Last semester, I had a great opportu­nity to study “The spirituality of the Psalms”. Like most Christians, I love to read and meditate on the Psalms because they lead me to pour out my heart to the Lord in the midst of vari­ous situations as the Psalmists did. They also encourage me to draw attention to my relationship with God and with others.

The subject of the spirituality of the Psalm is enormously wide-ranging, but I would like to share one aspect — our call to world mission.

The Psalms are not simply a product of the faith of Israel, the pouring out of human hearts, they are also part of the canon of Scripture for all Christians, inspired by God. Hence the Psalms are not only human words to God, but they are also the words of God to humans. Because they disclose who God is, we can be taught about God through reading the Psalms. For this reason, the Psalms have always been cherished to instruct God’s people con­cerning God, concerning the world, and concerning the life of faith.

The Psalms consists of five Books. The final chapter of Book III, Psalm 89, speaks of a crisis in the life of Israel: the king had failed and the covenant was broken. Was there a future for the nation? When the people of Israel cried out because of their suffering, God responded to them. Gerald H. Wilson suggests that Books IV and V of the Psalter are designed “as the ‘answer’ to the problem posed in Ps 89”. And the main answer that Book IV provides to us is: “The Lord reigns!”

God’s kingly reign is where we begin to understand the spirituality of the Psalms, the basic element in the faith of the psalmists. The Psalms speak of God as the one who is King eternally (10:16). He is enthroned on his heavenly throne (11:4; 29:10) and he is obviously the ‘king from of old’ (74:12) as the Creator. Therefore he is properly King over all the earth (47:2, 7) and the proclamation “The Lord reigns; will be heard in all nations” (96:10).

The reign of God includes three spheres in the Psalms: Yahweh is ruler of the gods (95:3; 97:7, 9), he rules over the world and all its components (93:3-4; 95:4-5; 97:4-5; 96:11-13; 98:7-9), and he rules over all peo­ples and all nations (47:2, 7-8; 96:3,10; 97:6-7; 99:2). The substance of the reign of God is shown not only as a foundation for praise and petition, but also a model for the life of the faithful. The reign of God offers grounds of praise, prayer, instruction, cry­ing, complaint, and so on.

The book of Psalms suggests that those who choose to live under the reign of God will praise God, pray to God and will long to see his salvation reach all the nations. That is why the book of Psalms is one of the greatest missionary books in the world.

If we read through the Psalms and mark all the places where the Psalmist speaks of God’s call to the nations, we find more than 175 references. When worshippers sang these songs in the Temple, they must have been impressed by the fact that God would bring salvation to the nations. There are some very famous Psalms that have a strong missionary message, such as Psalms 2, 72 and 98. But there are others as well, such as Psalms 67, 96 and 117.

Psalm 67 is a passionate prayer that God would act on the promise he gave to Abraham to make him a blessing to all the peoples on earth (Gen 12:3). As Derek Kidner has said: “If a Psalm was ever writ­ten around the promises to Abraham, that he would be both blessed and made a bless­ing, it could well have been Psalm 67.” This Psalm has almost the same structure as Genesis 12:2-3 “Bless us ... bless us ... bless us ... that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.”

When the worshippers of Israel sang Psalm 67, they realised why God was so merciful to them: that “all the ends of the earth might fear him” (v 7). God gave them a better life so that the nations would know the Lord, receive his salvation, and sing for joy in living under his rule (vv 2-4). God is concerned that all the peoples “fear” him.

He wants them to submit to him — to his way of understanding, of living and of worship. Everyone who sang this psalm was asking God to bless them so that they themselves could share the good news of Yahweh’s kindness with people from other cultures.

Psalm 96 is another missionary psalm.

It not only calls on God’s people to “sing to the Lord” (v 2); it also commands them to “proclaim his salvation day after day”, and to “declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all people” (v 3). The Psalmist obviously believed that the people of Israel had some good news to tell the nations.

When the Psalmist calls on Israel to “proclaim his salvation” (v 2), he uses a Hebrew word (basar) which is the Old Testament term for what the apostles did in “bringing the good news” or “announcing the gospel” (euangeli­zomai) in the New Testament. The apos­tles preached the crucified and risen Jesus. The psalmist had the same hope too. He wanted the nations to turn to Israel’s Messiah, the one who would be a greater king than David.

Psalm 117 is a very small psalm, but it has huge implications. It calls on all the nations and peoples of the earth to praise the Lord (v 1). But how can they extol the Lord unless someone goes to them and tells them about God’s love for those who are lost in sin? The only rea­son why Israel would go is because she is convinced that God’s love for her requires it. And that is what the Psalmist says (v 2). Israelites have to be a joyful, witnessing people who want other peo­ple to know the true God. The same should be true for you and me. When we sing the Psalms we should become enthusiastic for mission. We will want to reach out to people from other cultures with the good news about Jesus.

The vital theological declaration of the Psalter is that the Lord reigns! The notion of the reign of God should moti­vate us to worship and missionary work. In worship, God’s people celebrate the magnificent deeds of the One who is king and creator of all. Our worship is an affirmation that “The Lord reigns!” to all the earth. Through our worship all peo­ple are summoned to join in the proclamation “The Lord reigns!” (96:10).

The Psalms draw the portrait of the nations of the world being subject to our God. God is so great that the nations will come and worship before him (96:3, 99:2-3). The Psalms summon you and me, and they also command us to call upon people in other lands to do the same as well.