A Road Map for Life | Remembering Our Redeemer Sample

HOW JOYFUL PRAISE BECOMES A POWERFUL WITNESS (Psalm 66)

There is nothing more beautiful than a joyful spirit, and there is no greater testimony for our God than someone full of praise for Him.

Psalm 66 is evidence of that. It is a psalm of praise.

Verses 1-2: “Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious.”

You cannot make God glorious because He already is. But we are to make His praise glorious. In how we praise Him, we should reflect His beauty so that everyone around us who hears it and sees it says, “We don’t know your God, but we would like to know Him.”

The New Testament parallel to this says that we are to “adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things” (Titus 2:10). That means literally to beautify it, to dress it up so that when people see the truth, it is the most attractive thing to them. As I stated earlier, there is nothing more attractive than a joyful spirit. When you are around someone who has the joy of the Lord, you want to be near it. You want some of it.

Psalm 66 is a song of praise, but it is also a testimony psalm. It begins with the psalmist speaking to God.

Verses 3-4: “Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee. All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah.”

But after the pause, there is a shift. Instead of speaking to God, he is speaking to men.

Verses 5-9: “Come and see the works of God: he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men. He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him. He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah. O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard: Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.”

Do you see how the praise began by going Godward and then went manward? Why is that?

First of all, praise is something we offer to the Lord. It is a means by which we say, “Thank you. Lord, we love you, and we bless you.” We give Him glory. But as praise is given to God, if done in the right way, it then becomes a testimony to other people.

We talk about “witnessing” or giving a “testimony” to lost people or being a “soul winner.” Simply put, witnessing is the act of praising God to someone else. There is no need to overcomplicate it. Sometimes, we get this idea of giving religious speeches to people and reciting facts about God. That is not what witnessing is. A “witness” shares what he has seen or experienced.

For me to witness to someone is simply to talk about the goodness of God in my own life and then to point that person to the God of goodness. This is what true praise is. Our thanks should be a testimony. In verses 10-15, the psalmist returned to speaking to God.

“For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place. I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows, Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble. I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah.”

Here, he praised what God did for him when he was in trouble. The first part of the psalm was praise for bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt, coming through the sea on dry land (a picture of salvation). These latter verses address what God has done along the journey. It is a beautiful indicator of how we should praise God.

Begin by praising God for your salvation. Talk about how the Lord saved you, but don’t let that be the end of it. It is not simply the day you received the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, but the grace, mercy, and strength you receive every day as you walk through trouble.

I would go so far as to say that perhaps the strongest praise ever given is the praise given by the person who has gone through trouble and seen God’s might and strength in the midst of it. The psalmist was such a man, and he gave God glory for that.

Verse 16: “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.” Notice how he shifted back to directing his praise of God to others. This may be one of the most beautiful expressions I have ever read. Praise is the act of telling others what God has done for your soul.

Has the Lord done anything special for your soul lately? Would you talk about it and share it with others?

Verses 17-19: “I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.”

Notice that the praise has come full circle back to prayer. Prayer leads to praise, and praise leads to prayer. When you begin blessing God, it brings you to a place where you want to pray more. As you pray more, you have more cause to praise God. It is a beautiful cycle of communion and communication with Him.

Verse 18 contains one of the great prayer principles. If you want to hold on to your sin, you cannot get hold of God. But by his words in verse 19, the psalmist acknowledged that he confessed his sin, keeping that channel clear so that God heard his prayer. Old-timers would refer to it as “staying on praying ground.”

Verse 20: “Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.” The ultimate praise is to say that God has heard my prayer and showed me mercy.

Let me leave you with a simple thought. In this psalm, there was an expression used twice with a slight variation that captured my attention.

Verse 5 begins, “Come and see the works of God.” Verse 16 begins, “Come and hear, all ye that fear God.”

Remember, praise is a testimony and a witness. These verses invite the reader to see and hear what the psalmist has seen and heard. It reminds me of what the disciples were doing in the New Testament when trying to bring people to see Jesus.

The greatest witness you can give today is this: “I have seen and heard the goodness of God in my own life. Now you come and see it and hear it for yourself.”

In closing, I will simply repeat the opening words of Psalm 66. “Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious.”