Introduction

One of the challenges of raising a family of children, it seems to me, is the whole issue of being fair to each one as you raise the group.

Now, I was an only child, but I have clear memories of going to family gatherings at the homes of Aunty Vi. or Aunty Ceridwen or whoever that were attended by cousins or other young relatives of one sort or another … and comparing who got the biggest glass of squash or piece of cake or whatever when the hospitality kicked off.

And I remember the maternal figure telling us not to squabble because ‘I’m treating you all the same!’

And when you look at the Old Testament, and you see how God was so very partial to the Hebrews it initially seems unfair.

And He didn’t do this because they were deserving of it.

He says explicitly in Deuteronomy 7:7-9“The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.”

So how is that fair?

Well, as we continue to look at the Psalms the Lord sang in the Upper Room just before He went out with His disciples to Gethsemane on that epoch-making night, we have arrived at Psalm 117.

It’s the shortest psalm in the Bible and it casts bright shining light on this issue of the gracious but just way God treats all people.

There are three things going on in this very short Psalm, orbiting around

·       God.

·       All Nations, and

·       God’s praise.

Firstly, exactly as He should be, God is the focus in this psalm of praise and is specifically named as ‘YHWH’

1) Y(a)HW(e)H

We spent a long time late last year and early this year working our way through the Book of Esther which doesn’t mention God once in the whole book, but here in this extremely short psalm, God is referenced twice, in the appeal to praise God in the very first phrase and the same appeal to praise God in the final phrase.

Psalm 117:1a & 2c

“Praise the LORD … Praise the LORD”

It would be fair to say God is a major emphasis here, then!

But it is a specific name for God used here which emphasises something about Him.

It is the Name YHWH that is used.

The use of this name of God evokes Exodus 3:14 where Moses (who at the time is being called by God to take on pharaoh and lead the Hebrews out of Egypt) meets God at the burning bush, gets commissioned to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt and challenges the idea by wanting to know Who it is that is commissioning him for this task.

“Moses said to God, ‘Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is his name?” Then what shall I tell them?’

14 God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: “I am has sent me to you.”’

15 God also said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites, “The Lord, the God of your fathers – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob – has sent me to you.”

‘This is my name for ever,

    the name you shall call me

    from generation to generation.”

The verb form used here in exodus is אֶהְיֶה (ʾehyeh), the Qal imperfect, first person common singular, of the verb הָיָה (hayah, “to be”). 

It forms an excellent paronomasia with the name. 

(A WHAT?!)

Paronomasia is the technique of using a pun, or a joke based on multiple or possible meanings of words. 

Shakespeare was the king of paronomasia. 

Most examples of paronomasia are funny, a clever play on words, although it's also used for emphasis in rhetoric or as a poetic device in literature.

When God used the verb to express his name, he used this form saying, “I am.” 

So when his people refer to him as Yahweh, which is the third person masculine singular form of the same verb, they say “he is.” 

By definition God is the Living One.

As John puts it in John 1:4

“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 

5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Some commentators argue for a future tense translation of what the LORD reveals of Himself to Moses back in Exodus 3: 

“I will be who I will be,” 

because the verb has an active quality about it, and the Israelites lived in the light of the promises for the future. 

They argue that “I am” would be of little help to the Israelites in bondage. 

But a translation of “I will be” does not effectively do much more except restrict it to the future. 

The idea of the verb would certainly indicate that God is not bound by time, and while he is present (“I am”) he will always be present, even in the future, and so “I am” would embrace that as well (see also Ruth 2:13; Ps 50:21; Hosea 1:9). 

The Greek translation of the OT used a participle to capture the idea, and several times in the Gospels Jesus used the powerful “I am” with this significance (e.g., John 8:58). 

The point is that Yahweh is sovereignly independent of all creation and that his presence guarantees the fulfillment of the covenant (cf. Isa 41:4; 42:6, 8; 43:10-11; 44:6; 45:5-7).

So, the thing is, God, the Creator of all things, wanted to foster a close relationship with the people He made. 

So, instead of remaining aloof and distant, He chose to reveal Himself. 

Giving them His true name was an act of intimacy that invited mankind to know Him. 

It was one of the first of many expressions of love God showed to His people.

But can you see the problem with that?

God is the Holy One Whose eyes are too pure to look on evil, Who cannot look on wrong-doing (as Habakkuk 1:13 puts it).

Now, we know the Lord Jesus knows as He sings this psalm with His disciples in the Upper Room and then heads out into the night and onwards to Gethsemane that His Father has a plan to deal with that problem for sinful human beings.

God is fulfilling His desire for fellowship with humanity.

This Name for God came to speak very clearly of the covenant making character of the Almighty.

He is fulfilling the promise of His Name by securing the sacrifice that Christ is about to make on the Cross.

And the Lord knows that as He sings this psalm in that upper room.

We know that because He took such pains to try to warn His followers of this in the run-up to Golgotha, but they just couldn’t take His warnings on board at the time.

Ok.

So THAT is the God we are being urged to PRAISE.

Now how hard is THAT?

Not hard at all!

But the big new deal here is that this is NOT just about fulfilling His covenant Name for the Hebrews … which is even more inspiring of His praise.

The huge (prophetic) emphasis of this psalm lies on the Nations.

2) All Nations

In fact, the translators of the New English Translation see the whole purpose of this psalm in these terms.

As they write a short summary introduction of what they say the psalm is about they write:

“The psalmist tells the nations to praise the Lord for his loyal love and faithfulness.”

So …

Psalm 117:1

‘Praise the Lord, all you nations;

    extol him, all you peoples.”

We know who the nations are.

They equate pretty much to what the New Testament describes as ‘the world’ … the world order based on ignoring, or rather rejecting, the God Who MADE the world and everything in it.

In Old Testament terms it is the other nations around Israel.

In New Testament terms it is the world that organises itself without reference to God.

Why are all Nations to do this?

It’s down to God’s essential character … it’s down to His faithfulness.

a) His חֶ֫סֶד (che.sed) 'kindness'

Hesed is essentially sacrificial love in action. 

When there is a covenant relationship, such as in a marriage, hesed is modeled. 

In traditional wedding vows, we say things like, “In sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer…” 

There is a covenant under God being made that no matter what, I as a husband am committed to loving my wife even when I might think she does not deserve my love and she is committed to love me in the same way.

You get a great illustration of this in the Book of Ruth, where Boaz is the bright shining example of it.

Even though Ruth did not deserve to be married to Boaz so that she could carry on the family name of her previous husband, Boaz chose to give hesed. 

There’s another example of this hesed in Hosea when the prophet was called on to marry Gomer the prostitute who continued to abandon Hosea, but his love extended beyond her failures and rejections. 

And you see this with God from the very beginning, with Adam and Eve hiding in the garden and God the Father walking and gently calling for them even though they had fallen into sin. 

The Lord pursues us. 

He always has been, and He will pursue us every day of our lives.

Even though I chose my sin over God, He did not have to come down and rescue me, but He did.

 In Ancient Near Eastern suzerainty treaties between a ruler and their people, you get two parties … one that is more powerful known as the suzerain, and one less powerful that is being protected in this covenant known as the vassal. 

And initially in Scripture God is described against the background of those suzerainty treaties as being “hesed” in Exodus 34:6. 

God demonstrates this covenant faithfulness and loving-kindness in so many ways to His people as the more powerful one. 

He always keeps his Word to them, seeks after their welfare, and loves them like a groom loves his bride.

So what we’re saying is that this ‘kindness’ word in Scripture is usually viewed in the context of God’s consistency with His covenant.

And here in this verse now in Psalm 117, God’s hesed is said to ‘tower over us’

גָּבַר (ga.var) 'to prevail' 

1) to prevail, have strength, be strong, be powerful, be mighty, be great 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to be strong, mighty 1a2) to prevail 1b) (Piel) to make strong, strengthen 1c) (Hiphil) 1c1) to confirm, give strength 1c2) to confirm (a covenant) 1d) (Hithpael) 1d1) to show oneself mighty 1d2) to act proudly (toward God)

viewed in the context of God’s consistency with His covenant.

Now we’re quite used to seeing in the Old Testament that God is faithful to His covenant promises to the Hebrews, His Old Covenant people.

And it is easy to forget that before God made His covenant with Moses and the Hebrews, He made a foundational covenant with Abraham …

b) His eternal faithfulness

v. 2b “the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever.”

עוֹלָם (o.lam) 'forever: enduring'

1) long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world 

1a) ancient time, long time (of past) 

            1b) (of future) 

            1b1) for ever, always 

            1b2) continuous existence, perpetual 

            1b3) everlasting, indefinite or unending future, eternity

There is such a high proportion of things in this psalm that flow from one another.

God, YHWH, the God of the covenant is by definition going to be a God Who EXISTS, Who demonstrates covenant loyalty and Who KEEPS His covenant faithfully and loyally.

It’s the people He choses to make His covenant with that is the big revelatory element in this Psalm’s thinking … it is to the Nations that He is the covenant keeping, faithful God and THAT is the big surprise.

Eternally faithful follows from what we know already.

But these issues are nonetheless significant, life-changing for us, glorious and worthy of praise.

And here’s where we really start to home in on the point this psalm’s making for us.

We’re coming now to the third element in this psalm, then (God, All Nations, and now the third big issue is …)

3) His praise

This is the Hebrew word here that dominates this psalm … God is to be praised:

הָלַל (ha.lal) 'to boast: praise'

1)     to shine 1a) (Qal) to shine (fig. of God's favour) 1b) (Hiphil) to flash forth light 2) to praise, boast, be boastful 2a) (Qal) 2a1) to be boastful 2a2) boastful ones, boasters (participle) 2b) (Piel) 2b1) to praise 2b2) to boast, make a boast 2c) (Pual) 2c1) to be praised, be made praiseworthy, be commended, be worthy of praise 2d) (Hithpael) to boast, glory, make one's boast

Nations, praise the Lord.

All you peoples, praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

The whole injunction to all the peoples is to praise the Lord on the basis of what Leslie Allen refers to as ‘the favourite text of the post-exilic religious community’.

What’s he talking about?

In Exodus 34 the Lord summons Moses back up Mount Sinai to receive a second set of stone tablets to graciously replace the originals.

Now, you’ll remember that God had summoned Moses up Mount Sinai to receive the laws that constituted their covenant with God … their Suzerain Who had just stepped in for them and rescued them from bondage in Egypt to be a people for Himself.

But while Moses was up the mountain, going about things to God’s time-schedule (which the people waiting for Moses to return thought was running too slow) the people decided they’d spice things up a bit and made a golden calf to dance around and idol-worship.

They had been rescued out of Egypt.
God had called them to Sinai to receive a Covenant guarantee of His Loving kindness.

And they grew quickly impatient … turning their backs on His covenant kindness and love.

Now in Exodus 34, God goes back to where things stood before the golden calf, wipes out the damage Israelite idolatry at the very base of the Holy mountain and graciously, very graciously, carves the covenant in the rock for them again.
Word for Word as before.

But now it will be different.

Because there reclines Jesus, at the final Passover with His disciples, bidding the Nations rejoice in the God Who is of THIS character, in the definite knowledge that the next day He was going to be lined up for it and then in the next few days He would cut a new covenant with those who’d resisted God’s grace.

We read in Exodus 34 of Moses standing with those second stone tablets, when:

“the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’”

And the YHWH Name for God is the One Who is described here … 

the compassionate

the gracious

the slow to anger

the One abounding in love and faithfulness in the salvation of those whose sin He Himself pays the price for.

He does NOT leave the guilty unpunished, but for those who enter into His faithful covenant with them He Himself bears the punishment … as Christ well knew as He walked the way of the Cross.

Conclusion

You see it is both the mercy and the justice of God that the Lord walks out to Golgotha to fulfil.

He is treating us now … in the fulfilment of His purpose to redeem humanity … in the definitive covenant with humanity … He is treating us all the same.

It was made clear from the beginning that the Sinai Covenant wasn’t being made with the Hebrews because they deserved it in any way … simply because of God’s free grace.

But the payment that was made to empower it still lay hidden in God’s future.

When the price was paid so that we might enter into God’s favour it was made by the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross … and the fact that He had fully paid that price for all nations, regardless, was demonstrated in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came in power on … all nations:

Acts 2:5-12

“Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: ‘Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs – we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!’ 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, ‘What does this mean?’”

What it means is that the prophecy of Joel 2:28-32 is fulfilled 

“‘“In the last days, God says,
    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your young men will see visions,
    your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
    and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heavens above
    and signs on the earth below,
    blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood
    before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
    on the name of the Lord will be saved.””

Everyone.

All nations.

Treated the same because all are equally in the situation Romans 3:22-26 describes:

“There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished 26  – he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

Everyone IS the same.

Everyone is treated the same.

And as He heads out to Calvary the Lord knows what He’s doing, what it is about to COST Him, and the Glory that what He’s doing is about to achieve.

And He does NOT draw back from the task.

So …

“Praise the Lord, all you nations;
    extol him, all you peoples.
2 For great is his love towards us,
    and the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever.

Praise the Lord”