Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing out the honor of His name; Make His
praise glorious. Say to God, "How awesome are Your works! Through the
greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You. All the
earth shall worship You And sing praises to You; They shall sing praises to
Your name." Selah
Psalm 66 is classified as a “Praise Psalm”. From
the first two verses we are exhorted to both “shout joyfully” with our
best voice to God along with all the earth. And to “sing out” with the
best singers, (“The Chief Musician”), the honor that is due to His wonderful
name! We are told to “make His praise glorious”.
Notice “all the earth” is to be involved in this activity of praising the LORD!
I believe this means both the physical earth and all the creatures in it including
the people in it. I love getting up early before the sun rises and go outside
and listen to God’s creation wake up singing praises to the LORD! The first
thing I hear, even when it is still too dark to see them, are the birds chirping
and singing as they begin their day! What an awesome sound, and also a great time
to begin our quiet time with LORD, as we meditate and lift up our hearts to Him.
Sometimes I think the sound and singing of creation is better than any choir I’ve
ever heard!
Then as the sun rises and begins to shine, the beautiful flowers my wife has planted
all around our house turn their faces toward the sun to soak in the light and life
that come from it! All of creation praises Him for He alone supplies everything
it needs to flourish and be fruitful! Scripture tells us that even the animals
wait on Him and are dependent for their daily food from Him (Psalm 104). Jesus said
the birds of the air don’t worry about their daily food because God care for
each one of them (Matthew 6:26).
We are told to “Sing out the honor of His name”. Our great and awesome God has over 700 names
and titles that are attributed to Him in the Scriptures! One name is not enough
to describe Him! He is Elohim, our Creator God! He is Jehovah, the “Great I AM”.
He is our personal God Who alone is everything we need! He is Jehovah-Jireh, the
LORD Who provides our salvation by His sacrifice on the cross! He is Jehovah-Roi,
the LORD Who is our great and good Shepherd leading, guiding and protecting us
all the day long!
We also know His name as Jesus, Who is our wonderful Savior! Isaiah had a prophetic
vision of the LORD in Isaiah 9:6-7 and he wrote: “For unto us a Child is
born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And
His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no
end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish
it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of
the LORD of hosts will perform this.”
If Hezekiah is indeed the writer of this Psalm, and many Bible scholars believe that
he is, it is possible that Isaiah, who was the prophet during his reign, shared
these words with him and that is why he proclaims, “Sing out the honor of
His name!” What a tragedy that so
many today, instead of praising His glorious and awesome name, are blaspheming
His holy name. They do this with both their mouths and their actions! May the
LORD have mercy on them, especially after He has done so much for them! He
created the very breath they breathe, and the lungs that take it in!
It is my prayer that today we will “come and see” the awesome works of the
LORD all around us and make and take the time to join creation in our praise, and
in our songs and prayers of thanksgiving. The writer of Hebrews put it this way
in Hebrews 13:15-16, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the
sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to
His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices
God is well pleased.”
God bless!
