“Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your heritage and the ends of the earth Your possession.”
– Psalm 2:8
Now the context here in Psalm 2:8, the psalmist is talking about the Son of God and specifically this is a picture pointing us forward to Jesus and how the Son of God would have authority and rule and reign over all nations, over the end of the earth. It’s what we see coming into fruition in Matthew 28:18, when Jesus says, “All authority in Heaven and Earth has been given to Me.” It’s the picture we see at the end of the Bible and really the end of history. Revelation, chapter 5, as Jesus is being exalted among every nation, tribe, tongue and people.
Our prayer must be that Jesus will receive the praise He is due among every tribe and tongue. The nations are His heritage and the ends of the earth are His possession.
That’s the fulfillment of this prayer and this promise here in Psalm 2:8 and so as you think about this verse, “Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your heritage and the ends of the earth Your possession,” there’s a picture here of the relationship between prayer, asking and the ends of the earth belonging to Christ, the nations of the earth praising Christ as His inheritance and I want you to think about how every single day, including right now, you and I have the opportunity to cry out to God.
Ask Him to give Jesus the inheritance He is due, to bring the ends of the earth into submission to Him, knowing that one day that’s gonna be complete and the way that’s come about, and you see this all over the book of Revelation. I think about Revelation 6, Revelation 8. As we see the prayers of God’s people rising before the Lord and the consummation of God’s kingdom coming in response to the prayers of His people.
This Verse Wants All Nations To Submit To Jesus
We ask for the nations to submit to Jesus. And as we pray that, then God is working that plan out all around the world. I think about today the Bambara people in Mali. There’s 5 million of them. In West Africa, there are so few Christians. In fact, there are very few believers among the Bambara in Mali and so we are gonna pray for the spread of the gospel to that, that God would give the inheritance of the Bambara to Christ, that they would be worshipers of Christ, knowing that that is going to be a reality one day. Revelation chapter 5, Revelation chapter 7.
So we pray today. We ask, oh God, we know You are worthy of praise among all the peoples of the earth. We know that Jesus has died on a cross to purchase men and women for God from every nation, tribe, tongue and people so we ask today for more tribes, more tongues and more peoples to bow the knee to King Jesus, to enjoy the love of King Jesus, Your Son. God, we pray for the spread of the gospel, specifically among the Bambara and Mali.
Psalm 2:8 Prays For The Bambara People
God, we pray that you would draw Bambara people to Yourself today. God, we’re asking for that today. We pray that You would cause disciples to be made today. That You would bless the work of the few Christians that are there, missionaries who are working among the Bambara, that You would call out more missionaries to go to the Bambara and God, we pray that this people group, more disciples will be made, churches planted and multiplied there.
Then we pray for the spread of the gospel and Your glory among the Bambara. We ask for that cause, that people group, along with every people group in the world, oh God. And we pray to come to knows Jesus as king, to come to enjoy Jesus as king, come to worship Jesus as king. So we ask this. Make the nations His heritage. Cause the ends of the earth to be His possession and use our lives. Use our churches toward that end, we pray. In Jesus’ name, 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.
