God of all the earth

It’s so easy to become self-focused, seeking God’s blessing just for ourselves and our loved ones. God always has bigger ambitions for us—to make us his means of blessing a broken world.

¹ May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine upon us
² so that everyone on earth will see his ways
all nations will grasp
what he’s doing to set the world right.

³ Let all the peoples praise you, God!
Let every people on earth join in praising you!
⁴ The nations will rejoice and sing for joy
because you rule the peoples with justice
you guide the nations on earth.   Selah
⁵ Let all the peoples praise you, God!
Let every people on earth join in praising you!

⁶ Then the earth will yield its harvest
and God, our God, will bless us.
⁷ May God bless us
and everyone on earth revere him.

David begins praying for God’s blessing on his people so that everyone on earth will know and revere God. God’s heart has always been to restore the world to joy and gladness under his just and loving rule. He chose Abraham and Sarah to bless all humankind through them. That’s David’s central point: far from being a tribal god, Israel’s God cares for all nations and will yet justly rule over and guide them all.[1]

God acted powerfully on behalf of the Israelites so his face-to-face relationship with them might showcase to the whole world who he is and the joy we know in submitting to him. Rightly related to him, we can trust him for provision too. Ordered by his justice and equity, his rich bounty makes peace viable on earth, prompting universal joy and thanksgiving.

As God smiles on his people and pours out his saving grace on them, everyone sees what he’s doing to redeem the world and is invited to seek him. Since we reveal his goodness only by experiencing his blessing, the more we receive, the more compelling our invitation. Thus, we should freely ask for his blessing, mindful that he knows best what to count as blessing and that knowing him is the best blessing of all.

Prayer:

Help me not to so focus on my own needs, God, that I forget your longing that everyone on earth experience the saving grace of knowing you. Smile on me, Lord, so your goodness, truth and wisdom might be received by those around me and our gratitude overflow in joyful praise. Amen.

Pray this prayer in your free moments today:

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine upon us
so that everyone on earth will see…
what he’s doing to set the world right.

[1] The psalm’s chiasm highlights YHWH’s ruling humankind with justice: A: Prayer for God to bless his people (v. 1), B: Earth will be enlightened (v. 2), C: Prayer for God to be honored universally (v. 3), D: The nations will be overjoyed (v. 4a), E: GOD WILL RULE HUMANKIND WITH JUSTICE (4b), D: The nations will be governed well (v. 4c), C: Prayer for God to be honored universally (v. 5), B: The earth will flourish (v. 6), A: God will grant universal blessing (v. 7).

Kneel

Bringing our requests to God is a key part of prayer. But prayer is far more than just a means of getting what we need from him. Prayer is a vital to his transforming us into the people he wants us to be.

¹ Shout joyfully to God
all the earth!
² Sing praise to his glorious name—
give him all the honor he deserves.
³ Say to God:
“How awe-inspiring are the things you’ve done!
So overwhelming is your power
that all your foes fall to their knees.
⁴ All the earth bows before you
and sings your praises—
sings praise to your name!”  Selah

⁵ Come and see what God has done—
his awesome deeds on behalf of humankind.
⁶ He turned the sea into dry land
they passed through the river on foot.
There we rejoiced in him
⁷ who rules by his power forever
and keeps a watchful eye on the nations.
Let no rebels exalt themselves in defiance!

⁸ Bless our God, you peoples
let everyone hear his praise—
⁹ the God who has kept us alive
and kept our feet from stumbling.
¹⁰ You tested us, God
refined us like silver refined by fire.
¹¹ You led us into a trap
and loaded chains around our waists.
¹² You let men ride over our heads.
We went through fire and water—
then you led us out
to place of rich abundance.

¹³ I’ll bring burnt offerings to your house
fulfilling my vows to you
¹⁴ vows my lips uttered
and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble.
¹⁵ I’ll offer you choice burnt offerings
and the sacrificial aroma of rams.
I’ll offer bulls and goats.
 
¹⁶ Come and listen
all you who revere God
and I’ll tell you what he’s done for me.
¹⁷ I cried out to him
praising him as I did.
¹⁸ If I had harbored sin in my heart
the Lord wouldn’t have heard me.
¹⁹ But God did hear and answer my prayer.
²⁰ May God be praised!
He didn’t refuse my prayer
or withdraw his unfailing love from me.

Baal worship was all about getting him to give you what you wanted—whether a bumper crop, a son to carry on the farm, or victory in battle. Believing Baal put on the biggest show in town, you did whatever he demanded for him to fill your order—theoretically speaking. Many Israelites approached God in a transactional manner too, but Israel’s God wanted more of them. He wanted them to pursue holiness, the kind of moral likeness to him that made union with him possible.

The psalmist here weaves together the community’s experience with her own personal experience of God, the two being closely intertwined. In Israel’s exodus and conquest, God revealed himself to the world as both earth’s all-powerful sovereign, the judge of oppressors, and Israel’s gracious redeemer. While he refines his people through hardship, he gives himself in love to them too. And those truths are meant for everyone on earth since God had always intended to bless the entire world through Israel. So the psalmist calls everyone everywhere to worship in response.

God wasn’t just good for the nation, though. The same God who rescued Israel heard the individual believer’s prayers too. But biblical worship was never about getting God to dance to our tune. It’s always been about being in an interactive partnership with him. Sometimes he takes us through fire and water to teach us vital truths, makes us endure trials before releasing us to a place of lush abundance. His bigger goal is always to purify and make us more like him. And his gracious dealings always evoke thanksgiving for his meeting us in our need and joyful praise for his unfailing love.

Prayer:

How could I possibly deserve your unfailing friendship, God? I’m amazed that you care for me and teach me what I need to know, great God that you are. How can I do less in return than kneel before you, freely pouring out my love in thanks and praise? Amen.

In your free moments today, meditate on these words:

You let men ride over our heads.
We went through fire and water—
then you led us out
to place of rich abundance.

Life in God’s kingdom

How tempting it is to seek total control to ensure that we get our desired outcome, no matter what. But as perfect as that may seem, the psalmist knows it’s a false hope, compared to trusting in God.

A David psalm.

¹ To you our praise belongs
O God, in Zion.
To you our vows are fulfilled
² you hearer of prayer.
To you
all humankind comes with their sins.
³ When our sins overwhelm us
you atone for them.
⁴ How blessed the one you choose to bring near
and invite to live in your royal courts!
We’re overwhelmed by your goodness
at home in your holy temple!

⁵ With awesome acts you faithfully answer us
O God our Savior
becoming the hope of everyone everywhere
even those from distant lands overseas.
⁶ Clothed with the power
that holds the mountains in place
⁷ you still the sea’s wild roar
the crashing of its waves
and just as easily, the uproar of nations.
⁸ Earth’s remotest peoples
stand in awe of your wonders.
The eastern and western skies sing for joy
at dawn and at dusk.

⁹ You care for the earth and water it
making it extremely fertile.
Cascading down to earth
your inexhaustible rain-rivers
nurture the earth’s crops
as you ordained.
¹⁰ Your downpours fill the fields’ furrows
and round down their ridges
softening the earth with showers
and blessing its young sprouts.
¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty
leaving a trail of abundance
everywhere you go.
¹² The desert dons a rich green vest
and the hills dress up in their party best.
¹³ The meadows are clothed with flocks
and the valleys garbed in golden grain.
They all sing and shout together for joy.

Life has always been a precarious business, and never more so than for farmers in a semi-arid land like ancient Israel. Though David doesn’t mention Baal, he has him in mind here since Baal worship’s appeal derived largely from the promise that Baal would make his worshippers flourish agriculturally, sexually, and militarily. That is, the Canaanites worshipped Baal to gain control of all the forces beyond their control, but their worship was always driven by fear of not having enough and not being enough.

We should easily understand this, as food security, sexual fulfillment, and military dominance are no less concerns to us today. And while we’ve replaced Baal worship with scientism and technology, we’re no less convinced than the ancient Canaanites that we should seek ways to gain total control of our lives. Yet ironically, from polluting the earth and destroying our families to tearing our civic life apart and destabilizing international relations, the more bent we are on securing the future, the less secure we truly are.

The alternative to trusting ourselves maniacally is trusting God confidently, which is David’s concern here. Trusting God with absolutely everything. As we seek his forgiveness, he atones for our sins and welcomes us to live in constant communion with him. Starting with the intimate relationship God offers his people in Zion, David goes on to focus on God’s absolute sovereignty over his creation, which issues in earth’s lavish provision for his people. Thus, David holds out the promise that, rightly related to God, we can trust him to supply all our needs so abundantly that we truly flourish in his courts. That’s ample cause for us to join creation in joyfully celebrating the riotous goodness of God, as depicted so beautifully here.

Prayer:

How amazing that, broken as I am, Lord, you’ve blotted out my sins, seated me at your table, and hear my every cry! Help me to trust you implicitly and pray as your Spirit leads, my requests curbed only by your limitless generosity, wisdom and might, as I raise my joyful songs of praise. Amen.

In your spare moments today, pray this prayer:

How blessed the one you choose to bring near
and invite to live in your royal courts!
We’re overwhelmed by your goodness
at home in your holy temple!

The best defense

To think of prayer as any sort of protection against an evildoer’s treacherous tongue may seem the height of folly. Yet as David knows, the best defense is a divine offense in answer to prayer.

To the worship leader. A David psalm.

¹ O God, hear my anguished cry!
Protect my life from the enemy’s terror.
² Hide me from the band of evildoers
this mob of malcontents.
³ They sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim their bitter words like arrows.

⁴ They shoot from ambush at the innocent—
shoot suddenly, with no fear.
⁵ They hold firm to their evil intent.
They talk about secretly setting traps
saying, “Who will see them?”
⁶ Plotting their evil scheme, they gloat:
“We’ve devised the perfect crime!
What a person thinks deep in their heart
is inscrutable!”

⁷ But God will let fly his arrow
and they’ll be wounded suddenly.
⁸ Their own tongues will trip them up
so disastrously that onlookers will flee in terror.
⁹ Everyone will stand in awe
talking about God’s judgment.
Taking it seriously.
¹⁰ God-seekers will rejoice in YHWH
and take refuge in him.
And all who long to please him
will praise him.

Words can give life or take it away. David is threatened by deadly words, with evildoers conspiring against him. Whether threats, slander, curses, or lies, the words are spoken without warning, from hiding, and are thought to be part of the perfect plot. In their arrogance, David’s enemies are confident no one will ever realize how they’ve set him up or trace their crime back to them.

Feeling terribly vulnerable, David cries out for God to hear and hide him from his enemies, who make one critical mistake: they leave God out of their calculations. God’s arrows are dead accurate. He ensures, as Rolf A. Jacobson puts it, that evil writes its own obituary, by humorously using the very tongues they felt so confident in to trip them up and take them down.

Thus, the evildoers who so carefully did everything in secret are made a public spectacle that causes everyone to flee in horror. The crowning irony is that the very people who considered themselves beyond detection and, hence, untouchable, become a public advertisement for God’s power, as their defeat leaves people discussing his justice. God’s judgment of their evil delights his people, strengthens their resolve to trust him more, and leads them to worship him.

Prayer:

Lord, how easy it would be if I could instantly silence anyone speaking against me, but how much better if you make my enemies’ evil words their own undoing. Help me to trust that you’ll see justice done, your name honored, my faith built up, and my joy overflowing in worship. Amen.

In your free moments today, meditate on this truth:

God-seekers will rejoice in YHWH
and take refuge in him.
And all who long to please him
will praise him.