“That Your Way May Be Known on the Earth”

“God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, Selah, That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations” (vs1-2).

We want God's blessing, experientially, so that we can bless others (vs1-2). He says, “cause His face to shine upon us, that Your way may be known on earth”. We can't give what we don't have, but we have limitless resources in God through Christ to get all that we need. We are not to sin that grace might abound, walk in unbelief, and pretend to be holy. We are to get real power, fresh grace, and the knowledge of salvation inside of our hearts in such a way that we are changed, so that we minister Christ in God's power, rather than unbelief and human effort. We are not to go alone, but with this access earned by Christ, we trust God to give us what we need, praying, and expecting to be heard.

We've been told, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”, but how can we, except He goes with us (Mark 16:15, 20)? Even the manna, the daily bread, was gathered daily, while never on the Sabbath of rest, so that we don't EARN salvation (Christ did that), but we obey God and do what He commands in order to enjoy it (Ex 16). There is no merit in loving your wife, preaching, or believing, but these are means, like prayer and fasting, for us to get what we need. Christ said, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29). The Psalmist has confidence that God will hear him, and rather than walk in sin, the sin of hiding Christ and selfish living, he goes to God continually for renewed strength and obedience. He wants the blessing from heaven to get into his heart, even love, joy, and peace, so that it may get out of his heart by actions and help others.

He never sent us alone; He never told us to do it ourselves. He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations... and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt 28:19-20). He promised that He'd be with us, so we pray to Him to reveal Himself as OUR Savior... to see His glory in our assured victory. Bless Him! You and I can go to Him for what we need, expecting to get it, so we can be, and we can do what He says. This is our peace. The best and most pleasurable life - the most real joy and peace, and the SAFE life that brings you to Paradise - is the life of heart belief, getting from Christ, continually, obtaining mercies freely, and walking in the Spirit in God's peace, doing His will!

Secondly, we want God honored in Christ and not ourselves (vs3-4). He says, “Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the people praise You. Oh, let the nation be glad and sing for joy! For You shall judge the people righteously, and govern the nations on earth”. We don't minister to be seen, famous, or rich. We don't preach to have an easy life or to gather a crowd unto ourselves. We don't use the gospel to promote ourselves as successful in the eyes of others or even our own eyes. We preach and serve... we come to God in prayer... because we want Him who saved us by grace, Him who keeps us from perishing, and Him who gives great peace continually to be praised, honored, and loved! We want God's name to be exalted, His praise to be sung, and we want poor and desperate sinners to trust Him for their joy! This is according to His will, and He will hear our prayers. He said, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14).

Finally, the Psalmist is fully assured (vs5-7). He says, “God, our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him”. We are not praying in our name, based on what we've done, and we don't come to a doubtful, dubious, half-way god. We come to God in Christ, by the merit of His Son's blood and by His obedience for us. We come to the loving and willing God who gave Christ, and we come to Him who is utterly faithful, so faithful that His Son died to fulfill His promises. God has not only earned His gifts, but He gives the Holy Spirit so that we never look to ourselves for anything, and nothing is doubtful. Just as Christ is my merit, the Spirit is my power, as promised by God. Therefore, I don't pray, “wishing on a star”, or offering words to appease my own mind, while nothing happens. Through Christ, and by faith, I actually have God. Thus, like the Psalmist, and like the apostles, we are SURE of success, even amidst storms, and we pray and rest in peace. Paul said, “But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God I much conflict” and amidst much trouble” (1 Thess 2:2). Confidence is our right through God.