SCRIPTURE: Psalm 117
“Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples.” (Psalm 117:1)
There is a God, but this God does not belong to just a few people.
God is God of ‘all nations’ and ‘all peoples’.
Our religions attempt to describe God, but they do not confine God.
All nations and all peoples have reasons to praise God.
His love for ‘all nations’ and ‘all peoples’ is great, His faithfulness endures forever.
The religions of the world do not each have their own God (or gods).
There is only one God, and each religion is an attempt to describe this God.
And they all get it wrong in many ways… including Christianity.
The only One that describes and embodies God in a helpful, accurate way, is Jesus.
Jesus is the living embodiment of God’s great love and enduring faithfulness.
And not just for the ‘in’ people, but for all people.
Rich and poor, strong and weak, Jew and non-Jew… all nations and all peoples.
“For God so loved ‘all nations’ and ‘all peoples’ that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
“Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples.” (Psalm 117:1)
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, Your love for ALL nations is great, Your faithfulness for all peoples endures forever. Forgive us for not loving all nations and all peoples. Make Your family one! All nations under God.
Jesus follower
trying to find His way
Observation/Application
This shortest of all Psalms is the middle chapter of the KJV of the Bible. It is also the shortest chapter in the Bible. And yet . .
being central
it has the main message.
God is God, the Lord for all peoples.
His love/grace was for all.
During this Advent season we remember His coming
not just for the Jews
but also the gentiles.
For all.
Praise ye the Lord.
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.
Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
Praise to the Lord, who hath fearfully, wondrously, made thee;
Health hath vouchsafed and, when heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
What need or grief ever hath failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.
Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.
Praise to the Lord, who, when tempests their warfare are waging,
Who, when the elements madly around thee are raging,
Biddeth them cease, turneth their fury to peace,
Whirlwinds and waters assuaging.
Praise to the Lord, who, when darkness of sin is abounding,
Who, when the godless do triumph, all virtue confounding,
Sheddeth His light, chaseth the horrors of night,
Saints with His mercy surrounding.
Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.