Psalm 117: Christ and love to the nations

Christ and love to the nations

Psalm 117

 

Establish the need: How does this short Psalm fit in with Jesus reading and singing it the night before He would die on the Cross?

 

Praise the Lord, all nations; Laud Him, all peoples! 2 For His lovingkindness is great toward us, And the truth of the Lord is everlasting. Praise the Lord!

 

Purpose: When we see others mock where is God we must continue to trust in God for two reasons:

1. We need to know the goal of the Messiah is for the nations to praise God (v.1)
2. We need to know the goal of the Messiah is to display God’s loving kindness (v.2)

 

Reminder:

• The last twenty four hours Jesus sang according to Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26.[1]
• This would have been Psalms 113-118.
• That is because the Jews sang Psalms 113-118 during the Passover.
• Psalms 113-118 was called the “Hallel” Psalms.[2]
• The Jews sang Psalm 113-114 before the Passover meal and afterwards they sang Psalm 115-118.[3]
  These songs would have been the Scriptures that Jesus have thought about as He was the worship leader for the Passover meal that was His Last Supper with His followers before He would be crucified the next day.
• Yet these would minister to Him and therefore also minister to us!

Background

• This is the shortest Psalm and also the shortest chapter in the Bible.[4]
• Yet we should understand its brevity as the Psalm has something important to say, not that it has nothing to say.

 

We need to know the goal of the Messiah is for the nations to praise God (1)

Passage: “Praise the Lord, all nations; Laud Him, all peoples!”

Proof

1. The command:
   1. “Praise the Lord” (1)
      1. The verb is an imperative, thus a command.
      2. The phrase is a fuller expression: “Hallelu ’et-Yahweh” versus what we normally know of “Hallelu-Yah.”[5]
      3. Yahweh of course refers to God’s personal name. He is worthy of our praise!
   2. “Laud Him” (1)
      1. The verb is also an imperative, thus a command.
      2. The object is understood to be God in the context.
      3. The verb has the idea of singing to God.[6]
   3. Who is this command for:
      1. “all nations” (1)
         1. The call to praise God is nothing new. Even within this collection in Psalm 113 it calls God’s servants to praise the Lord in Psalm 113:1.[7]
         2. What is radical here is the call for the nations to praise the Lord!
         3. This call to the nations is radical since it is calling all the nations to turn away from their gods and idols and instead to the living God of the Bible which no doubt has an offensive dimension.[8]
      2. “all peoples” (1)
         1. To clarify what the Psalmist means by “all nations” here we see that it is synonymous with “all peoples” (1)
         2. Earlier Psalm 115 has a national focus on Israel, and Psalm 116 a personal focus but here in Psalm 117 the focus is global.[9]
2. For Jesus singing at the last Supper this would have meant a lot to Him.
   1. Christ taught that others besides the Jews will be saved: “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.” (John 10:16)=Reading this Psalm before Christ’s death would remind Him that His death is to bring the nations to worship and praise God!
   2. Christ earlier in His ministry talked about the Gospel going to all the nations before the world would end: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)=Thus reading this Psalm reminds Jesus that He would fulfill the Good News of saving sinners who are both Jews and Gentiles by dying on the Cross!
   3. Even during Jesus’ ministry there was already a hint of Gentiles flocking to Him: See the instance of the Samaritan (John 4), Syrophoenician Woman (Matthew 15:21-28) and Greek (John 12:20-21).  How much more so through the accomplishment of His death on the Cross!

Practice

1. Do you see God’s plan of saving the nations? If so you have been commissioned by God to participate in the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:19)
2. Are you thankful to God that He saved non-Jews? If so do you have the same humility as the Syrophoenican woman?
3. When was the last time you shared the Gospel to the nations?

 

 

We need to know the goal of the Messiah is to display God’s loving kindness (2)

Passage: “For His lovingkindness is great toward us, And the truth of the Lord is everlasting. Praise the Lord!”

Proof

1. The word “For” is giving us the reason that the nations can praise God.
   1. We ask the question: What reason would the Gentiles have to praise God? Is it because of God’s power to judge?  Is it because of God’s threat to punish sins?
   2. While those are truths about God notice what instead verse 2 focus on as the reason Gentiles have to praise God.
2. Reason 1: God is loving: “His lovingkindness is great toward us” (v.2a)
   1. Earlier in Psalm 115 we already have seen the proclamation of God’s love and truthfulness in Psalm 115:1.[10]
   2. Yet here we see the added information that God’s love is great.[11]
3. Reason 2: God is faithful: “And the truth of the Lord is everlasting” (v.2b)
   1. Again earlier in Psalm 115 we already have seen the proclamation of God’s love and truthfulness in Psalm 115:1.[12]
   2. Yet here we see the added information that God’s truthfulness, that is, faithfulness is forever and “everlasting”.[13]
4. An interesting phrase: “toward us” (v.2)
   1. Who is this “us?”
   2. The “us” seems to refer to both Jews and Gentiles in the context.
   3. Yet also amazing is the fact that Jesus sings this Himself as the song leader on the last supper before His death.
      1. Jesus is not like the British Royalty who does not sing when the national anthem is being played while everyone else is singing.[14]
      2. For Jesus singing at the last Supper this would have meant a lot to Him.
         1. Christ would be reminded that the reason why He is heading to die on the Cross is to show the loving kindness and faithfulness to those whom He loves.
         2. God has already shown Himself as loving kindness and faithful in the Old Testament but Christ’s death would display God’s loving kindness and truthfulness/faithfulness is greater than many can ever imagine!

Practice

1. Do you praise God and thank God for His lovingkindness and faithfulness?
2. Does your response to the love of God and Christ including loving Christ and the Triune God who worked for your salvation?
3. When you sing at church do you sing whole heartedly knowing that this is what He wants: Praise?
4. If you struggle with doubting God’s love and faithfulness, you got to look to the Cross.
5. Have you trusted in Jesus as God’s display of love and kindness today?

 

[1] Phillip Ross, Anthems for A Dying Lamb, (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus), 3-4.

[2] Source: https://drbarrick.org/files/studynotes/Psalms/Ps_113.pdf.

[3] Source: https://drbarrick.org/files/studynotes/Psalms/Ps_113.pdf.

[4] Source: https://drbarrick.org/files/studynotes/Psalms/Ps_117.pdf.

[5] Source: https://drbarrick.org/files/studynotes/Psalms/Ps_117.pdf.

[6] Source: https://drbarrick.org/files/studynotes/Psalms/Ps_117.pdf.

[7] Phillip Ross, Anthems for A Dying Lamb, (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus), 114.

[8] Phillip Ross, Anthems for A Dying Lamb, (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus), 114.

[9] Source: https://drbarrick.org/files/studynotes/Psalms/Ps_117.pdf.

[10] Phillip Ross, Anthems for A Dying Lamb, (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus), 121.

[11] Phillip Ross, Anthems for A Dying Lamb, (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus), 121.

[12] Phillip Ross, Anthems for A Dying Lamb, (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus), 121.

[13] Phillip Ross, Anthems for A Dying Lamb, (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus), 122.

[14] Phillip Ross, Anthems for A Dying Lamb, (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus), 116.