Psalm for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Psalm 66: 1-7, 16, 20

Our responsorial psalm for this week comes from Psalm 66, a psalm that summons the people to praise God.

It is a beautiful response to Isaiah’s call in our first reading to “exult, exult with [Jerusalem]!”

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth, sing praise to the glory of his name; proclaim his glorious praise. Say to God, “How tremendous are your deeds! Let all on earth worship and sing praise to you, sing praise to your name!”

The psalm opens with a universal summons: all creation is invited to praise the one true God.

The name of God signifies his very essence, his divine identity and presence, which is worthy of all worship and exaltation.

Come and see the works of God, his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam. He has changed the sea into dry land; through the river they passed on foot; therefore let us rejoice in him. He rules by his might forever.

The reason for praise is rooted in God’s mighty saving acts. Two specific feats are cited: the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea on dry land (Exodus 14-15) and the dividing of the Jordan River as they crossed into the Promised Land forty years later (Joshua 3:7-17).

These events serve as bookends for a particular chapter in Israel’s history, the chapter in which a motley group of slaves was fashioned into a nation.

In addition to praising God for the miraculous water crossings themselves, which demonstrate God’s power to overcome chaos and bring about salvation, Israel is also praising God for shaping them into his chosen people.

Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare what he has done for me. 

The communal call shifts to a personal testimony.

Blessed be God who refused me not my prayer or his kindness!

The psalm closes with heartfelt gratitude for God’s faithful response to prayer and steadfast mercy. This personal thanksgiving highlights the intimate relationship between God and the believer, grounded in trust and divine fidelity.

“When the soul recalls the gifts he has received from God over a long time, and contemplates the graces that God gives him in abundance in the present, or turns his eyes to the future and the infinite reward that God has stored up for those who love him, he gives thanks in the midst of inexpressible waves of joy” (Saint John Cassian, Collationes, 9).