Week of December 28

“Surely there can be no greater joy than saving souls,” said Lottie Moon (1840-1912), the missionary to China. Southern Baptists will recognize her name instantly because of the Christmas Offering that bears her name; however, we all too often know nothing about what she said! She firmly believed God said, “Go,” meaning that we should go to the nations. He is not only a saving God, but He sends as well. Let’s explore this characteristic of God in our focal passage today.

Psalm 117 has been classified as the fifth of the Egyptian Hallel psalms (cf. 113-118). It is the shortest psalm, as we may we deduce, since it has only two verses. The theme of the hymn is praise directed to God because of His love for all peoples. The Apostle Paul quotes the psalm in Romans 15:11 as it refers to the Gentiles (cf. also Genesis 12:3; Galatians 3:8). Our world seems so bitterly divided along political, racial, socioeconomic, and educational lines, but we see in this psalm that we are invited to be counted among God’s own. Ponder this truth for a moment. You are loved!

Turn to the God who loves you (117:1). This song provides us with a bit of a different perspective when it calls for praise. It is, in fact, quite a reach in my mind, because the call to praise is issued to the Gentiles! This summons usually is directed to the covenant community who are to offer their adulation to their covenant God. “Praise the Lord, all nations!” We have been invited inside the circle, and the unifying element is not social equity, but spiritual unity that erupts into praise. We are so often possessed with the notion that people will not come to our churches unless we make them comfortable. The psalmist believes that the invitation to become a part of God’s family will suffice! 

Receive the love He offers to you (117:2a). There is something winsome about the way this God treats His people and this is what the psalmist believes will be the X-factor that captures their interest. God simply loves without fail and there is no end to His love for His family. The psalmist characterizes this love as constant by using the Hebrew word hesed. The word was for generations translated “mercy,” but it has a broader meaning, scholars have discovered (Handbook). The term conveys the idea of loyalty to covenant obligations or “constancy.” In an age where contracts are meaningless and often broken, this devotion signals a reason to remain faithful to God. He stays loyal to His salvation covenant. 

Find comfort in His constancy (117:2b). God is faithful (cf. Exodus 34:6-7; Psalm 36:5). The root of this word means “certainty” (cf. Hebrews 11:1). God supports His people, like a father who wraps His strong arms around a helpless child. My family has experienced ups and downs through the years, like so many of you. One of my great comforts has been the abiding presence of God as support in all we have faced. He is like a pillar, literally holding up our lives (cf. 2 Kings 18:16). Such commitment on the part of God glues my being to Him. This idea of support would be a major attraction to me, if I were outside and looking in, as through a window, upon the family of faith.

Place your faith in Him. How may the nations arrive at such confidence in this God who loves? They are called to place their faith in Him. It is through “faith” that assurance bubbles up from within. Trusting God despite one’s circumstances is made possible by the certainty that faith offers. Genuine praise emerges from within the wellspring of faith. The psalmist sets the record straight, even though many who are outside of the Christian faith believe that God wants to punish them. God pursues them to bring them into His family! Praise the Lord!

Isn’t it wonderful that little acts of kindness are what remind us of God’s pursuit of us in love? I recently encountered a man who responded to God’s invitation to turn to Him and follow Him in faith. He shared a testimony of times he had strayed off the path of what is good and right, but he longed to step into God’s house. He had felt God’s invitation to join His forever family. 

Here is the spiritual point. God knocks at world’s door each day. He is pursuing a relationship that will never end. He wants us in His house, and He has plenty of room for more (Psalm 23:6; John 14:1-3). The sheer wonder of a God who pursues the world of humanity should call forth praise from our lips this day.

1. The response of Christians to this passage includes our prayers for the nations to respond to God’s love and our gifts to help people go and tell the nations of this love. 

2. We live in an extraordinary time where the world seems poised to bomb one another into submission—both in word and deed. Many within the body of Christ have become captivated by this worldly spirit. However, the Church’s further moral response should be a readiness to provide blessing. Long for God to conquer the nations with His love.

3. For Families: This is a wonderful season of the year where our children and grandchildren often travel with parents to various holiday locations. For example, take some time at the ski lodge, or airport, or travel-breakfast buffet to people-watch! Ask your children quietly to observe carefully and then remark upon similarities and differences in all the people they see. When they conclude their observations, take time to point out what God sees in each of those people. Make sure to say that He “sees a life that He loves.” Talk about ways your family may show the love of God to the nations.

May your paths be straight,
Larry C. Ashlock