I enjoyed Sunday’s study in Psalm 66. If you were with us on Sunday you remember that the writer calls for the earth and all its inhabitants to praise God. It is appropriate to do so because of who he is and because of his “awe-inspiring works” (3, 5). Of course everyone on the earth is not going to engage in praise of God. Many will not even acknowledged his existence!
     I was struck with the unusual nature of the phrase “you peoples” in verse 8. That verse calls on people to “bless” God. “Bless” is a word that means to praise or acknowledge greatness. A cognate Arabic term means to kneel down in honor of someone. The part that struck me as being a bit unusual was the call to “you peoples.” The you is implied in the plural form of “peoples,” so a wooden reading might be “Bless our God, all people!” Many translations read “O peoples." Some read “Bless our God, you nations.” I did a quick search and there is only one truly similar usage in Hebrew. It is in Micah, “Listen, all you people” (1:2). What is interesting is that the plural form following a command again is used to refer to the inhabitants of earth. Micah continues, “pay attention, earth and everyone in it!”
     We meet on Sundays, at least in part, to praise God because he deserves it...and we need the outlet. Christians want to praise him. It is in our nature to do so. We draw strength from our unified confession and praise of the Almighty God. The earth should feel it. And perhaps they do. But the proper outlet of acknowledging God’s glory is reserved for some surrogate deity. Still, we persist. We will meet again this Sunday and praise the same great God, acknowledging his grandeur and confessing our debility. And the world is always welcome to join us! Our praise of him should continue as a standing testimony to the world and its people. It is an invitation to find truth and meaning outside of ourselves, in the one whose acts “for humanity” (vs. 5) are awe-inspiring.
     Though our worship of him feels foreign to most of the earth, we invite them to join us. Keep that in mind as Easter is upon us. Bring others in so they can have a glimpse at this praise and worship of the God who is a “blessing to all nations.”