The Glorious Refinery: Text: Psalm 66:8-12
Introduction: The Grammar of Gratitude
We live in an age that has forgotten how to give thanks, because it has forgotten who to give thanks to. Our culture is adrift in a sea of grievances, resentments, and self-pity. Everyone is a victim, and every inconvenience is a cosmic injustice. But the Christian life is grounded in a radically different reality. It is a life of robust, intelligent, and loud gratitude. It is not a gratitude based on pleasant circumstances, but a gratitude rooted in the character of God. The Psalmist here calls all peoples to bless our God, and this is not a polite suggestion for a quiet moment of reflection. It is a summons to make the sound of His praise heard.
But how can we praise a God who leads us into nets, who lays oppressive burdens on us, who allows men to ride over our heads? How can we sing when we are walking through fire and water? This is the central problem for the modern mind, which assumes that a good God must be a tame God, a celestial butler whose job is to keep us comfortable. But the God of the Bible is not safe; He is good. He is a sovereign Father, a master craftsman, and a victorious king. And He is in the business of making His people strong, not keeping them comfortable.
This passage is a divine lesson in the logic of suffering. It teaches us that God's goodness is not contradicted by our trials; it is demonstrated through them. The path to the place of abundance leads directly through the refinery, through the fire, and under the heel of our enemies. This is not a detour; it is the map. God is not losing control when things get hard; He is tightening His grip. He is working all things, not just the pleasant things, for our ultimate good and for His ultimate glory. This psalm, then, is not just a song of praise despite suffering, but a song of praise for the sovereign, sanctifying purpose of suffering.
The Text
Bless our God, O peoples,
And make the sound of His praise heard,
Who establishes us among the living
And does not allow our feet to stumble.
For You have tested us, O God;
You have refined us as silver is refined.
You brought us into the net;
You established an oppressive burden upon our loins.
You made men ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water,
Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance.
(Psalm 66:8-12 LSB)
The Universal Summons to Praise (vv. 8-9)
The psalm begins with a corporate and global command.
"Bless our God, O peoples, And make the sound of His praise heard, Who establishes us among the living And does not allow our feet to stumble." (Psalm 66:8-9)
Notice the scope of this call. It is not just for Israel. It is for the "peoples," the nations, the Gentiles. This is a thoroughly missional, postmillennial summons. The God of Israel is the God of all the earth, and the plan from the beginning was for the sound of His praise to be heard in every tribe and tongue. This is not a faint whisper of praise, but a sound that is to be "heard." It is public, declarative, and confident.
And what is the basis for this praise? It is the sustaining grace of God. He "establishes us among the living." In the original, it says He "puts our soul in life." This is more than just keeping our hearts beating. It is God who gives us true life, spiritual life, and secures us in that life. He is the one who keeps us from falling. "He does not allow our feet to stumble." This is not a promise that we will never trip or skin our knees. It is a promise of ultimate preservation. Though we may stumble, we will not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds us with His hand (Psalm 37:24). Our perseverance is not the result of our sure-footedness, but of His sure grip. He is the one who holds us, and this is the foundational reason for our praise. We praise Him because He has saved us and because He will keep us.
The Sovereign Refinery (vv. 10-12a)
Now the psalmist turns from the result, preservation, to the process. And the process is startling. The reason we praise Him for not letting our feet stumble is precisely because He is the one who puts obstacles in our path. Look at the agency here. There is no ambiguity.
"For You have tested us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You established an oppressive burden upon our loins. You made men ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water..." (Psalm 66:10-12a)
There are four active verbs, and God is the subject of every one of them. "You have tested us." "You have refined us." "You brought us." "You established." Even the final one, "You made men ride over our heads," places the ultimate responsibility squarely with God. This is the bedrock of Reformed theology. God is sovereign not just over the good things, but over the hard things. He is not a helpless spectator wringing His hands in heaven as His people suffer. He is the refiner, and the heat is His tool.
He tests us. The word here means to examine, to prove the quality of something. God does not test us to find out what we are made of, He already knows. He tests us so that we will find out what we are made of. He puts us in situations where our faith is stretched, so that our faith will grow. A faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted.
He refines us as silver is refined. This is a glorious and painful metaphor. To refine silver, you must put it in a crucible and turn up the heat until the metal melts. As it melts, the impurities, the dross, rise to the surface. The refiner then skims off the dross. He repeats this process, again and again, until he can see his own reflection in the pure, molten silver. This is what God is doing in our trials. He is turning up the heat to burn away our pride, our self-reliance, our idolatries, our sin. The goal is not our comfort; the goal is our holiness. He wants to see the reflection of His Son in us.
The specific trials are listed with brutal honesty. "You brought us into the net." This is the feeling of being trapped, with no way out. "You established an oppressive burden upon our loins." This is the weight of affliction, the pressure that feels like it will break our backs. "You made men ride over our heads." This is the humiliation of being conquered, of being ruled by our enemies, of being trampled underfoot. The psalmist does not say, "Men rode over our heads, and God, where were you?" He says, "You made men ride over our heads." God uses the malice of wicked men to accomplish the sanctification of His people. Joseph's brothers meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. The Assyrians were the rod of God's anger, even in their pride (Isaiah 10). God is always working His plan, even through the sinful actions of His enemies.
"We went through fire and through water." These are metaphors for the most extreme and life-threatening trials. They represent two opposite, but equally deadly, kinds of calamity. There is no escape. But the key is the word "through." We go through them. They are not our final destination. God's promise is not that we will avoid the fire, but that when we walk through it, we will not be burned (Isaiah 43:2).
The Glorious Destination (v. 12b)
After this litany of God-ordained hardship, the psalm makes a sudden, glorious turn. The pivot is the word "Yet."
"Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance." (Psalm 66:12b)
This is the glorious conclusion of the whole matter. The refinery is not the end. The net is not the end. The fire is not the end. The end is a place of abundance, a wealthy place, a place of overflowing blessing. And notice again, God is the actor. "You brought us out." The same God who brought us into the net is the God who brings us out into abundance. He who wounds is He who heals. He who tests is He who delivers.
This is the pattern of God's dealings with His people throughout all of history. He brought Israel through the Red Sea and the wilderness to bring them into the promised land. He brought David through the persecution of Saul to bring him to the throne. He brought the disciples through the horror of the crucifixion to bring them to the joy of the resurrection. And He brings the Church through centuries of trial and persecution to bring her to the glorious victory of the kingdom, when the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.
Conclusion: The Logic of the Cross
This entire psalm is a commentary on the logic of the cross. At the cross, God did His most terrible and most glorious work. At the cross, God the Father brought His own Son into the ultimate net. He laid the oppressive burden of our sin upon Him. He made wicked men ride over His head. Jesus went through the fire of God's wrath and the waters of death itself.
And why? So that God could bring Him out into the ultimate place of abundance. He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand, giving Him the name that is above every name. And in doing so, He secured our deliverance as well. Because we are united to Christ, His story is our story. We too are brought through suffering into glory.
Therefore, we do not despair in our trials. We do not accuse God of incompetence or malice. We see the hand of the Refiner, and we trust His purpose. We know that the heat is measured, the duration is set, and the outcome is guaranteed. He is conforming us to the image of His Son. He is preparing us for a place of abundance. And so, with the psalmist, we bless our God, and we make the sound of His praise heard. For the God who tests us is the God who saves us, and the path of suffering is the path to glory.