The Blessing of God on His People for His Glory Among the Nations

Good morning, church. I invite you to turn with me and your copy of God's word to Psalm 67, Psalm chapter 67. And while you're turning there, I just want to thank Pastor Tim for trusting me with this sacred task to unfold God's Word before you all this morning and to study it, preach and teach it together. I know as I preacher in this pulpit, my words only carry anyway in so as much as may accurately reflect the words that are on these teachings given to us by God. This summer we've been in the Psalms.

Our series has been Summer in the Psalms. We've looked at a whole variety of psalms. If you read all 150 of them, you will find a wide variety of them. You'll find psalms of praise, psalms, psalms of thanksgiving, psalms of lament, psalms of confessing sin, and psalms where David is just flat out. This psalm, like many psalms, is a prayer for blessing.

It is a prayer for blessing on the people of God. And that just throws a question out there to consider this morning as we're preparing to dive in this morning. Why would God bless our church? For the matter of fact, why would God bless any church? What about it makes a church worthy of God's blessing?

We've all seen churches, we've been a part of churches, where everything seems to be going right. Everybody's doing all the right things, but the absence of God, the blessing of God just seems to be absent upon it. And then you might see church down the road, you think don't know their left hand or the right hand, but God just seems to be blessing to them with growth, with health and all the right things. It's not our place to peer back into the mysteries of God and see why he blesses this church or the other church. But with Psalm it is instructive for us to pray that God would bless us and gives us the reason why God should bless us.

That reason is, God will be exalted among nations and all peoples at all times. God will be exalted in all nations, among all peoples at all times. So I hope you found Psalm 67. So let's hear the word of the Lord. May God be gracious to us and bless us and make us shine to make this face to shine upon us that your way may be known on earth, saving power among all nations.

Let the peoples praise you, O God, and all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad for you for doing the faces upon the earth. Let the people praise you, O God. Let all the people praise you. The earth has yielded its increase.

God our God shall bless us. God shall bless us. Let all that is living earth.

Heavenly Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus. Thank you us through and be with our Savior Jesus Christ. Lord help us now this time to be built up in the truth. Be prepared of your church.

Now imagine with me that Dallas county had a population of 250,000 people looked quite different than what it looks today. You know, it comes with its pros and cons. I'm sure with a population that size, you would at least qualify for a chickfila. And I think if you didn't already struggle with road rage, you would most definitely struggle with road rage living in a county and all would be in a burger. Imagine we lived this county was 250,000 people, but there was only one church that really preached the gospel and this church was publicized with this entire city right here.

Well, that might sound like a funny scenario situation I dropped up. But that is the reality for a lot of our brothers and sisters in Europe. A lot of fellow Christians in Europe live in a population where they make up less than 1% of the population and many of their neighbors have known gainful access to the gospel. Imagine being sized trying to reach a group of 250,000. It seems irrepossible.

It can seem dodging. But that's why God has called us to go. That's why God has given us his spirit, his church to carry on the mission. That's what Psalm 67 today is about. Psalm 67.

The main truth of Psalm 67 is that God will be glorified on all peoples and all nations. And you have three expectations from Psalm 67 to know that the nation expectations that God will surely spread his name. This glorian is renowned to the ends of the earth. Now let's look at expectation number one. Expectation number one.

The nation will be glad through God blessing his people. Look back with me at verse 22 says God, be gracious to us, bless us. Make his face to shine your way may be called under your faith power on all nations. If you've been in church or if you heard that it's not depend on the church service or gotten a Christian card in the mail, this language might sound familiar to you. That's why it sounds familiar to you because it comes from earlier in the Old Testament.

Why the psalmist is rephrasing here is the blessing that Aaron, the leader of the Levites, Moses right hand his prayer that God would be gracious to the people of Israel was to remind Them that God had not only set apart the priestly class which Aaron was a part of, and God enough, while he set apart a certain select few who took vowels and did other special things. But through the whole people of Israel, God was the blessed thing. This psalm extends the reason for that blessing. Notice the key word in this verse, verse 2. The key word is that it explains why God blesses his people.

Sinner. That reason power among all nations. You see, God's care and his concern for his glory among all peoples isn't just something that started in the New Testament. Didn't have this time where God just primarily dealt with the people of Israel, the Jewish nation. And then several thousand years, he decided to change his mind and give this grace and mercy to everyone.

It's always been a part of God's heart in his passion that all people in all places should have led off men. Go all the way back to the beginning. In Genesis chapter 12, when God calls Abram, when God calls Abraham, God gives him a promise. And in that promise, the sign is for all people. Genesis 12:3 taking us down, as reference says, in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

God made the promise to Abraham. God had already planned that one day a descendant from Abraham come undo everything that Adam and Eve practiced in the Lord. Everything that Anonus ray was sin and death brokenness in the world. God already set a plan in motion to redeem the world. God had promised Abraham that one of his descendants would be the one where all the nations would be blessed.

So Abraham's family, all the people would be blessed. And it carries on. Abraham goes into Egypt during the time of plague about 70 people. And the story goes that Abraham had his 12 sons and begot family to be gone. All they stayed in the land and they multiplied and they were enslaved by Pharaoh.

God sent his servant Moses to deliver them. God sent Moses and the plagues. And eventually through leading them to the Red Sea, God called people to the slaughter. That's what God's purposes are for the people of Israel. By this time of their numerous numbers, it's still the same.

Consider Exodus, chapter 19. God calls them to themselves. After the conquest of Pharaoh and his army, God speaks to Moses and he says, now therefore, if you will meet him, obey my voice. You might come of them. He shall be my treasure and possession upon all things.

All the earth is mine. He shall be to be the kingdom of priest and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak so collectively as a whole. Israel is supposed to be a witness to the nations of who God is, the people. Look at Israel.

Whether you were a kid in my Jeffy sleep, you know, whatever I want to throw in there, you look at the people of Israel, you're supposed to see what it looks like for the people to live and be faithful to union with their God. People of Israel have been delivered by God. Now through his covenant they were called to obey. Through this the people of the nations are supposed to know this is the one true God. And we, like the people of Israel, ought to follow him.

So Israel's whole purpose was for the people of the nation's throne through God finding joy in death. Unfortunately, that's not how the story of the Old Testament goes. That great tragedy and the great irony of the Old Testament is that the exact opposite happened where Israel was meant to implement creations and to to obey God's saving goodness. To them. The exact opposite happens by the nations influencing everyone.

Israel adopts the customs of the nations, they adopt the gods of the nations. And every practice that God hated, the people of Israel adopted. And instead of deploying the covenant blessings of God, people fall under God's judgment. They're exiled from the legion. God sent armies from Assyria, Babylon to take away the northern kingdom, take away the southern kingdom.

How does the Old Testament end? It ends with people living in exile away from the land of promise, outside of God's blessing. Yes, there's a remnant that returns, but it's not the same in the fact that if we could build the wall right here, rebuild the temple. But it doesn't have the glory of Solomon, it doesn't have the glory when David was king and people who walked intelligent to God. The great tragedy is that these people were supposed to be God's light to the nations have now become a nation.

So where are people going?

We're going to look. God is going to accomplish that which he said he would accomplish. That leads us to expectation number two. Expectation number two is not basically glad that God is not glad through the will of God. Consider verses 4 through 6.

I have got the majority. Be glad to think the truth judge the peoples of equity times and nations. Praise you O God.

Now when we talk about God's rules, God's guidance in the Bible, there's generally two ways the Bible speaks of it. Both are true tasks to find which one fits the context by passage. One is God's general and providential rule over all things, over all peoples places and events. You can call this God general providential. A good example from this truth is found in Acts 17, Acts 14:17, where Paul tells the Gentiles that God did not leave himself about witness, but he did get it by giving way to heaven, satisfying your hearts.

God, even in the times the Gentiles did not know him, God had provided a witness about who he was. You know, the Jews had the Old Testament, they had the law of Moses. The Gentiles, what did they have? They had the witness of nature. God had ordered the world in such a way as to take his truth with people that did not have the tribulation.

God through his providential rule, thus his reigns, he orders all the bits of human history. And this is the type of rule that we often talk about. In this case, this morning is a time of rule and judgment that refers to God's rule and his specific eternal reign over his people. This time of vision here in Psalm 67, because it's anticipating a day and everybody would follow God's revival into the rule and reign of God. So this prayer, Psalm 67, is a vocal prayer that even the Gentiles, the people who had time and no access to God into God's family, the world would know the saving purposes.

So how are these purposes brought about? If we follow the logic of the soul will be brought about God's rule on the earth. This purpose is exactly what Old Testament envisions that the Messiah will do. Consider Isaiah 2, 4, it says, he shall judge between the nations.

They shall be their swords. The plowshares. Patience shall not lift up before he gets patient. Neither shall they learn.

Or consider Isaiah 11, verses 3 through 4, where Isaiah prophesies about the righteous branch of the stu. He says based on these verses, they shall be glad they follow God's line of things just he is the one who will judge the nations and will rule over them forever. Jesus bull on earth was effectively kicked in the place of when he died on the cross for our sins. And when he rose again. Authority over sin, death and the devil.

The rule of Jesus has been inaugurated and will be brought to the perfect completion when he comes again. So the useless analogy of think of president being inaugurated. When the president is inaugurated on day one of his term, has he completed all his policy agendas and goals that he set forth? Nobody still the president. So two things are true at the same time.

One, he's in charge. Two, everything that he has said in place has not yet come about. If you're a follower of Jesus, that's where we find ourselves today. Jesus has already crushed the devil. He's already defeated sin at the Cross.

He's already ascended to the right hand of God and sits on high with the Lord and power. But yet not all things have been put under his rule. There are still those who resist his will. There are those who still seek to do violence to his kingdom. But he is still on the throne.

And that leaves us very confident that we will succeed in his mission. And the truth about his mission is that it's calling you and me. Intention. Remember the first words of a great commission in Matthew 28. What are the first words of that Great Commission?

You sit here and ask me.

You're likely to say the answer is no. Go therefore to all the nations and disciples. But that's not where Jesus starts this great mission. Jesus starts this great mission. The words all authority in heaven and on earth and human being as the resurrected Lord Jesus now possesses full authority and he delegates that authority to his people to be the vast majority of this day to compel people to come into his kingdom.

So Jesus now compelled he would be his followers to live on mission dead wherever he would call us. It's not optional, it's command. And he has the authority to command it. And he also has the authority to give us the strength to fulfill it.

So we have this hope that Jesus there's the one proving that nation.

And finally, what do we have? God's promises. What hope do we have that God's promises to the world? God has he said they will. And that leads us to expectation.

Number three nations will be glad because of God's promises considered false. 67, verse 6. The earth has yielded its entrance. God and God shall bless us. God shall bless us.

Let all the insects God has promised to give the kingdom to us. God doesn't need humanity, doesn't need our efforts. But he chooses to please us. And then we are down to people. God has promised to give the increase.

No matter how smart we are, no matter how crafty we are. All of it will be for nothing if God himself hasn't given increase. My brothers and sisters that God has promised in his word that he will give increase.

God has promised that he will use our enemies. God has promised promise that he promised his great promise. And he promises it in multiple places. I consider Jesus said to his disciples the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the word of the harvest.

And now workers enter the harvest. We have a great need have great harvest moving workers.

We have this hope that God gives the need to so will we be obediently great fishermen here in our city. We live in a city where thankfully there is being possible access that involves you and me. We get to share the hope that we have inside our neighbors, our co workers, our friends. There are places like Eastern Europe where there is.

Where there is only one gospel preaching church for every 250,000. So how can we live today's truth? One simply pray as Jesus commanded to us too, to the Lord of orphans. Pray for workers. Pray that God would raise up people, our churches to go to the nations.

And then another thing. Ask yourself if we are inviting others to be glad in God as the psalm says. Are you glad in God? Is God the source of all gladness and hope pleasing in your life? This soul is an invitation for all peoples, all places to be glad in God.

So you have to ask ourselves God the We think of how Jesus died for us. We see the cross, we see the amplitude. We can see the holy marvelous works of Christ. Is that something that has written your heart as the message of the cross grips your heart? Or have you brought all to it?

Friend, I ask that you consider Christ the ultimate he is the true source of life. Life. As the psalmist says, go for it. In Psalm 16 at your right hand are pleasures for everyone. So grant I invite you to ask yourself to consider the joy that is found in coming Christ.

Maybe you're here today and you've never experienced the true joy of knowing Christ. Ever turn up and you're sand all of them. Friend, Jesus Christ has done everything necessary to save. We can never save ourselves. Our sins separated us from God.

We were just enemies by nature. Christ came, lived the life that you and I should have lived. He died on the cross and under God's judgment. He was the one who died for us. God raised him up on the third day to conclude that God sent this sacrifice.

So that being said, as we would like to consider following Christ, let us be glad our sovereign.