Psalm 117 (Romans 15:8-12)

It’s the shortest of all the Psalms, a call to the Gentiles to give God praise.  Enough said, right?  No.  Not so fast.  For one thing, remember that this one of the Hillel Psalms, celebrated in Israel.  It begins and ends with Praise the Lord.  While directed toward the Nations it is special to Israel.

Also, notice the beautiful and simple poetical form.  Each verse is two couplets, with parallel thoughts.  In v1 the Gentiles (nations) and all you peoples are called to praise (shine a light on) and laud (commend, boast of) the God of Israel.  In v2 the cause for praise is His merciful kindness (checed) and enduring truth (emeth).  These attributes of God that appear together so often in the Psalms that cause Israel to praise the Lord is what also evokes praise from the Gentiles.

There’s more.  Don’t miss the “us”: His merciful kindness is great toward us, towards Israel.  Why should Gentiles praise God for mercy and truth to Israel?

·        First, remember that in the Abrahamic Covenant God promises to bless ALL the families of the earth (Gen. 12:2-3).  So of course, God’s mercy to Abraham (who with his descendants would need God’s mercy) and enduring truth (the fulfillment of the promise would depend on God’s faithfulness) would result in the Messiah, the Savior, the Son of God, who would come to earth in the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and David.

·        Second, note from Romans 15:8-12 all the quotes Paul takes from the OT to support his own call to the Gentiles to be obedient to the faith.

o   15:9 from Psalm 18:49, the Psalm of David sung when God delivered him from all his enemies.  So it will be with the Son of David, when He comes in victory over His enemies.  He will rule on David’s throne in Zion; i.e. God’s mercy and truth to Israel will be accomplished through the Messiah.

o   15:10 from Deuteronomy 32:43.  The source is the end of the Song of Moses wherein it was foretold how Israel would stray from God and be judged but in the end would be saved for the glory of His Name.  It concludes with this call to Gentiles to praise God.  As Ezekiel said, the Gentiles would know once the whole story of Israel was complete, the story of God’s furious wrath and His abundant mercy (Ezek. 39:21-29).

o   15:11 from Psalm 117:1 where God’s mercy and truth to Israel is the basis for the Gentiles to be called to praise.

o   15:12 from Isaiah 11:1,10 where the Messiah is clearly tied to Israel as the root of Jesse who will rise to reign over the Gentiles.  And this brings us back to where we started with Abraham: the blessing of all the nations is dependent on God’s mercy and faithfulness in keeping His promise to Abraham.  Paul, who established this fact in Romans 9-11 (11:26: so all Israel will be saved), is here applying it to the Gentiles.  There is no reason to wait until Christ returns in triumph.  NOW is the time of salvation.  Now is the time for all peoples to heed the call of Psalm 117!