God-Focus and the Songs of God
What are home mission work and world mission work all about? They are about bringing the nations from glorying in themselves as enemies of God to glorying in the Lord Himself as worshipers of God, having been grafted into His covenant people.
Psalm 65 (NKJV)
To the Chief Musician. On Stringed Instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
1God be merciful to us and bless us,
And cause His face to shine upon us, (Selah)
2That Your way may be known on earth,
Your salvation among all nations.
3Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
4Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy!
For You shall judge the people righteously,
And govern the nations on earth. (Selah)
5Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
6Then the earth shall yield her increase;
God, our own God, shall bless us.
7God shall bless us,
And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.
This song is committed into the hands of a priest (the chief musician/choir master) to be accompanied by priests (on stringed instruments). Psalm 65 anticipates a time when the Great High Priest would sing in the midst of the assembly (Heb 2:12) as accompanied by the melody in the heart (Eph 5:19) that is His own grace in their hearts (Col 3:16).
Wonderfully, the blessing of v1 resounds in harmony with Num 6:24–26. And wonderfully, this blessing is not restrained to the children of Israel who are according to the flesh, but the children of Israel (Num 6:23, 27) who are according to the promise (Rom 9:6–8). This blessing is for “all nations” (v2b), “the peoples” (v3a), “all the nations” (v3b), “the nations” (v4a), “the nations” (v4c), “the peoples” (v5a), “all the peoples” (v5b), and “all the ends of the earth” (v7b).
Clearly, this application of the “Aaronic blessing” is to be “world-wide”! This makes v6b even more wonderful. In addition to the priestly superscript, and the high-priestly blessing, the Holy Spirit names God as “our own God” in this prayer and song of “all the peoples.” It is wonderful, when a believer in covenant with God in Christ can come to Him and pray or sing, “God, my own God.” It is wonderful, when a believing household of the visible church, in covenant with God,sings and prays, “God, our own God.” It is wonderful, when a believing congregation of the visible church, in covenant with God, sings and prays, “God, our own God.” And it is gloriously wonderful, when the great congregation of the invisible church, consisting of members from every tribe and tongue and nation uses that wonderful covenant language, “God, our own God”!
Yet, for hundreds of years after Psalm 65 was written, there was very little fulfillment of the covenantal wonders of this Psalm. When would worshipers from all the nations “be glad and sing for joy” under the leadership of God’s anointed priest and receive the authoritative blessing of God’s High Priest “putting His Name” upon them? Psalm 72 prophesied the answer.
Psalm 72 (NKJV)
A Psalm Of Solomon.
1Give the king Your judgments, O God,
And Your righteousness to the king’s Son.
2He will judge Your people with righteousness,
And Your poor with justice.
3The mountains will bring peace to the people,
And the little hills, by righteousness.
4He will bring justice to the poor of the people;
He will save the children of the needy,
And will break in pieces the oppressor.
5They shall fear You
As long as the sun and moon endure,
Throughout all generations.
6He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing,
Like showers that water the earth.
7In His days the righteous shall flourish,
And abundance of peace,
Until the moon is no more.
8He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.
9Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him,
And His enemies will lick the dust.
10The kings of Tarshish and of the isles
Will bring presents;
The kings of Sheba and Seba
Will offer gifts.
11Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him;
All nations shall serve Him.
12For He will deliver the needy when he cries,
The poor also, and him who has no helper.
13He will spare the poor and needy,
And will save the souls of the needy.
14He will redeem their life from oppression and violence;
And precious shall be their blood in His sight.
15And He shall live;
And the gold of Sheba will be given to Him;
Prayer also will be made for Him continually,
And daily He shall be praised.
16There will be an abundance of grain in the earth,
On the top of the mountains;
Its fruit shall wave like Lebanon;
And those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.
17His name shall endure forever;
His name shall continue as long as the sun.
And men shall be blessed in Him;
All nations shall call Him blessed.
18Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who only does wondrous things!
19And blessed be His glorious name forever!
And let the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen and Amen.
20The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
There is a day coming when the Son of David’s enemies go down on their bellies and lick the dust (v9, cf. Gen 3:15). But wonderfully the dominion of the Christ will include kings of Sheba and Seba that offer tribute (v10) and kings of “all nations” who fall down not to lick the dust in defeat but to serve Him (v11). From all the nations, there are enemies whom God subdues in salvation rather than destroying in condemnation! God will still one day send His Son to the world one day to condemn and destroy His enemies. But first, He sent His son into the world, not to condemn it, but that the world through Him might be saved (Jn 3:17).
The name “Sheba” in v15b identifies these subdued former-enemies as members of the group that prays in His Name continually (v15c) and praises Him daily (v15d). All nations will be blessed in Him (v17c), and all nations will call Him the blessed One (v17d). That is, they will call Him Yahweh, the blessed God of Israel (v18a). And it is His glorious Name that they will bless (v19a), and it is with His glory that the whole earth will be filled (v19b)
When would Psalm 67 come to fulfillment? When the Son of David described in Psalm 72 fulfilled it! This is what the Lord Jesus was declaring about Himself in Matthew 28:18–20. The one who was a Son of David according to the flesh (Rom 1:3), was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead (Rom 1:4).
And so, when He had risen from the dead, the Lord Jesus identified Himself as the fulfillment of the Psalm 72 King Who is the blessed One Himself, Who would fill the earth with His glory. And He announced that the time had come for gathering worshipers from all the nations under His authority, in a new covenant that is marked by the blessedness of His Name as the One in Whom the triune God has made the ultimate (Heb 1:2) display of Himself.
Matthew 28:18–20 (NKJV)
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
This is what missions is about. Its focus is God. Even more specifically, it is about God as triune, Jesus as God, and enemies being made worshipers of this glorious Name, “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” It is about a multitude from this nation and from all nations being brought into covenant with God with Jesus as King and Jesus as High Priest, as instructed and commanded by Jesus as Prophet.
And the great way to have this God-Focus in missions dwell richly in the hearts of His people is by the Spirit using the Songs of God to fill His people (Eph 5:18, Col 3:16). DoesGod’s own vision for His own glory to drive your heart (or your congregation’s heart) toward missions at home and abroad? Would you like for it to do so? Trusting Him to use His Word as promised, I commend to you the hearty singing of Psalm 65, Psalm 72, and other similar Scripture!