Dissonance. A lack of agreement. A disconnect between what we think to be true and what actually may be true. Inconsistency between what’s heartfelt and what ends up being hard fact. A mingling of sounds that strike the ear harshly, a clashing of chords.

Dissonance. Kind of what I experienced hovering over Psalm 66 this morning.

Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
       sing the glory of His name;
       give to Him glorious praise!
Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds!

Come and see what God has done:
       He is awesome in His deeds toward the children of man.
He turned the sea into dry land;
       they passed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in Him.

(Psalm 66:1-3a, 5-6 ESV)

Awesome deeds! Twice repeated. Stuff like turning a sea into dry land.

Come and see. Come and say, “How awesome are Your deeds!” I’m in!

Shout for joy! Give Him praise! Let’s do this! Bring on some more of those awesome deeds.

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;

(Psalm 66:11-12a ESV)

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?

Clang! Crash! Does not compute! What’s so awesome about those deeds?

Talk about your disconnect. Talk about your inconsistency. Talk about a lack of agreement between what I think should be and what has (too often for my liking) actually been. Talk about some dissonance.

What are these “deeds” doing in a song about praising God for “awesome”?

Keep singing . . .

Bless our God, O peoples;
       let the sound of His praise be heard,
who has kept our soul among the living
       and has not let our feet slip.
For You, O God, have tested us;
       You have tried us as silver is tried.

You have brought us out to a place of abundance.

(Psalm 66:8-9,12b ESV)

Brought us out to a place of abundance . . . That’s what I’m chewing on this morning. And that’s awesome!

I’ve said it before, gonna say it again: God loves us just the way we are and loves us too much to leave us the way we are. Cue testing. Commence refining. And behold God as He bring us out to a place of abundance. Road-tested inside and out, taken to hell and back; finally He brings us to a well-watered place (MSG).

Awesome, huh? Yessir!

Awesome abundance as we come to know Him — like really know Him — in the fire. As we experience Him through the water. His steadfast love taking on a tangibility as it morphs from theory to experienced reality. His all-sufficient grace no longer just a platitude but an actualized, realized promise. The dissonance of whatever we may think “the good life” should be resolving itself with the symphonic delight of knowing what life in Christ can be.

Come and hear, all you who fear God,
       and I will tell what He has done for my soul.

(Psalm 66:16 ESV)

And it’s awesome!

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.