A Heart for the Nations
1 Samuel 24; Psalms 57-58; 1 Chronicles 8; Matthew 8
“I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaching to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.”
Psalm 57:9-11
David’s vision was for the nations to know and experience God’s love, faithfulness, and glory. Despite his rural upbringing and Israel’s unique covenant with God, David had a heart for other nations.
Why?
David’s heart went to the nations because that was God’s heart and David was a man after God’s own heart. After healing the Roman centurion’s servant, Jesus said that “many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11). Jesus declared himself to be the “Root and the offspring of David” (Revelation 22:16). David’s desire to see the nations experiencing and acknowledging the glory of God is the same desire Jesus planted in his disciples and in his Church.
How is this heart for the nations being expressed in our lives today?
“Lord Jesus, deepen my love for nations and peoples still outside of your kingdom.”