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Return in your Bibles to Psalm 
67. Psalm 67 will consider a prayer for gospel missions. A prayer for gospel missions. This is something of an extended 
application from our message this morning. Remember this morning 
Jesus commissioned, Jesus authorized his disciples, his 12 to go on 
a very specific mission in Galilee to the lost sheep of the house 
of Israel. In Matthew 28, he gives the great 
commission to the church that they are to go and make disciples 
of all the nations. So I thought tonight we would 
take up Psalm 67 and learn something of a prayer for gospel missions. It ought to be in the heartbeat 
of God's people to see the kingdom of Jesus Christ advance. In fact, 
we are taught to pray that specifically in the Lord's Prayer. May His 
kingdom come. not only in its eschatological 
fullness wherein he ushers in the eternal state and we enter 
the consummated glory, but may his kingdom come through the 
preaching of the gospel, through the calling of sinners to repentance 
of faith, through entrance into the kingdom by the power of the 
Holy Spirit, through the word of the gospel itself. I just 
want to read Psalm 67 and then we'll look at this prayer for 
gospel missions. To the chief musician on stringed 
instruments, a psalm, a song. God be merciful to us and bless 
us, and cause his face to shine upon us, say la. That your way 
may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. Let the peoples 
praise you, oh God. Let all the peoples praise you. 
Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy. For you shall judge 
the people righteously, and govern the nations on earth. Selah. Let the peoples praise you, O 
God. Let all the peoples praise you. 
Then the earth shall yield her increase. God, our own God, shall 
bless us. God shall bless us, and all the 
ends of the earth shall fear him. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for 
this, your word. We pray that you would put this 
prayer in our hearts, that tomorrow, through the week, we would remember 
the cause of God and truth throughout this earth. We know there are 
nations steeped in Islam, nations steeped in Romanism, nations 
steeped in atheism, in all manner of departure from your truth. 
We pray, God most high, that you'd raise men up and equip 
them and cause them to know the scripture, to be mighty in the 
scripture, as it was said of Apollos. And may you send them 
forth, preaching the gospel of free and sovereign grace. And 
our Father, may you indeed give us an interest in your harvest. May you give us a desire to see 
workers sent out. And may you give us a zeal and 
an earnestness at the throne of grace to plead, Lord God Almighty, 
that you would send forth your glorious gospel. And we ask for 
Jesus' sake, amen. Well, as I said, this is a prayer 
concerning gospel missions, and it envisions more than what we 
saw this morning, that localized mission to Galilee. This is a 
comprehensive view. It has more in line with Matthew 
28. It is a universal call, or a 
call rather, to God's universal blessing throughout the world. 
Remember, I quoted Knox Chamberlain this morning. He said, the latter 
day Joshua here in Matthew 10, authorizes apostles to conquer 
the land. He will later commission them 
to conquer the world. And when you read through the 
Psalms, we read Psalm 72, we've read Psalm 67. If we would read 
others in the Psalms, the psalmist, the Psalter had an expectation 
of God's blessing on a big scale. In other words, the Psalter understood, 
or the psalmists understood, the Abrahamic covenant. Remember 
that God the Lord promised to Abraham that it wouldn't just 
be a handful. It would rather be a great multitude 
that would be saved from the nations of the earth, yea, the 
families of the earth. And you find that confident expectation 
set forth over and over again in the various psalms that we 
have in the scripture. Now Psalm 67 is calculated or 
it is structured as a prayer. The first section deals with 
the petitions or what the psalmist prays for in verses 1 to 5. He then ends with the promise 
in verses 6 to 7. In other words, if you grant 
these petitions, Lord God, then we expect these particular promises, 
or these particular blessings. Not because the psalmist says 
so, not because it's formulaic, but because of the character 
of God. God in His mercy, God in His covenant, God in His kindness 
has promised to bless a great multitude through the preaching 
of the gospel. So let's look first of all at 
these petitions in verses 1 to 5. And there are two categories 
with three petitions each. The first category is the church. The psalmist prays first for 
the church. I think the idea is clear. We 
need to make sure that we're thinking God's thoughts after 
Him. We need to make sure that our 
house is in order. We need to make sure that all 
the things that we stand in need of are supplied by God so that 
we may be enabled to go to the world. So the first three things 
concern the church. The second three things concern 
the world itself. So the psalmist prays, first 
of all, concerning the church, God be merciful to us. God be merciful to us. I think much of the backdrop 
of Psalm 67 is the Aaronic Blessing in Numbers 6, 24 to 26. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine 
upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance 
upon you and give you peace. It's almost as if the psalmist 
has this in his mind and in his heart. Perhaps he just left the 
temple and this was the benediction read at the end of the service 
so he busies himself in composing this particular prayer in terms 
of God's Word. But God be merciful to us. That's the first petition sought 
by the church at prayer. God be merciful. Continue to 
be gracious. We acknowledge that we do not 
stand based on merit. We acknowledge that we do not 
stand based on our own resources. We acknowledge, Lord God, that 
we are always needy. We are always supplicants. We 
are always beggars before the throne of God Most High. This 
is a great petition to cause us to reflect upon the fact that 
we are a needy people. We never arrive as the Church. We never get to a place where 
we say, that's it, we can't reform anymore, we have filled up the 
measure of Reformation theology. No, one of the maxims of the 
Reformation was always reforming. And the Church of Christ will 
do well to adopt that mindset. But God, be merciful to us. Spurgeon says mercy is a foundation 
attribute in our salvation. He says the best saints and the 
worst sinners may unite in this petition. God be merciful to 
us. Those who have received mercy, 
those who understand mercy, those who traffic in mercy are going 
to be those who go out and propagate mercy. I love that particular 
sequence of events that we find in David's psalm of repentance 
in Psalm 51. You can turn there for just a 
moment. David takes this particular order very seriously. You remember the psalm. You remember 
the occasion. It was a psalm of David when 
Nathan the prophet went to him after he had gone into Bathsheba. So this is at David's lowest 
ebb. This is at David's lowest place. This is at a time when David 
had committed murder. He had committed adultery. The 
prophet brings the law of God to bear upon him. David is humbled. He confesses his sin, the Lord 
God atones, the Lord God forgives. So David takes pen to paper and 
he composes this particular song. He rehearses God's kindness. He rehearses the fact that he's 
having his iniquities blot out. He's acknowledging his sin. He's 
acknowledging his depravity. He's acknowledging the reality 
that David is a wretch. And then notice in verse 7, he 
starts to call out to God, purge me with Issa. and I shall be 
clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter 
than snow. Make me your joy and gladness, 
that the bones you have broken may rejoice. Hide your face from 
my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. He says, Create in 
me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within 
me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take 
your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your 
salvation and uphold me by your generous spirit. Now note the 
order, then I will teach. Transgressors your ways and sinners 
shall be converted to you. You see that? God forgive. God, blot. God, wash. God, restore. God, give me joy. Then I will teach transgressors 
your ways." In other words, when we understand the saving mercy 
of Christ in our lives, when we understand the saving grace 
of the gospel, certainly we're poised better to communicate 
those realities to others as well. And so the psalmist at 
prayer says, God, be merciful to us. Let us not go out in the 
posture or in the disposition of telling people, you need to 
be like us, no? Go out in the posture and with 
the disposition of God is merciful even to the likes of us. That's 
the first petition for the church. The second is for blessing. He 
says, God be merciful to us and bless us. When God, or when we 
bless God, that means we speak well of Him. As in Ephesians 
1, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We're 
not adding to God. We're not enhancing God. We're 
not establishing His blessedness or His glory. Rather, we are 
recognizing it. You know, when we speak about 
that, glorify the Lord. Do you think the Lord needs Jim 
Butler to make Him glorious? That's not the thrust. The idea 
is, is help us to see it, help us to recognize it, help us to 
esteem it, and that's what blessing means. When we bless God, we 
speak well of Him. When God blesses us, He does 
great things for us, things for which we are not worthy. The 
psalmist in Psalm 68 verses 19 and 20 says, Blessed be the Lord. There's that speak well of or 
ascribe blessedness to the Lord. Who daily loads us with benefits, 
the God of our salvation, Selah. He says, Our God is the God of 
salvation, and to God the Lord alone, or God the Lord belong, 
escapes from death. He says he daily loads us with 
benefits. In Psalm 67, God be merciful 
to us and bless us. It is not wrong for us to pray 
for God's blessing. It is not wrong for us to say 
with the psalmist here, be merciful and bless us. Now, blessing ought 
to be aligned with God's will. We don't say, bless me with this, 
or bless me with that, or bless me with whatever it is that'll 
make me cool and hip among the popular kids at school. That 
may not necessarily be a blessing. God bless us with those blessings 
that are fit and accurate for our lives. It is not wrong. We must, however, align our understanding 
of what constitutes a blessing with the scripture instead of 
our own carnal desires. So he prays for mercy, he prays 
for blessing, he prays thirdly for communion. God be merciful 
to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us, say 
Allah. Cause his face to shine upon 
us, say Allah. I interpret that, I understand 
that as meaning we want God. We want his favor. We want his 
kindness. We want his smile. In Psalm, 
we want communion with the living and true God. This is what number 
six sets forth. This is what the psalmist longed 
for. Look at Psalm 42, verses one 
and two. As the deer pants for the water 
brooks, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for 
God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear 
before God? You see, he longs for this. This 
is his desire. This is what he wants when he 
comes to church. He doesn't want to just have 
the patience to grit it out for the hour. God, help me not to 
grimace for the next hour and a half. God, help me not to look 
at my watch incessantly for the next hour and a half. And those 
might be good prayers that you might need to consider offering 
up to the Lord God. Remember, the preacher sees all. 
I know when you're doing this. You know, kids just turn around 
and look at the clock. Adults have to kind of, you know, 
slyly try and get a view of it. The kid has a watch. He's like, 
you know, parents are like, I see it. I know what you're 
doing. So you might need to pray that. 
Do you know what you ought to pray on a Sunday morning? God, 
come down. Come into our midst. Dwell powerfully 
by your spirit. Attend to the word. Be in the 
supper. Be amongst the singing. Encourage 
our hearts. Build us up. Strengthen us. May 
we know a felt, present Christ. That's what the psalmist says. 
He says, bless us and cause his face to shine upon us. It is 
the presence of God most high. that the church desperately needs 
before she can go out and engage in the missionary enterprise. 
In Psalm 63, we see a similar sentiment in verses 1 to 3. He 
says, O God, you are my God. Early will I seek you. My soul 
thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you in a dry 
and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked 
for you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory." Isn't 
that beautiful? Where does he go to find God? 
He doesn't go shimmy up Mount Sham. He doesn't go check himself 
into a monastery. He doesn't go into some encounter 
group. He goes to church. It's the sanctuary 
where God Most High visits His people in the covenant community. Now we know this was a temple, 
a tabernacle, but the church is the new covenant dwelling 
place of God Most High. When we see the seer in the book 
of Revelation, in chapter 1, when he gets a vision, when he 
gets a glimpse of the glorified Christ, where is Jesus standing? He is not standing in the think 
tank. He's not standing in the seminary. 
He's not standing in your discipleship group. He is standing in the 
church. The Bible is very, very pro-church. You want to find God? Go to church. You want to know the shining 
countenance of God? Go to church. You want to know 
His presence? Go to church. Now, do not leave 
here and say, I mean, I can't read my Bible in private. Meet 
God. Yes, you can. Yes, you absolutely can. But 
you certainly meet him in the public place as well. And remember, 
the psalmist here praying on behalf of the covenant community, 
praying for what we in the new covenant call the church, says, 
God be merciful to us and bless us and cause his face to shine 
upon us. This is what the church longs 
for. more of God's presence in their 
midst. We want God to show up on Sunday. We want Christ to walk in the 
midst of the lampstand. We want the Holy Spirit to have 
reign in our hearts and in our minds. We want Him to take that 
word. We want Him to drive it home 
to our consciences. We want Him to effect positive 
change in us. If we have unconverted family 
or unconverted friend, we want to call down the power of the 
Spirit to attend to the preaching of the Word so that people will 
be saved. They'll be born again by the 
power of God Most High. This is what the Church desperately 
needs. We need mercy. We need blessing. And above all, we need the shining 
face of God's holy countenance upon his church. Now notice, 
secondly, in terms of petition, in terms of area of petition, 
he prays for the world. And there are three things he 
prays for concerning the world. The first is for salvation. That your way, verse 2, may be 
known on earth, your salvation Among all nations you see the 
procedure or you see the order rather God be merciful to us 
God bless us God cause his face to shine upon us that Your way 
may be known on all the earth You see when people come to church 
and they meet with the Living God very often they go into the 
world and they tell people about the Living God and 1 Peter 2 
refers to this in this way. It says that God calls us out 
of darkness into his marvelous light so we can sit there like 
bumps on a log. No, that's not what it says. 
Not in any translation that I'm aware of. I'm sure there might 
be one eventually down the road that does translate it that way. 
He calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light that we may 
proclaim his excellencies. the new American standard, that 
we may proclaim that we may declare, that we may tell others, you 
see the specific and conspicuous order, the church at prayer, 
God bless us, God be merciful, bless and cause your face to 
shine upon us, that we may therefore go, that we may tell people on 
the earth, that we may declare your salvation among all the 
nations. C.H. Spurgeon says, it is the 
duty and the privilege of a revived church to make that way to be 
everywhere known. Beautiful. Listen again. It is 
the duty and privilege of a revived church to make that way to be 
everywhere known. The same order with David. I 
have received forgiveness that I may teach transgressors. The 
church at prayer calls upon God for mercy, for blessing, for 
countenance. And then what does she do? Well, 
that's great. We got ours. No, we tell other sinners. We 
pray for young men in our church. We pray for old men. We pray 
that God raise up elders. We pray that God equip men according 
to 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. We understand the normal means. 
We understand how God operates in this world. It's not magic. 
He doesn't open heaven and drop Spurgeon down into a pulpit. 
He raises them up from the midst of the ranks. He causes men to 
take seriously the admonition to study theology, to study their 
Bible, to get up early and stay up late, to engage in self-denial, 
to memorize scripture, to memorize doctrine, to read theology, so 
that they may, by God's grace, go into this world and tell sinners, 
Jesus saves, Jesus saves. You see, that's the order. It 
isn't magic. It isn't dazzling. It isn't sensational. It isn't as romantic as we might 
think. It takes hard work. It takes 
raising men up. It takes some money. It takes 
some sweat. It takes some prayer. It takes some effort and energy 
by the church. Brethren, it can be done, and 
it should be done, because what is at stake? That your way may 
be known on earth. The way of God is his method 
of dealing out mercy and his glorious government. And the 
salvation of God is simply his grace in saving sinners. That's what this world desperately 
needs to hear. So he prays for salvation. Secondly for the world, he prays 
for worship. You see, the psalmist doesn't 
like to see nations reject God. The psalmist is not content with 
men who blaspheme God. Remember that instance where 
the Apostle Paul goes to the city of Athens. There's an interesting 
statement. It says that he looks at the 
city. I've not been to Athens, I've googled it. You know, there's 
all those old buildings, what we call old buildings. Doug Boutin 
is going, those aren't old buildings, those are architectural masterpieces, 
because he's an architect now. I call them old buildings. In 
the centuries in which Paul lived, in the time in which Paul lived, 
they were idle factories. You know what Luke records concerning 
Paul? When he looked around this city, 
he was provoked in his spirit. It's an interesting verb that 
is used because it's a verb used in the Greek translation of the 
Old Testament that's applied to God. When God sees idols, 
he's provoked. Paul felt that. Paul looked around 
and he saw this city given over to idolatry and he was provoked 
in his spirit. So what does he do? He goes to 
the marketplace and he reasons daily concerning the gospel. 
The Stoic and Epicurean philosophers hear about him and say, why don't 
you come on up to the Areopagus? We'd like to hear about this 
Jesus and the resurrection that you're preaching. So what does 
Paul do? He does it. He said the provocation of spirit 
led Paul, the apostle, to take action by the grace of God to 
remedy the situation. And the same order is conspicuous 
in the psalm. Be merciful to us, bless us, 
cause your face to shine upon us, so that men will know you, 
they will be saved by grace, and they'll stop blaspheming, 
they'll stop rejecting, and they will start to praise and to honor 
and to worship you." Notice, verse 3, "...let the peoples 
praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you, O let the 
nations be glad and sing for joy." Verse 5, "...let the peoples 
praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you." A psalmist, 
what is it that you want from the peoples on the earth? I want 
them to praise God! Isn't this the conspicuous order 
in our Lord's Prayer? In His instruction given to the 
Church? In His instruction given to the 
disciples when they ask, Lord, teach us to pray? What comes 
first in the order of business? Our Father, who art in heaven, 
hallowed be Thy name. That is the New Testament counterpart 
to what the psalmist is praying here. We don't want men to trash 
the name of God. We don't want men to reject the 
name of God. We don't want men to blaspheme 
the name of God. We certainly don't want them 
to kill people who profess that saving name. So God, change their 
hearts and let the peoples praise you. He wants worshippers. Note the thrust of the psalm. 
God's mercy, blessing and presence given to the church should promote 
missions and worship. And Piper recognizes a very good 
thought. He says, missions and evangelism 
are not absolute. Missions and evangelism are a 
means to an end. Missions and evangelism are tasked 
with creating worshipers. You see, when you get to the 
eschaton, when we get to the eternal state, when we get to 
heaven, when the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven, when 
the new heavens and the new earth are ushered in, there'll be no 
more evangelism. There'll be no more missions. 
You won't have to evangelize your neighbor in the New Jerusalem 
because he's in the New Jerusalem. He's there by God's grace. He's 
believed the gospel. You don't have to go knock on 
his door and say, let me tell you about Jesus. He's going to 
say, I'm in the New Jerusalem. Of course I know about Jesus. 
But what does exist in the eschaton? What continues? World without 
end. Worship. You see, worship is 
ultimate. Missions and evangelism are means, 
blessed means, we ought to engage in to be sure. The primary purpose 
is to create worshippers for our God who is worthy of worshippers. That's what the psalmist prays. So he prays for the world, salvation, 
worship, and thirdly, for God's rule. Verse 4b, for you shall 
judge the people righteously and govern the nations on earth. Selah. True gladness and true 
joy is found in submission to the rule of Jesus Christ. Pastor 
Cam read Psalm 2 this morning, and there's an equal sentiment 
there. In Psalm 2, verse 10, it says, 
Now therefore be wise, O kings, be instructed, you judges of 
the earth, serve Yahweh with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, 
and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. 
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. Who is David 
calling upon? He's calling upon kings. He's 
calling upon judges. He's calling upon other nations. He's calling upon other body 
politic to worship and bow before the Lord God Almighty. And the 
psalmist is not content to look at the nations around him plunged 
into idolatry, plunged into heathendom. He wants them to be saved. He 
wants them to be worshipers. And he wants them to be loyal 
subjects of God's glorious rule. and that they would find true 
happiness. So those are the petitions. Three 
for the church, three for the world. Notice the promise finally, 
verses 6 and 7. Two-fold promise, temporal and 
spiritual. Temporal and spiritual. Temporal 
means those things connected to the earth, those things that 
are temporary, those things that are physical, those things that 
are material in nature. Notice in verse 6, the earth 
shall yield her increase. God, our own God, shall bless 
us." Commentators suggest that the psalm was probably written 
as a prayer to God for a bountiful harvest. How does bountiful harvest 
come? Is it just the best science that 
has taught us how to water and when to water and how much sunlight 
we need? Or is the best harvest found 
in submission to the rule of Jesus Christ most high? Notice, 
then the earth shall yield her increase. God, our own God, shall 
bless us. Spurgeon says, sin first laid 
a curse on the soil, and grace alone can remove it. Under tyrannical 
governments, lands become unproductive. Never make that mistake. It's 
not like North America just got blessed with sewage systems and 
plumbing and electrical. No. There's nations in this world 
that have rejected God. They worship the creature rather 
than the Creator. And that faith commitment has 
brought judgment upon their land. It's not that North Americans 
are just smart to eat cows and Indians are not smart to eat 
cows. It's a faith commitment. Listen 
to Spurgeon. No, we don't always think this 
way, but the Psalter is filled with it. The prophets are filled 
with it and there's New Testament evidences as well. Sin first 
laid a curse on the soil and grace alone can remove it. Under 
tyrannical governments, lands become unproductive. Even the 
land which flowed with milk and honey is almost a wilderness 
under Turkish rule. But when the principles of true 
religion shall have elevated mankind, and the dominion of 
Jesus shall be universally acknowledged, the science of tillage shall 
be perfected, men shall be encouraged to labor, industry shall banish 
peonyry, and the soil shall be restored to more than its highest 
condition of fertility. For those of you who have been 
around for some time, you'll remember that story we heard 
of missions in Haiti. Brothers will go to Haiti and 
they'll preach the gospel to people. And one time they were 
preaching not only the gospel, but teaching how to subdue the 
land. And one of the Haitian pastors 
that was there learned how to guard it. He went back to his 
village and he did a guard it. Next time he came to the conference, 
he said, what these guys are saying works. I grew food in 
my backyard. And we just take it for granted 
that everybody knows you just grow food in your backyard. But 
not in these nations, not in some of these places. They don't 
have this information that they take for granted. We have been 
blessed by God Almighty, not just with sewage systems, not 
just with electrical work, not just with some human ingenuity, 
but with at least some common grace wherein men have recognized 
their Creator and have sought by the grace of God to do some 
things well. Spurgeon's quote, I think, is 
apropos. It's very appropriate. We need 
to understand it. But secondly, the promise of 
spiritual blessings. Notice in verse 7, God shall 
bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. There is great expectation in 
the Psalter. This is one of the reasons why 
we ought to sing Psalms, why our Trinity Psalter ought to 
be employed. I just don't know that many tunes. 
I'm sure you'll all know. There's expectation, there's 
confidence, there's hope when these men sang. We saw that in 
Psalm 72, he shall have dominion from sea to sea. This is what 
the psalmist says, God shall bless us and all the ends of 
the earth shall fear him. John Calvin commented and said, 
the psalm contains a prediction of Christ's kingdom under which 
the whole world was to be adopted into a privileged relationship 
with God. C. H. Spurgeon said, despite 
the gloomy notions of some, we cling to the belief that the 
kingdom of Christ will embrace the whole habitable globe and 
that all flesh shall see the salvation of God for this glorious 
consummation we agonize in prayer. Now when we get to the New Testament 
it ought not to surprise us when Jesus employs this language in 
Matthew 28. Go therefore and make disciples 
of all the nations. Why? Because his father gave 
them to him. Psalm 2 again, Pastor Porter 
read it this morning. Ask of me, Yahweh sends to the 
Son, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance. 
I will give you the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. So when we get to Matthew 28, 
Jesus says, go therefore and disciple the nations, the disciples 
don't scratch their heads, what are you saying Lord? They understand 
there's a Christocracy. They understand that there is 
Christ with absolute authority who has been given this gift 
by his father and their task is to go out and evangelize, 
to preach the gospel, to call sinners to repentance and faith. This psalm sets forth for us 
a biblical doctrine of globalism. Globalism is defined as a policy 
in which the world is seen as the appropriate sphere for a 
state's influence. Now, in that definition, it is 
a horrible concept. It is an absolutely abominable 
concept. We ought not want the world or 
the state to enact globalism. But Psalm 67 pictures a Christocentric, 
Christ-centered globalism that ought to encourage the saints 
of God most high. The Father has given the nations 
to his Son, the Father has given the uttermost parts of the earth 
for his possession. Therefore, as the Church, we 
pray, God be merciful to us, God bless us, God cause your 
face to shine upon us, so that the world may know your salvation, 
so that they may be brought out of darkness into marvelous light 
to be worshipers, and so that they will submit to your glorious 
rule. The church ought to pray in kind. We ought to take this. We ought 
to adopt it. We ought to take it to our closets. 
We ought to pray it on Wednesday night. We ought to pray it on 
Sunday morning. We ought to conspicuously remember 
gospel missions for the glory of Christ, for the exaltation 
of his name, and for the extension of his blessed kingdom. For that 
is one of the reasons why he has saved us. It is so that we 
will go therefore and tell others." Now I'm not supposing that everybody 
here is going to go to China to tell sinners how to be saved. 
But you can certainly pray. Please pray. Pray for the missionary 
enterprise. Pray for the missionaries that 
we know and love. Pray for those brethren that we get their letters. Pray for them. Remember them 
at the throne of grace. And remember, ultimately, it 
is because of the cross that the church receives mercy, blessing, 
and God's presence. And it's because of the cross 
that the nations will, in fact, be glad and sing for joy. If 
you have not come to the cross yourself, then by God's grace, 
look to the Lord Jesus Christ, believe and be saved, and then 
pray with the psalmist, God be merciful to us, bless us, cause 
your face to shine upon us, so that we may propagate your glorious 
truth. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for your word, we thank you for this psalmist prayer 
for the church and for the world, and I pray, God in heaven, that 
you would just help us to take these things to heart, Help us, 
Father, to pray these things back to you on a regular basis. 
Help us to be concerned with what is going on in this world 
when we see political oppression, when we see governments that 
tyrannize. May we come to you before the throne of grace and 
ask and beseech and pray that your gospel would be proclaimed 
in these lands. We ask, our Father, that you 
would be merciful to us as a church. that you would in fact bless 
us and that you would commune with us on a regular basis. Forgive us for all of our sins 
and our transgressions. Send us from this place with 
a desire to glorify you in this world. And we pray through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen.