“What mighty praise, O God, belongs to you in Zion. We will fulfill our vows to you, for you answer our prayers. All of us must come to you. Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all. What joy for those you choose to bring near, those who live in your holy courts. What festivities await us inside your holy Temple. You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds, O God our savior. You are the hope of everyone on earth, even those who sail on distant seas. You formed the mountains by your power and armed yourself with mighty strength. You quieted the raging oceans with their pounding waves and silenced the shouting of the nations. Those who live at the ends of the earth stand in awe of your wonders. From where the sun rises to where it sets, you inspire shouts of joy. You take care of the earth and water it, making it rich and fertile. The river of God has plenty of water; it provides a bountiful harvest of grain, for you have ordered it so. You drench the plowed ground with rain, melting the clods and leveling the ridges. You soften the earth with showers and bless its abundant crops. You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the wilderness become a lush pasture, and the hillsides blossom with joy. The meadows are clothed with flocks of sheep, and the valleys are carpeted with grain. They all shout and sing for joy!”
Psalms 65:1-13 NLT
It is too easy in our post agrarian society to forget how magnificent God is at laying a robust canvas upon which he has given to create. In the ancient world, David would’ve had the closest thing to a post Industrial Revolution life that one could find. Though there weren’t highly complex machines making his life easier, he was high enough up the societal ladder than he had resources and servants. He could remove himself from the simple life of farming. And yet, we can see that David’s life as a shepherd boy seems to have greatly informed his thought process. Here we see that he is distinctly aware of, and appreciative of, the natural processes of things. At the same time, he also knows of kingdoms far away through his time with the court. His appreciation is a fully orbed praise based on the whole of life’s echelons of interactions. He neither forgets his experiences, nor is consumed by his current ones. We ought to be the same in our praise. We ought to remember that God was always there. No matter how far we have come or how significant we have grown. From poor to rich and from simple to sophisticated, his name is to be praised everywhere.
JOSH McGARY.COM 