Psalm 117 - Every Tribe

Psalm 117:1-2 NIV

Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples.

For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord.

Ok! Psalm 117 is the shortest of all the psalms. It's only 2 verses long. It's a call to worship. The psalm calls upon all people of every tribe, tongue, and nation to praise the Lord.

There's a beautiful fulfillment of this call of the many nationalities joined in worship of the Lord depicted in the book of Revelation.

Revelation 7:9-12 NIV

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

Why lift up the name of Yahweh? Why worship the Lord? Because He is faithful forever. Because He loves us, giving His only Son as a sacrifice atoning for our sins that we might be set free.

Revelation 5:9-10 NIV

And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

The church is meant to be little communities of God's people, purchased by the blood of Christ, joined together in worship and service to the Lord.The church is a sign pointing to the grand vision of all the nations gathered as one in the love of the Lord.

We got a long way to go to be a credible witness. When Sunday morning is the most segregated time in America, we are failing to show unity in diversity. When we are fixated on personal preferences, rather than on seeking to please God and build unity among people, we derail the witness of the church and become a sign of hypocrisy.

I praise the Lord for His faithfulness to His vision of a united people from around the globe worshiping and serving the Lord. His faithfulness will see it done. His love, in spite of our failures, will see this vision through to its fulfillment.

Praise the Lord!