“Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard;
he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.
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.” –Psalm 66:8-12

The book of Psalms comes to us as collection of poetic songs. Many of the Psalms are preceded by written instructions for a music director on how their melody ought to sound. For instance, Psalm 69 starts with “For the director of music. To the tune of ‘Lilies.'” The ninth Psalm, far more morose, begins “To the tune of ‘The Death of the Son.'” This psalm, Psalm 66, begins only as “A song.”

If I knew the tune to the verses listed above, I doubt I could sing them.

It almost sounds like the people — a nameless choir —  are supposed to sing a prayer of thanksgiving for trials that have brought them through a refining process. I’m not entirely sure how silver is refined. But, I’m pretty sure it involves fire and melting. There’s language about prison and burdens. The imagery of being overcome by people who “ride over our heads.” And the song, at least this section, sings:

“…But you brought us to a place of abundance”

I know how to praise God in abundance. I don’t know how to praise God in much else. This psalm is about finding a courageous hope firmly fastened to abundance seen only in retrospect: “you brought (past tense) us to a place of abundance.” Maybe this is why the Bible puts so much emphasis on remembering. God remembers. God gives his people (who are notoriously forgetful) ways to remember him and the abundance into which he’s already led them — even when they don’t see it.

This Sunday is a Sunday to pause and remember. We’ll take communion. We’ll remember what God has done. We’ll tell God’s story through his Word, in song, and in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. We’ll affirm that while we may not ever understand the trials we face, nor be able to sing praise for “fire and water,” we’ll recall how God poured out his love on the cross to give to us His abundance. That will be worthy of a song, no matter the tune.

See you Sunday,

Jeff