Ps. 66.2-3 (Pentecost)

Knowing your ways / on earth
your saving work / among all the nations
let the peoples / praise you / O God
let all the peoples / praise you. 

Two things must be said about the vision contained in these verses: it is a request and it perceives a deep unity between the blessing of God in Israel and the world’s reaction to that blessing. As to it being a request, it is important to note that the psalmist here is not describing a reality. He is calling upon the world to engage in worship of God, through its deep perception of the saving-work accomplished by him in Israel. This ‘saving work’ should probably be understood as a manifestation, or enactment, of God’s authority and power over the world as displayed in his concern for and saving of Israel. In other words, through the redemption of Israel, the psalmist is asking the whole world to see that God (Yhwh) is High King. In this psalmist’s vision, the recalcitrance of the nations that react(ed) against Israel in the Exodus is removed (their hearts of stone are replaced…). Rather, the light of Israel (the light of God’s authorial glory) meets no obstacle but infuses the world, igniting praise within it.  This leads to the second point: the relation of peace within Israel as it is “blessed by God” (vs. 1) and the unobstructed praise that issues here in verses 2-3. This is crucial to grasp as there is no hiatus between the two—Israel and the world are again (peaceful) brothers engaged in worship of their father. The ‘inner’ blessing of Israel is the light of praise to the world. There is no sense here of a prior pacification/judgment of the world, but rather the immediate recognition/knowledge/perception of God’s glory (as a thing of persuasive beauty and not threat). In this, the distinction of Israel (now, as high Aaronic priest; vs. 1) serves to unite the world. And, most profoundly, the unity that is achieved here is a liturgical unity, a unity of praise. In his ultimate vision, the psalmist sees the world not simply as peaceful but liturgical. The nations are no longer babel, but liturgical (or, pentecostal…). Yet, again, this all resides in the desire of the psalmist.