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“Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord” (Psalm 117).

 I remember that Psalm 117 was once our weekly memory work. We were excited: so short. Shortly after, the minister read it as his sermon text. The preaching lasted a long time for so short a psalm.

We are reminded that God does not require long prayers (or sermons). The issue is not the length or the words, but the intention of our hearts. For this reason, Jesus warned us about elaborate praying, believing that we are heard for our many words (Matthew 6:7). Brief praise is enough when it expresses our relationship with the Lord.

And that is what this brief psalm does. Its a simple yet powerful statement about the relationship between Israel and her God. In ancient Israel, it was recited towards the end of the Passover celebration. It was part of her thanksgiving to God for redeeming her, recited with a goblet of wine in hand.

As we echo Israel and recite, `Praise the Lord,' we declare our intention to praise God. And it is an invitation for others of all nations to join us.

The second stanza begins with the preposition 'for'. We praise the Lord 'because'. There is a reason for praise. The question is 'because why'. And the psalmist answers for us: because of the Lord's love and faithfulness towards us. These are two of God's self-descriptive words to Moses in Exodus 34:6.

Since that time God had shown himself to be true to his word. The psalm doesn’t linger here but does invite us to fill in our story of God’s love and faithfulness. Our story begins with Jesus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). With this beginning, we tell our own story of redemption.

Like Psalm 117, this verse expands our focus to those not yet part of the worshipping community. An essential element of worship is to declare the greatness of our God, not for those praising, but for those listening in. The uniqueness of this short prayer is that it is focussed on the Gentiles. They too are upon God's heart. They too need to know Him. But how will they know him if no one tells them? He is the Creator of all, and He will become the Redeemer of all.

The fulfilment of this psalm now rests in the church carrying out the Great Commission. Jesus commands the apostles to make disciples of all the nations (Matthew 28:18-20). Obedience to this command is essential for the church's life. God wants those from every tongue and tribe and nation before His throne.

Our neglect to send missionaries or go ourselves is disobedience. Only as we witness to the world can we pray this psalm with integrity. This is a short prayer for a missionary heart. Witness begins with declaring the praises of our God.