The Ultimate Disconnect1

Israel in Exile

We see something similar in Daniel 3 with the well-known story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Why would God let three Hebrew boys who were standing up to worship him be thrown into a fiery furnace? We will miss the point unless we read the entire story. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego spend some time in a fiery furnace and then come out on the other side without a drop of sweat on their brow, King Nebuchadnezzar, the pagan king of Babylon, praised God, saying, “For there is no other god who is able to deliver like this” (Dan 3:29). Likewise, when God delivered Daniel from the lions’ den, King Darius, another pagan king, decreed that everyone in his kingdom “must tremble in fear before the God of Daniel” (Dan 6:26). He continued,

For he is the living God, and he endures forever; his kingdom will never be destroyed, and his dominion has no end. He rescues and delivers; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth, for he has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions. (Dan 6:26-27)

Once again, God’s extravagant blessing was for his extravagant glory.

The Prophets

In Isaiah 43 God says some of the most beautiful words to his people in the whole Old Testament:

Now this is what the Lord says—the one who created you, Jacob, and the one who formed you, Israel—“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine. I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flame will not burn you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, and your Savior. I have given Egypt as a ransom for you, Cush and Seba in your place. Because you are precious in my sight and honored, and I love you, I will give people in exchange for you and nations instead of your life. Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back!’ Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the ends of the earth.” (Isa 43:1-6)

God speaks of blessing upon blessing for his people, but then in the next verse he says his people are “created for my glory” (Isa 43:7). In other words, he created his people for his glory, and he loves them for his glory.

When God gave his new covenant promise through the prophet Ezekiel, he told the prophet why he was going to act on behalf of his people:

Therefore, say to the house of Israel, “This is what the Lord God says: It is not for your sake that I will act, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you profaned among the nations where you went. I will honor the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am the Lord—this is the declaration of the Lord God—when I demonstrate my holiness through you in their sight.” (Ezek 36:22-23)

God was acting for the sake of his name among the nations.

The Gospels and Acts

God’s global purposes don’t change in the New Testament. When we get to the end of the Gospel accounts, Jesus says to his disciples, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19). Similarly, Luke’s Gospel teaches us that Jesus died and rose again so that repentance and forgiveness of sins “would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations” (Luke 24:47). Luke picks up that same story in Acts 1, as Jesus promises his disciples that they would “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you” (Acts 1:8). Why? Because “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). This worldwide gospel witness is what we see happening in the rest of the New Testament.

The Letters of the New Testament

Paul tells the church in Galatia that God revealed Jesus to him “so that I could preach him among the Gentiles” (Gal 1:16). To the church at Rome, he says, “My aim is to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named” (Rom 15:20). There were peoples who were not praising God, and Paul was called to go to them. This is still the mission of the church today. Finally, in Revelation 7 we see how God’s original promise to bless the nations through Abraham comes to fruition:

After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! (Rev 7:9-10)

This is the all-consuming, final, ultimate, glorious, global purpose of God. God blesses people for the sake of his praise among all peoples.

One Danger

Having identified God’s desire to see all peoples praise him, there’s a danger of which we all need to be aware: We are prone to disconnect God’s blessing in our lives from God’s purpose for our lives.

Our hearts resonate with the idea of grace, and for good reason. However, it is oftentimes a grace centered around us. So while grace is worthy of our attention, if disconnected from its purpose, the sad result is a self-centered Christianity that misses the purpose of God.

If you ask the average Christian in our culture, “What is the message of Christianity?,” you will likely hear something along the lines of, “God loves me.” But that’s not Christianity. It’s true, of course, but it’s incomplete. In this me-centered version of Christianity, we become the focus. We make plans for our lives and careers based on what’s best for us. We choose a house to live in, a car to drive, clothes to wear, even a way of living, based on what we want. However, the message of Christianity is “God loves me so that . . .” God is the end goal. So, does this mean God has an ulterior motive in blessing us? Yes!

To some people it sounds arrogant for God to claim that he is the center of the universe and to say that everything revolves around him. And it would be arrogant for any one of us to say that. But remember: you and I are not God! God lives to exalt himself. If that rubs you wrong, then ask yourself, “Who else should he exalt?”

This does not mean God doesn’t love us deeply—he does! God possesses unusual, extreme, and intimate passion for his people. This is the beauty of the gospel! God glorifies himself by making his salvation known to us. He glorifies himself by saving you and me through the sacrifice of his Son on a cross. He glorifies himself by showering us with his grace, and that grace has a goal, namely, his glory.

What made Psalm 67 such a life-altering text in my life is that, for the first time, I realized that the blessing of God does not center on me. Instead, the blessing of God is intended to spread through me. God has given me the gospel for a reason, and that reason is so that all peoples might know the gospel. God has given me material blessings in this world for a purpose, and that purpose is not so that I can be more comfortable or have more luxuries or so that I can coast out my Christian life until I get to heaven. No, that’s not biblical Christianity. God has given me wealth in this world for the spread of his worship in this world. All of his blessings ultimately center on him, not on me.

Out of more than eleven hundred people groups in the world, more than six thousand of these ethnic groups have never even heard of the saving power of God. That’s over two billion people. It’s not that they have heard the good news of God’s grace in Christ and rejected it; it’s that they have not even heard it. And the primary reason, it seems, that they haven’t heard the gospel is because we who have the gospel have disconnected God’s grace from God’s purpose. We are sitting back with the gospel in the confines of comfortable churches where we’re content to spend the majority of the time and money God has graciously given us on ourselves, never realizing that God gave it to us for a greater purpose.

Could it be that God might lead many, if not most, of us who live in a land of gospel saturation to go to the peoples of the earth for the praise of his name? That seems so far-fetched to us that we wouldn’t even consider it, that is, until we realize that it’s the purpose of our salvation. Psalm 67 helps us see that purpose, and in so doing it transforms our lives. Below we’ll look at three realizations that spring from this psalm.

Three Realizations

Realize Who God Is

Psalm 67 helps us realize who God is by revealing to us various aspects of his character. That he is the gracious Savior means we have good news to tell the nations! We don’t go to the peoples of the world with a message of condemnation; we go with a message of celebration. God loves you! He is gracious! He is merciful! He has sent his Son to save you from your sin! We say to peoples living in spiritual darkness, “The light of God shines on you! (See Matt 4:16.) Turn from yourselves, trust in him, and be saved forever!”

While God is gracious and loving, we must also see that he is the righteous Judge (v. 4). This is sobering news for all who don’t trust in Christ, but it’s news we must make known. Put yourself in the shoes of those who have never heard: if God is indeed the Judge of all people everywhere, and if we stand condemned before him, then wouldn’t we want somebody to come and tell us how we can be pardoned? Wouldn’t we want somebody to leave behind their comforts and take the risk of moving their family to where we are in order to learn our language so they could share this gospel with us? We would want everybody involved in this effort, not just a select few.

A third attribute of God is also found in verse 4: he is the sovereign King. God is the King over all the nations on earth. This is why the church should fast and pray fervently, give sacrificially, and go willingly: because Jesus is King of the nations! He doesn’t deserve the praise of only some people groups; he deserves the praise of all people groups. “Let the peoples praise you, God; let all the peoples praise you!” (v. 3; emphasis added). The question is, Do we believe this? Do we believe this enough to give our lives to this?

Realize Why God Blesses

Psalm 67 helps us realize not only who God is but also why God blesses: for the sake of his praise among all peoples. More specifically, he aims to be known among all peoples (v. 2). In order for the peoples to praise God, they obviously must know God. And when they know him for who he is, they will praise him for what he is worth.

Intellectual knowledge is not all that he is after. He aims to be enjoyed by all peoples (v. 4). God has used John Piper to open my eyes to the beauty of this psalm and this truth in particular. His book Let the Nations Be Glad is one of the most influential books I have ever read outside of the Bible. Piper says, “The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God” (Let the Nations Be Glad, 11). It’s not only Psalm 67 that is expressing this truth. Consider a few more examples: “The humble will see it and rejoice. You who seek God, take heart!” (69:32). “Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; let those who love your salvation continually say, ‘God is great!’” (70:4). “The Lord reigns! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coasts and islands be glad” (97:1).

You may also be tempted to think God is using you, as if you are merely a pawn in his desire to bless others. You may wonder if he really loves you. In response, God is using you for his purpose, but his purpose for you is good. In fact, his purpose for you is evidence of his love for you. We tend to get this backward, thinking that if God loves us, then he must focus solely on us. However, what if God’s love for us is most fully realized in sharing it with others? And what if our joy in God will increase, not when we hoard God’s blessings for ourselves but when we spread God’s blessings among others? I know few greater joys than leading people to joy in Jesus. Greater than all the comforts of this world is the satisfaction of seeing more and more men and women glad in God. That is a purpose worth living for!

God has designed our hearts to be glad in giving, not in hoarding. Yet, in our culture, we find ourselves swimming in an ocean of deceit. We’re surrounded by the lie that says getting will make you happy. It’s not true. God loves you, and in his love he tells you to give your life away so that you and others might be glad in him.

Also, he aims to be feared by all peoples (v. 7). Piper writes, “God is jealous to be known and praised and enjoyed and feared. He is displeased when people are ignorant of him or disrespectful to him or bored around him or unduly casual in his presence” (“Let the Nations Be Glad”). The God we make known in the gospel is not to be trifled with. He is holy, just, and all-powerful.

Realize What This Means

You may be wondering what Psalm 67 means for your life. It is not just for information. This psalm means this prayer must be constant on our lips. The desire for God to be known among all peoples should fuel prayer in our lives and our families and our churches.

Further, this purpose must captivate our lives. The time is short, and the need is urgent. We do not have time to sit back and soak in a message of grace that centers on us. God has given us much, including his gospel and many other temporal blessings, for the purpose of making his glory known among all peoples. Therefore, let us connect God’s blessing in our lives with God’s purpose for our lives. For when God’s purpose captivates our lives, then the blessing of God will follow in our lives. God wants to be praised, known, enjoyed, and feared among the nations, and he will bless those who are aligned with what he wants. This is why Jesus gives us not only a Great Commission but also a promise to go with us and provide us everything we need to accomplish it (Matt 28:18-20).

Do we want to experience the fullness of everything God offers? Then let’s give ourselves to the purpose God has ordained! Let’s pray and give and go, and as we do, let’s expect the blessing of God to follow the purpose of God. Again Piper notes,

If God blesses his people for the sake of the nations; then God is most likely to bless us when we are planning and longing and praying to bless the nations. If God wants his goods to get to the nations, then he will fill the truck that’s driving toward the nations. He will bless the church that’s pouring itself out for unreached peoples of the world. And this blessing is not payment for a service rendered; it’s power and joy for a mission to accomplish. When we move toward the unreached peoples, we are not earning God’s blessings, we are leaping into the river of blessings that is already flowing to the nations. (“Let the Nations Be Glad”)

The river of God’s blessing is flowing to the nations, so let’s jump in and enjoy!

God’s global purpose for his praise among the peoples can’t be a sideshow in the church; it’s what fuels the central mission of the church. We have all been commissioned and blessed so that we would give our lives for the spread of God’s praise among the peoples of the world. This is what it means to be the church.

Finally, while Psalm 67 is a prayer and a purpose, it’s also a promise (vv. 6-7). God will bless us, and he will bring all the ends of the earth to fear him. This promise must compel risk-taking, life-giving, death-defying confidence in our Lord. In fact, this is happening already among our brothers and sisters around world. There is more to this life than having a nice job, a decent family, a comfortable life, and then tacking on church attendance. We have been created, saved, and blessed by God for the praise of God among the peoples of the world.

One day Christ, the sovereign King and righteous Judge and gracious Savior, will return, and God’s face will shine on us in a much greater way. Revelation 22:4 says, “They will see his face.” Let’s live and die for that day.

Reflect and Discuss