the world praising

Let the peoples praise you, O God;

let all the peoples praise you!

Psalm 67:3

God loves the world... all the people of the world. And His desire is for all the tribes, languages, ethnic groups, races, and nations to praise Him in worship. This is what God wants. This is what the gospel proclaimed throughout the world is meant to achieve. I agree with John Piper who says of Psalm 67 that “Missions exists because worship does not exist”. A motivation then to proclaim the gospel to those who do not know Jesus is that they might believe and come to worship God with this multi-ethnic tapestry of praise-filled people! And men and women from all tribes and nations indeed shall worship Jesus together! That is what we need to see in our mind’s eye every time we meet for worship... there are more people, around the globe, who need to do this!

Over my life I have had glimpse of this worship. I’ve prayed with pastors in West Africa, singing in joyous rhythmic syncopation with their congregations under an open-walled, thatch-roofed meeting place. I’ve crammed into a rented hotel suite in Southeast Asia with Christians whose praise was sweet and whose preaching of the Word of God was some of the most exciting I’ve ever heard. I’ve rejoiced with African-American believers in over-the-top musical celebration that had people marching down the aisles in what could only be described as full-body worship! I’ve been in churches where the primary language was Spanish, and just a few acoustic instruments were available to lead the joyous songs. I’ve had the joy of being in churches where I was the minority as a white man. I’ve song praise songs in Navajo, French, Spanish, and a smattering of Bambara. And Jesus was praised! 

O Lord,

Let the peoples... all the tribes, all the races, all the dialects, of all the nations.... let the peoples praise Your greatness and know salvation only in Jesus! With my life I will always have this vision of worship and as You let me, I will praise You among all the beautiful types of people on this earth.

Amen