Sermon Cloud

It is clear from the words of Psalm 67 that the Psalmist clearly understood God's vision and plan for the world. But he did not stop there – he also embraced God's plan and had a passion to see it fulfilled. In addition, he understood it was his duty as a recipient of the blessings of God to participate in the unfolding of God's historic plan of redemption.

1. The Aaronic Blessing Turned Inside Out

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   1. The first verse may sound familiar: Priestly blessing in Num. 6:24 “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;”

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    • The Aaronic blessing seems to be focused on blessing Israel only.

    • Is the Psalmist turning it “inside out” or making changes he ought not to do? Not at all.

    • The Psalmist understood something that much of Israel had missed.

    • He understood that every blessing poured out on Israel was for a greater purpose.

    • He remembered God's promise to Abraham: (Genesis 12:2-3) ² “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, (he doesn't stop here) and you will be a blessing. ³...alll peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

    • And also God's statement to the Israelites in Exodus 19:6 “You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” God had placed a calling on the nation of Israel.

    • They were to be his treasured posession for the purpose of taking the knowledge of the true God to the nations.

    • But Israel, for the most part didn't get it – they kept it to themselves.

    • The “Sock” was inside out and the Psalmist is setting things straight.

    • He recognizes that it was always Israel's calling to call the nations to faith in the true God.

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

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    • “Be gracious to us” - this is an added request not found in Aaronic – “Have pity on us”.

    • This may indicate he recognized the nation needed God's grace for neglecting their call

    • It almost begs “Give us another chance! Don't give up on us! Don't withhold your blessing!”

    • “Bless us” - what does the Psalmist actually expect God to do?

    • Is he asking God to provide lots of rain so he can eat, drink and be merry?

    • Give me a Hummer so I can look important and successful?

    • Give me a better paying job so I can buy a nicer house in a nicer neighborhood?

    • There's nothing wrong with having these – but this what we consider being blessed.

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   1. Definition of 'Bless'

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    • How happy!” This word communicates “a heightened state of happiness and joy, implying very favorable circumstance and enjoyment to an such an extent that those on the outside looking on are jealous of them.

    • Such a state leaves someone totally satisfied and content – there is nothing else they delight in more than the Lord himself.

    • The Psalmists is asking God to provide all the resources to God's people to fulfill the plan of God.

    • What is the plan? The world-wide worship of the true God.

    • Bless us Lord so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

       

2. World Wide Worship of God

   1. The Psalmists puts this prayer for 'blessing' in the context of the bigger picture.

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    • He could have focused inward – “Thanks God for blessing us with such an abundant harvest, please keep blessing us for we like to be blessed, AMEN.”

    • But he was outward faced - “May our blessing become a blessing to others.”

    • “May you continue to bless us so that people from every nation may praise you!

    • Let this blessing spread across the world and draw all peoples to you.

    • Make your salvation known in every corner of the world.

    • Let Your kingdom come; Let Your will be done; So that everyone might know Your Name
      Let Your song be heard everywhere on earth; Till Your sovereign work on earth is done; Let Your kingdom come. Nothing else would make him happier.

    • The Psalmist has embraced God's vision and plan for the world and has made it his own.

    • May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.

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   1. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth.

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    • Global worship of God goes hand in hand with the global reign of God - inseperable!

    • To be a worshipper of God is to be under God's rule – to submit to him.

    • When our hearts are captivated by the goodness and mercy of our God – when we have received God's blessing – we find that being under God's authority is a good thing!

    • The global reign of God becomes something to sing and rejoice about!

    • With power He vindicates the just, And treads th’ oppressor in the dust:
      His worship and His fear shall last; Till hours, and years, and time be past.

    • This is the picture of God's plan fulfilled.

    • People from every nation, tongue and tribe worshipping Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

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    • Piper: Worship is the goal of missions. Missions exists because worship doesn't.

    • He states: 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...But worship abides forever.

       

3. Our Part in the Fulfilment of God's Plan

   1. How will this plan be fulfilled?

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    • Lets make one thing clear – God is the champion of this plan.

    • Its fulfillment does not ULTIMATELY depend on us.

    • God will accomplish that which he has set out to do – his decree cannot be thwarted.

    • BUT – this does not remove our obligation to embrace his plan!

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    • The Jewish nation was chosen to make God's ways know through the earth.

    • As Jesus said to the Samaritan woman Salvation is from the Jews (John 4:22).

    • They had a repsonsibility and they did not fulfill it and we have the same responsibility.

    • “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matt. 9:37-38)

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   2. The Harvest is Plenty

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    • Of the nearly 16k people groups in the world, 6400 are unreached.

    • Of the world's 7k known languages about 2200 do not have a translation of the Bible.

    • Though we have made alot of progress there is still alot of work to be done.

    • What will it take to get the job done?

    • Its going to take an embracing of the plan and an involvement in its execution.

    • How do we become commited to this?

    • Our passions must die to this world and be made to serve Jesus.

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   3. Our Blessings in Christ are the Fuel

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    • According to Peter we are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10)

    • Do you see the connection between reciving “mercy” and being a royal priest?

    • Jesus has saved you, and pulled you out of the jaws of hell.

    • You dont deserve the privilege of serving the king!

    • Yet, he has called you to serve him in changing the world!

    • But the problem is our passion for God gets stifled by worldly concerns.

    • Piper says: You can't commend what you don't cherish. Where passion for God is weak, zeal for missions will be weak.

    • How passionate are you for God?

    • Do you allow the cares of this world to distract you from what matters most?

    • Think about what we have to look forward to: When the king has come, when he occupies the throne of his glory and rrules over the nations, then the nations form the great brotherhood in which swords are turned into plowshares...All nations praise and worship God. Idolatry will be swept from the face of the earth...The singing times have come.” The curse of death is gone. Crying, pain they are a thing of the past! This is the big picture!