Before The Harvest

Read: Psalm 67

May all the nations praise you. . . . Then the earth will yield its harvests. Psalm 67:5-6

IN WORD

Let’s face it: The Kingdom culture is counterintuitive. We couldn’t figure it out with our own logic if we tried. It isn’t illogical. It’s extralogical, above our ability to explain it. So when psalmists, prophets, and Jesus Himself put forth paradoxes and unexpected principles, we can choose to accept them or reject them. But we can’t opt to fully understand them before we decide to believe them. They are first and foremost matters of faith.

One of those unexpected principles is that praise comes before increase. This is an absolutely vital key to Kingdom living. It’s evident at various times throughout Scripture, and Psalm 67 is a subtle statement of it. The sense of the praise is present tense, and the sense of the harvest is future. When the people praise, the harvest will come. While the rest of the world plans to be grateful and joyful after the harvest comes, God’s people learn that the gratitude and joy come first. It’s a profound and powerful principle in our lives that we will miss if we get the order wrong. When we can learn to worship beforehand, we will see harvests increase—in any area of life. Our praises are the truest, deepest seeds we sow, and our lives reap the fruit of them.

IN DEED

Don’t wait for harvests, victories, or any other form of success to worship, praise, and thank God. In His Kingdom, circumstances don’t set the tone of our relationship with Him; the tone of our relationship sets the circumstances. Historically, followers of a deity give thanks and fulfill vows after the results have been secured, but that’s a business-deal approach to the divine. We are involved in a relationship, not a transaction. Our hearts belong to Him, even if He doesn’t come through for us. But He does. In one way or another, He responds to the praises of His people. That doesn’t mean we never face adversity or go through dry seasons, but it does mean our love doesn’t hinge on His favors. He simply delights in blessing those whose hearts are His. Our worship reveals that they are.

ADDITIONAL READING: 2 Chronicles 20:21-24

God can never receive too much praise.

ANONYMOUS