testimonies

Shout, Sing, and Say – Psalm 66

/ Anthea Kotlan / 2 Comments

On any given Sunday, we witness miracles.

When God called my husband and me to church planting, we had to leave a thriving mid-sized church where we had served for decades. We left behind some of our closest friends and family members to launch into the unknown. Initially, we were sent to serve at a church plant well over an hour from our home. We battled traffic and tolls to invest in that community for a year, knowing that it would not be a long-term place for us to grow. During that year, we witnessed God moving redemptively, and we learned a great deal.

In 2022, we finally found our way back to a place we had only dreamed of: church planting in Conroe, Texas. The first time we attended a service in our newly borrowed space, we were stunned to discover that it would take us only fifteen minutes to drive home after we helped clean up and put everything away. This would be a first for us after serving for over twenty years in places and spaces far from where we lived.

This season of church planting allows us to depend very much on God’s provision. I hope I never grow weary of shouting, singing, and saying how good God has been to our little flock. We couldn’t do any of this without His generous hand!

SHOUT, SING, SAY


1Shout for joy to God, all the earth 2 sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise!

3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.

4 All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah

(Psalm 66:1-4 ESV)

Shared praise and thanksgiving will multiply when I shout, sing, and speak about God’s marvelous deeds with others. The practice spurs our hearts to dig deep and remember the goodness of the Lord.

God commands us to shout and share because it does our hearts good in our community. We are designed to join our voices and share.

Who will you share with today?

MAKING A LIST

5 Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.

6 He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him, 7 who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations—let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

(Psalm 66:5-7 ESV)

Do you ever try to go to the grocery store without a list? It seldom goes well. There is something about making a list that builds on itself. I write down butter and then remember we need milk. I write down apples and recall our low supply of peanut butter.

When I thank God for what He has done for me in specific ways, I recall more and more. I thank Him for my daughter’s new house and remember how God arranged a rental house for her and her family to live in while they searched for this new house in their new town.

I begin the list of thanks for 2023 and remember all God has done for our fledging church plant. The miracles of providing a soundboard, new folding chairs, a 22-foot storage trailer, a wonderful place to meet, talented people who lead worship, run sound, and create curriculum for children. I am so thankful for the teenagers who tirelessly volunteered and the many ministry partners along our journey.

What can you add to your list?

PRAISE HIM FOR THE GOOD AND THE DIFFICULT

8 Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard,

9 who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip.

10 For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.

11 You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; 12 you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

(Psalm 66:8-11 ESV)

God calls us to give Him thanks and praise for the good and the difficult. Sometimes, it’s hard to understand why the soundboard died so abruptly. However, it did allow us to see His provision and the generosity of various people who all stepped in to replace it. Just when we began to struggle to store all our stuff each Sunday as we set up, a 22-foot trailer was given to us. Now, there was a small problem. Legal paperwork had to be filed and processed, which took some persistence from a tenacious church member. However, at the end of it all, we thanked God for this mind-blowing provision.

What do you praise God for?

MAKE OFFERINGS

13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you,

14 that which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.

15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals, with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah

(Psalm 66:13-15 ESV)

Burnt offerings are costly. Fulfilling vows made and promised when I was in trouble can be challenging. I would prefer to give out of what is left over. God calls for sacrifice, and burning the offerings helped His people see how He wished to consume what they had given Him. That likely helped them not drag it back the way I am sadly tempted to. God calls for me to give back to Him, something I will miss and want to keep. These kinds of offerings please Him most.

What can I offer?

SHARE TESTIMONIES AND CONFESSIONS


16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.

17 I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. 

18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

19 But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

20 Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!

(Psalm 66:16-20 ESV)

Corporate testimonies and confession fuel the Holy Spirit to burn brightly in your fellowship. Confession of my sins is essential. Confession of my community’s sins is also required. As we join voices in sharing praise reports, we must also ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what we can confess as a community. Sharing testimonies of what God has done encourages everyone who participates. Sometimes, others see God working in our situation when we cannot. They spy a treasure of His goodness and report it to us. We all need reminders of His steadfast love.

What testimonies can I encourage others with?

PRAYER

Help me to shout, sing, and say your praises regularly. Remind me to list all You have done for me and my people. I will praise you for the good and difficult because it is all for your glory. Keep me in the habit of making costly offerings to you of my first fruits, not my leftovers. Help me to confess alone and together. Embolden me to be in the habit of sharing stories of your faithfulness in my life and the lives of others. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.

What Am I Called to Share? Psalm 22:22-31

/ Anthea Kotlan / Leave a comment

I spent Sunday afternoon and evening in an emergency room with an elderly family member. God showed up in the kindness of pre-warmed sheets, wrapping us in care. As the hours inched passed, all reports and test results provided much-needed reassurance. Finally, long after sundown, the doctor graciously wrote prescriptions to relieve the most troubling symptoms. We left grateful and giving thanks for a good outcome but worn out in the waiting.

Keeping company with affliction wears heavy on the mind, body, and soul.

Psalm 22 takes the reader on a journey from the opening lines of anguish and isolation on the cross to this final section (verses 22-31) of hope-filled praise in the assembly with the family of believers. Worship and testimonies overflow and alter the atmosphere. However, the Lord still acknowledges suffering, and He never turns away from the afflicted.

22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he had not hidden his face from him but has heard when he cried to him. 
(Psalm 22:22-24 ESV)

Testimonies

We are called to share our stories of God’s faithfulness. These stories must be communicated in spaces and places where believers can encourage one another. Our testimonies bring glory to God. Just as suffering can way us down, sharing praise reports in the assembly uplifts us. The examples of God’s faithfulness lift us onto our feet, and our hands are raised to praise Him.

Affliction

Even as we are joining together to give God praise, He reminds us about how He does not turn away from our suffering. Verse 24 says that God hears us, God sees us, and He does not turn away from our affliction. Because God does not turn away from our suffering, we must also be willing to keep company with the afflicted. This call to action cannot be accomplished in our strength. We can draw near to some of the most challenging situations by asking the Holy Spirit to strengthen us. In a society that so often refuses to see, hear or acknowledge suffering, believers have a sacred obligation to be fully present with suffering and the affliction of those He calls us to love.

Keeping company with the afflicted causes us to face our weaknesses and our inability to fix things. No amount of positive thinking or affirmations can create adequate relief when our loved ones are suffering or if we are afflicted.

Who is God calling me to keep the company in a season of suffering?

25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever!
(Psalm 22:25-26 ESV)

Praise

Verse 25 points to how our praise comes from God and is turned back to Him. We respond to God with praise and thanksgiving because He is the giver of all we have.  

Is it possible that the “great congregation,” verse 25 mentions, refers to the ultimate praise party we all will gather together for when Jesus returns to rule the earth? I believe the Lord kindly gives us previews of this ultimate praise party every time we gather with fellow believers for prayer and praise.

Verse 26 promises that those suffering and afflicted will experience future healing, nurturing, and satisfaction. There will be no lack in the new heaven and new earth.

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
28 For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
29All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive.
(Psalm 22:27-29 ESV)

Every Tribe and Every Nation

All the families of the nations shall worship –every knee shall bow and worship King Jesus. God has called us to go to the ends of the earth to tell every tribe and nation of the good news of Jesus Christ. In the next fifteen years, Bible translation organizations worldwide are joining forces to translate the Bible into every language. People must hear the gospel in their mother tongue to know Jesus cares for them.

Verse 28 reminds us that, “Kingship belongs to the LORD.” He rules and has authority in my life and over the nations. Whether every tribe and nation acknowledge Him or not, He still rules. I know I need that reminder. Every single day the news trumpets all the chaos of this world. A steady diet of those headlines could lead us to give up hope. So how do we counter that?

For every minute spent watching the news, can I spend an equal amount reading my Bible?

30 Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
    that he has done it.
(Psalm 22:30-31 ESV)

Stories To Be Told

The final verses of Psalm 22 proclaim the privilege we have. We will be honored to tell babies about what the Lord has done. My stories will be passed down from one generation to another. Ask the Lord about this “next generation.” How can you love them well? Who are the young women with young children God has placed around you? Do you have grandchildren to share stories with? Do you have nieces or nephews? Or grandnieces or nephews? Do you have neighbors with little ones? Has the Lord sent little ones who need to be loved well to your church?

What stories can you share of God’s faithfulness today? Who has God placed in your path? Who is in your sphere of influence?

He has done it….

Finally, the Lord reminds us that, “He has done it.”  

This psalm begins in the depth of despair and ends with a powerful reminder.

Are you talking about what the Lord has done?

Prayer

Lord, thank you that you have done it. You have done it all. Thank you that even when I don’t feel it, you rule. Send your Holy Spirit to help me tell others about you and be present in suffering with those I love. Thank you for the sacred calling of sharing both stories of goodness and Your grace in times of affliction. In Jesus’ name, Amen.