There’s something about knowing people, or knowing about people, who have been “been there, done that, got the t-shirt.” You know, those folks who have been where you’re now walking. Those who have experienced what you’re experiencing and now have some perspective as they look back. Those who have gone through a wringer that sounds a lot like the wringer you’re going through and, having come out the other side in tact, have drawn some conclusions and gained some wisdom. I think that’s part of what makes the Psalms so attractive . . . why they can resonate so deeply . . . there’s a certain level of identification . . . and by that association, a certain amount of encouragement. Check out how David describes the wringer Israel went through . . .

For You, O God, have tested us; You have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; You laid a crushing burden on our backs; You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet You have brought us out to a place of abundance. (Psalm 66:10-12 ESV)

“I’ll take lesser known acts of God for 500, Alex.” “Okay then . . . the purpose for God in trapping His people in a net . . . in laying a back-breaking burden upon their shoulders . . . in letting men ride over their heads . . . in allowing them to go through the hottest flames . . . in permitting them to almost drown in a sea of oppression . . . in pushing them to their very limits.” “Uh . . . what is the manner by which God tests His people and purifies them like silver?” “Correct-amundo!”

We don’t often talk of God having cast people in a net . . . or of laying crushing burdens on their backs . . . or of letting men ride over their heads . . . but that God’s purposes were at play during those 400 years of Egyptian slavery is clear. Generation upon generation of continual testing and trying and purifying where all part of God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that their descendants would be blessed . . . and be a blessing to all nations. The desperation and increasing hopelessness was all part of readying a people for deliverance into a place of abundance.

And what amazes me about these not-so-much-talked about “acts of God” is that fact that they are embedded in a glorious Psalm of praise. A psalm which directs “all the earth” to praise God (66:1-4) . . . which calls upon His people to make the sound of praise heard (66:8) . . . and then gets immensely personal as the psalmist determines to offer his burnt offerings and cry unto God with “high praise” under his tongue (66:13,17).

David commands the earth to worship . . . David exhorts His people to praise . . . because he knows what it is to personally to be tested . . . tried . . . and purified . . .

“Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what He has done for my soul.” (Psalm 66:17 ESV)

David knew what is was to go through the wringer . . . he knew what it was to hunted by a jealous king . . . he knew what it was to be deposed and run out of town by his own son . . . he knew what it was to be crushed by the burden of guilt and sin . . . but, “Come here and listen”, he says, “and let me tell you what God has done for me and within me.” Though David knew what it was to call out in desperate prayer, this tried as silver saint also knew what it was to cry out in glorious praise. Exalted praise . . . high praise . . . not just on his tongue, but under his tongue . . . embedded deep within his soul . . . that soul that God had put through the wringer . . . the soul that God had purified for His glory.

“Blessed be God, because He has not rejected my prayer or removed His steadfast love from me!” (66:20 ESV).

My trials may be different . . . but they are my trials . . . and for God’s purposes. That I too might say, “Been there . . . done that . . . purified for His praise . . . “