Psalm 66 is a psalm that celebrates God’s care for his people. When we think of God caring for us, we usually think of this in terms of God doing things to protect us from harm. This theme is present here as the psalmist celebrates the deliverance of the Israelites through the Red Sea on their escape from Egypt during the Exodus. But there is another, more common expression of God’s care that is perhaps less palatable to us. Because God cares for us, he cares about the strength of our faith-grip on him. He will often, therefore, allow us to go through harrowing trials so that we wake-up spiritually and hold on to him more tightly. This is also celebrated here in Psalm 66: “Praise our God…for you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.” Because God cares he disciplines us to keep us close to him: “The LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in” (Proverbs 3:12). These experiences of testing and discipline will be the most beneficial experiences of your life. God cares for you so much that he will allow you short-term hardship for long-term gain. The ‘short-term’ may be decades long, but the ‘long-term’ is an eternity. God insists on doing what is best for you. That is something to celebrate even if it is not always something you can enjoy.
Ask God to care for you no matter what the cost.
Read Psalm 66.
