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67 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.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him!
(ESV)
Many forget God’s original intent when He chose Israel as His people.
“I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 “My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 “And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”‘”
Ezekiel 37:26-28 NASB
“And the nations will know I am the Lord…”
God’s plan from the start was to show His glory through His people so that ALL nations would marvel at His unfathomable power and undeniable mercy. This is why He allowed for Pharaoh to rise in power and persecute the Israelites. The higher Pharaoh ascended on his pedestal, the harder he would fall.
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.”
Romans 9:17 NASB
Here in Psalm 67, the psalmist echoes similar thoughts.
That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations. 3 Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You.
Psalms 67:2-3 NASB
God’s ways will be known among all nations. His Salvation will go out to all nations. And finally, all nations will praise His Name. When we look around this broken world we live in, we are tempted to withhold the message of God’s mercy from certain individuals. We judge others as unworthy of the Gospel. It’s a fact.
I just preached a message on Acts 18 where Paul brings the message to all those who met in the Jewish synagogue at Corinth. The message was rejected and so was Paul. In a dramatic scene, Paul shakes out his coat of all the dust saying, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” The Gentiles were the “all nations” described in Psalm 67.
Even though Paul knew the Jews most likely would not accept the Gospel message, he still proclaimed it in their synagogue. After their rejection, he knew it was time to move on. However, the fact remains that Paul was a non-discriminatory seed sower. It didn’t matter what the soil looked like on the outside, (muddy, dry, rocky, weed-infested, or fertile) he was always ready to throw some seed down on it!
Everyone we meet is worthy of hearing the Gospel, but not all of them will be worthy of our time. Paul knew that Jesus came to save all nations but he also knew that a bad plant will only produce bad fruit. I know many friends from my past who I never thought would come to a saving relationship with Jesus, but they did. I also know people who “played church” for many years before eventually rejecting Jesus and His sacrifice.
To find balance, we must use discernment from the Spirit and pray that God leads us to those who are ready to grow in His Word. It is a delicate issue, but for those who seek His truth, God will be faithful to using them just like He did Paul.