🎵 Blessed Be God (Psalm 66) — Worship for Those Who Came Through Fire and Water 🎵

Psalm 66 is a testimony from the other side of the fire. Israel is tested, trapped in the net, ridden over, and carried through fire and water, then brought out to a place of overflowing. I went back to the Hebrew, where "refined" (tsaraf) is the smelter's word for silver purified in the furnace, and where the closing "mercy" is chesed, covenant loyalty that never let go. Slow worship with deep sub-bass, harp, lyre, and two voices in duet. Shout aloud to God, all the earth, with the loud, joyful cry of a crowd welcoming its king! Sing the glory of His name, and give Him praise that is itself full of glory. Say to God, How awesome are Your works! Because Your power is so great, even Your enemies will cringe before You, offering a forced and feigned obedience. All the earth will bow down to You and sing to You. That is both a promise of what will come and an invitation to join in now, so let them sing praises to Your name. Come and see the works of God, awesome in His dealings with the sons of men, acting on their behalf. He turned the sea into dry land, and His people crossed the river on foot, remembering both the Red Sea and the Jordan. There they rejoiced, and there we rejoice in Him still, because we are counted among those who walked through, as if we stood on that shore ourselves. He rules by His might forever, and His eyes keep watch over the nations. So do not let the rebellious lift themselves up, those stubborn ones who resist like an ox that will not take the yoke. Bless our God, you peoples, and let the sound of His praise be heard! He is the One who has kept our very lives, our whole selves, among the living, and has not let our feet slip or stumble. For You, O God, have tested us. You have refined us as silver is refined, purified and proven in worth, not only punished. You brought us into the net, a hunter's snare and a prison with no way out. You laid a crushing burden on our backs, on our loins, the very center of our strength. You let frail, mortal men ride over our heads, trampling and humiliating us like conquerors. We went through fire and through water, the worst dangers anyone can face. But You brought us out to overflowing abundance, a place of saturation, of rich fulfillment, of relief and refreshment. I will go into Your house with burnt offerings, and I will pay You my vows. These are the vows my lips opened wide to speak, and my mouth declared when I was in distress. I will offer You burnt offerings of the choicest, fattened animals, with the smoke of rams rising to You. I will offer bulls with goats. Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what He has done for my soul, my very life. I called to Him with my mouth, and high praise was already waiting under my tongue, ready to rise the moment He answered. If I had seen iniquity in my heart and cherished it, clinging to it without repentance, the Lord would not hear. But surely, indeed, God has heard me! He has paid close attention to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, who has not turned my prayer away, and has not taken His mercy, His covenant loyalty and steadfast love, from me! — The Spiritual Engineer