A Matter of Life and Death (Psalm 116)

[We apologize for the echoey sound of this recording.]

[Sung Psalm: 116]

We sing Psalm 117 more often than any other Psalm! After all, Psalm 117 is a short and simple doxology – which is where we sang it a few moments ago!

"Praise the LORD, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
For great is his steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
Praise the LORD!"

Psalm 117 provides a short, sweet, and to the point song of praise, calling the nations to extol him for his great steadfast love and faithfulness to us.

Because God is faithful to Israel – because he shows covenant love and mercy to his people – therefore all people should praise him!

It might seem odd that all nations should praise the LORD because he is faithful to Israel – but when you remember that God had promised to Abraham, "the Land and the Seed and the blessing to the nations" – then you realize that yes, all nations should rejoice that God is faithful to Israel – because that faithfulness is what will – in the end – bring salvation to the ends of the earth!

And we see this beautifully stated in our main Psalm for the day, Psalm 116.