The Singing Missionaries

I have some pretty amzing friends that serve as missionaries all over the world... Africa, Europe, Asia. It's awesome. My dear friend Sarah is a person who really opened my eyes to God's heart for the world and the importance of missions and supporting missionaries and praying for missionaries and loving the people all over the world who need Jesus. I could go on and on...

But I never realized that the Psalmists and the people of Israel had a heart for missions as well. In my journey through the Psalms, I have discovered that not all the songs were written with Israel in mind. Yes, many of them are personal laments, prayers of repentance, praises to God for his constant provision for Israel, pleas for help for Israel, but some of the Psalms are actully mission-minded prayers...songs in which Israel asks for and expectantly hopes for the salvation of other peoples and nations.

Take Psalm 67 for example:
May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us,
that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon the earth.
(verses 1-4)

Here Israel is asking for blessing so that they can go out and make God known among the nations. They are acknowledging that God is not just for them, but that Yaweh would be most glorified if people from all nations would praise Him...and that is exactly His plan. Despite the divisions between Jews and Gentiles, and regardless of the many tensions between Israel and their surrounding pagan neighbors in the Promised Land, Israel realized that their God has a heart for the whole world, and, therefore, it was their mission to see Him glorified by Jew and non-Jew alike.... to see their great God praised among the nations!