Commentary on Psalm 18
"I have read and heard the Old Testament stories but never put it together that there was the call to 'all people' or 'all nations'." -- Robert Murray, Nazarene Bible College student
On my Facebook "wall," a friend jokingly wrote that I see world missions in every verse of Scripture. That is a big exaggeration. The Bible has 32,000 verses. Less than 200 of them make obvious reference to world evangelism.
To be sure, there are people who think it is a stretch of the imagination to see world missions in some of the entries on my list of missions verses. Even if that were true (and, as you might expect, I don't think it is), it should be no stretch at all to see world missions in the statement, "I will praise you among the nations" (Psalm 18:49). World mission overtones in those words reverberate so clearly that Paul quoted that verse in Romans 15:9 to emphasize God's desire for all people groups everywhere to be welcomed into His Kingdom.
In spite of what is said in Psalm 18:49, try asking people to list every world missions Bible verse they can think of. Rarely will anyone cite Psalm 18:49. That's an oversight, a major oversight. With Paul placing Psalm 18:49 front and center, we ought to view it as a "Top Ten Missions Verse." For one thing, it's echoed by the Nazarene church's denominational mission statement "To make Christlike disciples in the nations."
Psalm 18:49 was also a key missions verse for German theologian Peter Beyerhaus, who used it in formulating the Frankfurt Declaration on the Crisis in World Mission.
That declaration lays out "seven indispensable basic elements of mission." The second element asserts that "the first and supreme goal of mission is the glorification of the name of the one God throughout the entire world and the proclamation of the lordship of Jesus Christ." For biblical support, Beyerhaus pointed to Psalm 18:49 and Paul's quotation of it in Romans.
Paul's use of Psalm 18:49 makes clear the fact that Jesus' Great Commission ( Matthew 28:19-20) is not the first time the Bible mentions world evangelization. Long before Jesus' birth, Sacred Scripture proclaimed God's heart for the nations. Indeed, Psalm 18:49 is just one of 120 Old Testament missions verses.
In the light of Old Testament missions-related passages like Psalm 18:49, Bob Sjogren likes to say that Jesus did not give the Great Commission. Because the Old Testament clearly speaks often about world evangelism, Sjogren says Jesus was simply repeating the Great Commission!
From time to time, I hear people say that we should try to win all those "at home" before doing anything to evangelize other parts of the world. Those who say that need to take a good look at the word "nations." It is plural, not singular! Doesn't their "our-kind-first,-then-eventually-other-people" thinking contradict the spirit of Psalm 18:49? Furthermore, pitting near-neighbor evangelism against global outreach derails the fulfillment of God's deep desire.
Through Psalm 18:49, God calls His people to proclaim Him "among the nations." Let's embrace these Holy Spirit-inspired words composed long ago by David. We all must be involved in this global proclamation through praying, giving, mobilizing, going or some combination of these.
1Note: In the Bible, the word "nations" does not mean political entities like China, India, and the USA. Rather, it means people groups or societies in which people speak the same language, have the same culture, and live in or have originated in the same area. "Nations" is synonymous with the plural word "peoples." In other words, nations in the Bible means all of the people groups of the world other than the people of Israel.
-- Howard Culbertson,
This mini-essay on a Bible passage about world missions is one of more than three dozen articles in the "Heart of God" series published in Engage, a monthly online magazine. That series explores what 36 verses of the Bible say about world missions.
Psalm 18:49 can be seen as a call to believers to share their testimonies and praises about God's name not only within their own communities but also among people of different cultures and nations. Psalm 18 was written long before Jesus spoke the words recorded in Matthew 28:19- 20. In spite of that reversed chronology, the words of Psalm 18:49 do sound like the response God expects us to have to Jesus' Great Commission.
Psalm 18:49 underscores the importance of spreading the Good News about God and His offer of salvation to all people, regardless of nationality or cultural background. This Old Testament verse puts a spotlight on the universal scope of God's love and the Church's mission to proclaim His name and teachings to the ends of the earth.