1. Bless Us! (verse 1)
2. Use Us! (verse 2)
3. Be Praised! (verses 3-5)
4. Be Feared! (verses 6-7)
Psalm 67 is a prayer. In fact, it’s a missionary prayer. It’s not a prayer for missionaries. Rather, it’s a prayer that the Lord would accomplish His missionary purposes across the world. Consider it now. [1]
Psalm 67
God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us--
That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations.
Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You.
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; For You will judge the peoples with uprightness and guide the nations on the earth.
Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You.
The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us. God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.
My message has four points this morning. Each of them are expressed as prayer requests to the Lord. The first comes in verse 1.
1. Bless Us! (verse 1)
The Psalmist says here in verse 1, “God, be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us.” We see here three short requests: (1) a request for grace; (2) a request for blessing; (3) a request for God to shine His face upon us.
Each of these short requests are grounded in the Bible. When the LORD was establishing how He was to be worshiped by the sons of Israel, He gave specific instructions as to how the priests should bless the sons of Israel. According to Numbers 6:24-26, the priest was to say these words, ... "The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace."
And so, as the Psalmist prays here in Psalm 67, “God, be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us,” He is merely praying back the Scripture to the LORD.
I would encourage all of you in this same practice as well. When you pray to the LORD, pray through passages of Scripture. Read the Scripture, think about Scripture, feel the Scripture in your heart, and then, pray the Scripture back to God. It’s the sort of thing that helps guide you Biblically in your praying. It helps to give you confidence in your praying. You know that your thoughts and prayers are in line with God’s thoughts.
In fact, this has been our heart in traversing through the Psalms recently at Rock Valley Bible Church. The Psalms are inspired songs and prayers of godly men of old, who sought to worship the LORD. In beginning our worship services with a contemplation of a Psalm, we know that we can come before the LORD with a proper perspective as we would sing His praise.
Now, when the LORD gave the priests this blessing to say to the sons of Israel in Numbers 6, it revealed His heart toward His people. After all, the LORD is the one who told the priests to say, "The LORDbless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace" (Num. 6:24-26). And at the end of the blessing, the LORD gave a promise, “So [the priests] shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them” (Numbers 6:27).
It would have been totally appropriate for a Jew to be on His knees in those days with a scroll opened to Numbers 6 and pray through it. “The LORDbless you, and keep you. -- Oh, God, bless us and keep us and prosper us and help us and guide us and guard us. The LORD make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you. -- Oh, God, look upon us with favor! See our troubles and our difficulties and our trials and our woes! Through all of our life, be gracious to us. The LORD lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace. -- Oh, God, shine your beauty upon our lives! There are troubles all around us. There are troubles within us. Grant us your peace!”
This is an appropriate prayer for you to pray. (The heart that God had toward the sons of Israel is the same heart that He has for those who believe in Christ). The promise of the New Testament is that those who are of faith are the sons of Abraham (Galatians 3:7). This is how we can apply much of the Old Testament to our lives directly.
And so, the prayer of Psalm 67:1 is appropriate for us to pray. It’s appropriate for you to pray for the LORD’s grace upon your life. It’s appropriate for you to pray for the LORD’s blessing upon your life. It’s appropriate for you to pray, “Cause Your face to shine upon us!” As we pray these things, we can be assured that the LORD delights in hearing and answering these prayers.
It’s not too difficult to understand what each of these phrases mean. “God be gracious to us” is a prayer for God’s kindness and mercy to be upon us. It pleads for God’s compassion upon us. It pleads for God not to be angry with us. It pleads for God to extend His great lovingkindness to us.
“God, bless us” is a prayer for God to help us and prosper us. Psalm 128 describes the blessed man.
Psalm 128:1-4
How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in His ways.
When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, you will be happy and it will be well with you.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house; Your children like olive plants around your table.
Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD.
The picture in this Psalm is one of a happy, healthy home, with a happy wife and happy children. That’s the blessing of God.
The third phrase, that God would “cause His face to shine upon us,” is used several in Scripture. I counted half a dozen times where this phrase is used in the Psalms (Psalm 4:6; 31:16; 80:3, 7, 19; 119:135). In each case, it is used to describe God’s saving, delivering, helping, reviving work. On instance occurs in Psalm 4:6, "Many are saying, 'Who will show us any good?' Lift up the light of Your countenance upon us, O LORD! This phrase speaks of the favor of God upon us.
After you survey these three phrases, you can easily see why it I summarized this verse with the prayer request, "Bless Us!" These words speak about God’s blessing and favor upon our life.
And here’s my application to you. I want for each and every one of you to pray this prayer: “God, be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us.” I want for you to pray for God’s blessing upon your life. I want for you to pray for God’s blessing upon the life of Rock Valley Bible Church.
How's that for application? I would think that such a request should sit well with you. Who doesn’t want God’s blessing upon their life?
A few years back, Bruce Wilkinson wrote a book entitled, “The Prayer of Jabez.” He took the obscure prayer of an obscure man that is given deep in an obscure genealogy in 1 Chronicles 4:10, where we read, “Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!’ And God granted him what he requested.”
Bruce Wilkinson said that he has prayed this prayer for himself for 30 years. Throughout the book, Wilkinson talks about God’s great blessing upon His life. The basic premise of the book is this: if you pray this prayer, you will know an incredible blessing of God upon your life.
This book has been wildly successful. More than seven million people purchased the book. It held the number one spot on the New York Times and USA Today's Best-seller Lists. It also topped the CBA Best-seller List as well.
Why do you think that it was so successful? Because of the promises of incredible prosperity if you simply pray this prayer. Many are worldly minded and want the cars and the houses and boats. If it’s simply a prayer away, let me read about it.
This same sort of prayer comes in Psalm 67, but, it has a bit of a twist to it. It’s not simply blessing for yourself that the Psalmist prays. Rather, it’s blessing, so that you might be a blessing.
This is where many of the health, wealth, and prosperity people miss it. They take verses like Psalm 67:1, which are many in the Scripture. Then, they urge their listeners to enjoy the blessings they receive, "Live in the big house. Drive the fancy car. Wear the expensive clothes. After all, doesn’t God want to bless your life?"
But, in Psalm 67, verse 1 doesn’t appear apart from verse 2 (and the rest of the Psalm). And, I don’t want for you to pray this prayer apart from the context of Psalm 67. In verse 1, the prayer is (1) [God] Bless Us! (verse 1). In verse 2, the prayer is ...
2. Use Us! (verse 2)
Look at verse 2, “That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations.”
Verse 2 begins with a purpose word. The reason why the Psalmist prays for blessing upon His life is so that God might use his life for God’s glory. In other words, here’s the logic of the prayer: “I want you to bless us ... so that the fame of your name and your ways would be spread far and wide. That's what I want more than all! I want more of you and less of me!"
This is why I call this Psalm, “A Missionary Prayer.” It’s a prayer for the nations. But, you can’t impact the nations without a blessing at home. You can’t help others unless you are in a position to help. And Psalm 67 is a desire to be placed in a position where you can help. And then, it is a pledge to help.
We see the blessing of God having it’s missionary effect all over the Bible. God blesses His people, and so others hear of His ways and some are saved. For instance, Jesus said, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house" (Matt. 5:14-16). With these words, Jesus describes God's blessing upon those who believe as being "light." This light, then, so shines to direct people to God and His ways and His glory.
The same thing comes in 1 Peter 3:15, which says, “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.” With these words, Peter is referring to those who are in a very difficult situation. They are being slandered for their faith. They are being ostracized from those around them. They are being ridiculed and treated unfairly. And yet, in the midst of great difficulty, God’s hand of blessing is so upon their lives that it makes a statement to those around them. Those observing their reaction are confused! “How can those who have it so badly face the trials with such joy and happiness?” And so, they ask, “Your life is terrible! Why are you so filled with hope?” And then the opportunity comes to make known the ways of God and His plan of salvation. Notice how it is the blessing of God upon their lives that give them an opportunity “to proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called [them] out of darkness into His marvelous life” (1 Peter. 2:9).
Another picture of this comes near the end of the Pentateuch, in Deuteronomy 4. Moses told the people of Israel, ...
Deuteronomy 4:5-8
See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him? Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?
Do you see what Moses was saying? As you observe the commandments of the LORD, you will gain a wisdom and an understanding that other nations will see and marvel at. And thus, the ways of the LORD will be known abroad. Certainly, then, some who hear about Him will come to salvation as they repent of their sin and seek the true God.
This happened in the life of Rahab, the harlot. Israel had begun on their journey to conquer the promised land. They were on the precipice of capturing Jericho and sent two spies into the land. They happened upon the house of Rahab, who brought them into their home and sent them up to the roof for safety. Shortly before they went to bed, she went up to the roof to speak with them, saying, ...
Joshua 2:9-14
I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father's household, and give me a pledge of truth, and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death."So the men said to her, "Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the LORD gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you."
And later, when Israel came and attacked Joshua, Rahab and her family were saved! The blessing of God upon the nation of Israel resulted in the salvation of some from the pagan city of Jericho!
The blessing of God upon Israel is what brought the queen of Sheba to the see the wisdom and prosperity of Solomon (1 Kings 10). The blessing of God upon Elisha is what convinced Naaman to come and seeking healing from his leprosy (2 Kings 5). God’s blessing upon the life of Daniel is what brought kings like Nebuchadnezzar and Darius to give honor to the LORD (Dan. 4:34-35; 6:26-27).
This is the way that God works in the world. He blesses His people, so that His ways are known abroad, so that His salvation extends to the nations. That’s the prayer of verse 2, “God, Use Us!” Or, to use the Psalmist's words, “That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation, among all nations.” God is ready and willing and desirous to help those who will use their blessing to spread His fame.
When I think about this, several names come into my mind. I think of R. G. LeTourneau. He was in the business of earth-moving. He invented and created machines that moved the earth. As his business began to grow, I remember hearing of how he decided to cap his salary. Anything that he earned beyond his salary, he was determined to give away to the Lord's work.
The Lord began to bless his work. During World War II, he was producing 70% of all the army’s earth-moving machinery. He eventually reached a point where he was giving 90% of his income to Christian causes.
At one point, LeTourneau said that the money cam in faster than he could give it away. He was convinced that he could not out-give God. He said, “I just keep shoveling out and God just keeps shoveling back, but God’s got a bigger shovel.” [2] Through his generosity, many Christians were trained for the mission field and many went to spread the fame of God’s name to distant lands.
Why do you think that he was so abundantly blessed of the Lord? I believe it was because he was determined to use the blessings he received to make God’s way known on the earth.
Another man that I think of is Randy Alcorn. He was a pastor of a larch church and doing well. And then, he was involved in some peaceful, nonviolent civil disobedience at abortion clinics. At one point, he was arrested and sent to jail and sued by an abortion clinic. This abortion clinic sued all of the protestors. The court awarded a judgment of more than $8 million. They began to garnish his wages as a pastor to pay off this judgment. Rather than using the church’s giving to pay an abortion clinic, he quit pastoring, which he loved doing.
He went to work for a ministry that he established, named Eternal Perspective Ministries. The goals of the ministry are two-fold: (1) to teach the principles of God's Word, emphasizing an eternal viewpoint; (2) to reach the needy in Christ's name, calling attention to the needs of the unreached, who've never heard the gospel; the unfed, unclothed, unsheltered and poor due to circumstance (not choice); the unsupported, Christians suffering in hostile spiritual environments; the unborn, targeted for abortion, and their mothers deceived and exploited by the child-killing industry; the unreconciled, those of different races and cultures who are alienated, hostile, or suspicious of each other; the untrained, a generation growing up in a society without moral absolutes and eternal values, who need to hear God's truth spoken in love, and whose parents need to be equipped to be their children's educators and role models.
Randy worked for minimum wage. His wife became a part-time secretary for the organization. As people gave to the ministry and they received royalties from books that Randy Alcorn had written, they would simply give it away. Here’s Randy Alcorn’s testimony, ...
When all of the books went over to Eternal Perspective Ministries, and I no longer had any ownership and no longer received any of the royalties, ... suddenly, my books were on the best-sellers list. ... Royalties dramatically increased and we gave them away -- 100% of them to missions, famine relief, pro-life work, urban ministries, racial reconciliation ministries, prison ministries, [and] other kingdom interests. ... Since 1997, by God’s grace, the ministry has given away more than $1 million of royalties to these different causes of Christ. Sometimes I think that God sells these books just to raise funds for the things that are close to His heart. [3]
Why has God so abundantly blessed Alcorn’s ministry? Because they are committed to making God’s way known on the earth, ... His salvation among all nations.
Perhaps if we would have the perspective of this Psalm, ("God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us-- that Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations") we might receive a similar privilege of being on the blessed end of giving. For, Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).
So, pray, (1) God Bless Us! (verse 1); (2) God Use Us! (verse 2). And thirdly, this morning, pray, ...
3. Be Praised! (verses 3-5)
Look there at verse 3, "Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You."
This is the ultimate desire of the Psalmist. He wants God’s name to be praised! “Bless us! ... so that we can make your way known on the earth! ... so that those among the all the nations may be saved! ... so that you will receive praise!"
And so, you see that the ultimate priority for the Psalmist is that God would be worshiped! John Piper said it very well in his book entitled, “Let the Nations Be Glad!” He wrote, ...
Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.
Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal in missions. It's the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God's glory. the goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. "The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!" (Psalm 97:1). "Let the peoples praise thee, O God; let all the peoples praise thee! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!" (Psalm 67:3-4).
But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can't commend what you don't cherish. Missions will never call out, "Let the nations be glad!", who cannot say from the heart, "I rejoice in the Lord. ... I will be glad and exult in thee, I will sing praise to thy name, O Most High" (Psalm 104:34; 9:2). Missions begins and ends in worship. [4]
“Missions exists because worship doesn’t!” This statement is why this Psalm is appropriate for us as a lengthy call to worship. [1] Worship is what’s driving the Psalmist. He desires to see the nations giving praise to the LORD. He wants the nations to “be glad.” He wants to see the nations, “sing for joy” (according to verse 4). Why? Because he, himself, has found his own joy and happiness in worshiping Him!
Do you love worshiping the LORD? Do you find your greatest happiness when you are in His presence? Do you want others to join in your joy? Don’t you want to see people happy?
What is it that breaks your heart when you see Muslim people prostrate on the ground, worshiping Allah? Isn’t it your desire for them to know the true God and worship Him? What is it that breaks your heart when you hear of the Hindus worshiping their millions of gods? Isn’t it your desire for them to know the true God and worship Him? What is it that breaks your heart over the worldly American who works to get and spends all their money on themselves? Isn't your desire for them to know the true God and worship Him?
“Missions exists because worship doesn’t!” And that’s the cry of the Psalmist. He wants the nations to be happy. The only way for them to be happy is for them to worship the true God! The only way for them to be happy is for them to worship the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peter said, “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Apart from Christ, the nations are doomed! But, with him, there is joy and gladness.
God is the one who will judge. And God is the one who will help. That’s the point of verse 4, “For you will judge the peoples with uprightness and guide the nations on the earth.” He will judge you fairly. And He will guide you well. The only hope for the nations is for the Lord to govern them.
As many of you know, we have put some labor into missions in Nepal. We have helped to build a children’s home. Many of you are supporting children in that dark country. For years, they have been the only Hindu kingdom in the world. For the past decade, however, there has been political turmoil. Maoists have revolted in the country. The king has given up his power. Rather than being a monarchy, they have become a republic.
This past week, they have held national elections to elect representatives to a Constituent Assembly, which will draft a new constitution for the country. The elections have been marred by intimidation, kidnapping, and murder, as people are seeking power for themselves. But, ultimately, any power they gain will not make them happy. Only the LORD is able to satisfy their deepest longings. Only when they experience salvation will they be happy.
I love the way that Charles Spurgeon put it.
When men know God's way and see his salvation, it brings to their hearts much happiness. Nothing creates gladness so speedily, surely, and abidingly as the salvation of God. Nations never will be glad till they follow the leadership of the great Shepherd; they may shift their modes of government from monarchies to republics, and from republics to communes, but they will retain their wretchedness till they bow before the Lord of all. [5]
The Psalmist wants the people of Nepal to find their happiness. The Psalmist wants the people of Iraq to find their happiness. The Psalmist wants the people of Argentina to find their happiness. You can name the country and know that God's heart for these people is for their joy. It’s only found in worshiping the true God.
In verse 5, we again see the refrain, “Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You.”
Whenever you are experiencing something special, don’t you want others to join with you? You are watching the Masters on television and Tiger makes a good shot. Isn’t your reaction, “Hey, come quick! You gotta see this. Look at this shot!” (At least, that's my reaction, being a golf fan). You are outside just after a rain, and you see a rainbow. Isn’t your reaction, “Hey everybody, come outside. Look at the rainbow!” Your child takes his first steps. Isn’t your reaction, “Hey, get the video camera! Let’s send it to grandma!” You go to the amusement park and want to ride the roller coaster. It’s no fun alone. You want to go with a friend, so that you can share the experience!
And the same thing is taking place here in verse 5. We love the worship of God. And we want for the nations to join in our joy by worshiping Him as well!
Do you love to worship the LORD? You need to love worship if you want to love missions. When I finish my call to worship this morning, you will have an opportunity to sing your praise to God with enthusiasm. The more you enjoy the Lord, the more you will want others to join in!
The Missionary Prayer begins in verse 1, "Bless Us!" (verse 1). It continues in verse 2, "Use Us!" (verse 2). In verses 3-5, the prayer is for God to be worshiped. "Be Praised!" (verses 3-5). And now, in verses 6 and 7, we see the request, ...
4. Be Feared! (verses 6-7)
Consider verses 6 and 7, "The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us. God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.
Whereas verse 1 expresses a desire for God’s blessing, verses 6 and 7 express the reality of God’s blessing. In the historical context, this is talking about God’s blessing upon Israel. Perhaps this Psalm was written sometime in the fall, just after the harvest had come in, when the clear blessing of God was upon Israel.
When we think of the Old Testament, how easy is it for us to think that God’s focus was only upon the nation of Israel. We think of Ephesians 3, which speaks about the mystery that was revealed, ... “that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Eph. 3:6). We fail to realize that God has always had a heart for the nations.
It’s all over Psalm 67. God has blessed us that all the ends of the earth may fear him. And it was there at the beginning of the nation of Israel.
When God initially appeared to Abraham, He said to him, ...
Genesis 12:1-3
Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.
When the nation of Israel existed with only two people, Abraham and Sarah, God had a plan for them. He would take them and richly bless them. He would make a great nation out of them. He would make Abraham’s name great. Then, He would extend the blessing to the ends of the earth. “And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 12:3).
It’s through Abraham, then, that the blessing of the world would come. Of course, we know that this came through Christ, the Messiah (Gal. 3:8). But, even before the Messiah, the LORD had a heart for the nations. God blessed Israel, so that they might be a blessing to the nations.
As much as these words of Psalm 67 applied to Israel in the past, we can easily apply this to America today. God has richly blessed us.
Which of you have ever gone hungry? God has blessed us! Which of you have not had a roof over your head at night? God has blessed us! Which of you have lacked for heat in the winter? God has blessed us! Which of you have lacked for clothes to wear? God has blessed us!
We are the richest, most blessed nation in the world! And there is a reason why God has blessed us. It’s so that we might spread His name abroad and see others come to fear Him. He has blessed us to be a blessing to the nations. He has blessed us so that the “all the ends of the earth may fear Him.” And, it may just be that as we fail in our missionary task as a nation, God may withhold His blessing upon us as a country. He can easily raise up other nations to spread His name abroad.
For instance, think about South Korea. When the Korean war ended in 1953, Korea was a poor, devastated nation. At that time, there were some 800,000 protestant Christians in Korea. But, God sent a revival to South Korea. The number of protestant Christians in Korea have doubled every decade since then. Today, there are some 15 million Protestant Christians. God has also blessed their economy. Now, they are the 11th largest economy in the world.
And they have been faithful to the LORD’s blessing! There are currently a little more than 10,000 missionaries sent out from South Korea, which is second world-wide to America, which has about 60,000 missionaries serving abroad. [6]
God can easily raise up whoever He wants to accomplish His desire of world-wide blessing! And so, likewise, God can easily withhold His blessing as He desires. He blesses us for a purpose, ... “that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.”
Well, ... so what? “Steve, why did you preach on Psalm 67 this morning?” Here’s why. We need to have our hearts gripped by God’s plan for our life as a church. He pours out His blessing upon us for the good of the nations of the earth. We need to be aware of these things and open to the moving of God.
To this end, we are planning on stepping up our heart to pray for the nations. As a church, we are also going to begin increasing our focus upon missionaries and foreign lands in our pre-service prayer meeting. In fact, we have already begun. This morning in our prayer meeting, we prayed for the following countries, because some of us know missionaries there or have a heart to go there: Nepal, Albania, Nigeria, Congo, Russia, Israel, Germany, Kazakhstan, Ireland, China, Philippines, and Kenya.
I would encourage you to focus your personal and family prayer time upon foreign nations. Pray in earnest for the missionaries that you know of. Pray for Jesus to shine upon the nations. A great book to help you in this is a book called, “Operation World.” It contains data about every nation in the world and specific prayer requests for that country. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of this book, I can help you with it.
We will increase our efforts in pleading with the Lord to (1) Bless Us! (verse 1) and (2) Use Us! (verse 2), so that He would (3) Be Praised! (verses 3-5), and so that He would (4) Be Feared! (verses 6-7).
May Jesus Christ Be Praised!
This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on
April 13, 2008 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rvbc.cc.
[1] A word or two might be helpful to catch the background of this message. This message began with the following words, ...
For nearly a year and a half at Rock Valley Bible Church, we have begun each of our worship services with the reading and contemplation of the Psalms. We have progressed through them in order. We began in January 2007 with a reading of Psalm 1. We have used these Psalms as a “Call to Worship.” They have prompted our hearts to worship and praise of our God.
Today, we have reached Psalm 67. In some measure, today will be no different than in the past. We will use Psalm 67 as our “Call to Worship.” Yet, in others ways, today will be much different than our last 66 Sundays. Normally, our call to worship takes some 3-5 minutes. However, this morning, I plan on taking a bit longer than normal. I plan on taking some 50 minutes, as I will preach on the passage. After my exposition, we will follow with an extended time of worship in song. So, it will be a call to worship, only it will be a bit longer than our usual practice.
[2] This quote is all over the internet. A simple Google search will find it.
[3] Randy Alcorn said these words at the Desiring God Pastor's Conference in 2002 during his first talk. It can be heard at www.desiringgod.org.
[4] John Piper, "Let the Nations Be Glad," p. 11, italics his.
[5] Charles Spurgeon, Treasury of David. You can read it here: http://www.spurgeon.org/treasury/ps067.htm.
[6] Here are some references that I found helpful in gathering these facts about South Korea http://www.tparents.org/Library/Religion/Cta/Korean-Christianity.htm and the book, "Operation World."