Daily Discovery Sunday 16th August 2020 – Overflowing Goodness
TODAY’S TOPIC: OVERFLOWING GOODNESS
Opening Prayer: Mighty God, “The whole earth is filled with awe at Your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, You call forth songs of joy” (8).
Read Psalm 65
Psalm 65[a] For the director of music. A psalm of David. A song.
1 Praise awaits[b] you, our God, in Zion;
to you our vows will be fulfilled.
2 You who answer prayer,
to you all people will come.
3 When we were overwhelmed by sins,
you forgave[c] our transgressions.
4 Blessed are those you choose
and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house,
of your holy temple.
5 You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,
God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas,
6 who formed the mountains by your power,
having armed yourself with strength,
7 who stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.
8 The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
where morning dawns, where evening fades,
you call forth songs of joy.
9 You care for the land and water it;
you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
to provide the people with grain,
for so you have ordained it.[d] 10 You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
11 You crown the year with your bounty,
and your carts overflow with abundance.
12 The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;
the hills are clothed with gladness.
13 The meadows are covered with flocks
and the valleys are mantled with grain;
they shout for joy and sing.
Footnotes
a Psalm 65:1 In Hebrew texts 65:1-13 is numbered 65:2-14.
b Psalm 65:1 Or befits; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
c Psalm 65:3 Or made atonement for
d Psalm 65:9 Or for that is how you prepare the land
New International Version (NIV)
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Reflect: Daily Discovery Sunday 16th August 2020
What are you grateful for?
This is a psalm of gratitude and joy in the God who answers prayer (2), forgives sins (3) and fills his people with good things (4). It is a psalm of abundance, seen in abundant rainfall (9) and harvest carts overflowing with abundant crops (11). The psalmist himself overflows with praise and joy.
This is familiar language. But in the psalmist’s day such a grand vision of God and his goodness was most unusual. Gods were local—restricted to tribes or regions. Other nations underestimated the Lord (1 Kings 20:28). The God of Israel, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, is the God of the whole universe.
So this psalm challenges us to recalibrate our vision of God. During this past week you may have become preoccupied with the challenges of your life, and in your mind God has become a local god—the god who improves your life… marginally. Here, in Psalm 65, praise is offered in a local place, Zion, and the psalmist is grateful for the Lord answering his people’s prayer. Beyond the local, the God who is praised is “the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas” (5), the one who awes the whole earth (8).
Apply: A drenched furrow speaks of the greatness of God (10). Focus on one thing in the natural world, no matter how small, and allow God to use it to reveal his majesty.
Closing Prayer: I praise You, Creator, for Your mighty works. I praise You for what You have done in me.
Through the Bible in One Year
Proverbs 17,18 / Psalms 92,93
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Daily Discovery Sunday 15th August 2020
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