set aside our recognition of God’s presence?
I haven’t talked much about the election this year. In many ways I’ve wanted to, but I also want to be careful not to offend or to promote one party over another. There are some significant issues on the ballot - especially here in Maryland. I know there are a lot of people in our nation, maybe even in our church, who are placing a lot of hope in the outcome of Tuesday’s election. There have even been some from Christian circles who have said that we need to set aside Christian standards or ethics in order to usher in a Christian nation - even by force. To quote the Apostle Paul - “may it never be!” (Romans 6:2)
Should we pray for and hope for a revival marked by life-changing reformation in our nation? Yes!
Do I long for our nation to be marked by biblical and godly values? Yes!
But that won’t be achieved by imposing biblical values from the top down. We won’t gain anything if we compromise those values in order to impose them. As a church, we need to put more hope and trust in the saving and sustaining work of God than we do in the power brokering in Washington.
Do I care who resides in the White House over the next four years? Yes and no. I’m not going to lose any sleep worrying about what the future holds because a certain person is temporarily residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.. God is in charge. He holds the future. As God’s people we need to recognize and reveal in how we live, speak, and pray that God rules. We need to keep Him at the forefront of our minds and not compromise our witness by succumbing to worldly means to attempt to accomplish so-called godly ends.
We should recognize God’s presence in the world generally, but also…
We should recognize God’s presence in our pain.
Notice in our text that the Psalmist vaguely recounts a painful season in Judah’s history In verses 10-12.
Judah was fearful of the threats of the Assyrian army. They had seen Assyria invade and occupy their relatives in the North. They had succumbed to some of the same religious practices that Israel had. And yet, in their pain, they turned to God and watched him work.
In many ways, God uses the pain, suffering, trials in our lives to produce fruit. It may not be pleasant, but it is what God allows. Pain should push us to our Savior.
For Judah, it brought a season of peace and even prosperity. With that in mind,…
We should recognize God’s presence in our prosperity.
As good as Hezekiah was in crisis, he still had a bit of the fear of man in him. Several years after this threatened invasion and after God had healed him from a terminal illness, Hezekiah boasted to Babylonian emissaries about the riches of his kingdom. The son who succeeded him became one of Judah’s longest reigning and worst kings. While Hezekiah did follow God, he got distracted and the nation eventually paid for it.
So, what does that mean for us as the people of God, the local church and the broader universal church?
Continue in regular corporate worship
Continue to honor God in our times of worship - there are some denominations who are introducing syncretistic or pagan practices into their worship - may we never do that.
Continue to speak up for those who have no voice - the pre-born and those who have little voice - the orphans, widows, sojourners, oppressed, disadvantaged.
Continue to model and teach biblical values in our homes.
Which brings us to the last half of the passage that we’re considering today. Not only do we need to recognize God’s presence, but we should…
Respond with personal piety (13-15)
Notice how the Psalmist shifts his language - from we to I.
Psalm 66:13–15 ESV
I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you, that which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble. 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
It does no good to recognize God’s presence corporately if we’re not going to live it out personally. In many ways, it is through our personal or individual obedience that the corporate recognition is realized. We are each, individually ambassadors for God, His Word, and His Ways.
Now, we don’t offer sacrifices the same way that they did, but what would personal piety look like for us?
Lets consider some of what Scripture says.
Scripture urges us to:
Gather in worship
Hebrews 10:24–25 ESV
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Read and meditate on the word
Psalm 1:1–2 ESV
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
Pray
Matthew 6:6 ESV
But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Sing
We’ve already seen this command in this Psalm. There are plenty of other Psalms that we can turn to, but as people of Christ, the NT also reminds us to:
Colossians 3:16 ESV
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Teach
Deuteronomy 6:5–9 ESV
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Give
to the Lord:
Malachi 3:10 ESV
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
to others:
Galatians 6:10 ESV
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Make Disciples
Matthew 28:19–20 ESV
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Live honorably
1 Peter 2:12 ESV
Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
Ultimately,
Follow Jesus
Hebrews 12:1–2 ESV
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus set for us a high standard. He modeled what it means to live with personal piety and instructed his disciples to do the same. Each generation gets to emulate the Jesus’ ways among their peers and model it for subsequent generations. Jesus followed God’s ways in the face of great challenges. He could have called down angels to pull him out from following the punishment that he took - even though it was unjust. His pain served a greater purpose - in order to redeem you and me from our sins. He called us into a relationship with him that we might learn to live his ways and proclaim his ways to others.
Closing thoughts
In times of testing or pain and prosperity - are you trusting God by recognizing His presence in your life and in the world?
Are you trusting more in him or in your abilities or in the political outcomes?
Is your worship of God a regular part of your personal piety - or an add on?
What are your daily Spiritual patterns?
Are you allowing those patterns to impact how you live, speak, think, interact?
Let’s pray.
Benediction
Romans 15:13 ESV
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Questions for reflection and discussion
Read: Psalm 66.
1. What acts of deliverance did the psalm writer describe? (66:8–12)
2. What purpose motivated God to allow His people to experience hardship? (66:9–12)
3. What images did the psalm writer use to describe the testing Israel went through? (66:11–12)
4. Under what circumstances did the psalm writer make his vows to God? (66:14)
5. Why does God allow us to experience hardship?
6. How should we react to failure or difficult experiences?
7. Why did the psalm writer remind others what God had done for them in the past?
8. Why is it important to tell others about what God has done for us?
9. Who is one person you could tell about what God has done for you?
Sources:
Augustine of Hippo. “Expositions on the Book of Psalms.” In Saint Augustin: Expositions on the Book of Psalms, edited by Philip Schaff, translated by A. Cleveland Coxe. Vol. 8. A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series. New York: Christian Literature Company, 1888.
Easton, M. G. Illustrated Bible Dictionary and Treasury of Biblical History, Biography, Geography, Doctrine, and Literature. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893.
Mallard, Paul. The Grace of Gratitude. Great Britain: 10 of Those, 2021.
Platt, David, Matt Mason, and Jim Shaddix. Exalting Jesus in Psalms 51-100. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2020.
Ross, Allen P. “Psalms.” In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck. Wheaton, IL: Victor
Wiersbe, Warren W. Be Worshipful. 1st ed. “Be” Commentary Series. Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries, 2004. Books, 1985.
Wilcock, Michael. The Message of Psalms 1-72. The Bible Speaks Today. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001.
