Every Nation and Every Tribe

Introduction

31 Days of Prayer for our Community:

This week we have the following prayer requests: - Pray for opportunities to share the Gospel - Pray for our local government leaders - Pray for our local schools and teachers - Pray for our many neighbors who are going through difficult seasons.

This Sunday is sanctity of life Sunday. And all around America Churches are remembering the importance of fighting for the right to HUMAN LIFE!

And today as we remember this, I want to challenge us as we look at Psalm 117 that the fight doesn’t stop when a baby is born.

Instead, that is just the beginning. We need to fight for human life. But even more than that fight, we need to FIGHT FOR SOULS!

Fight for human life should show us the importance of evangelism and missions…

And as we start 2025, I wanted to take 1 week to talk about Psalm 117, which is one of the most clearly evangelistic passages in all of scripture.

Main Point: For all Nations to PRAISE GOD, we have to GO TO ALL NATIONS with the message of God’s FAITHFULNESS!

Body

Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible. It is also the 595th chapter of the Bible- in the Bible there are 1,189 chapters, meaning that this is the EXACT MIDDLE OF THE BIBLE!

This short chapter does not have an author listed, an occasion listed, or any other contextual information.

It’s similar to Psalm 150 in that! These are psalms that are focused on UNIVERSAL TRUTHS that are important for us at ANY TIME!

See, some psalms, such as Psalm 3 tell us who wrote them and when they were written and it can guide us as we read them.

The truths in Psalm 3- which was written as David fled from Absalom- are truths that we can cling to at any time, but in particular when our life is crumbling and when we feel surrounded on all sides by trouble!

On the other hand, there is no context given to Psalm 117. We can approach it like this- the truths in Psalm 117 are universal truths that NEED NO CONTEXT!

And as we dive into Psalm 117, we will see just how true it is that these are UNIVERSAL TRUTHS!

Today we are going to see 2 subsections of our psalm- PRAISE THE LORD and God is Faithful. Let’s start by reading Psalm 117 before we talk about it.

Psalm 117 CSB

1 Praise the Lord, all nations! Glorify him, all peoples! 2 For his faithful love to us is great; the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever. Hallelujah!

Praise the Lord

Verse 1 could be summarized as “PRAISE THE LORD!”

We see a pair of imperative statements- or commands- to PRAISE THE LORD!

These are not optional, this isn’t a suggestion, this is a COMMAND to PRAISE GOD!

So we need to PRAISE GOD! But who needs to praise God?

ALL NATIONS NEED TO PRAISE GOD!

Not just the Israelites, not just Americans, ALL NATIONS NEED TO PRAISE GOD!

And notice that- It’s a NEED! It isn’t just a good idea, it’s a FUNDAMENTAL NEED!

Nations comes from the Hebrew word גּוֹיִ֑ם (Goy). Goy is used 557 times in the Hebrew OT. It is first used in Genesis 10 and it is used all the way through the OT with its final usage being in Malachi 3!

All throughout the OT- which spans well over 1,000 years- the word consistently is used to talk about NATIONS AND COUNTRIES!

GOY REFERS TO NATION STATES and the CITIZENS OF THESE COUNTRIES!

EVERY COUNTRY NEEDS TO PRAISE GOD!

AND IF THE PEOPLE OF EVERY COUNTRY NEED TO PRAISE GOD THEN THE PEOPLE OF EVERY COUNTRY MUST HEAR THE GOSPEL!

Today, according to the UN there are 193 countries and 2 self-governing autonomous areas that are recognized internationally.

LISTEN- GOD NEEDS TO BE PRAISED IN EACH ONE OF THESE!

AND GOD IS GOD OF ALL THESE COUNTRIES!

But not all of these countries know about God.

From 10 Degrees North of Latitude to 40 degrees north of latitude, there’s something called the “10/40 window.” Inside of this are 5.37 Billion people, but 3.31 BILLION OF THEM ARE UNREACHED! THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHO GOD IS!- There are also well over 50 NATIONS to reach in this window!

And yet ALL NATIONS ARE TO PRAISE GOD! SO WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN?

THEY NEED TO HEAR THE GOSPEL!

We’ll talk more about this in a bit, but all around the world there are countries that restrict their people from hearing the Gospel!

BUT WE CAN CLING TO THE REALITY THAT ONE DAY EVERY KNEE WILL BOW AND EVERY TONGUE WILL CONFESS JESUS AS LORD!

And until then, it’s our job to take THE GOSPEL to each of these countries in order that they would KNOW GOD AND PRAISE GOD JUST AS THIS PSALM SAYS!

But Psalm 117:1 doesn’t stop there. It keeps going.

Psalm 117:1 CSB

1 Praise the Lord, all nations! Glorify him, all peoples!

This is the second imperative command.

“GLORIFY HIM ALL PEOPLES!”

We are to PRAISE GOD AND GIVE GOD GLORY!

WHO is to do this?

ALL PEOPLES!

People from all backgrounds, from every tribe and every tongue need to PRAISE GOD AND GIVE GOD GLROY!

There are no exceptions to this.

In Hebrew, this word for ALL IS AN ABSOLUTE WORD!

Let me put it to you this way- there are NO EXCEPTIONS! EVERY PERSON, EVERY TRIBE, EVERY NATION NEEDS TO GLORIFY GOD!

No one is exempt from this! EVERYONE NEEDS TO GIVE GLORY TO GOD!

So if Goy is talking about countries, what is “all peoples” referring to.

The word here is הָאֻמִּֽים (Ummas). This word is used 7 times in the OT and refers to PEOPLE, OR TRIBES!

To say this another way- EVERY INDIVIDUAL PERSON, EVERY TRIBE, EVERYONE NEEDS TO PRAISE GOD!

A helpful way to visualize the scale of this is with languages.

According to Glottolog 5 which is a German research bibliography of spoken languages today- not including sign languages or pidgins, or creoles- there are 7,788 UNIQUE LANGUAGE GROUPS IN THE WORLD!

Cornerstone Family, when we talk about ALL PEOPLES PRAISING GOD, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE FROM ALL OF THESE 7,788 LANGUAGES PRAISING GOD!

WE ARE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE FROM ALL BACKGROUNDS, FROM EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD PRAISING GOD AND GIVING GOD GLORY!

THINK ABOUT WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY THAT WILL BE!

But it takes something- see, Psalm 117 is not just calling us to PRAISE, it’s calling us to PROCLAIM GOD AS WE PRAISE!

And for EVERY NATION AND ALL PEOPLES TO PRAISE GOD, WE HAVE TO GO!

WE HAVE TO GO AND HELP CONNECT PEOPLE WITH JESUS!

This is really a GREAT COMMISSION PSALM! IT’S A PSALM THAT CALLS ON US TO MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIOS!

IT IS CALLING ON US TO MAKE DISCIPLES- OR CHRIST FOLLOWERS- OF PEOPLE FORM ALL BACKGROUNDS!

And now that we’ve been challenged that ALL NATIONS AND ALL PEOPLE NEED TO OBEY GOD AND NEED TO FOLLOW GOD, WE NOW ARE GIVEN A REASON TO PRAISE GOD!

To say it another way- Psalm 117:1 tells us WHAT WE ARE TO DO- PRAISE GOD and take the GOSPEL TO THE NATIONS- AND Psalm 117:2 tells us A REASON WHY WE PRAISE GOD- and WHAT WE SHOULD TELL THE NATIONS!

God is Faithful

We could summarize Psalm 117:2 in 3 words- God is faithful.

Psalm 117:2 CSB

2 For his faithful love to us is great; the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever. Hallelujah!

So what do we declare to the world? What do we give praise for? GOD’S FAITHFUL LOVE!

I mentioned last week that there’s INFINITE REASONS TO PRAISE GOD!

Last week we saw the author of Psalm 150 talking about praising God because of GOD’S POWERFUL ACTS AND GOD’S GREATNESS!

Today, we are challenged to praise God because of God’s FAITHFULNESS!

We see God’s faithfulness in two ways- God’s LOVE IS FAITHFUL AND GOD IS FAITHFUL FOREVER!

Let’s talk about how God’s LOVE IS FAITHFUL!

God’s love is faithful and is seen in scripture in many different places. Lamentations is a great example of it. Lamentations is a LAMENT after Jerusalem has been destroyed.

And in Lamentations 3 we read Lamentations 3:22-23

Lamentations 3:22–23 CSB

22 Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!

See, even in destruction, GOD STILL LOVED HIS PEOPLE!

GOD LOVED ISRAEL AND SHOWED THIS BY NOT LETTING THEM PERISH!

Instead of letting them perish, God GAVE MERCY AND PROVISION!

On a larger scale, we see God’s faithful love through the BEST NEWS OF ALL TIME- THE GOSPEL!

We see God’s LOVE when Jesus came to earth.

We see God’s LOVE when Jesus lived a PERFECT LIFE!

We see God’s LOVE as Jesus preached REDEMPTION AND HOW TO BE SAVED!

We see God’s LOVE as Jesus went to the CROSS for us!

We see God’s LOVE as JESUS STAYED ON THE CROSS AND DIED FOR US!

(Even as the criminals mocked and as people jeered Jesus and told Him to save Himself, JESUS STAYED ON THE CROSS FOR US!)

We see God’s LOVE when JESUS ROSE ON THE THIRD DAY SEALING OUR SALVATION!

And it doesn’t end there!

See, we see God’s love every time we gather with OTHER BELIEVES!

We see GOD’S LOVE EVERY TIME THAT WE ARE WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS WHO HELP US TO FOLLOW GOD MORE CLOSELY!

WE SEE GOD’S LOVE AS WE ARE GATHERED HERE TODAY! WE SEE GOD’S LOVE BECAUSE WE ARE A FAMILY!

We see GOD’S LOVE because even the FAMILY-less, or the father-less, or mother-less, or the widow, or the one who is hurting ALL HAVE A HOME HERE!

FAMILY, THAT IS GOD’S FAITHFUL LOVE!

And God’s FAITHFUL DESIGN FOR THIS NEVER FAILS! We fail to love people as we should and we fail to FOLLOW THROUGH, but GOD’S DESIGN SHOWS US HIS FAITHFUL LOVE!

The second part of that is that GOD IS FAITHFUL FOREVER!

This is really simple and important- GOD WILL NEVER CHANGE AND WE NEVER NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THAT!

And this is something that is MADE CLEAR IN SCRIPTURE!

Here’s 5 examples- Psalm 102:27, Isaiah 40:8, Malachi 3:6, and Psalm 119:89, Hebrews 13:8.

Psalm 102:27 CSB

27 But you are the same, and your years will never end.

Isaiah 40:8 CSB

8 The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever.”

Malachi 3:6 CSB

6 “Because I, the Lord, have not changed, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.

Psalm 119:89 CSB

89 Lord, your word is forever; it is firmly fixed in heaven.

Hebrews 13:8 CSB

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Look at these! GOD NEVER CHANGES! I love how Hebrews 13 says this- JESUS IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER!

Friends, what an example of GOD’S FAITHFULNESS! GOD NEVER CHANGES!

WHAT GOD SAYS WILL HAPPEN AND WHO GOD SAYS HE IS, IS WHO HE IS! THAT WILL NEVER CHANGE EITHER!

And listen- if God never changes- and we just established that GOD DOES NOT CHANGE- then God’s WORD DOES NOT CHANGE!

That means that the promises God makes apply today and also that the INSTRUCTION IN GOD’S WORD STILL MATTERS TODAY!

After seeing this reminder of God’s FAITHFUL LOVE AND GOD’S GENERAL FAITHFULNESS, we turn our eyes to the last word of this psalm.

“Hallelujah!”

Remember, this is a compound word meaning “SHOUT FOR JOY TO THE LORD!”

To put this in context- EVERY PERSON, EVERY NATION, EVERY TRIBE, EVERYONE NEEDS TO SHOUT PRAISE TO THE LORD!

But I’d argue that it doesn’t stop there. See, Hallelujah is an OUTWARD SHOWING OF OUR INWARD REALITY!

See, as we live out Hallelujah- as our LIVES SHOUT PRAISE TO GOD- we take the message of God’s FAITHFUL LOVE AND GOD’S FAITHFULNESS TO THE WORLD AROUND US!

And that leads us directly into our first application today.

Today, our first application is “GOD’S FAITHFUL LOVE IS THE MESSAGE OUR WORLD NEEDS!”

Application

God’s Faithful Love is The Message Our World Needs

Psalm 117 really brings God’s FAITHFULNESS into the center of our minds and more specifically it brings GOD’S FAITHFUL LOVE to the forefront.

And I’m here to tell you today that our world needs to hear about God’s faithful love!

There’s a lot of really hard things in the world. There are natural disasters like in LA, there are people every day losing loved ones, there’s a suicide crisis in Gen-Z where roughly 1 in every 5 Gen-Z people thinks their life would be better off if they were dead.

There’s crisis after crisis after crisis. And somehow it feels like it goes from bad to worse to worst.

In the midst of everything going on, it can be easy to become discouraged. And we see that reflected. As I mentioned, suicide rates have skyrocketed in Gen-Z, depression rates have jumped in general and so have anxiety rates. Friends, we have a situation on our hands.

And I’m here this morning to both tell you the SITUATION and the SOLUTION!

The situation is simple- it feels like there is no hope in the world. The world feels hopeless. Families crumble and fail, friend groups crumble and fail, and when these different things happen, we are left alone. And it is HARD to be alone! It’s led our world into a place where people feel hopeless, unloved and like everything is out of control.

But here’s the solution!

It’s really simple- the solution is that we need to tell our world about GOD’S FAITHFUL LOVE!

Listen- in a time where everything can change by the minute, in a time where everything seems chaotic and out of control, we need the TRUTH that we are never alone and that we are LOVED!

See, God’s FAITHFUL LOVE WAS REAL WHEN PSALM 117 was written and it IS REAL AND TRUE AND TRUSTWORTHY TODAY! God’s faithful love is available when everything is great and God’s faithful love is available when we hit the depths of depression. God’s faithful love is there for the person who loves life and for the person who wishes genuinely that they were dead.

GOD’S FAITHFUL LOVE IS THE SOLUTION THAT OUR WORLD NEEDS!

BECAUSE GOD’S FAITHFUL LOVE GIVES US A NEW IDENTITY, A NEW RELATIONSHIP, AND A NEW FAMILY!

New Identity:

2 Corinthians 5:17 CSB

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

New Relationship:

WE ARE SAVED! WE HAVE UNITY WITH OUR CREATOR!

New Family:

We now have the church!

Let me put it this way- God’s FAITHFUL LOVE IS THE BEST NEWS THAT WE COULD EVER HAVE BECAUSE GOD’S FAITHFUL LOVE EFFECTS US TODAY!

Today, let me give you three practical ways to experience God’s FAITHFUL LOVE!

First- Get involved! (Community groups, volunteering, GET INVOLVED!)

Second- TAKE THIS MESSAGE TO SOMEONE ELSE! (Do you want to love someone? THEN TELL THEM ABOUT WHAT JESUS HAS DONE FOR THEM!)

Third- REPENT AND BELIEVE- (GOSPEL! EMPHASIZE GOD’S LOVE IN IT!)

Praise the Lord with Me

Secondly, we cannot read Psalm 117 and miss that twice we are commanded to give PRAISE TO GOD!

We simply MUST PRAISE GOD!

So let me invite you today to PRAISE THE LORD WITH ME!

And I want to do this in three specific, practical ways:

First- Praise the LORD THIS MORNING!

Sing unencumbered, focus on God not man; PRAISE GOD TODAY!

Second- Praise the LORD WITH ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING!

Like Psalm 150, or Colossians 3:23, or 1 Corinthians 10:31! PRAISE GOD WITH ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING!

IN EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO, DO IT FOR GOD’S GLORY, NOT YOUR OWN GLORY!

Third- INVITE PEOPLE TO PRAISE WITH YOU!

Invite people to join you next Sunday! Invite people to be in God’s Word with you! INVITE PEOPLE TO WORSHIP GOD WITH YOU!

REGARDLESS OF BACKGROUND!

Consider the words of this psalm! EVERY NATION AND ALL PEOPLES NEED TO PRAISE GOD!

Everyone needs to praise God! So practically- INVITE THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU TO PRAISE GOD WITH YOU!

The Gospel Must Go to the World

We have to go!

It’s really that simple!

WE HAVE TO GO!

And we have to take the GOSPEL TO THE NATIONS!

Right now- this morning- I have three practical things for us.

Third- Our local unreached people- Campus- vision casting

Practical:

THREE ways to go:

First, GO TO YOUR NEIGHBOR!

This is like our who’s your one campaign! But then it goes to that next step- pray for them and then START THAT CONVERSATION!

And listen, I know how hard it can be. I have days I’m better at this then others, but can I challenge you with something I’ve learned?

The more you pray about it, the more comfortable you will be GOING AND DOING!

So let me challenge you with this- every night, what if you prayed for your non-believing neighbors before you ate dinner? And what if you prayed for them in the morning when you woke up?

Pray for needs they have, pray for opportunities, pray for receptivity to the Gospel!

And then, when you see a need, when you see an opportunity, take it! Love them and show them God’s faithful love!

Show it to them through your actions and your words!

And on a broader scale- living in Champaign, this means GOING TO COLLEGE STUDENTS ALSO!

Depending on the metric you use, UIUC is an UNREACHED OR AN UNSUSTAINABLE (<2% or <10% saved!)

WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO GO TO THE UNREACHED RIGHT HERE IN TOWN!

CAUSAL. RELATIONAL. STARVING (OVER HALF OF GEN-Z WANTS TO TALK ABOUT THE GOSPEL- even NON-BELIEVERS! THERE’S HUNGER! And if you are looking for revival, let me tell you- it’s going on! It isn’t in a tent, or in a stadium, but GOD IS ON THE MOVE AND WE NEED TO BE GOING WTIH GOD!)

Second, GIVE TO MISSIONS! (100 for 100)

We are so blessed to have missionaries around the world that we work with and that we support. And we support them primarily through the Cooperative Program.

The Cooperative Program was started in 1925 by the Southern Baptist Convention to fund missions amongst a few other things- SUCH AS DISASTER RELIEF.

Today, the IMB has almost 3600 missionaries on the field worldwide and is working to reverse how unreached people groups are overlooked. (Less than 1% of all missions funding historically goes to reaching the UNREACHED PEOPLES AROUND THE WORLD!)

And we get to be a part of this. we support the Cooperative Program in our budget, but this year we are also opening it up with something called 100 for 100. (Explain)

Also, with the ongoing fires and recovery from the hurricanes, you can give and designate it to SEND RELIEF and it will go to disaster relief. But understand- SEND RELIEF and any relief from SBC entities doesn’t just provide physical care; it also provides spiritual care.

If you’d like to even GO AND REACH THE PEOPLE EFFECTED BY THESE HARDSHIPS COME AND TALK TO ME AFTER SERVICE!

THIRD, PRAY!

I mentioned that we need to PRAY FOR OUR NEIGHBORS, but let’s not stop there.

Instead, I want to challenge us as a church to adopt the CZECH REPUBLIC AND TO PRAY DAILY FOR GOD’S WORK IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC!

It can be easy to wonder- “What can we do to spread the Gospel around the world?”

But the simplest answer is that we can pray and that is what we MUST DO! WE MUST PRAY!

And the Czech republic where the Garner’s are has a very low Evangelical Christian population- only about .76% of the population, or 84,000 people out of the 10,396,000 are saved!

Do you remember what I said about unreached and unsustainable people groups?

We consider a place to be “Unreached” if less than 2% of the population is saved and to be “unsustainable” if less than 10% is saved. GUYS, THAT’S THE CZECH REPUBLIC! That’s where our family of missionaries is at!

Friends, almost 69% of the Czech Republic openly affirms that they are atheists. THEY NEED JESUS! So we need to pray!

And to help in that, I asked the Garner’s for some prayer cards. PLEASE TAKE ONE FROM THE LOBBY!

Why do we do this?

WE DO ALL OF THIS AND WE EMPHASIZE ALL OF THIS BECAUSE OF SCRIPTURE LIKE MATTHEW 28:18-20 and Psalm 117!

Psalm 117 CSB

1 Praise the Lord, all nations! Glorify him, all peoples! 2 For his faithful love to us is great; the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever. Hallelujah!

WE HAVE TO GO! THE WORLD HAS TO HEAR ABOUT GOD AND GOD’S FAITHFUL LOVE!

Pray with me (Missions and evangelism prayer)