A Psummer in the Psalms: International Praise for God's Eternal Loyal Love - Psalm 117 (Psalms 117)

2:16I want to say that Psalm 117 is amongst six other psalms we refer to, and maybe you've heard of this, as the Egyptian hillels. The Egyptian hillels start in Psalm 113, and they make their way through Psalm 118. And these hillels, the word hillel, simply means praise. It means praise. You no doubt have heard the word hallelujah and you would normally finish that with yah, hallelujah. Well, hallelujah in our language is really sounds like it's one word, but in the Hebrew language, they were in a hurry to get to that last syllable, if you will.

3:00Part. Why? Because that's God's name. It's God's name really cut in half. The first part of Yahweh is Yah. Yahweh is God's revealed name, even back to Moses, excuse me, in Exodus 3. We're going to be looking at that in just a moment. But the word hallelujah is really two words: hallelujah, praise, and yah, meaning Yahweh. Also tonight, whenever we see the words the Lord, whenever you see the word Lord in capital letters, L-O-R-D, that word signifies that the Hebrew word is Yahweh. And so when I read it in the English text, I'm just going to say Yahweh rather than the Lord, because that's his given name that he gave to himself. Now, a little bit about Psalm 113 and 114. I say this because if we're going to focus on Psalm 117 and we're looking at the Egyptian hillels, we have to know something about 113 and 114. You'd be fascinated to know that Psalm 113 and 14 were the two songs that were sung before the Passover meal. They were sung before the Passover meal. And you'd also be interested to know that Psalms 115 through Psalm 18 were those songs that were sung at the end of the Passover meal. Isn't it fascinating to know that Psalms 113 through 114, Jesus, along with his disciples at the last legitimate Passover celebration? Would have sung those two psalms, 113 and 114, and they would have sung those two psalms at the first communion, the Last Supper, we would like to call it. They would have sung 115 through 118. When Jesus finished the meal, they would have sang those songs. Did you know that there's a total of 85 verses making up those six chapters? We're looking at just two specifically tonight. Amazing that those are the songs that they sang the night before Jesus was taken to trial. One commentator notes this. He says, The Levites standing before the altar chanted it, the hillels, verse by verse. The people responded by repeating the verses or intoned hallelujahs. And so the priests or the Levites would read the verse or sing the verses, and then they'd stop and the people would repeat it, or they would just sing a hallelujah, a shout, a hallelujah, as the Levites would sing it. He continues, it was also chanted in private families at the feast of the Passovers, at the feast of the Passover. End quote. The Egyptian Hillels weren't sung at Passovers only. They were sung throughout the year. At least a minimum, 18 times a year, they would have chanted or sang these six Egyptian hillels. They would have had these verses, these 85 verses committed to memory from their young childhood ages. It would be for them, like us, a song that we could never get out of our heads. They would sing it so frankly. You ever had a song in your head? You couldn't even think of a different song, the title of a different song, you're so stuck with this one song? Well, that's six Psalms for them, and they couldn't get them out of their heads. With joy, of course, they would repeat these words. You know, my original intent for a summer in the Psalms on these evenings together was to just look at Psalm 118. It's 29 verses and it's packed with information. But as I began to research and develop Psalm 118, it dawned on me: you can't preach Psalm 118 without first looking at Psalm 117. Again, just two verses. So we're going to spend an evening in Psalm 117 and then two evenings in Psalm 118.

6:56Psalm 117 is such a great way to introduce the remainder of the Egyptian Hillel. As I mentioned, Psalms 113 through 18 are the Egyptian Hillels, and so it's appropriate because these six Psalms demonstrate praise for God for rescuing his people from what? Well, just like the sound of the Psalms themselves, from Egypt. God rescued them from Egypt, and so they sang these songs repeatedly as a thanks and an acknowledgment of God for what he did with them. Bringing them out of that land where they were slaves for almost, well, over 400 years. And they also extended to the peoples of the world. The tribes and every tongue and every language are commanded to praise God with this psalm. All six of these psalms. And so at the end of Psalm 117, we see that familiar phrase, not so much in English, but in Hebrew. It says, hallelujah. And it was a shout with an exclamation point at the end of it. They're praising God for what he'd said and for what he did. I want to give you a more of a high-level view of what Psalm 117 is all about. The author of Psalm 117, he really commands all the people, both great and small, both continents and countries, entire nations, and yet little small tribes, little tiny groups of people, everybody on the planet, to praise the Lord.

8:32He tells them to praise him for his overwhelming, steadfast, loyal love and eternal faithfulness. We're going to look at the word for love and the Hebrew language in a minute. You've got the first word, a Hebrew word, hallelujah. The second word we're going to look at tonight is the word hesed, hesed, and that's a Hebrew word for love. It's the deepest, most profound kind of love. We're going to camp out on that word a little bit, but first, let's read Psalm 111. 117, your finger should be there. Follow along with me as I read the words from long ago. The writer says this, Praise the Lord, all nations. Laud him, all peoples, for his loving kindness is great toward us. And the truth of, here it is, Yahweh is everlasting. Praise Yahweh. You know, I like to put the application of my messages right up front.

9:29I want to tell you where we're going with this. I want you to internalize what I'm asking you to be thinking about throughout this message, and so that when you walk out these doors, you know how to apply this message. So here it is, believers, believers must proclaim God's overwhelming, steadfast, loyal, eternal faithfulness, his loyal love and eternal faithfulness to all people, to all people, so that they can praise him. That's the message of this psalm. It's to all nations. So in an effort to help us remember what Psalm 117 is about, I got three D's for you. And they're good D's, not like the ones I got in school. These are good D's. The first is demand, the second is drive, and the third is deluge. Demand, drive, and deluge. Here it is. The demand to praise God. We see it in verse 1, the beginning of verse 1, and the latter part of verse 1. And then there's a drive for the world's people to praise God, and that's found in the first part of verse 2. Then there's a deluge of praise for God, and that's found in verse 2, the last. Part, it's simply found in the word hallelujah. It's a deluge of praise. And point one, we see the evangelistic demand for all people to praise God. I say demand because it's a command. You don't see it so much here in the English text, but it's definitely a demand there in verse one. The Old Testament Psalm is dedicated to missions. You might think the New Testament is just about missions. Well, the Old Testament is filled with a mission's message. It's designed to reach the world with a message of God's faithfulness to all nations. Why? So that they too can praise Him. It's not just meant for the nation of Israel, it's meant for people like us. If you are not Jewish, you are a Gentile. You are a goaim, which is the Hebrew word for Gentile. And it's meant for us to praise Him. So, first of all, the demand to praise God. The psalmist, he uses two commands. The first command is for all the nations, all the Gentiles. You see that in verse 1, to praise Yahweh. The second command is for all the tribes, the small groups of people, to laud him or to commend him for his faithfulness. Now, there's some terms that we need to cozy on up to again so that we can understand the object of the nation's praise. If they're going to praise God, well, what is the object they're praising? We need to find out what the nations are commanded to praise. If we're commanded, Commanded to praise God, then we need to understand who Yahweh identifies himself to be. And there's no better place to look at how he identifies himself than that passage I mentioned, which is Exodus 3.14. So keep your finger in Psalm 117, smack dab in the middle of the Bible. We're going to head on over to Exodus. Actually, we're going to start in 3.13.

12:27In 3.13, this is where Moses was given the task by none other than Yahweh Himself to tell the entire nation of Israel: Look, fellas, over a million people, ladies, we're going to leave this land and we're going to head out to the promised land. And so Moses is a little bit nervous because, you know, he's just one guy and he's going to face hundreds and thousands of people and say, follow me. And so he preps God, right? He says, God, who shall I tell them is sending me so they don't think I'm just a little bit, woo-hoo?

13:03Right? So follow along with me in verse 13, understanding that as a backdrop. Then Moses said to God, Behold, I'm going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you. Now, addressing this to God, now, they may say to me, What is his name? What shall I say to them? I will. Love this in verse 14. God said to Moses, I am who I am. Hmm. And he said, thus you shall say to the nation, the sons of Israel, I am, has sent me to you. Okay, I got it, Lord. I'm going to say, I am, I am, has sent me to you. Great. That helps me to understand a little bit more about my mission.

13:54God tells Moses that his forever name is I am. I am. He repeats it twice for emphasis. I am. Just a re-look at our English language and even the Hebrew language. I am is a verb. As such, it shows action. It describes the action that God takes. So God says, okay, give them my name. Describe to them what I do and what I've done. It's hard to nail down a direct translation from ancient Hebrew into our English language on this passage, but I'm going to give it my best crack, and I think it's real close. I've asked a lot of commentators what this means as I read through, and I like this one. Since it's a verb, what God says to Moses is, tell them, I cause to be because I cause to be. Tell them, my name is I create, I sustain. Well, that makes sense. Tell them I'm the one who made them, and give them their current heartbeat. Give them their last breath, their current breath.

14:59Tell them, I cause to be because I cause to be. I create, I sustain. He created everything, right? In six 24-hour literal days in the book of Genesis, we read. And he presently sustains his entire created order, even down to this next five breaths you take. So the psalmist, he commands all the nations to praise the one who creates them and who sustains them. How else would the Gentiles know who God is? How else would the Jewish people know who God is unless you say, he's the guy that created everything? He's the one who sustains you. Isn't this what the Apostle Paul did in Acts chapter 17? Holding your place in Psalm 117, join me in Acts chapter 17, and we're going to take a look at this whole concept once again about how God uses his created order, his creativeness, to introduce people to himself. This is what Paul did to the Gentiles on Mars Hill. He noticed on his way into town that they worship an unknown God. You see, they had all kinds of God. They were gods. They were polytheists. And so they didn't want to offend some other God that they don't know. So they had a plaque to the unknown God. So Paul, I love this. He took the liberty to. Tell them that the God they don't know is the only God in existence.

16:37So, Paul tells them that this is the only God, the one you don't know. Let me tell you about him. He's none other than your creator. That's what he says to them. He's none other than your sustainer. Acts chapter 17, verse 23. We're going to make our way down to verse 31 just to watch how the Holy Spirit tells us to tell people who God is. Paul writes these words, or Luke writes these words, quoting Paul. He says, For a while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship. I also found an altar with this inscription, to an unknown God. Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. Let me tell you who he is, he says.

17:23Verse 24, God who made the world and all the things in it, since he is the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all people life and breath and all things. He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times in the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for him and find him, though he's not far from each one of them. Of us. You ever find yourself in the middle of the night groping for something? The lights turned out. You're halfway asleep and you're looking for something. That's the idea. They're groping, right? That they might grope for God. Well, he's introducing them to who God really is. He's not far from each one of us, he says. In verse 28, for in him we live and move and exist, as some of your own prophets have said, quote, for we also are his children. Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone in the image formed by the art and thought of men. God is not an idol, he's not created by human hands, the idol that can do nothing. Their unknown God is their creator, their sustainer. Verse 30, therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to all men that all people everywhere should repent. Why? Because he's fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead. He's not just the creator. He's not just the sustainer. He raised Jesus from the dead.

19:16Though they didn't have the resurrection in mind in Exodus 3, they got the understanding that God is the one who creates everything. He's the one who sustains everything. And so when we introduce this unknown God to people, to Tell him he's your creator. He's your sustainer. He rose from the dead. All right, so back to Psalm 117 to make sure we have this all back in order. I know you have it marked with your fingers. Again, we need to cuddle up to a few more words in this text. So we know what the original readers understood when they read this passage so many thousands of years ago. We see in verse 1 that there are two words mentioned for praising God. What's the first one? Well, the first one is simply praise. It's the word hallelujah.

20:07And it simply means to boast in, to brag about. Psalm 44.8 is a great example. Psalm 44.8, we read these words, In God we boasted. We boasted. We praised all day long, the psalmist says, and we give thanks to your name forever. I want you to see how this plays itself out in Jeremiah 9, verse 22, because this word praise or boast isn't always just about God. Not always. It's a good example to take a look at how it's used of people in a negative sense.

20:44Jeremiah 9:23, we see this word hallelujah once again is used for not just praising God, but for people. So let's just follow along with me as I read this. Thus says Yahweh in verse 23. Let not a wise man praise. Your text probably says boast. Let not a wise man, hallelujah, praise, boast in his wisdom. And let not a mighty man, hallelujah, praise, boast in his might. Let not a rich man, hallelujah, praise, boast in his riches. But let him who hallelujah praises and boasts, boast of this, what? That he understands and knows me. There's something to brag about. There's something to say hallelujah about that God says, boast that you know me. I don't care about your riches. I don't care about your talents.

21:41I don't want anybody else to care about it either. Boast that you know me. That's what he's saying. He goes further in verse 24. He boasts that he knows me, that I am Yahweh, who exercises loving kindness, hesed, the deepest kind of love, justice, and righteousness on earth, for I delight in these things, declares Yahweh. So don't boast in yourselves. Boast that you understand and know Yahweh. The second word there in verse 1, back in Psalm 117, you see in the New American Standard Bible is the word lawed. We don't use that word a whole lot these days, and I kind of like what the English Standard Version, the NIV, does. They put the word extol in there rather than lawed.

22:28The words. That are used here could also be glorify or congratulate. Commend would also be a good word to replace the English word laud with. Lod can also mean sing praises. Sing praises, as in Psalm 63.3, the same word is used for laud there, and it's the word praise in Psalm 63.3. It says this, Because your loving kindness, because your hesed, is better than life, my lips will laud you, my lips will praise you. Psalm 145, 4. One generation shall praise or commend you, shall laud you, your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.

23:16I love how we had our youth leading our praise this evening. I almost said this morning. This evening. It's good to see. You know why it's good to see? Because they are being trained to be the praise leaders in the next generation to read a generation that hasn't even been born. Psalm 102:18 says, These things shall be written for the generation to come to a people that have not yet been born. Why? So that they too may praise God. So that they too may sing, hallelujah. Yeah. Praise Yahweh.

23:50Psalm 78, verses 1 through 8 gives that whole idea that the next generation will praise God's name, and they won't praise God's name. Unless we intentionally design our mission and our ministry around raising the next generation to lead subsequent generations. This brings us to the recipients of the command to praise God. Who are the ones that are called to praise God? Glance down back at the text again in verse 1. He identifies two groups of people. He says, all nations and all people. All nations and all people. It's interesting that the writer would use two words to identify people, the kinds of people commanded to praise God. Again, it's all nations, and you could say all tribes is another way you could understand the word peoples in the Hebrew language. They could hear tribes. All nations. Kol Goim is the Hebrew. All nations. All the Gentiles, all the non-Jewish people, not only the nation of Israel, but every single nation. That's the idea. The idea is that all nations without exception are commanded to praise God. This is a push, an international push to praise Yahweh. An international push. It's not just the nation of Israel. I want you to flip back over to Psalm 115 for a moment, still in the Egyptian hillels. Psalm 115 is good for us to take a look at because it informs us a little more about Psalm 118, where we're going to be next week, but also a little bit. But about Psalm 117, it's very informative. The Jews from the time of Abraham understood God's passion for the international peoples, for the nations of the world. But the Pharisees and the Sadducees in A.D. 30-ish, give or take, several decades, hundreds of years even, thought that Gentiles praising God was scandalous. They thought that they had God all for themselves.

25:56All for themselves. The psalmist's passion for the nations is so clearly seen in this third Egyptian hillel, Psalm 115. Join with me from verses 1 through 13, but I want to pay very special attention to verse 2 when we get there. Here's what the psalmist says: Not to us, O Yahweh, not to us, but to your name give glory because of your loving kindness, your hesed, because of your truth. And then he says this: he asks a question: Why should the nations, why should the Goim say, Where now is their God? Whose God? Israel's God. Why should they say, Where is he?

26:37You see, God's reputation is at stake. He wants the nations to see the faithfulness of God. And so he doesn't want them to get to the point to say, Where is your God? And they would get there because they would ignore their God. Verse 3. But our God is in the heavens. He's about to give us examples between. What the real God, the creator-sustainer, is like versus idols, those who can do nothing. Our God is in heaven.

27:09He does whatever he pleases. Their idols are silver. Whose idols? The Gentiles, the Goim. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of man's hands. How pathetic. Verse 5: They have mouths, but they cannot speak. They have eyes, but they cannot see. They have ears, but they cannot hear. They have noses, but they cannot smell. They have hands, but they cannot feel. They have feet, but they can't walk. They can't make a sound with their throat. Those who make them will become like them. In other words, they'll be inanimate objects just like them. Everyone who trusts in them, O Israel, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. Next week, we're going to see this whole idea repeated. This whole idea about the house of Israel, about Aaron, and about those who fear the Lord, trusting in the Lord. He says it here. We're going to see it again next week. He says, Yahweh has been mindful of us. Why? Because he creates and he sustains. He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He'll bless the house of Aaron. And he'll bless those who fear the Lord, the Gentiles.

28:26The small, the tribes, together with the great. The nations, the continents? That's the idea. This is who it's for. That's who it's for. Here's the point of Psalm 115. You see, it's, again, it's God's glory. His reputation is at stake. He wants the people of the nations to know that God is faithful, which is the reason that Aaron and Israel and all those who fear Yahweh must praise him, must sing hallelujah. The second word the writer uses to describe those he commands to sing praises to God in Psalm 117:1 is all peoples. As I said, you could also say all tribes. It's similar to nations, similar, which are larger in size, but it doesn't matter how large or small a people group. All people, everywhere, all individuals are commanded to praise God for his steadfast, loyal love. That's what Hesid means.

29:32I want to give an example from just a few days ago, all the way over in Ukraine. A small people group who was introduced to Yahweh, who was introduced to their Savior, Jesus Christ, a small group called the Tartars. You ever heard of them? I'm just going to read the note that I was given. It comes from a fellow Master Seminary graduate who was there. He saw this. He says, traveling through Kiev, Robert Provost. Told us what he had seen in another city of Ukraine. There's a people group called the Tartar, who are a Russian-speaking Muslim group, and they were persecuted by Stalin. As a result of the recent Russian invasions on Crimea, some of these Tatars fled north to other parts of Ukraine. In the city that Dr. Provost was in, the director of a Baptist Bible college asked the students if they would vacate their dorm, their dorm rooms, for the refugee families, and that they would themselves sleep on mats on the floor in classrooms. Let the Tartars, let the Muslims come in and enjoy their comfortable beds. And they did that. He says, 66 Muslim refugees came, 20 adults, including an Imam. If you don't know what an Imam is, he's a leader of a mosque. And they had 40 children. When they realized that they were being taken to a refuge, taken refuge at a Christian place, they were afraid. They were scared. They feared that there would be icons on the wall, and they would have to cover up these icons, believing them to be evil, and that they would have to hide their women from the drunken and adulterous priests. This is what they thought would happen. However, they had no other option, so they stayed. To their surprise, they found themselves and their children being treated kindly and sleeping on their hosts' beds. They were shocked, no doubt. This is how we bring the small tribes, the little enclaves of people to Nokia. Christ. He continues. They told the students, quote, if our places were switched, we would never do this for you. Why are you helping us? Well, I'm so glad you asked.

31:45After hearing the explanation, the Imam became interested in reading the Bible, but only under two conditions. Only under two conditions. The Bible couldn't have a cross on it, and it had to have some study notes explaining the text. So Dr. Provost said, Well, we just happen to have such a Bible here. No cross, and it has notes. The Russian translation of the MacArthur Study Bible had been completed, and it didn't have a cross on it. And the Imam has a Bible, and we need to pray for that group of people, the Tartars, at the end of the service. Let's do that today.

32:20That's God's drive for the nations. He's out for the nations to tell them who He is. Turn to Romans chapter 15. Romans chapter 15. Keep your finger in Psalm 117. We don't want to lose our place. Since the Jews in the first century thought it scandalous for Gentiles to praise God, their God, Paul had to convince them otherwise. And so what did he do? He resorted to the Hebrew Bible. He resorted to their text to show them, to demonstrate to them that the nations are to praise God, not just them. And you know what he does? He cites Psalm 117, chapter 1, right here in Romans, chapter 15.

33:10As I mentioned before, Psalm 117 is a call to evangelism, including the Tartars. Watch how Paul quotes this passage, this 117, and other Old Testament passages to convince them of who God is, starting in verse 9 through verse 12. He says this, and for the Gentiles to glorify God for his mercy, as it is written, he cites the Old Testament, Therefore, I will give praise to you among the Gentiles. I will sing to your name. Again, he says, rejoice, O Gentiles, with the people. Here it is, Psalm 117, 1. And again, praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, all you nations, and let all the peoples laud him, praise him. He cites Isaiah in verse 12. Isaiah says, There shall come the root of Jesse, and he who arises to rule over the Gentiles. In him shall the Gentiles hope.

34:08They hated the concept of Jesus as their Messiah because he wanted to share God with everybody. And yet from all along, God said, share me with the nations. God's loyal love for the nations was expressed all the way back to the Abrahamic covenant, even all the way back to Genesis 12, verses 1 through 3, where God told Abraham that he would bless. All the nations through him. That all the descendants, all his descendants, the nations of the earth, would be blessed. I would say there's no better way to illustrate this whole concept of both the Old and New Testament of reaching the nations, both small and large, than by reading what the Apostle John describes of who he sees standing before God's throne in eternity future. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 7.

35:02The idea here that I want us to take home today is that salvation, God's love, is for the nations. And so, Revelation 7 is so clear, just as an added bonus, in light of the hate fest in Ferguson, Missouri, and Iraq, I am absolutely floored by God's answer to racism in Revelation chapter 7 for those who trust in Christ. Follow along with me as I read. This is eternity future. This is the eternal state. After these things, I looked, and behold, he says, look along with me. That's what you see the word behold, look along with me, a great multitude, which no one could count from every nation, and all what? Tribes, little tiny people groups, and peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands, and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation. To our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, Amen.

36:16Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for eternity, forever and ever. Amen. This, Christian, is the reason. Believers must proclaim God's overwhelming steadfast, loyal love and eternal faithfulness to all people so that they too can praise Him. That brings us to our second D, and it's not as long as the first D. It's the drive for all the nations, the peoples of the world, to praise God. Why should they be driven to that? Well, let's turn back to Psalm 117.2.

36:53Psalm 117.2, as we see this developed, God's drive for the nations to praise Him is seen in the reasons He gives the nations to boast about Him. The first reason in verse 2 is found in, believe it or not, a very short word, the word for, F-O-R. You could say because. Because His loving-kindness is great toward us. That's the idea. That's why they should praise Him. That word I've hinted at it, that word loving kindness doesn't quite paint the picture from how the Hebrew people. Would have understood or used that word. The word, as I said, is hesed. And it's likened to the Greek word agape. You've heard agape is the highest form of love in the Greek language. Well, hesod would be the highest form of love in the Hebrew language. Agape, you would recognize even from last week's message, John 3:16. For God so loved the world, he agape the world. Hesod is the highest form of love, as I said in the Hebrew language. It means loyal. It means steadfast. It means unfailing love. Unfailing love. And the writer shows us here in Psalm 117 that hesed, God's loyal, steadfast, unfailing love, is backed up by some action words.

38:12Action words like this, great toward us. How wonderful is this hesod? Well, it's great towards us. These are good descriptions about the vastness of God's love, but I want you to see what the original Hebrew readers would have understood about that word great. Do you see the word great there? For his loving kindness is great toward us. The word great in the English language is used numerous times throughout the Old Testament, but this is not the great that's normally used. This word for great is only used 25 times in the Old Testament, in the Hebrew. The word great literally means super abundantly covering. It means prevailing, surpassing. It means powerful. I'll say it again: super abundantly covering. Let me give you an example for super abundantly. Abundantly covering, because there's no greater place to turn. Leave your finger in Psalm 117, than Genesis chapter 7 to understand a little bit more about that word great.

39:13Did I say 17? Genesis chapter 7. I'm sorry. Genesis chapter 7, verse 17. This word great is used time and again in this chapter, and it's the word prevailed. You'll see it when we get there, if you're using the New American Standard. This is about the flood. Then the flood came upon the earth for 40 days, and the waters increased and lifted the ark so that it rose above the earth. The waters prevailed. That's the word great, super abundantly covered. The waters prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. The water prevailed. Great, super abundantly covered. More and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. The water prevailed, super abundantly covered, 15 cubits higher, that's 22 and a half feet higher. And the mountains were covered. They were higher than the highest mountain on the planet. Notice what happens in verse 24.

40:16The water was great. It prevailed. It super abundantly covered upon the earth 150 days. How great is God's hesed? It super abundantly covers us. It doesn't go away. Isaiah chapter 42, 13 says this, Yahweh will go forth like a warrior. He will arouse his zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout. Yes, he will raise a war cry. He will prevail. He will greatly prevail against his enemies. So what's the drive? What's the reason for all the nations to praise God? Why should they do that? Here's the reason. Because, he says, because of his steadfast, loyal love, his unfailing, super abundant love prevails towards us. You say, us? Israel? The Goim, the nations? Who's us?

41:19You see that word us in verse 2? Check this out. I'm telling you, we're in the middle of the Egyptian Hillels. They work together. Back in Psalm 117, the last verse of Psalm, excuse me, verse 116, the last verse of 116, verse 19, identifies the center of Israel by pointing out the city of Jerusalem. And here, in Psalm 117, 1 and 2, the nations are pointed out. So he says, Jerusalem, hallelujah, praise God. That's how he ends the chapter. And then he goes over to the Gentiles, to the Goim, and he says, you too are to praise God. So all, you, all. Me included, y'all, plural, southern English.

42:06All the nations and the tribes of the world are called, or shall I say commanded, to praise God. Why? Because of his loyal, steadfast, unfailing, superabundant love. It prevails towards us just like the waters prevailed over the highest mountains twenty-two and a half feet. You see, okay, okay, okay, Mr. Psalmist, but for how long does God's superabundant love prevail towards me, towards us? How long? The answer, it's right there in Psalm 117. Verse 2, the second part, he says, the truth of Yahweh is everlasting. It's eternal. One commentator says it this way. He quotes on this. He says this: Another reason to praise God is that his truth never changes. It's not a weather vein twisting in the wind to reflect the last or latest opinion. Take stock in the fact that God doesn't need pollsters, peddling puree truth serum to us to convince us or to inform him about how to carry out his duties? I love the Hebrew word truth. It can be translated faithfulness. Faithfulness. It's an action. You see, God's truth isn't affected by the latest opinion polls about modern climatologists peddling their truth serum lying. About global warming, now called climate change. The psalmist declares God's truth is eternal. Turn to Psalm 85.

43:42See more about God's love. I love how God's word consistently echoes itself throughout the whole of Scripture. Watch how loving kindness or hesed and truth are used side by side in the same text. Psalm 85, verses 8 through 10. I want to watch how loving kindness, hesod, and truth are used side by side. Starting in verse 8, he says, I will hear what God Yahweh will say, for he will speak peace to his people, to his godly ones, but let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him. The glory, that glory may dwell in our land. Here it is. Loving kindness, that's faithfulness, and truth have met together. Excuse me, hesod and faithfulness have met together. They've come together. They work together. You'll notice the word truth in Psalm 117.2 and also here in Psalm 85.10, again, means faithfulness. Hence, God's faithfulness is eternal. More examples of God's hesod, God's loyal love, his superabundant love, in Psalm 89, 14, same concept is used. Righteous. And justice are the foundation of your throne. Loving kindness and truth, faithfulness go before you. Psalm 115:1, not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, because your loving kindness, because your truth, your faithfulness. It's all running together. Psalm 138, 2, I bow down toward your holy temple to give thanks to your name for your loving kindness and truth. For you have magnified your word to all your name.

45:31Let's turn again to Romans chapter 8 to find out how long God's love lasts and what can't take it away from us. The Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, illustrates God's eternal loyal love for his chosen ones in Psalm, excuse me, Romans 8:35 through 39. I want you to bask in these words for a minute, just to understand the depth and the length and the breadth of God's love. He writes this, Who will separate us? And the word separate there means divorce. Who will separate us? Who will divorce us from the love of Christ? It's a rhetorical question. The obvious answer is nobody. He says, Will tribulation or distress or persecution or famineness or nakedness or peril or sword?

46:21Just as it is written, he quotes the Old Testament, for your sake we are being put to death all day long. We are considered sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things, we overwhelm ourselves. Conquer through him who loved us. Verse 38, for I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, those are demons, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us, divorce us from God's love, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. This, too, is the reason believers must drive, be driven to proclaim God's overwhelming steadfast love and eternal faithfulness so that all the peoples, all the nations, all the international countries can praise him, just like Israel, just like we did here a few moments ago with the teenagers leading us. You see, today, peoples of the world, they are losing their lives for their drive to shout, Hallelujah.

47:25Nations like China, North Korea, and Iran are killing people for praising God, for singing hallelujah. And obscure tribes like those in Iraq would rather praise God than die a brutal death. They'd rather die a brutal death than to submit to the satanic rules of Islam. You can crucify me, but I am not going to bow down to Islam. And they die. For the next couple of weeks, we're going to see how the psalmist deals with people trying to kill him. For holding fast his love for the Lord, we're going to see how he deals with nations surrounding him. He identifies them like bees. They're surrounding him. He uses the word four or five times. They're surrounding me. They're getting around me. They're coming after me. And we're going to see how he gets out of it. And Psalm 118.

48:20Last but not least, the third D, and it's a quick third D because it's only one word. The English phrase, praise the Lord, at the end of Psalm 117, too, as I said earlier, two words in English. In Hebrew, it's just one. It's made to sound like one because the psalmist, he's in a hurry to praise God. He doesn't want to sing, Hallelujah. It just doesn't roll. He's in a hurry. Hallelujah. He cuts God's name in half, which we see repeatedly in the Hebrew language throughout the Old Testament. All right, so your fingers are in Psalm 117. Let's wrap it up with this. Let's read it one more time, and I have a few more things I wanted to say, and we'll be on the road.

49:05Here it is, Psalm 117. Praise the Lord, all nations. Laud him, all peoples, for his loving kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord is everlasting. Hallelujah! That's how he says it. Hallelujah. The psalmist praises it, it reaches a crescendo through what he's saying, and he Just can't get it out fast enough. He cuts God's name in half. In Hebrew, he was so caught up in the rapid praise that he connects these two words with one: praise, and God's name, Yah, rather than completing the whole thing. And with a shout, he ends Psalm 117. But you know what? He's not done with Psalm 117. He rolls right into Psalm 118, and he continues with this idea that the nations are called to praise God, but he narrows it down even further to Israel, to Aaron, and to all those who fear God.

50:07So today I ask you: Are you so consumed? Are you so overwhelmed with God's steadfast, prevailing love, His loving kindness and faithfulness, that you are among the nations and the small groups of people, the little tribes of the world, who can't help but shout, Hallelujah! Praise God at the end of every day. If yes, take the good news to the peoples of the world. Take it to those who call themselves the Tartars or any other name that sounds funny in our language. It doesn't sound funny to God. Be faithful. Be faithful so that they too can shout with an exclamation point, Hallelujah. That's their call. Come back next week, and we'll continue the summer and the Psalms. We'll continue in Psalms 118. Until then, I would ask you to pray the Prayer that my professor, my Hebrew professor, Dr. Barak, prayed from Psalm 117. Bow your heads with me, and I'm going to pray what he prayed. I like the way he summarizes this text. Father, help me to be a witness through my praise to you, verse 1. Lord, save people from all the nations, verse 1. Thank you for your steadfast faithfulness toward your people. Verse 2.

51:35Lord, I would close this with prayer in addition to Dr. Barak and say thank you for this evening. Thank you that you have a passion for the peoples of the world as we see in eternity future. Every tribe, every tongue, every language, every skin color that you have expressed your Hesed and your agape love for will be there singing praises and hallelujahs to your name. Would we, the Emmanuel Baptist Church, be that church here, filled with the colors of your creation?

52:11Will we consider, Lord, that out of 70,000 AM students in town, thousands of them are coming from all the nations, all the Goim, all the tribes. They're right here on our doorstep. Why do we hop on a plane and go to their land? They're here. Love them in a way that doesn't make sense to them. That they would ask, Why do you treat me this way? And oh Lord, would we say, Let me tell you. Let me tell you why.

52:46And it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thank you, and you may have a wonderful day.