Psalm 66:13-20 – Being grateful is the right response to God’s goodness

In the first 12 verses of Psalm 66, the Psalmist first exhorted the people to come and praise God, then showed why God deserves to be praised. He rounded up in verse 11 and 12, saying that trials and affliction are designed to polish and purify God’s people, so that like silver they would be refined. Though difficulties and troubles like fire may scorch them or like water may overwhelm them, the intention of God has always been to bring them to the place of abundance ultimately. 

Having experienced the goodness and deliverance of God, and saw His intention for His people, the Psalmist promises to offer sacrifices to God. He would go to the temple to make lavish offerings of thanksgiving to God. It is one thing to be blessed but quite another to be grateful to Him. Troubles in life may bring about anger with people and even God. If left undealt with, it may become deep seated resentment with time. Hence the best way to prevent that is to live a life of gratitude. Being grateful begins with a heart of thanksgiving. In bringing his offering of sacrifices, the Psalmist was responding to God in gratitude. 

In the earlier verses, the Psalmist called the people to come and see, now he calls them to come and hear. It is one thing to experience the goodness of God and quite another to tell and proclaim them. Whatever wonderful experiences God had granted us should be turned into occasions to speak of His goodness. God intents for us to praise Him every moment. We must praise Him in private but we must also declare His praise in public. Hence like the Psalmist, let’s make it a point to declare the praises of God both in private and in public. In verse 18 we are taught to keep short accounts with God. We must learn to confess and seek forgiveness the soonest we discover our wrong. By not dealing with sin we cannot expect God to hear us. Verse 18 is the Psalmist way of testifying that He had kept short account with God. He testified that there was nothing that came in the way between him and God. He had cleared the path for God to swiftly answer His prayer. This we must also learn to do, so that we can experience prayer answer and the lovingkindness of God. 

This Psalm teaches us to be grateful people. The blessings of God should beckon us to be thankful for all that He had done for us, and to ensure that between Him and us there is no barrier. Let’s keep short accounts with God, as well as cultivate an attitude of gratitude.