Jesus & Me in the Psalms / Worship; Devotion; Commitment; Praise; Agreement; Prayer

 

 

SCRIPTURE

Psalm 66 KJV

To the chief Musician, A Song or Psalm. ¹ Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: ² Sing forth the honour of his name: Make his praise glorious. ³ Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee. ⁴ All the earth shall worship thee, And shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah. ⁵ Come and see the works of God: He is terrible in his doing toward the children of men. ⁶ He turned the sea into dry land: They went through the flood on foot: There did we rejoice in him. ⁷ He ruleth by his power for ever; His eyes behold the nations: Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah. ⁸ O bless our God, ye people, And make the voice of his praise to be heard: ⁹ Which holdeth our soul in life, And suffereth not our feet to be moved. ¹⁰ For thou, O God, hast proved us: Thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. ¹¹ Thou broughtest us into the net; Thou laidst affliction upon our loins. ¹² Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water: But thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place. ¹³ I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows, ¹⁴ Which my lips have uttered, And my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble. ¹⁵ I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, With the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah. ¹⁶ Come and hear, all ye that fear God, And I will declare what he hath done for my soul. ¹⁷ I cried unto him with my mouth, And he was extolled with my tongue. ¹⁸ If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear me: ¹⁹ But verily God hath heard me; He hath attended to the voice of my prayer. ²⁰ Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, Nor his mercy from me.

 

INTRO

This Psalm invites its audience to come, see and hear the great deeds God has done for Israel and the writer.

 

The audience seems to be very broad. It begins with “all ye lands” and “all the earth,” and then in verse 16 it narrows to “all ye that fear God.”

 

When speaking to all the earth, much praise is given for deeds God has done in the past, particularly for the people of Israel.

 

[Go through the praise.]

 

PROP

While praise for what God has done for groups of people in the past can be motivating for us, it is not enough.

 

We need personal experiences of God working in our own lives.

 

While knowledge growth is vital in the Christian life, so it relational growth.

 

Relational growth calls for us to be personally devoted to God.

 

TRANS

This Psalm displays qualities of a personally devoted worshiper that we ought to follow in our own worship of the Lord.

 

Today, I would like to look at four of them.

 

FOUR QUALITIES OF BEING PERSONALLY DEVOTED TO GOD

 

#1 Fulfilled Commitments (vs. 13-15)

Psalm 66:13–15 KJV

¹³ I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows, ¹⁴ Which my lips have uttered, And my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble. ¹⁵ I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, With the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah.

 

#2 Open Praise (vs. 16-17)

Psalm 66:16–17 KJV

¹⁶ Come and hear, all ye that fear God, And I will declare what he hath done for my soul. ¹⁷ I cried unto him with my mouth, And he was extolled with my tongue.

 

#3 Private Agreement (vs. 18)

Psalm 66:18 KJV

¹⁸ If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear me:

 

#4 Answered Prayer (vs. 19-20)

Psalm 66:19–20 KJV

¹⁹ But verily God hath heard me; He hath attended to the voice of my prayer. ²⁰ Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, Nor his mercy from me.

 

CONCLUSION

The invitation has been given.

 

The call is to everyone.

 

Personal devotion is particularly modeled for those who fear God.

 

Don’t settle for what God has done for others.

 

Be personally devoted to God, and expect personal relationship and acts of God in your life.

 

Vs. 4 tells us all the earth will worship God. The rest of the Scriptures reveal this is fulfilled through God the Son, Jesus.

 

Jesus is the One Who makes personal relationship with God even possible.

 

Come to Jesus. See and hear God work in your life.