Psalm 67 - Joy for the Nations

You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.

Our passion is to experience and express grace.

Join us.

If you have the Bible with you, would you open it to Psalm 16?

It is the psalm that we read already earlier in the worship service for our call to worship,

but I'd like to read through it again.

You can follow with me.

As I read.

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us

that your way may be known on earth, your saving power 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 judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.

Let the peoples praise you, O God.

Let all the peoples praise you.

The earth has yielded its increase.

God, our God, shall bless us.

God, shall bless us.

Let all the ends of the earth fear him.

Bow with me as we pray before we enter into a study of this portion of God's word.

Father, would you bless us now with the outpouring of your spirit,

that we might understand your word, not just the words on the page,

not just mental concepts.

We need to know your word down deep in our souls,

and only your spirit can take us there.

So come and meet us and plant your truth in the depths of our hearts

and cause it to grow and bear much fruit.

So take the weakness of my words,

that when all is said and done,

we will know that through the working of your Holy Spirit,

we will have heard from you.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Man, a pretty exciting day to see all these kids come up here

and express their faith for the first time.

I was a kid once, I think.

It's been a while.

But unfortunately, in my case,

it was later in life when I came to faith,

and because of that, I had to go through a lot of hard things,

a lot of hard relationships and so forth,

and a lot of just foolish things,

until I came to the end of myself.

And my heart was open to come to faith.

And so for all of you kids,

my prayer for you is really that you'll never have to do that,

is that you will never know a day,

and never lack of cherishing the fact that your Heavenly Father has embraced you as His own.

And so as we, you know, as we witness this,

I think it's a good opportunity for us,

you know, for all the rest of us who have made our professions of faith,

to go back and look at, really, what is,

what does it mean for the rest of us to express faith?

What does it mean for us, really, to be Christians?

And so I would like to use and look at this Psalm 67,

you know, that we have read earlier,

because I think this Psalm really points us to

one of the critical aspects of what it means to be in Christ.

It points us to the core, in a sense,

of what it means to be in relationship with God,

and to enjoy fellowship with Him.

And so let's dig in to this Psalm.

And really, the first, I want us just to examine the Psalm itself,

and then we will look at some of the implications of that.

I love this Psalm.

It's, you know, it's a very simply structured Psalm,

which makes it pretty easy for us to understand.

And the structure is called a chiasm.

And this is a common literary tool in Hebrew writing,

not just in poetry, but also in prose.

But I pull this up for all you engineers.

Because part of the beauty of the Psalms is in its structure.

You know, it's not just the words, the flowery words,

which Psalms is full of that,

but the structure really points us to,

and you'll see, I'm going to put a slide up here to show you,

if we were going to structure this Psalm,

this is what it would look like.

In a chiasm, what you have is here in this Psalm,

the first two verses are basically parallel

and say the same thing, but in a little different way

as the last two verses.

And then you have verse 3 and verse 5 also parallel,

but they are saying that they're exactly the same,

which leads us to verse 4.

And so all the structure acts like kind of a funnel

pointing us to the core of what the Psalm says.

And so, again, you engineers,

you will rejoice in the symmetry of this Psalm.

Everything's balanced.

But what it points us to, again, is verse 4.

So let's start at verse 4 and work our way back out.

So verse 4, what's the core?

What's the meaning of this?

It's joy for the nations.

God's intent and his purpose

is that the nations, all the nations,

would rejoice and know his joy.

This Psalm really reflects, you know,

it's a very strong missionary theme.

And I love this because a lot of times

we think you have to go to the New Testament

to find missionary stuff in the Bible.

But oh no, it's all through it.

And this Psalm is such a great example.

But even here, it points to the very heart of God.

Because even way back in Genesis 12,

when he first gives,

God makes his first covenant with Abraham,

at the heart of that covenant,

he says,

and I will bless those who bless you

and him who dishonors you.

I will curse it.

And you all,

the families of the earth

will be blessed.

All the families of the earth.

God is saying,

not just you,

but you,

through you,

my intent,

my focus,

is to see blessing come to

every family

on the earth.

And so this is his work

that he's doing in Abraham.

And so his promise

that he's making with this one family

is global

from the very beginning.

And so why would the nations

be so joyful?

Well,

in that verse 4,

I love the words that he says there

because God judges the earth,

the peoples,

with equity.

In other words,

he is just.

God is just.

And again,

I love this.

When we think of the beauty of God,

we think of reasons

why we rejoice in God.

Justice is not one of those things

that immediately jumps out at us

because sometimes it scares us.

But I want you to imagine.

I want you to think

of a world,

what our world would be like

if it was just.

Let's try to imagine

a just world.

In a just world,

people no longer

experience

and have to suffer

under injustice.

In a just world,

people are no longer oppressed.

In a just world,

the powerful

no longer

exploit

the weak

and the helpless.

In a just world,

all men,

women,

and children

are treated

with dignity.

Dignity

as of those

that those deserve

who are created

in the very image

of God.

A just world

is a world

where there's no more abuse

for the vulnerable.

There's no more brutality

on the innocent.

There's no more

racism.

There's no more exploitation.

Our society

will be a society

of dignity

and a place

of peace.

And everything

will be

as it was meant

to be.

And that's the promise

that comes with God.

He is a just

king.

He rules

with justice.

And if that's the case,

no wonder

the nations

rejoice

and sing

for gladness

because

this is the world

that he is moving

to create.

This is why

the world rejoices.

They rejoice

in a king

who reigns

over all things

gloriously

and beautifully

and justly.

So that is the source.

The nations

rejoice

and are glad

in all that God is

because they see now

that he is

beautiful.

And so then

we move out

a little bit.

Now we look at

verse 3

and verse 5.

And then he simply says,

let all the peoples

praise you.

Oh God,

let all the peoples

praise you.

And it through

their joy,

the people

of the world,

all of the nations

are brought

to worship.

And this is

important to note,

joy for the world

comes

through

worship.

You know,

I'm not talking

about just

a church service.

I'm not talking

about like what

we do here

on Sunday morning

though I hope

that's what takes

place here

on Sunday morning.

But it's

worship.

Worship is

something that's

not just

things,

you know,

practices that we

do,

but it refers

to something

deep in our

hearts,

something that

actually gives

us our greatest

sense of joy.

Worship

is integral

to what

we

love.

What I enjoy

the most.

What I think

is the most

beautiful.

What I think

is the most

attractive.

What consumes

me.

You know,

if,

in all this,

what I worship

then will

shape my

life

in all

that I do.

If I love

golf,

then

I'm going

to play

golf

a lot.

Golf

is going

to consume

my time.

Golf

is going

to consume

my money

because I've

got to have

the right

equipment in

order to

play.

I'm going

to talk

to you

a lot

about golf

and my

whole

mentality,

my sense

of well-being

is going

to rest

on how

well I

play golf,

which is

scary,

to say the

least.

I'm going

to spend

my time

on the

course,

you know,

and it's,

I find

my greatest

joy,

my greatest

satisfaction,

and my

interest in

golf,

and so it

becomes all

consuming.

And there

are some

of us

out here

like that.

For you

it might

not be

golf.

Maybe it's

music.

Maybe it's

your friends.

Maybe it's

your kids,

your grandkids.

Maybe it's

your job.

I don't

know what

it would

be.

But the

problem

with all

of these

things,

these things,

is that

as we

find so

much,

we devote

ourselves to

them so

much,

and we

get consumed

by them

so much,

they have

no power

to satisfy

the deep

hunger down

in our

souls,

down in

our hearts.

They do

not have

the power

to bring

the satisfaction

for which

we are

hungry,

especially

golf.

they just

leave us

empty.

And there's

only one

who can

help us

to find

and can

satisfy

that hunger

for deep

joy,

and that

one is

the king

who rules

justly,

who is

beautiful

beyond

all others.

And so

when the

world comes

to the place

where he

is the one

that they

worship,

of course,

they find

the joy

that they

have longed

for all

their lives.

And the

heart finally

sings in

tune with

the very

source of

life itself.

And so

worship is

integral here.

But now we

move out to

the first

two verses

again and

then the

last two

verses.

In here

we see

where it

all begins.

Now how

do they

find this

ultimate

source of

joy?

How are

they led

to this

place of

worship

and where

they see

that this

king is

the most

desirable

and their

affections are

captured by

it?

Well,

it's that

God

himself

takes the

initiative

and pours

out his

blessings upon

us.

It's like

he

intentionally

wins over

our

affections.

He wins

our hearts

by the

goodness that

he pours

out on

all of us.

But what

does that

goodness look

like?

You know,

it's not just

in material

benefits which

we see a

glimpse of in

verses 6 and

7.

But in

verses 1 and

2, he's

talking about

blessings on

a whole

different level.

The blessings

he's talking

about here

begin with,

look where he

says, may

God bless us,

be gracious to

us and bless

us and make

his face to

shine upon

us.

That,

kind of with

the purpose

of making

known on,

making your

way to be

known on

earth and

your saving

power among

all nations.

This calls

us back to

a blessing

that was

given to

Aaron back

in Numbers

Numbers 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6,

which reads,

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.

Do you see

what the heart

of that blessing

is?

it's not

stuff.

It's God.

It's not

the gifts.

It's the

giver.

And so in

a Jewish

mind,

when they

thought of

blessing,

when they

thought of

getting good

things from

God and

God being

gracious to

them,

they weren't

thinking

necessarily of

just about

all the

stuff that

he might

provide.

And when

they start

asking for

this and

that and

that that

he gives

them,

they want

God himself

to turn

his face

towards them.

They want

him near.

They want

him to be

present with

them.

Because they

know that

if they get

him,

they've got

everything.

That there's

nothing better.

There's nothing

more gracious.

There's nothing

more that they

could get.

And so this

is what they

want.

The greatest

gift was

God himself.

You know,

I remember

when I was a

teenager,

you know,

I may have

mentioned this

before,

that, you

know,

with my dad,

my dad was

kind of

distant from

me in a lot

of ways.

And I remember

a lot of those

teenage years,

I was an

angry teenager.

teenager.

And I was

angry primarily

at my dad.

But when I

look back on

those days,

there was one

thing I wanted.

My dad gave

me a lot.

He paid for

all of my

college.

He provided

so much for

us and for

me.

I really was

lacking nothing.

But I

remember down

inside, there

was only one

thing I wanted.

I wanted him.

Because what

satisfies us

is not

things.

It's

someone.

I'm made for

relationship.

I'm not just

made for stuff.

I'm made for

relationship.

relationship.

And God

gives us

relationship.

And he

pours it out

in such

abundance

that the

God of all

creation

would now

come and

call us

friend.

Even

better,

he calls us

son or

daughter.

brother.

He calls us

beloved.

And he

does it

graciously.

No, we

don't deserve

it.

But he

pours it out

on us.

And so

this blessing

is given to

his people

with a

purpose.

he gives

it to

his people,

to Israel,

so that

that the

world would

know,

that the

nations

would come

to know

his joy

and worship

him as

beautiful,

and through

that,

that they

would know

finally the

depth of

joy that

they were

created to

know.

That's

why he

pours out

his

blessing.

I mean,

this is

what we

mean when

we say

experiencing

and expressing

grace.

This is

why this

is kind

of our

great motto

here at

Southwood,

because this

is the

flow of

what God

intends

for us.

He pours

out his

rich

abundance

upon us

with a

purpose

so that

as we

experience

the lavish

abundance

of knowing

Christ and

being in

Christ and

being forgiven

by Christ,

that that

abundance is

more than

what can be

contained in

us.

And it's

got to

flow.

And so

that's what

he intends.

Coming to

Christ brings

to us this

deep satisfaction

and joy which

we have

craved,

sets our

hearts to

worship in

joy,

and that

joy has

got to go

somewhere.

Joy is

not full

until it

is expressed.

when Marshall

wins the

national

championship

next year,

I am

going to

be excited.

And you

will hear

about it

if.

love.

But when

something,

when we

rejoice over

something,

it has to

go from

us because

it's not

full until

we're able

to share

it.

And so

this is the

plan.

This is the

way God

designs us.

So what

he's called

us to,

he pours out

the abundance

of his,

the wealth

of his

grace,

lavishes it

upon us,

fills our

hearts with

joy to

the point

where it

just overflows

on anybody

and everybody

close and

even on

some far

away.

But it

goes from

us.

It cannot

be contained.

So,

what are

the implications?

Well, I

think there

are several.

first is

grace is

never given

just for

you.

It's

never given

just for

you.

When God

pours out

his grace

and we

experience that

glorious blessing,

knowing him,

it's never just

for us,

it's intended

from the very

beginning to

go from

us outward

to others.

because he

pours so

much into

our hearts

that our

hearts cannot

contain it.

And I

think some

of us live

with this

misconception

that when we

come to

Christ,

we come to

Christ because

we need

his grace

because our

life is a

wreck and we

need Jesus to

come and work

in us

to make us

whole and to

give us

life again.

I mean,

that's the

way I

came.

Early on

back at the

university,

I mean,

my life was

a wreck

in so many

ways.

And so when

I finally

began to

understand the

gospel,

I remember

the prayer

that I

prayed and

I said,

Jesus,

you know

more about

my life

than I

do.

Come and

help me.

And so in

so many

ways,

he did

bring sanity

and order

in life

again to

me.

But,

as soon as

that happened

though,

I started

sharing what

had happened

and what I

experienced

because it

was incredible.

I felt I was

walking this far

off the ground.

I was so

elated about

what I

received in

Christ.

I started

talking to

everybody who

would listen

to me about

Jesus.

And some

who didn't

listen to

me.

In fact,

I earned

the title

of being

a Jesus

freak.

I know my

haircut didn't

help much.

But it

wasn't work.

It was just

something that I

had to do.

it just

came out.

I'm not

that way

much anymore.

Yeah,

my hair's

more sane

now.

I haven't

been referred

to as a

freak in

quite a

while.

I'm not

as belligerent

or obnoxious

in talking to

people about

the gospel.

Yeah,

I mean,

I've

matured.

I'm not

sure that's

all there

is.

Have I

lost the

wonder

of what it

means to be

in Christ?

Have I

lost a

sense of

wonder

that I

am totally

forgiven?

Have I

lost a

sense of

wonder

that me

in all

of my

brokenness

Christ?

Am in

Christ?

That I

am

his

beloved?

That he

has now

made me

the suitable

dwelling

for himself.

is that

why

I'm not

so obnoxious

anymore?

Maybe I've

I've lost

a sense

of wonder.

I think

it's so

easy for

me,

for us,

to come

to the

place

where when

we go to

the Father

to experience

more of

his grace,

we're simply

going because

I want

myself to

be better.

And we

never see

the depth

and the

riches

and the

wealth

of all

that he

has poured

out on

us in

Christ.

And so

our own

joy

is

stunted

and it

doesn't

go very

far.

so maybe

what I

need

is not

just to

be more

obedient.

Maybe I

need a

fresh look

at all

that Jesus

is for

me.

you know,

secondly,

grace is

never for

just us,

but also

grace leads

us to

worship.

When we

experience that

lavish grace

that comes

from Jesus

alone,

you know,

his tender,

loving,

gracious heart

towards us,

our

affections,

our hearts

are then

captured

by that

grace and

love.

And when I

am loved

like that,

then I am

going to

love him.

when I

see him

as

beautiful,

when I

see him

as so

desirable,

then he

is,

I am

going to

become

consumed

by him.

In my

affections,

my heart,

everything is

going to be

directed

towards him.

This has

everything to

do also

with how

we go

about

doing

missions,

in our

communities,

or wherever

it is,

is that

we're not

out for

conversions.

We're

out to

call people

to worship,

to fall

in love

with and

be consumed

by the

beauty and

the glory

of Jesus.

You know,

a couple

weeks,

actually,

three weeks

from tomorrow,

I'm going

to have

my second

granddaughter.

And it's

about time.

Because

there's

seven

grandsons

and one

other little

princess.

And to

have one

other little

granddaughter

is going

to be

great

with all

those boys.

And she's

not here yet,

three weeks

away,

but she's

beautiful.

beautiful.

I know

she's

beautiful.

And you're

going to

hear more

about her.

But if I

can be

captivated

by this

little,

very

broken,

as beautiful

she is,

yet very

sinful

little

girl,

how

greatly

is my

heart going

to be

captivated

when it

sees and

experiences

the

beautiful

one.

And then

turn to

worship.

And see,

that's what

missions is.

It is us

worshiping.

And out

of our

worship,

being consumed

by this

person who

is so

beautiful and

glorious that

we cannot

help but

talk about

them.

But that's

what we

call the

world to.

Not just

to convert,

but to

love.

Third

implication.

Grace

leads to

joy.

for the

nations.

And this

has big

implications

for me.

You know,

worship is

that gift

that God

gives us

through which

we can

express

our joy

and our

gladness

in Him

and all

that He

is.

Joy,

though,

in our

worship,

joy

is the

ultimate

expression

of worship.

We love

what gives

us joy.

And so,

this is the

response.

This is what

God's grace

does for us.

When we

experience that

freedom,

we experience

His lavish

abundance

poured out

upon us.

It is joy.

joy.

But if

joy is the

essence

of worship,

and if that's

what we're

calling the

world to

do,

then that

is how

they're going

to hear

about Jesus.

It's going

to be

from my

joy.

joy.

You know,

I've got a

group of

very close

friends who

are not

believers.

And I so

much would

long for

them to

know Jesus,

but again,

it's not that

I want them

to become

religious.

I see

emptiness.

And I

want them

to taste

the joy.

I want

them to

taste

what it's

like to

be forgiven

and to be

counted as

righteous

and to be

given the

hope of

being the

friend of

God.

I want

them to

taste that.

But how

are they

going to

hear it?

How are

they going

to taste

it?

They're

going to

taste it

because of

my joy

overflowing

to them.

That is

how the

nations

will know.

So what

has to

happen

with me?

it all

starts

here.

And it

starts

for me

remembering

what does

his grace

mean?

What have

I been

given?

What has

he done

for me

in Christ?

Christ.

And so

as we

come

really

and

celebrate

at the

table

together,

this is

what we're

doing.

We are

remembering.

As we

come here

to this

table,

we are

remembering

this gift

of lavish

grace

that my

sin

was paid

for

in

full.

In my

sin that

was so

great,

it required

the death

of the

Son of

God

who paid

it

gladly.

And now

I am

washed

clean

and I

am united

to him.

And so

as we

remember,

this table

is a

table,

yes,

of somber

reflection

because we

have to see

the context

of why

it's here.

but this

is a

place

of joy

because

here

through

the

sacrifice

I have

been made

the friend

and the

beloved

of God

himself.

And so

as we

eat

and drink

remember

this

lavishness

of grace

and let

it fill

your hearts

with joy

again

so that

the

nations

will

rejoice.

Let's

pray

together.

Father,

we thank

you for

this

table

but yet

our

words

are so

trite

when we're

faced with

really what

took place

here

because you

loved us

when we

hated you.

you came

for us.

You won

us to

yourself

and you

continue to

win us to

yourself by

lavishing your

goodness upon

us.

Father,

help us to

remember

we give you

thanks for

this table

but help us

to

comprehend

the enormity

of this

gift

that our

hearts would

swell with

joy

and that

joy

would

overflow

to

everyone

around us.

Our

cul-de-sacs,

our

subdivisions,

our

communities

and the

nations.

So as we

eat,

would you

feed us

with your

grace?

We pray

in Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Amen.

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information,

visit us

online at

southwood.org.