Let Me Tell You
Psalms 66:16-20 NLT
Come and listen, all you who fear God,
and I will tell you what he did for me.
For I cried out to him for help,
praising him as I spoke.
If I had not confessed the sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
But God did listen!
He paid attention to my prayer.
Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer
or withdraw his unfailing love from me.
The psalmist is giving an invitation to all the people who fear God. Come and listen, all you who fear God. There is some wisdom in that statement. The people who fear God are going to be blessed by hearing what God has done. People who have no fear of God are not as interested. And that's actually a good way to discern how someone views the Lord. When you brag on what God has done and they are glad. Or when you brag on what God has done and they say, "yeah, but you worked hard," or "you deserve it." People who fear God are much quicker to give Him credit.
The psalmist cried out to God for help. But this was not a cry of anguish or complaint. This cry was mixed with praise. That is entirely possible; to ask God for help and praise him in the same breath. The praise is coming from someone who has a trust, a confidence in God. Praise indicates that the psalmist believes God will answer; he's not wondering if He will.
This New Living Translation brings a good slant on verse eighteen. "If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened." The Lord hears our prayers, but when we hang on to unconfessed sin, our own heart condemns us, and we do not have confidence with God. The apostle John, hundreds of years later, wrote, "… if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God." 1 John 3:21. Condemnation crushes confidence. So, with a clear heart, the psalmist prayed and was sure that God heard.
The psalmist is praising God, who did not ignore his prayer or remove his unfailing love. We read over that phrase and keep going, but the psalmist is saying something vitally important. The psalmist has faith in the love and mercy of God. If you ask most people if they believe that God loves them, most church people will answer yes. But way too often, we pray and act as if we are just not sure. We are not sure because we base God's love on our performance, not His character and nature. We know the areas where we have come up short, the areas where we failed. Being conscious of our weaknesses and failures can blot out the awareness of God's love for us. For some, they grew up in a conditional love family where love was withheld if standards were not met. For others, they have not known a love that went beyond their performance or appearance. The idea of God loving us even if we have not met His standards is a challenge. This is one reason I love the psalms. They magnify God's nature over our performance.
So all of us can say this one thing: Come and listen and let me tell you of a God who loves me despite my shortcomings and weaknesses. Come and listen and let me tell you of a wonderful Father and what He has done for me.