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\u201cPraise 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\u201d (Psalm 117)

I have a memory of Psalm 117 being our weekly memory work. This was grade one. We were so excited. So short. Then one day the preacher read it as the scripture reading. The sermon was very long for so short a psalm.

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

In ancient, Israel this psalm was recited towards the end of the Passover celebration. It was part of the thanksgiving; recited with a goblet of wine in the hand. When we recite, \u2018Praise the Lord,\u2019 we declare our intention to do so. But it is also an invitation for others to join us, in this case, all the nations.

The second verse begins with the preposition 'for'. We praise the Lord 'because'. Of course, 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 Exod. 34:6. That\u2019s an interesting story. God is quite angry with his people for their idolatry with the golden calf. He has decided not to go with them to the promised land. But Moses challenges God on that. In response to Moses, God declares that he is abounding in love and faithfulness. He continues to lead his people.

There is a story in this psalm. The story is not given. But there is a story. The psalm offers us opportunity to fill in the story. What is our story? If we were asked to tell of God's faithfulness and love towards us, what stories would we tell?

When we think about evangelism, we often think about having to explain things about God or about the Bible or the church. That is sometimes the case. But Jesus tells us to be his witnesses: to tell stories about Him and about us. This is first.

The unique feature of this prayer is that it is focussed on the Gentiles. They too are upon God's heart. They too are to know Him. He is the Creator of all, and He will become the Redeemer of all.

The fulfilment of this promise now stands in the Great Commission. Jesus commands the apostles to make disciples out of all the nations (Matt. 28:18-20). Obedience to this command is essential for the church's life. So maybe we ought to pray this psalm more often.

God wants those from every tongue and tribe and nation before His throne. Our refusal to send missionaries or go ourselves is simply a sign of our disobedience. Only as we evangelize the world can we pray this psalm with integrity. This is a short prayer for a missionary heart.