“I will give thanks to you, oh Lord, among the peoples. I will sing praises to you among the nations.”
– Psalm 108:3
I love this, and we see this all throughout the Psalms, but here in Psalm 108, the Psalmist is just singing in praise to God for His steadfast love, for His faithfulness, for His glory, for His salvation. But the Psalmist so often doesn’t just say, “I’m just doing this just between you and me,” which yes, there’s a sense in which, and we see this all throughout the Psalms, there’s just personal communion with God, a delight in praising Him, but it always comes back to extending his praise far beyond the Psalmist. The Psalmist is saying, “I’ll give thanks to you, oh Lord, among the peoples, among all the groups of people in the world. I will sing praises to you among the nations, among all the nations,” and that’s the thrust we see in scripture from cover to cover.
Supporting the Work of the Church
Today we lift up those who were preparing to go and support the work of the church throughout the world. We ask that you help their zeal for You to increase during this difficult time.
God is worthy of praise. God is worthy of Thanksgiving. Yes, God is worthy of glory for His steadfast love, for His faithfulness, for His salvation, not just in our lives, but among the nations. And He commissions us to make His glory known among the nations, to sing His praises among all the peoples. So I read this verse in particular today as I read this prayer request that Alexa sent in. Again, let me encourage you to continue to send in these prayer requests during this pandemic for specific issues related to this pandemic at radical.net/prayerrequest.
So Alexa writes, “Could you please pray for those who were preparing for short or mid-term mission trips this summer that have now been canceled? Please pray that we wouldn’t be discouraged, but that we would trust that the ways of the Lord are perfect. Please pray that the Lord might open doors where these have closed and that we wouldn’t lose our zeal to share the gospel with those who have never heard.” Specifically she shares, “I was preparing to be in Southeast Asia all summer as a first step in the direction of longterm missions, and I know many others who were in similar situations dealing with disappointment and canceled plans.”
Psalm 108:3 Encourages Praying for Misiionaries
I think about the church that I have the privilege of pastoring here in metro Washington D.C., McLean Bible church, and we decided this week to cancel our trips through July at this point. And it is heartbreaking, sobering, to think about the reality that less people will be scattering among the nations to declare the praises of God, to think about the effects of that on, particularly places where the gospel’s not yet gone, that the gospel would have been going to through servants going out on short term, midterm missions. Even the effects as we have prayed at different points for longterm missionaries around the world who were looking to have those teams come and be a part of their work, longterm missionaries who are now isolated and unable to do the work that they have been sent out to do in these different places.
So yes, I want us to pray for exactly what Alexa asked us to pray for her. So let’s do this in light of Psalm 108:3, God, we do give thanks to you. We sing praises to you, and we want to give thanks to you, oh Lord, among the peoples. We want to sing your praises among the nations. And so we pray that you might open doors where these have closed.
Spreading the Gospel Among All the Nations
God, we pray for the spread of the gospel among the nations, all the more so right now, Oh God. In a scene where the world has stopped and made aware in deeper ways of the fragility of life and the inevitability of death, and God, we pray that you would awaken hearts to the urgency of eternity. And we pray that the gospel would be proclaimed, that your praises would be made known among the nations, your greatness, your grace, your love in Christ, the good news of what Jesus has done on the cross.
God, we pray that this gospel would continue to spread, that you would give wisdom to churches, missions, organizations, to know how best to spread the gospel during these days. And God, we pray in light of what Alexa mentioned, God, that anyone who has had a trip canceled, who was planning to do this for that, God that you would not let zeal for your glory among the nations diminished in any way.
Psalm 108:3 Emphasizes the Urgency of Spreading the Gospel
May it only increase during these days. May there be deeper longings. God, may there be a greater urgency to, as soon as these doors open back up, to go and be a part of making your gospel known among people, especially who’ve never even heard it. God, we pray specifically for Alexa, God we pray that one day she would look back and she would see your sovereign hand in this and your leadership in her life, and we pray that you would spend Alexa’s life for your praises among the nations.
That Thanksgiving might rise to you from among the peoples through her life, whether in Southeast Asia or wherever else you might lead her. We pray for scores of others like her. And God, we pray that you would raise up multitudes more who are going short-term, mid-term, long-term to make the gospel known, especially in places where the gospel’s not yet gone. And God, we pray that just like we’ve seen all throughout the history of your church.
Psalm 108:3 Prays for God to Break Down Barriers that Block the Gospel
God, that those things which sometimes seem like barriers, God, that you would knock them down by the power of your Holy Spirit and they would turn into glorious opportunities that would lead many people to salvation. God, please may it be so, send out laborers into the harvest field. Don’t let that stop in the middle of this pandemic, oh God. God, send out laborers into the harvest field. We pray in the days to come that your praises might be made known among all the nations, among all the peoples.
And bring, we pray, in the middle of this pandemic, please bring many peoples to worship you. God, I just could keep going on and on, and I’m thinking about those who are living right now in these parts of the world. God, please give them strength and boldness and protection and wisdom to know how best to thrive in the middle of his pandemic for the spread of your glory among the peoples they are around. Oh God, spend our lives, our churches, however you desire for your glory among the nations, and please don’t let this pandemic hinder your global purpose in the world. Make your praise known among the nations. Make the name of Jesus known among all the people, so we pray our father in heaven, hallowed be your name in all the earth. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
