God’s missions song

May God be gracious to us and bless us

and make his face to shine upon us, [Selah]

that your way may be known on earth,

your saving power among all nations.

Psalm 67:1-2

God wants the world to know Him. He makes His grace and power known in the earth, especially among His people, to draw the people of this world to Him. He makes Himself known to the world by His saving power. And as God’s people make the gospel known, His grace will be displayed among all the nations. It is a beautiful sight taken in by a watching world, all for the glory and worship of God.

This psalm shows us how God wanted His people Israel to declare Him among the nations so that the world would know Him. But it was more than just a knowledge that was aware of God. It was to be a knowledge that experienced God’s saving power.

And now, in Jesus, this is fully realized. God has brought His saving power to all the earth through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And as Christians proclaim the gospel in places around the world, making God’s Word known and planting churches worldwide, this song from so long ago is sung anew. God has always loved the world. He has given His Son so that those from every tribe and tongue can believe in Jesus and know God’s saving power among all peoples. God’s love creates powerful, beautiful, worshipful diversity! Eternity WILL NOT look like white American evangelicalism. Eternity will be a multi-cultural worship service filled with the beauty of God’s redeeming work created a tapestry of undescribably wonderful diversity. 

javelin stretching moments

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.

Joshua 8:18

This is just one very small example of just how receptive Joshua was as a leader to directly following the command of God. He obeyed. Humanly speaking, stretching your hand out with a weapon will in no way win a battle by itself. Still, Joshua acted in faith and in obedience. He trusted God in the simplest of matters. And God rewarded that humble obedience, unleashing powerful leadership and victory through Joshua.

And my simple application from this simple story? Obey God, in all things, no matter how small I may see them. Picking up my Bible, jotting in my journal, praying in weariness of soul, or reaching out to help someone when I am unsure of how to help or feel drained of resources myself are all matters of simple obedience. These are my javelin stretching moments. And I believe God will bless them in His time and with His power... much greater than my weak hands and heart will ever have!

mobile gospel preaching

And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Luke 4:42-44

This little episode gives us insight into the core of Jesus’ mission: He was sent to preach good news of the kingdom of God to as many places as He could. That is why He was itinerate. He never settled into one permanent location (although He spent a vast part of His ministry in Galilee). It was vital to His mission to preach the gospel to many towns.

This all occurs in Luke’s gospel before the calling and training of the disciples commences. By the time they start following Jesus, this pattern of moving from village to village, preaching to crowds and teaching in the synagogues was already established by their Master. It would be a pattern they too would learn to follow as the gospel would spread around their world.

By means of gospel preaching, the good news reaches the world and fulfills the purposes of God. Jesus was committed to this practice. His disciples followed in gospel preaching. And today, it is what His church must continue to do in town to town around the world until He returns.

what to when people talk bad about you

They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them;

all who see them will wag their heads.

Psalm 64:8

In this psalm, David cried out to God because people have been plotting against him. A major part of his trouble involves people talking bad about him (see Psalm 64:3-5). This verbal attack is not just dangerous, but also has potential to hurt the nation since it is directed at God’s anointed king.

What did David do when people talked bad about him? He prayed to God about the situation, releasing his anxieties to the Lord, and asking Him to handle it. He trusts in the Lord to make the situation work out, to save him from the attacks of these conspirators. He releases dread and receives assurance in its place.

And as God so brilliantly works, the secret talkers are undone by their own strategy. Their own tongues turn against them in ironic justice. The humiliation David feared for himself falls on them. God’s justice is pure art! The end result is that God is feared by those who know what happened and is worshiped by the righteous who trusted in God to work it all out (Psalm 64:9-10).

So what should we do when people talk bad about us? We pray, giving our worry to God. Then we trust, knowing God can undo the damaging abusive speech through the attacker’s own words.

commissioned and assured

And the Lord commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you.”

Deuteronomy 31:23

Joshua is called by God to exhibit two remarkable character traits: strength and courage. In all the work of leading Israel to conquer Canaan, Joshua would need to show them both. God’s confidence in Joshua is strong: “you shall bring the people into the land.”

Exactly what is the source of such success? How could Joshua be strong and courageous? The answer is found in five one syllable words at the end of this charge that embue the command with the power of God: “I will be with you.”

Joshua was able to lead faith-filled people to do what a previous generation considered impossible in their doubts. And faith in the command and presence of God were crucial to that success. The command of God drove him as God commissioned him. The presence of God assured him as the tasks got more difficult. God’s peace is found in His presence: “I will be with you.”

And those five words are the source of encouragement from Jesus as well, Who commissioned us to take the gospel to the world, and ended His command to us with this assurance: “I am with you always.”

visited and redeemed

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

for he has visited and redeemed his people

and has raised up a horn of salvation for us

in the house of his servant David,

Luke 1:68-69

Strange that these words of hope can feel so out of place when the calendar is closer to Easter than to Christmas. This song from Zechariah, set in Luke’s gospel just before the birth story of Jesus in a song of rejoicing. It anticipates the wonderful incarnation, the delivery of the baby Who is God’s good news. God has visited His people. The plan of redemption is fully in motion, first with the birth of the prophetic forerunner of the Messiah, John the Baptist. Then we see Jesus born to save His people from their sins.

This is good news of blessing meant to stir our hearts even when the Christmas decorations have long been stored away. Praise the LORD! Let’s always be reminded that salvation has been brought to the earth with Jesus. Zechariah sang about it while that salvation still stirred in the womb of Mary. God was already visiting His people. The horn of salvation was being raised up.

And in that hope, even our darkest days can find peace. Jesus came to bring it. He is still visiting His people, redeeming people to Himself, and bringing salvation to all who believe. There is never a time when that hope is out of place once we appreciate this truth. 

hearing the prophet

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

Deuteronomy 18:18

Israel needed to hear the Word of the Lord. And although they had been given the Law in written form, they needed to regularly hear the Word of God. And for this reason, starting with Moses, God kept raising up prophets to speak His Words to the people. The prophet spoke what God put in his mouth. And the prophet was compelled to speak ALL of those words from the Lord to God’s people.

As the Old Testament unfolds the story of the redemption, we find prophets speaking for God all through the text. These prophets are used by God to lead the people (like Joshua), to confront the people (like Jeremiah), and to instruct and warn the people (like Samuel). They show us how utterly dependent we should be on the Word of God. We must be led, confronted, instructed, and warned by God’s Word.

Because God spoke through prophets, and many of those prophets recorded what God said to them in scripture, we can know the mind of God and do His will. God is not silent. His Word still speaks as we apply ourselves to what He has revealed through those to whom He has spoken. And these words stand the test of time as they clearly speak to my heart even today.