The Global Anthem Text: Psalm 117
Introduction: The Smallest Psalm and the Biggest Vision
We come now to the shortest chapter in the entire Bible. Two verses, twenty-nine words in the original Hebrew. You could be forgiven for thinking it a mere interlude, a brief doxology tucked between two longer psalms. But to think that would be to miss the point entirely. This is not a small psalm; it is a compressed one. It is a white-hot, concentrated declaration of God's global purpose for the world. It is the Great Commission in miniature. It is a postmillennial bombshell.
We live in an age of evangelical timidity. We have been taught to think small. We are told the church is on the retreat, that we are fighting a losing battle, and that our best hope is to huddle together and wait for the rapture bus to airlift us out of this mess. Our eschatology has become an eschatology of defeat. But this little psalm, like a stone in David's sling, flies in the face of all such pessimism. It does not say, "Praise Yahweh, all you remnant hunkered down in the Bible belt." It does not say, "Laud Him, all you faithful few who have managed to keep the faith in a hostile world." No, it throws open the doors of the covenant and issues a command to the entire planet.
This psalm is a prophecy. The Apostle Paul quotes the first verse in Romans 15 to demonstrate that God's plan from the beginning was to include the Gentiles, to bring all the nations into the choir. This was not a Plan B. This was not an afterthought when the Jews rejected their Messiah. This was the plan from the moment God promised Abraham that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed. The gospel is not a tribal religion. It is a world-conquering faith. And this psalm is the anthem of that victory.
So, as we unpack these two brief verses, we must understand that we are handling something explosive. We are looking at the foundational reason for the Church's mission, the substance of our hope, and the ultimate destiny of the world. This is not a quiet, devotional thought. This is a battle cry. This is the future of the world, written down a thousand years before Christ.
The Text
Praise Yahweh, all nations;
Laud Him, all peoples!
For His lovingkindness prevails over us,
And the truth of Yahweh is everlasting.
Praise Yah!
(Psalm 117:1-2)
The Global Summons (v. 1)
The psalm opens with a command that is breathtaking in its scope.
"Praise Yahweh, all nations; Laud Him, all peoples!" (Psalm 117:1)
The imperative is doubled for emphasis. Praise Him. Laud Him. But the object of the command is what should stop us in our tracks. The summons goes out to all the goyim, all the nations, all the Gentiles. It is a call to every tribe, every ethnicity, every political entity on the face of the earth. This is a direct refutation of any theology that seeks to contain the grace of God within narrow, ethnic boundaries. From the heart of the Old Covenant, the Spirit is prophesying the global expansion of the New Covenant.
This is the engine of a robustly optimistic eschatology. The Great Commission was not a hopeful suggestion; it was a command from the one to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given. And when Christ gives a command, it will be accomplished. He told His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, and here, the psalmist, inspired by the same Spirit, commands those very nations to respond in praise. This is not a call for individual conversions only, though it is certainly that. It is a call for the nations, as nations, to acknowledge their true King. It is a vision of a world where the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.
Our modern, secular mindset chokes on this. The idea that all nations should praise the God of the Bible is seen as intolerant, imperialistic, and exclusive. But the opposite is true. The secularist offers a bland, empty universalism where all paths lead nowhere. The Bible offers a robust, joyful universalism where all the scattered and warring tribes of men are summoned to find their true unity at the foot of the cross. The gospel does not erase culture; it redeems it. It gives every tribe and tongue a reason to sing its own verse in the great global anthem to the King of kings.
This verse is a promise of success. God does not issue commands that will ultimately be frustrated. The nations will praise Him. The peoples will laud Him. History is not a random, chaotic drift. It is the story of God gathering His global choir, and this psalm is the sheet music.
The Ground of All Praise (v. 2)
Why should the nations do this? What is the basis for this universal command to worship? The second verse gives us two unshakable reasons.
"For His lovingkindness prevails over us, And the truth of Yahweh is everlasting. Praise Yah!" (Psalm 117:2)
The entire basis for global worship is the character of God Himself. The first reason given is His lovingkindness. The word here is hesed. This is one of the most important words in the Old Testament, and it is notoriously difficult to translate with a single English word. It is not a sentimental, squishy affection. Hesed is covenant loyalty. It is steadfast, unbreakable, rugged, faithful love. It is the love of a king for his people, the love of a husband for his bride, a love that is based not on the worthiness of the beloved but on the sworn oath of the lover.
And notice the direction of this hesed: "His lovingkindness prevails over us." This covenant love is not a mild suggestion; it is mighty, it is powerful, it prevails. It conquers. This is the love that hunted us down when we were rebels. This is the love that broke into our prison, paid our debt, and set us free. This is the love demonstrated at Calvary, where God's covenant loyalty to His promise to redeem was sealed in the blood of His own Son. The nations are not called to praise God because they figured things out, or because they cleaned up their act. They are called to praise Him because His relentless, covenant-keeping love has overwhelmed them.
The second reason is His truth. "The truth of Yahweh is everlasting." The Hebrew word is emeth, which means truth, but also faithfulness, reliability, and stability. God's hesed is His heart, and His emeth is His word. His promises are as reliable as His character. In a world of relativism, where "your truth" is set against "my truth," the Bible declares that there is the truth. It is not a set of abstract propositions, but is embodied in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
This truth is everlasting. It does not change with the seasons. It does not evolve with the culture. It is not subject to a vote. It is the objective, eternal reality upon which the universe is built. Our culture is perishing from a famine of truth. We have been told that we can define our own reality, our own gender, our own morality, and the result is chaos and despair. The gospel comes into this confusion and says that there is a foundation that does not shake. There is a Word from God that is forever settled in heaven. The nations are to praise Him because He has not left us to drown in a sea of subjective nonsense. He has spoken, and His word is true.
The psalm concludes as it began, with a final, explosive command: "Praise Yah!" This is the word Hallelujah. It is the fitting conclusion. Given the global scope of His summons, the conquering power of His covenant love, and the eternal stability of His truth, what other response could there possibly be? All of history is moving toward one great, final Hallelujah chorus, where every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth will praise the name of Jesus.
Conclusion: From Prophecy to Mission
This tiny psalm is a manifesto for Christian mission. It sets before us the glorious, God-centered goal of history: a redeemed humanity, drawn from every nation, joyfully praising God for His covenant love and His unchanging truth. This is what we are to be about. This is why we plant churches. This is why we send missionaries. This is why we build Christian schools and Christian institutions. We are not engaged in a desperate holding action; we are part of a victorious invasion.
The lovingkindness, the hesed, of God has prevailed over us in Christ. We who were Gentiles, outsiders, and strangers to the covenant have been brought near by His blood. We are the firstfruits of this global harvest. And because His truth is everlasting, we have a message to proclaim that does not rust, rot, or go out of style. We have objective, good news for a world starving for it.
Therefore, we must not be content with a privatized, pietistic faith. The faith that saves the individual is a faith that is destined to disciple the nations. We must pray, work, and build with the confident expectation that what this psalm prophesies, God will bring to pass. The day is coming when the parliaments and the schoolhouses, the marketplaces and the concert halls, from every nation, will echo with this simple, profound, and glorious cry: Hallelujah! Praise Yah!