Last Night, We Won

Article by Carl Laferton

The anthem was belted out. My heart beat fast. The adrenalin flowed in torrents. Ah, it’s the hope, the rising hope, the no man’s land of touching distance. And then it’s the ebbing, the dashing, the dying of the hope. And the sadness settles in. And then the “If only we’d…”, and then the strange sense of emptiness.

I really could care less about the football. And I think I really should care less about the football. (And the rugby, and the cricket, and the tennis.)

I’m a sports nut. I will happily read about sport, talk about sport, watch sport and shout at sport all day. There was a time when I hoped very much that my job would be to write about sport all day.

And there’s nothing wrong with any of that.

Until there is.

One thing that changed me

I remember years ago—back in 2013 at an Acts29 Europe conference—listening to the pastor Matt Chandler give a seminar. Honestly, I don’t remember the topic—I think it might’ve been something to do with longevity in ministry. Frankly, I don’t remember most of what he said.

But I do remember him saying one thing that changed me. And it was about sport. Matt was talking about how he had made a conscious decision not to actively support any sports team. Why? Because when he started to care about a team, he would always care too much. Their success would stir his affections more than anything else. Their failure would make him irritable like nothing else.

And that’s just not Christian, he said. Jesus Christ is the One whose cause should capture us. His victory is what should most excite us. The advance of his kingdom is what should most stir us.

Honestly, would I get more excited if someone were converted this summer, or if we won whatever major tournament is on?

His point was that anything that replaces Christ as the thing that most attracts our excitement, our devotion, our hopes and our dreams is an idol that needs to be rejected. Not cuddled. Not toyed with. Not excused because, you know, all the other guys at church do it…

And as he spoke, I realised he was speaking of me. That when we’re searching for an equaliser, it’s like my life and happiness depend on it. That I shout helpful and innovative advice like “Shoot!” from thousands of miles away as though this, right here, is life. That defeat makes me feel like the world is a worse place, and I have the right to be grumpy with those around me and one-eyed about the referee. That I excuse all this by making a joke of it.

And I thought: Honestly, would I get more excited if someone were converted this summer, or if we won whatever major tournament is on?

The answer wasn’t the one I think God would be pleased with, or that I should be pleased with. I was more gripped by the prospect of a gold trophy than a trophy of grace.

This matters more

Since then, I’ve tried to spot when I am enjoying sport as a good thing, given by the God who wants us to enjoy the world he’s made us to live in; and when I am straying towards idolising sport as a god thing, replacing my God in my affections, capturing my excitement, leaving me feeling empty if we lose. I’ve asked the Spirit to prod me when I am beginning to define myself more in terms of my country-tribe or team-tribe than in terms of Jesus’ tribe (he calls it the church).

Because that’s the moment when I’m loving the football (or rugby, or cricket, or tennis) too much. And I say to myself, ‘Carl, you are literally getting over-excited about whether a man can kick a small sphere between two posts and under a bar.’ And then I try to think about what else is happening today: that round the world, the good news about a man who won the greatest of victories in the most unlikely of venues is being shouted, spoken, whispered, read about, believed. Victory after victory is being won as His Spirit brings everlasting hope to those who were facing the defeat of death. And I am being invited to show in my life (including in how I watch sport) and say with my mouth that, yes, His triumph means more than my team’s.

Last night, we won. Because Jesus has won. And seriously—that matters more.

And sooner or later, my heart will race. The adrenalin will flow. The shouts will come. The hopes will rise, and never die. There will be no more sadness, no more disappointments, no more “If only we’d…”. And all I’ll know is soaring fullness and all-encompassing adoration as I join the crowds and belt out the anthem:

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:

‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
    and honour and glory and praise!’ (Revelation 5 v 11-12)

I really can’t care too much about the Lord.

You?

Article posted at:  https://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/blog/interestingthoughts/2018/07/12/last-night-we-won/

Do You Want to Read Your Bible More Consistently?

Article by Kristen Wetherell

For many Christians, reading the Bible consistently is a challenge.

In 2017, the American Bible Society reported that only 20% of Americans read their Bibles at least four times each week. This means that 80% of Americans read Scripture less frequently than that, if at all.

But God says his words are like food—“Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3). And no human can survive without food. If we’re not eating, we starve.

And if we aren’t feeding on God’s Word consistently, so will our souls.

Read Your Bible, Feed Your Soul

When our newborn baby entered the world, everything changed—especially our sleep patterns. There were mornings when my husband and I struggled to peel ourselves out of bed to meet with the Lord in his Word. But the struggle was worth it. Most mornings, we fought the temptation to keep sleeping (only by God’s grace) and were extremely grateful we did, as it meant starting our day in communion with him through Scripture and prayer.

It meant feeding our souls.

Hearing God speak through our Bibles was a game-changer for us:

• He hid his Word in our hearts and would bring it to mind by his Spirit.
• He renewed our minds, setting them on eternal matters, and gave us eyes to see through this perspective moment-by-moment.
• He gave us his armor to help us fight sin and temptation.
• He reminded us that Christ is our highest joy and our most valued treasure.

I’ve heard it said, you don’t remember every meal you’ve eaten, but the meals you’ve eaten have sustained you. We may not recall every Scripture we’ve read, but God sustains our trust in him as we choose to consistently feed on his Word.

14 Ideas to Make Your Reading More Consistent

There’s no one way to open Scripture—everybody’s devotional time will look different—but there is a right way to pursue it: consistently.

As you seek God in his Word, ask him to give you an ever-deepening desire for this pursuit. Ask him to help you put away the distractions of tiredness, tasks, and trivialities. Ask him for eyes to see the glory of Christ in Scripture, and for ears to hear the good news of the gospel in everything you read.

God sustains our trust in him as we choose to consistently feed on his Word.

CLICK TO TWEET

Then, commit to reading every day—even if only for five minutes at first—and pursue specific ways to make this reading a habit. Here are several ideas for you, in no particular order:

1. Put your phone away!

Our phones are wonderful tools, but can be incredibly distracting. Leave your phone in another room while you read so you aren’t tempted to check messages or scroll social media.

2. Get a new Bible.

A brand new Bible can be a great motivator to build a reading habit. With clean pages, you have a fresh template on which to mark up passages, take notes, and apply what you read.

3. Use helpful tools.

On a similar note, helpful tools can also motivate regular reading. Bleedless pens (like Micron), colored pencils, commentaries, Scripture journals, and Bible software (like Logos) promote active reading.

4. Schedule it.

Scheduling your Bible reading can seem cold and heartless. But don’t we schedule what’s important to us, like family outings, dates with our spouses, and our kids’ school events? Our delight in people motivates this—how much more our delight in God? Schedule your Bible reading time as a divine appointment you don’t want to miss.

5. Read in the same place every day.

A habit sticks the stickier we make it, so choose one location for your Bible reading. For me, this is the couch in our living room. Perhaps for you it’s on the train as you commute to work, during nap time, or at your kitchen table. You’ll be less likely to skip your time of communion with the Lord if it’s in the same place every day.

6. Remove distractions.

Besides your phone, what distracts you from reading Scripture? Is it the laundry pile? The dirty dish tower? Your full inbox and schedule? The research paper due next week? Whatever the task, it will be there after your Bible reading is done, and you’ll be more likely to engage with these tasks in a Godward manner as a result of temporarily setting them aside.   

7. Start small.

It can be easy, especially for Type-A personalities, to  immediately go full-throttle. But it’s important not to overreach, or you risk falling behind and feeling defeated (unless it’s most helpful for you to go full-throttle!). Start with what you know you can handle: Read five minutes a day the first week; 10 minutes a day the second week; and 15 minutes a day the third week. Increase your reading time each week until you get into a routine that works for you.  

8. Join/complete a Bible study.

I’ve found that going through a guided Bible study helps me stay consistent in God’s Word. You might join a group through your church, or choose a study to do by yourself.

9. Sign up for daily devotional emails.

Be intentional about reading throughout the day by signing up for a devotional or two online. You’re more likely to sow God’s Word into your heart if you read these as they arrive in your inbox, rather than intending to read them later. Some of my favorites are LifeKEYS, Solid Joys, and Morning and Evening.

10. Ask for accountability.

Who might you ask to check in with you every so often about how your Bible reading is going? Recruit a trusted friend in the Lord to routinely ask you about your time in Scripture.

11. Use a Bible reading plan.

Similar to choosing the right tools, a reading plan can help you form a regular habit of opening your Bible. There’s no pressure to complete the plan in a year, as most of them encourage (mine has taken me three years to finish!). But a plan will give you guidance through Scripture and prevent the discouragement that can come from feeling lost in possibilities.

12. Involve your family.

While time alone with the Lord is important, family Bible reading is another eternally significant habit to form. Read a verse or passage of Scripture during dinnertime; read to your kids before bed; or invite them to sit with you as your read in the morning.

13. Sit under sound, biblical preaching.

What does this have to do with reading your Bible consistently? Everything. You will learn from your pastor how to study your Bible as you listen to him unfold God’s Word each weekend. Take note of how he comprehends, interprets, and applies the text, and ask God to help you do this each day when you read.

14. Remember God’s grace.

Whether you spent five minutes or five hours in God’s Word yesterday, or you didn’t make it into Scripture at all, God’s grace in Jesus Christ has the final say on your acceptance in his sight.

His grace covers you when you forget, fail, and choose other pursuits—but he doesn’t intend to leave you there. The promise of his grace is to change your heart and therefore your desires, through the blood-bought, finished work of his Son. And the outcome of this grace is consistent communion with God in his Word, for the praise and glory of Jesus Christ and your highest joy.

Article posted at:  https://unlockingthebible.org/2018/06/read-bible-consistently/

Sermons Aren’t Popcorn: Tips for Being a Good Listener to God’s Word

 Jake Chambers 

We do it every week. We grab our coffee, greet some friends, sing some songs, and then sit down to listen to a sermon. Some of us Bible nerds even do it more than once a week through podcasts.

We know sermon listening is good for us and part of the Christian life. We have been inspired, challenged, bored, distracted, convicted, and entertained by sermons. So we keep coming back for more.

But we don’t often stop to think about how to listen to a sermon.

There is a way to glorify God most in how we go about listening to a sermon, whether in person or online. Here are five tips to help us be sermon listeners and not just sermon consumers.

1. PREPARE YOUR HEART

Let’s face it. Between checking one more text, Instagramming our coffee, or scrambling to get the kids checked-in, much of the time we’re not even remotely prepared to take in a half hour or hour-long sermon.

Before giving into the Sunday morning frenzy, we must remember that we’re not at church for the sake of routine, but because we really believe the Creator of the universe loves us and wants to speak to us. As you find your seat or pew, take a deep breath, exhale everything on your mind, and ask the Lord to speak to you. A simple prayer, “Jesus you are here, I love you, I want to hear from you, speak to me,” can go miles in preparing your heart.

Leave your phone in the car if at all possible. Use a physical Bible and paper journal to keep you from digital distractions. Spend some time praying before the gathering if you can. Pray for the preacher, the church, potential visitors, and for yourself.

Come prepared to hear the sermon as a member of the church, not just a consumer of its services.

2. ASK BETTER QUESTIONS

How many of us come away from a gathering and we judge the whole experience like we would the latest Marvel installment? “How did you like the sermon?” “What did you think of the music?” “Was the pastor’s Iron Man or Ant-Man example funnier?”

The point of gathering with the saints and sitting under biblical preaching is not for us to judge the Word, but for the Word to judge us. Responding to God’s Word the same way we respond to movies will train us to treat it like cheap entertainment. We are called to be disciples, not consumers. Consumers come, take, and leave; disciples come, see, and go and tell.

Let me suggest three questions to ask after listening to a sermon, either to yourself or someone else.

What did God say to you? Sometimes God speaks through the sermon, prayer, communion, music, benediction, or a moment of silence. He loves to speak to his people. Let’s listen and ask one another how we’re hearing God through sermons. This makes it less about the jokes, antics of the preacher, personality or style, and more about hearing from God—which is the point! And God is faithful to speak through his Word even in the less “entertaining” or poorly articulated sermons because his Word does not come back void (Is. 55:10-11)!

How is God calling you to respond? In Hebrew, the word “hear,” or shema, means “listen & obey” (cf. Deut. 6:3, 4). The American version of listening is fine with just listening, even listening and responding enthusiastically to what has been said, but with no real change, obedience, repentance or transformation. We love to say, “Oh man, that was such a convicting message!” and then go on with our day as if we never heard it at all.

I’m afraid too many of us are content with just listening—listening that doesn’t result in heart change or genuine response. Jesus rebuked this kind of listening, calling it having “ears but never hearing” (Matt. 13:13). And in one of the most terrifying passages of the Bible, Jesus says, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46).

Biblical hearing leads to biblical action. After listening to a sermon, we should ask ourselves how God is calling us to respond. Is he telling me to stop doing something? To start doing something? To think something different? To give something away? Questions like these bring sermon listening to life.

Who could you share this truth with? Sermon listening shouldn’t end with us. God invites us into a life of community and mission; a life of loving him and loving others. After all, faith comes by hearing the gospel, and hearing the gospel comes through the word of Christ (Rom. 10:17). Others need to hear the Word we have heard!

Whether you are building someone else up or you have someone else help you in responding to the sermon, sharing what God speaks to us and how we will respond is one of the great joys of being the church! As you reflect on the preaching you’ve sat under, ask yourself who you could share with.

3. FIGHT ENEMIES OF LEARNING

Pride, stubbornness, and a lack of teachability are enemies of listening and responding to a sermon. That’s why Hebrews 3:15 says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” We can nitpick a sermons’ delivery, critique the personality of the preacher, pridefully boast that we already have heard this text before, or use the time to think through all the ways we would teach Scripture differently. These are all walls in front of our hearts that will block the Word of God.

This hurts us and hurts the church. Pride and stubbornness are not badges of honor in the Kingdom of God; they are not biblical virtues and we ought to fear them. Pray for humility and teachability. Ask the Lord to keep you from stubbornness. Assume the sermon application does actually apply to you.

I’m not saying to mindlessly embrace everything taught, but I am saying to prayerfully join a gospel-centered church, one that preaches the full-counsel of Scripture, and then submit to that teaching. There will be times where the application does not apply directly to you, or when your pastor was off on the text. But if applying the Word you heard is the rule—and not the exception—the more likely you will wrestle with your sin rather than scapegoating the preaching (Heb. 4:12). Pursue humility and default to submitting to the preached Word.

4. PRAYERFULLY PARTICIPATE WHEN TRUTH IS REPEATED

If you have been part of a church for a long time, you will inevitably begin to hear stories, illustrations, and applications repeated over and over. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Scripture repeats personal testimonies, commands, and evidence of God’s work and calls us to remember what God has done in the past.

As consumers, we want every sermon or gathering to seem new, fresh, or different. But the point is not to be entertained by something new, it’s to be transformed by something eternal. The next time you begin to think, I’ve heard this before, or I know where they are going with this, lean into prayer instead. Ask the Lord, “Why are you having me hear this again? What do I need to remember?” And pray for those in the room that may have never heard that particular point.

5. PODCAST SERMONS OCCASIONALLY AND RE-LISTEN REGULARLY

The number and accessibility of podcasts, with godly men rightly exegeting the Word of God, is a gift of grace. But like any good thing, too much of it can be a bad thing. For the sermon-podcast junkies out there: be careful. You can listen to so many podcasts that you train your mind to hear a sermon with no response. Sermons can become means of entertainment instead of transformation.

We can also begin to build an imaginary or ideal preacher that doesn’t exist, making us unable to enjoy our local preacher because he’s not as funny as Matt Chandler, as astute as Tim Keller, or as passionate as Francis Chan. But that’s good! Your local church pastor is the one God gave you to hear from most regularly, and God intends you to hear his truth through their personality.

Be wary of listening to sermons so much that they become mere entertainment. Sermons are not popcorn. God has sovereignly placed you in a local congregation, so enjoy and appreciate your local preacher instead of binging sermon podcasts. Consider re-listening to a sermon that has spoken to you deeply. Reflect on it. Sermons are to be savored.

LET’S BE GOOD LISTENERS

Hearing God’s Word preached is a privilege. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’” (Is. 52:7).

Let’s be good listeners of God’s Word, reveling in the beauty of the gospel and giving thanks for those who teach it.

Jake Chambers is the husband to his beautiful bride Lindsey, and a daddy to Ezra, Roseanna, Jaya and Gwen. He is passionate about Jesus and his church and has spent the last decade both leading a church plant in San Diego, CA and helping others plant churches. He is currently helping create a church planting strategy for Resurrection Church in Tacoma, WA and hopes to plant a church in his hometown of Gig Harbor, WA in the future. Preach, pray, lead, listen, write and recreate are the 6 ways that God has specifically called Jake to enjoy his presence and serve his church locally and globally.

Article posted at: http://gcdiscipleship.com/2018/06/19/sermons-arent-popcorn-tips-for-being-a-good-listener-to-gods-word/

You Can’t Serve God and Entertainment

Article by Phillip Holmes

You love entertainment. On-demand streaming, live television, video-sharing websites, and social media are all at your fingertips. Your ability to access entertainment swiftly and effortlessly has encroached on every aspect of your life. Research recently revealed that you’re tempted to check Facebook every thirty-one seconds.

Are your friends boring you with dull conversation? Grab your iPhone. Is your wife annoying you? Turn on your television. Is your professor uninteresting? Sign into Facebook. Entertainment is your means of escape from the inconveniences of life into a comfortable world of fantasy. And your means of escape has made you a slave.

Confessions of a Slave

If I’m honest, I’ve had an unbridled love for frivolous entertainment — over the years I’ve used it primarily as a means of escape. Entertainment was used to distract me from the guilt of sin, friction in relationships, or anxiety about work. It became what daily prayer and Bible reading should have been: a safe haven to retreat for rest and comfort.

I failed to recognize that my never-ending pursuit to be entertained had turned me into a slave. My love for my new master was subtly causing contempt towards God and reticence in my duty to delight in him.

A Tale of Two Masters

In Matthew 6:24, Jesus reveals that when we gravitate toward entertainment as a means of comfort, we’re moving further and further away from our Creator. The notion of two masters is, in fact, a fictitious tale. It’s impossible to have more than one. Jesus exposes an insightful reality: Love for one will cause hatred toward the other.

If we devote inordinate amounts of time, money, and affection to anything, including entertainment, we will despise whatever draws us away. We’ve all been faced with the choice between spending time in prayer and God’s word or spending time with entertainment. At the crux of these crossroads, the all-satisfying gift of Jesus is pit against the temporal promises of entertainment. Whichever road is chosen increases hatred for the path denied.

When we choose the broad path to careless entertainment, seeds of contempt are planted for Christ. Likewise, when we choose the narrow road to Jesus, seeds of hatred are planted, not only for mindless entertainment, but all of our indwelling sin. This path reveals that endless entertainment is a cruel master that seeks to devour our true joy and lead us away from Christ, its source.

The Cruel Master

Entertainment over-promises but under-delivers. It is unable to satisfy what our hearts truly long for. We want rest. We want comfort. But entertainment can only offer a temporary fix. As soon as we wake up from hours of binging on Netflix or scrolling through social media, our problems remain, still waiting to be confronted. And we’re faced with the truth that all we’ve done is put off the inevitable.

Chasing joy in entertainment is like “chasing the dragon.” The term is a slang phrase, which refers to the continuous pursuit of an ultimate high previously obtained at the initial use of drugs.

For example, a drug user tries heroin for the first time and has an amazing experience. But when he returns to the drug, he can’t get that same experience. Instead, the experience gets weaker, so the user takes more and stronger heroin to reach that same feeling. As he “chases the dragon,” the user’s body decays inside and out. This decay usually manifests itself in extreme itching, unwanted weight loss, slurred speech, kidney or liver disease, and more.

Addiction to entertainment is similar. The physical and health effects may not be as striking as heroin, but the spiritual effects are costly. We chase mindless entertainment hoping for relief for our souls, but instead all it really can promise is death. It distracts us from the highest and ultimate good with a mirage of happiness and comfort.

Jesus Is the Good Master

In Matthew 11:28–30, Jesus invites all who labor and are burdened to come to him, promising to provide rest for our weary souls. This promise is not empty. In the gospel, he fulfills his promise by taking up our burden on the cross for our rest and joy in him.

“In communion with Jesus, we experience lasting joy that entertainment can only promise but never provide.”

I have never walked away disappointed when I’ve pursued my joy in God through prayer and Bible reading, reminded myself of his promises in the gospel, repented of my sin, and cried out to God for comfort. Were all of my problems solved? No. But my joy was restored, and my soul had feasted on his promises. Likewise, every time I’ve used entertainment as a means of relief for my soul, I was left wanting and unsatisfied.

Even still, when I find myself at that proverbial crossroads between communion with Christ and frivolous entertainment, I’m tempted to say yes to entertainment and no to God.

As we walk through life, we will be tempted to continue to engage entertainment carelessly and ignore our bondage. Some will continue to live like slaves, binging on entertainment and neglecting spiritual nourishment. But you don’t have to live in bondage.

The gospel supplies the power to say yes to God and no to endless entertainment. Here we uncover the beauty of our wonderful master and realize that Jesus is better. In communion with him, we experience lasting joy that entertainment can only promise but never provide.

The next time you find yourself at this familiar crossroads, cling to Jesus. Remember that he alone is your highest good. He died and rose so that we can experience communion with him, which provides the supreme joy that an escape to entertainment simply cannot compete with.

Phillip Holmes (@PhillipMHolmes) served as a content strategist at desiringGod.org. He is the Director of Communications at Reformed Theological Seminary and a finance coach and blogger through his site Money Untangle. He and his wife, Jasmine, have a son, and they are members of Redeemer Church in Jackson, Mississippi.

Article posted on:  https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/you-cant-serve-god-and-entertainment

Ten Short Truths about the Shortest Psalm

Article by Barry York, 

Psalm 117 is the shortest psalm of only two verses.

Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!

This little psalm is bursting with praise to the Lord. As Spurgeon says in his Treasury of David, “This Psalm, which is very little in its letter, is exceedingly large in its spirit; for, bursting beyond all bounds of race or nationality, it calls upon all mankind to praise the name of the Lord.” Three times the psalmist calls us to praise or extol the Lord.

Psalm 117 is found right in the heart of the Bible. Interestingly, the Bible has 1189 chapters, meaning the 595th chapter is the middle chapter of the Bible. Which chapter is that? Psalm 117! Though certainly the chapter divisions are not inspired, as the original texts did not contain them, still the Lord was providentially in control of them.

God's presence is experienced in this chapter just as in any longer chapter of scripture. Again Spurgeon says, “The same divine Spirit which expatiates (writes at length) in the 119th psalm, here condenses his utterances into two short verses, but yet the same infinite fullness is present and perceptible.”

Psalm 117 is part of the Hallel of the Psalter. The Psalter has various collections of songs in it, and Psalms 113-118 form one section known as the Hallel, which means "Praise." These psalms praise God for his salvation from sin and death, and speak of one who will bring this salvation. The previous psalm, Psalm 116, says, "You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.” The next psalm states, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” These clearly are prophecies of Christ's death and resurrection.

This psalm exchoes the covenant promises given to Abraham. God had promised Abraham he would be a blessing to all the nations of the earth, even changing his name to Abraham which means "Father of many people." In Genesis 18:18, the Lord said, “Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” This psalms reminds us of God's promise made to Abraham and fulfilled in his seed of Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:1).

Psalm 117 was sung by Jesus and the apostles the night before he died.Matthew tells us that at the conclusion of the Lord and the disciples observing Passover and the first Lord's Supper, they sang "a hymn" before departing to the Mount of Olives (Matt. 26:30). Most commentators tell us that this hymn would have been actually these particular psalms, sung especially by the Jews at Passover. In the midst of the psalms that Jesus was singing the night before he died, he calls all nations to praise the Lord for his great love.

Psalm 117 is quoted in the Book of Romans. Paul quotes from this psalm in Romans 15. In this part of Romans, he is section explaining that the gospel is for all people, Jews and Gentiles alike. “I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written (here then is the quote from Ps. 117), “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise Him.” So the early church saw this psalm fulfilled in God manifesting the gospel to the Gentiles.

This psalm finds its true fulfillment in the New Testament Church. Though given to the Jews, this psalm is certainly not limited to them. Rather, it is a call to all nations and peoples of the earth- in other words the Gentiles - to praise God.

Psalm 117 testifies to the everlasting love God has for the church throughout the world. The reason given for praising the Lord is for his great love that stands on his truth forever. Those redeemed by Christ will know of that love now and forever.

How the church throughout the would should rejoice and sing these words together!

Article originally posted at: https://gentlereformation.com/2018/06/11/ten-short-truths-about-the-shortest-psalm/