Songs of Summer 8 – Let the Peoples Praise You

God delights in blessing, and He delights in blessing to bring joy and gladness to all peoples. That is the mission, the objective of the church: to bring the gospel, the good news of joy, to all peoples. Open with us to Psalm 67, and let's see how that works out in our lives as followers of Jesus.

There was one of those inspiring moments when four thousand of us, maybe more, gathered in that auditorium. Musicians were up on stage, singers were up on stage, and over four thousand people had their arms lifted up, singing in unison with loud voices. In that moment, I couldn't help but imagine what it will one day be like, as the Scriptures speak of in both the Old and New Testaments.

The last book of the Bible speaks about this in Revelation chapter 7. It says there is going to be a multitude so large that no one could number it, with people from every tribe, every nation, and every language group represented there, gathered before the throne of God, all of them worshiping and singing a new song to the Lord. Revelation chapter 7 tells us that four thousand people pales in comparison to a multitude that cannot be numbered.

However, we have all experienced that large gathering of people at some point or another, maybe in a stadium. Recently, this has been happening at Angels Stadium for the Harvest Crusade, where many people gathered with one voice, singing together with arms lifted up. There is an inspiring nature to that, and we look forward to the day that is prophetically described at the end of the Bible.

I'm sure that the psalmist who wrote the passage of Scripture we are going to look at today, some three thousand years ago, was a composer himself, a songwriter who had a similar picture in mind.

In view, Psalm 67 is where we're going to be today. If you have your Bible, open to Psalm 67. If you don't have a Bible, just raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. The Psalms are right about the middle of your Bible; there are one hundred and fifty of them, so it's hard to miss. Find Psalm number 67, and as you do, if you wouldn't mind standing with me, we're going to read from the Scriptures.

This is just a short Psalm, seven verses, the heading of which says, "To the chief musician on stringed instruments, a Psalm, a song." We're not entirely sure who authored this Psalm three thousand years ago, but some composer had in mind musicians playing an accompanying music or tune to these words.

"God, be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us. Selah. That Your way may be known on the earth, Your saving power, Your salvation among all nations. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You. O that the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You shall judge the people righteously and govern the nations on the earth. Selah. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You. Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him."

Father, would You speak to us today and give us wisdom by Your Spirit to be able to see here in the Scriptures Your inspired Word, which is living and powerful. Help us to see application here in the text that, in some way, may be small, but maybe even in a big way, would transform the way that we understand Your nature and our task in light of Your nature in this world.

So, God, would You speak to us today? Help us to yield to the work that You want to do in us as we consider it here in Psalm 67. We just ask for Your presence in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen." You can be seated. God, be merciful to us.

And bless us, cause Your face to shine upon us. Selah. That last little word, as I've mentioned in previous weeks in our series here in the Psalms, "Selah," is a musical pause, a silence, if you will. For us, it's kind of a meditative pause. When I read it, the words that come to my mind are, "God, be gracious or merciful to us and bless us, cause His face to shine upon us."

In thinking about those words, the reader of these words 3,000 years ago, when they were first penned, would have immediately acknowledged the association, the connection, the correlation with another passage of Scripture in the Old Testament. If you've been a part of Cross Connection Church for any length of time, then you might even hear a connection. The passage in the Old Testament that the psalmist has in view when he says, "God, be merciful to us and bless us, and cause Your face to shine upon us," are words that I share almost every single week following every single service as I give a benediction at the close of the service from Numbers chapter six in the Old Testament.

You can turn there if you'd like. There are five books that open the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. So, the fifth book of the Bible, Numbers chapter six, contains a blessing that God ordained. Moses, if you've ever seen "The Prince of Egypt" or "The Ten Commandments," was to give this blessing to his brother, a guy by the name of Aaron, who was a priest over a nation called the nation of Israel.

God said to Moses, "I want you to tell Aaron, the priest, that this is the blessing he is to pronounce over the worshippers of God when they come to appear before God at the tabernacle where they would worship." Numbers chapter six is what is referred to as the Aaronic blessing. Aaron was the priest, and this was the priestly blessing for the worshippers of God.

Numbers chapter six, verse 22: "The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to Aaron and to his sons, his descendants, saying, "This is the way you shall bless...'"

The children of Israel say to them, "The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace." So you shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I, God, says, will bless them. This was the blessing thousands of years ago that the priestly class of people were to pronounce over the worshippers of God: "The Lord bless you and keep you, and cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Lift up His countenance upon you and give you His peace."

Now, the psalmist, hundreds of years after that was instituted for the priests to say over the people, has this blessing in mind when he writes this song: "God, be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us." That's what's in his mind as he thinks about this song. But notice he changes it. It was a blessing that the priests were to pronounce, "The Lord bless you," and now he phrases it as a prayer: "God, bless us."

Now, that sounds like an audacious prayer. I was having a conversation this last week with a brother in the church here, and we were talking about praying for people. He said, "You know, sometimes I find it easier for me to pray for other people than to pray for myself because when I pray for myself, I feel like I'm being selfish." Have you been there? Has anyone ever felt like if I pray for myself, I'm being selfish? I was trying to encourage him that, you know, Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread, so it's legitimate to pray for ourselves.

Now, there is obviously an out-of-balance way that we can pray for ourselves. If all we ever do is pray for ourselves, as if we were going through the in-and-out drive-thru, saying, "I'll have this and I'll have this and I'll have this, animal style," it can be completely self-focused, and that surely can be out of balance. But to never pray for yourself, on the other side of the spectrum, because you feel that maybe it's somehow selfish or arrogant, is also not correct.

I can imagine that someone, maybe even sitting here right now, could feel a little bit uncomfortable praying the prayer, "God, be gracious to me and bless me," and feel like, "I don't know if I should pray that prayer." We are accustomed to saying, "God bless you." I noticed recently that one of my kids sneezed, and when they sneezed, they said, "I..."

Bless you, because they know every time we say "God bless you" after someone sneezes. We have this tradition, this custom, don't we? We don't always even know where it comes from; we just do it. It's a cultural custom that we follow.

Now, it's not just a sneeze; it's a "bless you." We are accustomed to saying "God bless you," but we're not so accustomed to asking for blessings for ourselves. In fact, there's a way in which we've almost been trained under Scripture to feel weird about saying, "God bless me." If you prayed that in a gathering of people, a corporate prayer, and someone asked you to pray that God would bless you, people might look at you oddly.

"Who's got the audacity to ask God to bless me?" But the psalmist did not feel uncomfortable praying that at all. "God, be gracious to us, merciful to us, and bless us." The word "merciful" in verse 1 is translated in several other English translations as "gracious." It's the very same Hebrew word used back in Numbers chapter six, where it says in verse 25, "The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you."

So, it is equally right to say, "God, be merciful to us" or "God, be gracious to us and bless us, and cause Your face to shine upon us." The psalmist had no problem praying like that, even though some of us might feel uncomfortable doing so.

Point number one that we find here in this passage is that God's people should seek and expect God's blessing. Immediately following that statement, we must ask the question: Are you seeking, in prayer and by your obedience and way of life, for and expecting God's blessing in your life?

For some reason— and I can come up with a number of reasons as to why— there are a lot of people in churches like this all over the country.

All over the world, there are people who have a problem with the statement that God's people should seek and expect God's blessing. One of the primary reasons for this difficulty is a response to what is commonly referred to as the prosperity gospel or prosperity theology. This theology, in many ways, originated in our wonderful nation.

There are a number of people who identify as Christians and have churches where they preach this concept of the prosperity gospel. It is a small segment of the church, and many people within the church have an aversion to it, and rightly so. Unfortunately, there are individuals within the church who have taken many of the promises of the Bible out of context. As they do this, they can wrongly interpret those promises in a way that is improper or not in line with the Scriptures.

Equally unfortunate is that many people in churches like ours, in reaction to those who improperly apply certain promises of the Bible, have a hard time accepting ideas like God's people should seek and expect God's blessing. We have developed an aversion to that mindset, even though I don't think we should.

The psalmist, for example, openly prays, "God, be gracious to us." He includes himself in that prayer, asking God to bless us and cause His face to shine upon us. It may seem self-centered, and perhaps ethnocentric, for him to ask God to bless "us," but notice what is happening in this passage. There are some important things to consider.

He says, "God, be gracious to us and bless us." Thousands of years ago, the priests were told by God to pronounce a blessing over the worshippers of God: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord be gracious to you and cause His face to shine upon you." The idea of His face shining upon you is about showering His glory upon His people. The priests were to pronounce that blessing as part of their sacred duty.

A blessing is found in Numbers chapter six, verses 24, 25, and 26. That was the blessing that they were to give. However, this blessing did not originate there; it started several hundred years before and is recorded for us in the very first book of the Bible, Genesis, chapter 12.

If you turn there, please, to Genesis, you can turn there like you're an authority on the Bible. It's the first book of the Bible, after all. In Genesis chapter 12, God is calling a person to follow Him. This person's name is Abram, or Abraham, and he is historically recognized as the father of the nation of Israel, the Jewish people. God is calling this man, Abraham, to follow Him, and He says this in Genesis chapter 12, verse 1: "Now the Lord had said to Abram, 'Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you.'"

Breaking that down, God called Abraham to follow Him. He wanted Abraham, by faith, to leave everything that he knew—everything that was common and comfortable—and come follow Him. That was risky, but Abraham did follow the Lord. We are told later on in this passage why he followed the Lord. It would seem kind of ludicrous; he was 75 years old at this point. The Bible tells us that he had everything set up where he was living, and then God comes to him. A voice speaks to him and says, "I want you to leave everything and come follow Me to a land that I'm going to show you."

Why would he even do that? Well, because of this verse: the same voice said, "I will make you a great nation." That sounds good, doesn't it? "I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse him who curses you, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

So, hundreds of years before Aaron and his sons were commanded by God to bless the people—the descendants of Abraham—with this blessing, "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you," God spoke to their father, Abraham. He said, "I want you to follow Me, and I will bless you." The nature of this blessing to Abraham and through Abraham has continued for hundreds and hundreds of years in the past and even today.

Many have interpreted this blessing to be for Abraham and his descendants only. However, if we look at what is being said in Genesis chapter 12 and how the psalmist interprets it in Psalm 67, we will see that this blessing has a much wider scope than just Abraham and his descendants. This is really important for us to grasp as we study through the Scriptures.

The psalmist in Psalm 67, verse 1, says, "God, be merciful, be gracious to us, and bless us; cause His face to shine upon us." Selah. Think about it. In considering this, we discover that he is connecting it with the priestly blessing of Numbers chapter 6. If we step back even further, we see the Abrahamic blessing that God gave to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12. He is pointing back to those things: "God, be gracious to us and bless us; cause Your face to shine upon us."

We are then led immediately in the next verse to the result of this blessing. He is praying for God to bless us, and now we see the result in Psalm 67, verse 2: "That Your way may be known in the earth, Your salvation among all nations." I think all of us would acknowledge that words, even little words, are really important. There is a small word that begins this verse that is very significant: the word "that." In the New International Version and the HCSB version, it says "so that."

Circle the word "that" in your Bible. It is important because it identifies the motivation behind this audacious prayer. This is indeed an audacious prayer, but there is a solid motive behind it: "God, be gracious to us and bless us; cause Your face to shine."

Upon us, so that for the purpose of Your way will be known in all the earth, Your salvation among all nations. The motivation behind this audacious prayer is the glory of God among the nations, that all people would see and know the fame and the glory of God.

Because this blessing, point number two on your outline, is that God's blessing is for all peoples. We are blessed to be a blessing. That was true thousands of years ago with the first follower of God by faith, Abraham. He is called the father of the faith in the Scriptures. He was the first one who followed God faithfully. Thousands of years ago, Abraham followed God by faith to receive a blessing, but it was a blessing for the purpose of being a blessing.

We see that in Genesis 12, verse 2. God says, "I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing." So, Abraham, thousands of years ago, was blessed by God to be a blessing. If you today are the recipient of the blessing of God, you are blessed to be a blessing. As we'll see in a moment, you are the recipient of blessings from God, and we are blessed to be a blessing.

God went on in Genesis 12:3, the very next verse: "I will bless those who bless you and curse him who curses you, and in you, or through you, all the nations, all the families of the earth shall be blessed." So, I’m going to put a blessing on you so that others are blessed. God's people should seek and expect God's blessing, and then they should seek and expect to be a blessing. They receive the blessing to give the blessing.

One of the most tragic outcomes of being the recipient of blessing, I can think of three of them. You might want to write these down. The most tragic outcomes of being the recipient of blessing are: number one, to think that you deserve it; number two, to...

I think one of the most tragic outcomes of being a recipient of God's blessings is to believe that you deserve them. There are three major pitfalls: first, to think that you deserve it; second, to think that it is exclusive to you; and third, to hoard it.

First, let's address the idea of deserving. God blessed Abraham because of His grace. If you notice in Psalm 67, verse 1, the mercy or grace of God comes before the blessing: "God be gracious to us and bless us." You can certainly make the case that grace is a blessing in itself, but the further blessings of God are only accessible by His grace. The blessings of God are not accessible by your works. This is clear throughout the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, across the 66 books of the Bible. It is evident that God's favor, His blessing, comes upon people not by their merit, but by unmerited, undeserved favor—grace.

If you're a Christian here today, you have received the blessing of God in salvation and the further blessings of God, the benefits of salvation. You have received that not because you're a good person or because you've done anything meritorious at all; it's simply because God has given it to you out of His grace.

If you're not a Christian here today, and we're so glad that you're here, don't think that you have to do A, B, C, D, E, and F before you can receive the blessing of God. Don't believe that if you just get your life in order or start working on these things, then you'll earn God's grace. The Bible is clear: "For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Any blessing we have from God is according to His grace.

One of the major pitfalls, the traps of being a recipient of God's blessing, is to begin to think that you deserve it or that it is exclusively for you or the people around you. This is always man's default mindset because man has fallen.

We're sinful. Our default is to think we deserve it and then to believe that it is ours because we are something really special, and it's not for the rest of those people. God wanted to make sure that the people He selected—Abraham, Abraham's son Isaac, Isaac's son Jacob, Jacob's twelve sons, and the twelve tribes of Israel, the nation of Israel—understood that this is not exclusively for them and that they do not deserve it.

At the very beginning of their preparation to enter the land that God was going to bless them with, called the Promised Land, God gathered the whole nation of Israel—hundreds of thousands of them. Moses delivered a huge message, which is recorded in the Book of Deuteronomy. If you think my messages are long, read the Book of Deuteronomy; it is one extensive message.

God assembled all the people and said, "I'm going to give you this great land, a land flowing with milk and honey. It is an awesome blessing that I am pouring out upon you and your descendants. It is for you as a people." Then, in Deuteronomy chapter 7, He emphasized, "I don't want you to think that I'm giving this to you because you're something great, because you're not. I'm merely giving this to you because I love you—unmerited, undeserved favor." He gathered them all together and reiterated that He did not want them to think that this was theirs exclusively.

As I mentioned, the default tendency of sinful people, and we are all sinful, is to try to make things exclusive. If you fast-forward from Deuteronomy 7, where God states that they are not receiving this blessing because they are special, to nearly 2,500 years later, you arrive at the time when Jesus came to earth. During that time, many of the people in Israel, living in the land that God had given them, believed that it was exclusively theirs and not for others.

In fact, some of the things that Jesus did and said that angered them the most were when He acknowledged the faith of non-Jewish people, the Gentiles. He said, "I have not found such great faith in all of Israel as I have found in you, Gentile." The Jewish people present would respond with outrage, thinking, "How dare you? It is our blessing, not for everybody else." This was never God's intent.

The first pitfall of receiving God's blessing is to think that you deserve it. The second is to believe that it is exclusively yours. The third...

The tendency to hoard blessings is the logical outgrowth of the belief that "I deserve it" and "it's exclusively mine." This mindset leads to the conclusion that we should hold blessings for ourselves alone, excluding the rest of the world. However, that is not God's heart. It wasn't only the Jewish people 2,000 years ago who came to this wrong conclusion; many Christians have also fallen into this trap.

This exclusivity manifests in various ways. For example, some may claim that this is the only right church and that you are not saved unless you are a part of it or baptized in a specific way. It can also be seen in the belief that we, our family, and those like us are the only elect, while others are deemed reprobate and destined for hell. According to our fallen nature, we tend to move towards exclusivity and hoarding, but God is not like that. He said to His disciples, "Freely you have received; freely give." We are to be conduits of this blessing. We do not deserve it; it is not exclusive to us, and therefore, we cannot hoard it but must give it out.

In summary, based on verses 1 and 2 of Psalm 67, we, the people of God, should seek and expect God's blessing. If you are a follower of Christ and have put your confidence and trust in Him, you should seek and expect God's blessing. The result of that blessing is that you should also seek to be a blessing to others—others not like us, others outside of these walls, others in this county, and others in different parts of the world. We are blessed to be a blessing.

We should seek and expect to receive God's blessing, and we should also seek and expect to be a blessing. The second result is found in verse 3 of Psalm 67: "Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You."

God's blessings should result in worship. It should stir worship in my heart and in your heart. If you are the recipient of God's blessing, it should lead you to praise God for what He has given to you. We read in the Scriptures and sing songs like "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow," which is called the doxology. Because we have received blessings, we should worship God.

However, God's blessing should also result in worship globally. It should extend the worship of God. "Let the peoples praise You; let all the peoples praise You." Circle the word "all," a small word with great importance. It is not exclusive. We should seek and expect God's blessing, and we should seek and expect to be a blessing as a result of receiving that blessing. Consequently, we should seek to extend the worship of God.

The psalmist recognizes and understands that God's blessing upon Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve sons of Jacob—the twelve tribes of Israel—was for the purpose of global praise and glory to God. It was intended so that all the nations would ultimately worship and glorify God, the one who gives the blessing. "Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You."

The blessing to Abraham was to be a blessing through Abraham, bringing about the worship of God among all nations and all peoples. Any other interpretation of Genesis chapter 12, verses 2 and 3, commonly referred to as the Abrahamic covenant, as being exclusively for Abraham and his descendants is a misreading of the passage. It is for the glory of God among all nations, both thousands of years ago and today.

In summary of these first three verses, we should seek and expect God's blessing. As a result, we should seek and expect to be a blessing. Further, God's blessing should produce praise in us.

The beginning of verse four in Psalm 67 states, "Let the nations be glad and sing for joy." The ultimate purpose of God's blessing, which is point number four on your outline, is that God's blessing is for global joy and gladness.

At this point, it is important to backtrack for a moment and consider what this blessing is that I have been discussing. I have used the word "blessing" numerous times, but what exactly is this blessing of God that we should seek, expect, extend, and praise God for? This blessing should ultimately bring joy and gladness to all nations.

Again, let’s look at the beginning of the passage in Psalm 67, verse 1: "God, be gracious to us and bless us, and cause your face to shine upon us, that your way may be known in the earth, your salvation among all nations." God blessed Abraham in Genesis 12, verses 1 through 3, and his descendants. He blessed the nation of these worshipers of God, as seen in Numbers chapter six, verses 23 through 26. He blessed these people so that through them would come the blessing to all nations.

What is that blessing? It is the way and salvation. Who is that blessing? Jesus. The blessing that is to come to and through the descendants of Abraham to all nations is not the nation of Israel; it is the Messiah, Jesus. He is the blessing, which is why this really simple point, point number five, is that God's blessing is Jesus. He is the way that God's way may be known in all the earth, and His salvation among all nations.

What does the name Jesus mean? Jehovah is salvation. The psalmist, a thousand years before Jesus comes to earth, states that the purpose of God's blessing—causing His face to shine upon His people, being gracious to them, and blessing them—is that the way, Jesus, and the salvation, Jesus, may be known.

Would it be known to all nations? Now, how many non-Jewish people are here today? Look around and raise your hands. This prayer is being fulfilled because the great majority of us sitting here today are not Jewish. The psalmist prayed here, "God bless us," and he is praying at this moment as a Jewish person living 3,000 years ago. He prayed for us as a people so that we would be a blessing and that God's way and salvation would be known among all nations.

In 2015, the focus of the Abrahamic covenant is Jesus. Genesis 12:1-3 states that if you can read Genesis 12:1-3 and you miss Jesus, then you've missed the point. God blessed Abraham and his descendants to bless the world with Jesus, who ultimately, as the psalmist says in Psalm 67:4, brings global joy and gladness. How does He do that?

First, He does that by ushering in the gospel, which is good news for all nations. It is good news that brings great joy; that's what the Scriptures say. The gospel is good news that brings great joy. Jesus came; God became a man, which is called the Incarnation. He lived a sinless life, died a brutal death, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven to begin to fulfill this prayer of blessing. Jesus is the decisive fulfillment of this prayer of blessing to all nations in His incarnation, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, and He will fulfill it in the future with His second coming, which is what the psalmist is looking for.

At this point, he says this gospel is going to bring joy and gladness to all nations. So, if you are a follower of Jesus today, we are to be those who are working for the joy of all people. The purpose of our lives as followers of Jesus is to extend, experience, and express joy and gladness, bringing it into the world. We are to work for the joy.

Of all peoples, the Apostle Paul in the New Testament, in First Corinthians, says, "I am a worker together for your joy." That was his task as a pastor: a worker together for joy. Christians should be involved in tasks in the world that spread gladness. That's a fun job! As a Christian, your job is to make people happy in Jesus.

The best way, the most primary way that we do that is by giving forth the good news that brings great joy—the Gospel. That's the primary way that we extend gladness and happiness to the world: through the preaching of the Gospel. The secondary way would be to do good things, such as bringing fresh, clean water to people who don't have it. Would you say that that makes people in other countries happy? Yes, that's a good thing that the church should be about.

By getting rid of things like malaria in the world, we contribute to making it a glad place. By addressing issues like HIV in Africa or taking care of social justice matters around the world, we engage in good work. These are all good things for us to support and be committed to because they increase the joy and gladness of the nations. However, the primary thing that we are to be devoted to is the declaration of the Gospel, which is good news that produces great joy.

The psalmist praises, "Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy!" Oh, that the world would be happy! How many of you would agree that the world is experiencing a significant lack of gladness? We, the people of God, are to be those who extend gladness through the Gospel to all nations. That's good work—enjoyable work—and it takes place in your workplace, on the construction site where you work, on your campus if you're in school, and wherever God carries you.

Be a worker for the joy of other people, primarily through the extension of the Gospel, the good news that brings great joy, but also by doing things that increase joy. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy. Then the psalmist moves prophetically to the future: "For you, God shall judge the people."

Righteously govern the nations on the earth. Think about it; this is the compelling thing that brings great joy. There is coming a day, church, when Jesus shall rule and reign with righteous judgment. We live in a great nation that even has one of the best justice systems in the world. However, all of us sitting here today would recognize that sometimes even some of the greatest justice systems are unjust.

We look forward to a day when He rules and reigns in righteousness. The psalmist says, "Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy." Why? For there is that connecting word: "You, God, shall judge the people righteously and govern the nations on the earth." When will that take place? Well, it's not happening yet, so it's something to look forward to—the advent, the second coming of Jesus, when He fulfills this blessing being spoken of here.

Every Orthodox Christian, that is, Christians who believe the right things, believe in and look forward to the second coming of Christ. He says there is coming a day when You shall judge the people righteously and govern the nations of the earth. This is pictured in other passages of Scripture. You can look later if you'd like; it's Isaiah chapter 11, verses 1 through 10. It looks forward to a day when Jesus, the Son of David, will come. King David lived 3,000 years ago, and God gave him a promise that the Messiah, the Christ, would come through his descendants. Jesus did come through his descendants.

In Isaiah 11:1, written 700 years before Jesus came, Isaiah says there is going to come one, the Son of David, and He with righteousness shall judge the poor. Verse 4 of Isaiah chapter 11 says He will decide with equity for the meek of the earth. So, we look forward to that day. When that day comes, the psalmist sings, looking forward with joy, saying, "God, we're looking forward to the day when You shall judge the earth with righteousness, when You shall be enthroned here over all nations—not just one nation, but for all nations."

Then the psalmist returns to the chorus in verse 5: "Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You." At that very same conference that I was...

Back in 2011, four thousand of us were worshiping the Lord when a pastor stood up. He is also the author of a book called "Let the Nations Be Glad," which happens to be based on this passage of Scripture. He spoke on Psalm 67, which says, "Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You."

That same author begins his book with the statement, "Missions exists because worship doesn't." What is the purpose of the endeavor of the church to spread the gospel to all peoples? The purpose is the global praise of God.

Point number six on your outline is that God's people should seek to experience and extend God's blessing. Until when? Until all the peoples praise God. "Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You. Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him."

The psalmist looks forward to the day when God wraps all things up and brings this global blessing among all nations. If you are a follower of Jesus today, you should be committed to the task of experiencing and extending God's blessing through the gospel and through whatever endeavor increases joy and gladness in the world. We should be committed to that work with our time, our energy, our talents, our money, and everything that we have.

You may never go to a foreign country, and that's okay, because right here in this area, that is your task. Our job is to increase the gladness of all peoples, whether they live in Burma, India, or San Marcos. I can tell you that people in San Marcos need their joy increased, and people in San Diego County need their joy increased and their gladness restored.

It doesn't come through a new Chargers football stadium, I hate to break it to you. It comes through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The task is unfinished. Many Christians today look at the Old Testament of the Bible, the first two-thirds of the Bible, only for what those passages might have to say about future things, eschatology.

I have two things I know for certain regarding future events. Number one, Jesus will come back. Number two, He hasn't come back yet, which means the task is not done. There are more than 6,000 distinct ethnic groups, people groups that still do not know, hear, or have the Gospel. There are a lot of unhappy people.

Father, would You stand with me? We ask that You would stir our hearts to be conduits of blessing for all nations. We would not be those who think that we deserve the blessing of salvation or that it is exclusively for just this church, nor would we hoard it. Lord, we pray that the good news of the Gospel would go out from this church and other churches in our area so that the 3.2 million people here in San Diego County—more than ninety percent of whom are not a part of an evangelical Bible-teaching church—would know the gladness of the good news of the Gospel.

We pray that You would cause this church to grow for Your glory and for Your praise. We ask that You would also cause Emmanuel Faith, Mission Hills, North Coast Church, Maranatha Chapel, and all the other churches in our area that are committed to the task of preaching the good news of the Gospel to grow for Your glory in the world. We desire to see people continue to go to the unreached for Your name's sake and for the joy of all peoples.

God, enable us to be that conduit of blessing this week, even if it seems in such a small way, whether in an office building here in San Diego or at a school campus here in Escondido. Help us to be conduits for Your blessing.