Psalm 117 – the shortest Psalm in the Bible – shows us that length is not the measure that best communicates verbal authority. Short is sometimes sweet, and an economy of words can transmit far more effective meaning than a profusion of grandiloquent discourse. Such is the case here. This Psalm is a call to “all you peoples” – nations and individuals – to fulfill their national and personal responsibility to “praise and extol the LORD” (verse 1). As my youngest granddaughter would say, “It’s that simple.” Where did we get this responsibility, and why do we have it? We were given this responsibility by God because we are His living creatures, His “love toward us is great, and His faithfulness endures forever” (verses 1-2). God extends His personal care over His entire creation, and whether we accept this truth or not, everything that God is and does flows out of His heart of love and care for His entire creation – period. Because He is faithfully immutable, God’s love and care will never change. How many people in our world today completely overlook, ignore, or deny this simple responsibility? Psalm 117 reminds us to take seriously our responsibility to evidence overflowing praise for Him every day and everywhere.
In yesterday’s readings of Jeremiah (i.e., cf., 7:30-9:16), Jeremiah envisioned the Valley of Slaughter and the desolation for Judah’s sin. We saw his weeping – “a fountain of tears” (verse 9:1 and 9:10) – over the “heap of ruins” that was Jerusalem and “the towns laid waste in Judah” (verse 9:11). The prophet asked, “Why has this land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?” (verse 9:12). In today’s reading from Jeremiah 9:17-11:17, we see once again Judah’s idolatry and its consequences. God told the people, “Do not learn the ways of the nations” (verse 10:1). The nations were given to cutting down a tree, shaping it with a chisel, adorning it with silver and gold, fastening it …,” and then worshiping it (verses 3-4). But their creation was no more useful or meaningful than a "scarecrow in a melon patch that could not speak or walk” (verse 5). Who does that? Compare such a god to the God of Psalm 117. As a result, God promised them “a disaster from which they could not escape” (cf., 11:11). In fact, God told Jeremiah not even “to pray for this people” (verse 14). These were reprobate peoples who completely overlooked, ignored, and denied their simple responsibility taught in Psalm 117. What a tragedy!
In another short but powerful passage for today – Colossians 1:24-29 – we read about Paul’s labor of love and his struggle “with all his energy” to present the saints at Colossae and all believers [everywhere] to be “perfect in Christ” (verses 28-29). This reading is an especially important passage because it reveals “the mystery” that God, in His sovereign right and will, has “kept hidden for ages and generations but is now disclosed to the saints” (verse 26). Of course, we now know that mystery as the church and God’s provision to include the Gentiles in His eternal plan, as well as “to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you – the hope of glory” (verse 27). I can’t think of a greater reason to apply the truth of Psalm 117.
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