On the basis of Luke 24:44-49 (and the exposition of that passage by H. Cornell Goerner in his book All Nations in God's Purpose), I have discussed that Jesus' understanding of the Law and the Prophets led to two conclusions: that the messiah was to suffer and rise again and that God's intent was that the message of salvation be preached to all peoples. Our application is that those of us who have experienced salvation in Christ and have become His followers should also have the nations on our minds and hearts. To finish our look at the Old Testament, today I examine how the twin themes (person of Christ and purpose of God) are found in the Psalms.
There are many Psalms classified as "messianic." Warren Wiersbe lists the following in that category: 2, 8, 16, 22, 23, 40, 41, 45, 68, 69, 102, 110, and 118. Derek Kidner in his two-volume commentary on Psalms says that fifteen psalms are treated messianically in the New Testament but goes on to say, "A closer look at the way these [fifteen] are handled will suggest that they are regarded as samples of a much larger corpus. It would scarcely seem too much to infer from this treatment that wherever David or the Davidic king appears in the Psalter (except where he is confessing failure to live up to his calling), he foreshadows in some degree the Messiah."
There are also many Psalms that refer to the nations. Although many of the references treat the nations as the enemies of God's people, there are others that explicitly teach God's care and concern for all peoples. Psalm 67 is a notable example. Further, Goerner notes that the King James Version obscures many references to "peoples" due to its translation of the Hebrew plural (ammim = peoples) by the English singular "people" since as a collective noun it may be considered plural already. Newer versions usually get it right.
There is a Psalm that combines both elements and was obviously meaningful to Jesus. His cry from the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?", quotes the opening words of Psalm 22. Since Jesus evidenced extensive familiarity with all the Scriptures, many commentators believe that Jesus had in mind not just the phrase He quoted but the entirety of Psalm 22. It is a remarkable description of what Jesus endured on the cross, down to the gambling for His garments, written more than 900 years before the event. The first 21 verses describe His agony, verses 22- 26 His victory, and the final verses His posterity: "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You, for the kingdom is the Lord's and He rules over the nations." Popular songs may say that "when He was on the cross, I was on His mind," but it might be more accurate to say that He was thinking about the unreached nations of the world.
The Psalms, as the prayerbook of the Bible, teach us that our prayers should reflect the two concerns of God -- glory for Jesus and the gospel for all peoples. A recent news article described the importance of prayer to actor Mark Wahlberg. He talked of praying at least once a day in this way, "I pray to be a good servant to God, a father, a husband, a son, a brother and uncle, a good neighbor, a good leader to those who look up to me and a good follower to those that are serving God and doing the right thing." Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised to learn of this aspect of Wahlberg's life, and in many ways the content of his prayers is admirable. But in light of the Bible's emphasis, a prayer life focused on those immediately around us falls short of Jesus' example and teaching.
Let's pray like Jesus did that the nations might come to know Him.
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