P T L !

Psalm 117:1 CSB

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

INTRO—

“PTL!”— ((Sorry for anyone who has flashbacks to Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker when you here/see that.))

The record for the shortest Presidential Inaugural Address goes to…George Washington—his 2nd inaugural address came in at 135 words. The record for the longest goes to…William Henry Harrison—his first inaugural address came in at 8,445 words (about 2 hours).

Well, today the psalm upon which we focus holds the record for the shortest psalm, in fact, the shortest chapter in the Bible. This psalm, in just a few words, proclaims God’s praise—with a call to it and the cause for it—just two short verses!

**SO, first we see the…

[Psalm 117.1] — Call to PTL

WHO?

Nations [Goyim]…ALL

All…outside of Israel (in addition to)

Peoples [Ummah]…ALL

All…including Israel (alongside)

‘Who’ leads out?? [I’d say it’s much less about ‘that,’ but…]

Not always Israel—Not always Western Christianity: for instance ((from John Piper in his message on this Psalm in 2003)),

Let's not be among the number who do not see that the world and the church have changed dramatically in the last 100 years - the greatest missionary century in history. Listen to Andrew Walls from his book, The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History:

[The twentieth century] has seen this great recession from the Christian faith in the West, there has been an equally massive accession to that faith in the non-Western world. [At the beginning of the century] well over 80 percent of those who professed Christianity lived in Europe or North America. Now, approaching 60 percent live in the southern continents of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific, and that proportion grows annually. Christianity began the twentieth century as a Western religion, and indeed, the Western religion; it ended the century as a non-Western religion, on track to become progressively more so. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2002, pp. 63-64)

We are not at the center. God may or may not be done with us in our self-absorbed prosperity in America. But he certainly is putting others on the Christian map to humble us and call us to confess and rejoice that others may be far more effective in finishing the Great Commission than we are. The dynamics of church and missions will never be the same.

One small example is the way the debate in the Anglican Communion about homosexual clergy is playing out on a global scale. There are more Anglicans in Nigeria than in England and America put together. Their bishops are biblically conservative, and they vote. Who would have dreamed just thirty years ago that powerful, liberal Western bishops would be called to account biblically by the churches they planted in Africa?

WHAT?

Praise God! [Hallelujah]

A seemingly more spoken, sung emphasis. We ‘speak or sing’ his praise.

Glorify Him! [Sabbhu]

A seemingly more actions, working-out emphasis. ((Sometimes it is what you say around others; sometimes it is what you do around others.)) Our lives show that we honor, glorify, extol God.

[[Romans 15:11 “And again, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples praise him!”,

Romans 15:7–11 “Therefore welcome one another, just as Christ also welcomed you, to the glory of God. For I say that Christ became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises to the fathers, and so that Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praise to your name. Again it says, Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people! And again, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples praise him!”

Psalm 150:6 “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord. Hallelujah!”]]

**NEXT, we see the…

[Psalm 117.2] — Cause to PTL

[[What is (or are) the cause(s) to Praise the LORD?]]

WHY?

Faithful Love [Chesed]

Covenant Commitment ((Like wedding vows; covenant = here is what I promise to bring to this relationship…not dependent on the attitude or actions of the other person [party].))

Faithfulness [Emeth]

This Hebrew word is also translated truth (or in relationship to truth)

God’s promises are truth (not just ‘I’d like to do this for you…et al.’)

God’s faithfulness evidenced in his word (revealed truth [his purpose & plan & promises])

WHICH IS?

Great [Gabar; strong, firm, prevailed over (the stronger side in battle prevails, or waters of a flood prevail…)]

Overwhelming love; nearly irresistible!

‘Prevails over’ — in light of God’s peoples’ unfaithfulness

Forever [Olam; Perpetually…even better than any perpetual motion machine!]

On and on and on and on and on…

PERPETUAL!! His promises and plan are as fresh today as they ever have been (including the day God said them)…No expiration or ‘best-if-used-by’ date!

**How can we not HALLELUJAH—Praise the LORD?!!

CONCL—

SOOOO, my challenge to us = focus our lives on Praising the LORD—in all that we say and show...& call everyone we know and to whom we will be ‘introduced’ to the same—instead of an obsession with anything—literally anything—else.

Let’s make this our aim. (2 Corinthians 5:9 “Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to him.”)

INVITATION:

Salvation

P T L — with anyone & everyone

P T L — for his faithfulness & (esp.) faithful love [covenant love, blessing…]

Psalm 117:2 CSB

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