“Praise is due to you,
O God, in Zion;
and to you shall vows be performed,
O you who answer prayer!”
— Psalm 65:1-2a (NRSV)
Psalms like this brighten our
darkest mood. They furnish the soul with life-giving buoyancy when otherwise we
are sinking. They engage our hearts for passion and joy, replacing dolour and
numbness, even for one relieving moment. God speaks through them, singing to
our hearts: the Song of Salvation.
The Plain Deeds Visible In Creation
Much of this psalm is devoted to
lauding the majesty of Divine action within the corpus of creation. These deeds
of the Almighty—that mean, for us,
life—are seen for their saving nature:
Verse 5 speaks of the triple-horn:
deliverance, salvation, and hope. It is a beautiful introductory verse for the
rest of the psalm that sets about praising the Lord
for the wonder and might of Divine work in creation.
God shows Divine strength in
creating the mountains; the roaring waves are silenced, as are the groans of
the people, by a peace-placating God; much of humanity, those living all over
the earth, are awestruck by the everyday signs of the Creator; this Creator provides all the
earth’s needs—including humanity’s; even the smallest of cares is considered
and catered for; the brilliance of the meandering hills and valleys, and the
pastures of the wilderness, overflow.
Living decadence is the gracious
manner of the land—and all because of God.
The Song For Joy Is The Bout For Praise
When we revert back from the end
of the psalm and read the beginning over again, we find annotations of praise abounding
in, and implicit within, this Song of Joy. The psalmist is on no fancy of
intoxication, other than having been filled to the brim by the Spirit of Life.
The singing of joyous praises from
verse 5 onwards was generated by the first four verses.
And why is this so? God answers
prayer (verse 1) and he forgives our transgressions when they overwhelm us
(verse 3). The Lord makes those
happy that he brings near; within the courts of God is satisfaction (verse 4).
***
Finding hope within God’s Word is
not such a challenge when we stumble across this psalm. It will help us see the
majesty of God in creation; as the Lord
provides.
When we trust God to provide all
we need we will also see how this Lord
provides to the extent of the entire creation. Praise is due to God for all this. The level and
detail of Divine provision is astounding; the depths of which cannot be
plumbed.
***
Experiencing God’s blessing
ignites passion for thankfulness and gratitude for the enjoyment of hope and
the spiritual unity of shalom. ‘God is good’ is our testimony, and trusting God
is our priority, necessity, and focus. God has done, and does, great things!
© 2013 S. J. Wickham.
No comments:
Post a Comment