Joel M Bradshaw

1Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion,
and to you shall vows be performed.
2O you who hear prayer,
to you shall all flesh come.
3When iniquities prevail against me,
you atone for our transgressions.
4Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!–Psalm 65

Right with the title, I might have turned away some of the readers today. Yet predestination is not a scary word. As I read our passage today, verse 4 stood out to me and reminded me of Ephesians 1.

 4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will…

That verse is mind-blowing. Before Genesis 1:1 happened, God made a salvation choice. He therefore predestined those he had chosen to be adopted into his family as full sons and daughters through Jesus. According to the purpose of his will.

We pray the Lord’s Prayer, “thy kingdom come and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This is the purpose of God’s will. To choose and save. Who God has chosen before the creation of the world is God’s business. We are all sinners and have earned death. In his mercy, God chooses to give undeserved grace to some. Check out Professor D and Big Rev’s walk through Ephesians 1 on the podcast.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2QJghAKk29Xgfm0IME89yJ

In our psalm today, David celebrated that choice. It’s the same celebration of the end of Psalm 23: “and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!” We of course do not know who God has chosen, so we give the Gospel message to all. And the Gospel is here in this psalm, as well.

David’ sins had prevailed against him until God atoned for them. Now David had hope and worshiped God in gratefulness and joy. Now David could indeed enjoy the goodness of God’s holy temple and be satisfied.

David’s certainty is ours as well. Believers are chosen by God and brought near to him. We will dwell in his house forever. But it’s because of God’s choice to atone for our sins and then adopt us into his family. The salvation choice of God in Ephesians 1 was recognized by David in Psalm 65. The one chosen by God celebrates salvation and is grateful to be chosen. And we continue to give the Gospel to all, knowing the chosen will indeed respond.–JMB