OUR PRAISE SHOULD BE A WITNESS TO THE NATIONS!
Psalm 117
Praise the LORD, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
For great is his steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
Praise the LORD!
The writer, under the inspiration of God, is commanding all
nations to praise and extol the LORD. Obviously, it needs to begin with those who
know Him. Our lives, our words, our actions, our goals, our relations, our
choices should all lift God up high in praise.
Of course, God’s unwavering, enduring,, unchanging,
undeserved, and costly love should produce our praise. His faithfulness that,
by contrast, exposes our own unfaithfulness and sinfulness should bring forth our
constant praise.
The psalmist reminds us that whatever circumstance we are
facing, we are still being loved by God and we can count on the fact that God
will continue to be faithful to His character and to His promises. His love has
never been the result of something we offered to Him, and never will be.
This psalm, I believe, also reminds us of our role in
inviting the nations to recognize the LORD and to praise him.
Romans 10:14-17
How
then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom
they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are
sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the
good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord,
who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and
hearing through the word of Christ.
We live in a world where God is talked about, where people
have opinions about God, where many follow religions that give lip service to
God, but where the majority of these do not know or have ever heard of the true
God of the Bible.
God has commanded us very clearly to be the lights to a dark
and lost world.
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy
Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem
and in all Judea and Samaria
The Apostle Paul did not take this responsibility lightly.
Romans 1:14-17
I am under obligation both to Greeks and to
barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the
gospel to you also who are in Rome
For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew
first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed
from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
The obligation of the Apostle is the result of the
exclusivity and necessity for the Gospel. Man without the Gospel is lost
eternally; there is no other way for man to escape eternal punishment and
separation from God.
Have we lost the sense of urgency for the mission that God
has given us? Have we allowed the cares of the world to distract us? Have our
personal problems caused us to lose our focus on what is eternal and valuable?
We cannot all go to the ends of the world, but we certainly
can pray and support financially those faithful missionaries who are willing to go and reach
people who still today need to hear the message
of the Gospel.
It would be a great encouragement for my wife and me to know
that you are praying for our ministry in Italy , and that you will continue
to sustain us in prayer, as we minister according to God’s leading. The need
here is so great, and we are blessed, at present, to be serving in a small
church in Rome ,
whose missionary pastor has recently retired. You
can find more information on our website: www.corneliusministries.org.
The psalmist ends with the words: “Praise the Lord!” The
wonderful thing is this: that God is active today in bringing people from every
tongue and nation to Himself. One day we all will be in heaven, united with
people from all over the world, praising God.
May the Lord help us to be praise-filled people who invite
others to join in praise to the only true God, Who deserves to be praised
forever!
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