Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

II GOD’S WORSHIP - 3-5

“May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you.”(3)

It is unmistakable that this worldwide spiritual awakening will take place in the context of an amaz- ing burst of international praise and worship in a three-fold progression. 1. The mercy, blessing and favor of God in verse 1 is realized and there is a response of faith by the people. 2. The ways of God in verse 2 are known and understood and his salvation is proclaimed. 3. Praise is awakened in the nations and mercy, blessing, favor, knowledge and power are multi- plied. Praise is like a nuclear reaction converting everything around it into bursts of spiritual energy. The praises are ethnic, they are identified by the cultural style of the music of each nation. “After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb...And they were shouting with a mighty shout, ‘Salvation comes from our God on the throne and from the Lamb!” (Rev. 7:9,10) There will be many musical styles in heaven. “How glad the nations will be, singing for joy, because you govern them with justice and direct the actions of the whole world. Interlude (4) Whenever a nation is deeply affected by the good news of Christ, it begins to sing. Delitzsch says of this passage: “His judging in this instance is not meant as a judicial punishment, but as a righteous and mild government…gracious guidance 1 .” God is directing the events of the world to open nations to the message of Christ. Verses 3 and 5 are identical statements calling for all the nations to praise God with verse 4 being inserted between them. When praise surrounds a nation there is a greater manifestation of his rule and guidance. In Romans 15 Paul presents the argument that the Gentiles are included in God’s plan of sal- vation. In three of the four passages he quotes from the Old Testament, praise is mentioned: “And he came so the Gentiles might also give glory to God for his mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote: ‘ • ‘I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing praises to your name.’ And in another place it is written, • ‘Rejoice, O you Gentiles, along with his people, the Jews.’ And yet again, • ‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; praise him, all you people to earth.’”(Rom. 15:9-11) Three things are meant to happen when the church awakens to praise the Lord: 1. Harvest- “Then the earth will yield its harvests…” (5) There is joy when fields produce bountiful harvests but this is pointing to a deeper spiritual harvest of human souls: “Look around you! Vast fields are ripening all around us and are ready now for the harvest…and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life.” (Jn. 4:35,36) 2. Blessing- “and God, our God, will richly bless us. Yes, God will bless us…”(6,7) There is a spir- itual connection between praising the Lord, loving the nations and the blessing of God. This blessing is not just the bestowing of wealth but a richness of a relationship with “God, our God” that affects every dimension of life. Having a heart and an investment in the nations has the natural consequence of not only blessing, but also a rich blessing. 3. Impact- “…and people all over the world will fear him.” (7) This is not the word for ‘cringing fear’ but people everywhere will respect the Lord and consider God and his word very seriously. There will not be indifference and ignorance to things that are holy. Spurgeon becomes eloquent when writing of “May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you.”(5) The obvious point of the scriptures is that praise is intertwined with the Gentile nations coming to Christ. Praise and worship music helps prepare the way of the Lord. III GOD’S WORLD - 6,7

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