THE GLOBAL SYMPHONY
Opening Prayer
Spirit of God, match the beat of my heart to the rhythm of Yours.
Read Psalm 66
For the director of music. A song. A psalm.
1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
2 Sing the glory of his name;
make his praise glorious.
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power
that your enemies cringe before you.
4 All the earth bows down to you;
they sing praise to you,
they sing the praises of your name.”[a]
5 Come and see what God has done,
his awesome deeds for mankind!
6 He turned the sea into dry land,
they passed through the waters on foot—
come, let us rejoice in him.
7 He rules forever by his power,
his eyes watch the nations—
let not the rebellious rise up against him.
8 Praise our God, all peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard;
9 he has preserved our lives
and kept our feet from slipping.
10 For you, God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.
11 You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.
12 You let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance.
13 I will come to your temple with burnt offerings
and fulfill my vows to you—
14 vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke
when I was in trouble.
15 I will sacrifice fat animals to you
and an offering of rams;
I will offer bulls and goats.
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;
19 but God has surely listened
and has heard my prayer.
20 Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!
Footnotes
a Psalm 66:4 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verses 7 and 15.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Look at verse 18. Is there anything getting in the way of your prayers?Today you will probably go to church. What connects your walk with God during the week with the gathering you’ll attend? And what connects that gathering with everything else going on in the world? It’s easy to feel that one is irrelevant to the other.
This psalm moves between the universal (“all the earth,” 1–7), the experience of the people of God (8–12) and the highly personal (13–20). These three spaces are profoundly connected by the orchestrating work of God. God’s power is evident in all the earth (Rom. 1:20), and he has worked particularly in acts of deliverance for his people. Verse 6 could allude to the Exodus from Egypt or the crossing of the Jordan into the Promised Land. The image of passing through waters is then used to refer to Israel’s later history (12; Isa. 43:2), and it could equally be used of the psalmist’s personal experience. It is all part of the same symphony of God’s faithful love.
As a young child I was once asked to play the triangle in a school concert. This minor task produced a disproportionate amount of anxiety. I only had to tap the triangle three times, and in the end I did so at the wrong time. I was so focused on my responsibility that I didn’t listen to the other musicians and singers.
Apply
Does your relationship with God permeate every area of your life? Is there an area in which you are trying to play your own tune in the midst of God’s symphony?
Closing prayer
Lord, please help me to hear the notes of my life as part of Your glorious symphony throughout the world.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.