Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

• Cornelius and the Door of Faith to the Gentiles- Up until this point in the early history of the church, all believers were Jews. ‘Christ was an inclusive Savior, and therefore his Church must be an inclusive Church 6 .’ God chose Cornelius, an Italian army officer and true worshiper: “He was a devout man who feared the God of Israel,…” to open the way for Gentiles to come to Christ. As Peter preached to he and his household the Scriptures say: “…the Holy Spirit fell upon all who had heard the message. The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the Gentiles, too. And there could be no doubt about it, for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.” (Acts 10:45-47) In this account, praise and worship was both a factor leading to their salvation and a result of the good news being received in their hearts. Even the remaining apostles began praising God when they heard of this event: “When the others heard this, all their objections were answered and they began praising God.” (Acts 11:18) Praise is a close relative of the conversion of the Gentile nations. “For he loves us with unfailing love; the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!” (2) The second part of this psalm goes to the heart of the gospel; God’s love for the whole world. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn. 3:16) The word that is translated here as “unfailing love” , is also rendered as “loving-kindness”(NAS95) , “love” (NIV) , and “merciful kindness”(NKJV) in these various versions. It is the most tender of affections that God or man is capable of showing; there is nothing sweeter, more kind or pure. But there is another side to this “unfailing love” captured by the New King James Version; “For his merciful kindness is great towards us,” (2) it is great (‘gabor’ in the Hebrew) denoting strength, pow- erful and unstoppable. The mercy of God is not passive but aggressive, it seeks out individuals upon which to express itself: “And I, the Son of Man, have come to seek and save those… who are lost.” (Lk. 19:10) This is God’s love for the nations, unfailing, unstoppable, unbelievable! “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.” (1 Cor. 13:7) “…the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.” (2) is also rendered as “…truth of the Lord…” in a number of translations. These two words together reflect the fullness of what God is portraying to us. The ‘truth’ spoken of here is God’s ‘faithfulness’ to everything he is, everything he has promised, every- thing he has created and everything he has spoken. Truth is not a stand-alone object. All things that are ‘true’ lead to him who is the ‘truth’ and is only to be found in the person of Jesus Christ; “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (Jn. 14:6) What God is of- fering to all of mankind is his salvation that was formerly available principally to the Jewish nation. It is now found in his Son Jesus, from who springs all things faithful and true. ‘The heathen nations may enter the brightness of the salvation that has risen over Israel 7 .’ This ‘mercy’ and ‘truth’ ; ‘unfailing love’ and ‘faithfulness' will be that which captures people from every nation for the glory of Jesus Christ and together they will joyfully obey the command of this small but unforgettable psalm: “PRAISE THE LORD!”

1 Keil & Delitzsch 2 Spurgeon 3 Sittler, 14:7 4 Spurgeon 5 Keil & Delitzsch 6 Barclay, Romans, page 198 7 Kraus

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