They lift up their voices, they sing for joy. Over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west, therefore, in the east, give glory to the Lord and the coastlands of the sea. Give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. From the ends of the earth, we hear songs of praise, of glory to the righteous one.
– Isaiah 24:14–16
Ah, don’t you love this picture of all the earth from the ends of the earth, songs of praise and glory rising to the righteous one, to God?
Isaiah 24:14–16 provides a picture of where history is headed.
From the west, they’re shouting and singing for joy over the majesty of God. In the east, they’re giving him glory. This is a picture of where all of history is headed, toward the praise of God covering all the earth, and this is what we pray for.
This is how Jesus taught us to pray from the very beginning. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Hallowed be your name in all the earth. This is what we pray for, we long for, this is what we live for, this is what we give for, this is what we want to spend our lives for. For the spread of God’s praise over all the earth, that from the east to the west, they would praise God as Lord and Savior and King.
They would praise Jesus for his sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, and they would give glory to his name all over the earth. Is that what you’re living for today? Is that what you’re longing for today? I just want to encourage you to live with this longing, this desire, this zeal in your praying that yes, you would pray for things in your life and things in others’ lives right around you, and all of that under the umbrella of praying for the spread of God’s praise, the hallowing of his name and all the earth. That you would give, yes to your local church and yes to needs right around you, and that you would give to see the name of Jesus hallowed in all the earth and you would live for this.
Isaiah 24:14–16 encourages us to share the gospel so others might praise the Lord.
Yes, to share the good news of Jesus and who he is so that people around you might praise God for his salvation and not just people around you, especially when there are 3 billion people in the world who have little to no knowledge of the gospel right now, and they don’t have Christians around them who can share it with them and churches around them that are proclaiming the gospel that we would live.
Look for opportunities to spread the gospel to people from the nations right around us, and that we would look for opportunities in our lives, in our families, and in our churches to spread the gospel to people who’ve never heard the good news of Jesus. Why? Because we want Isaiah 24:14–16. We want all the peoples, all the nations to lift up their voices and sing for joy over the majesty of the Lord. We want the coastlands of the sea in the east to give glory to the name of Jesus. From the ends of the earth, we want to hear songs of praise, of glory… To the righteous one, and one day it will happen.
Prayer for the Praise of God’s Name Among the Nations
So we pray, God, bring it about. We pray in light of Isaiah 24:14–16 in light of your instruction for how to pray. Lord Jesus, hallowed be your name in all the earth. God, we pray from the east to the west, from coastlands to countries. Let’s just start listing different countries. God, we pray for the hallowing of your name in Iraq, Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. We pray for the hallowing of your name in Somalia, Chad, and Niger. God, we pray for the hallowing of your name in Morocco, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. We pray for the hallowing of your name in North Korea.
We pray for the hallowing of your name in Yemen. God, in Russia, in Ukraine, in Brazil, in Colombia, in France, in Spain, among Israelis. We pray for the hallowing, the glory of your name among all the peoples of the earth. Especially among people who’ve not been reached with the good news of your love in Jesus. God, bring it about and we pray, please use our lives to bring it about. We can’t wait for the day when your glory covers the earth like the waters cover the sea.
We can’t wait for the day when every nation, tribe, people, and language will bow around your throne and give you praise for your salvation. May your salvation and glory spread through us through our praying like this, hear and answer our prayers. Through our giving, through our lives, through our families, through our churches. Hallowed be your name, in all the earth… We pray in Jesus’ name according to this beautiful picture in your word in Isaiah 24:14–16. May it be so, amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
