Declare His Glory Among the Nations

Last Sunday we were privileged to have the Reverend Emma Kiwanuka preaching in the morning at NCPC and presenting on his work in Uganda in the evening.  We first came to know Emma as a church when he came all the way from Kampala, Uganda to study at Westminster Seminary in Escondido in the 1990’s.  Emma is now a pastor, church planter, a central leader in the Presbyterian Church in Uganda, is the founder and dean of Westminster Theological College in Uganda and the principal of Westminster Seminary in Uganda.  He is also a lecturer there in New Testament studies.  That’s a lot of ministry!  After having Emma with us, it ought to compel us to ask God to widen our vision and expand our heart for the Gospel’s progress among the nations and for missionary success around the world. 

Let’s spend a moment meditating on Psalm 96, which calls us both to worship and to missions:

Psalm 96:1-4 Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth!  ² Sing to the LORD, bless His name; tell of His salvation from day to day.  ³ Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples!  ⁴ For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.

Notice the flow of the Psalm writer’s thought. 

A call for global worship:  "Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord all the earth!"  The writer’s desire is that no one be left out of this massive worship service!  Don’t miss his heart: the longing in this verse is for a new song of praise to be belted out by every man woman and child on earth!  Do we have such a heartbeat?

A call for global witness: There is a desire not just for worship, but proclamation of a specific message:  “Tell of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples!” The message is God’s grace (salvation), God’s glory, and God's works.  The call is regular (day to day) global (among the nations) proclamation.  He strengthens the poetry with parallelism:

                         

Declare His glory among the nations

                        His marvelous works among all the peoples!

We are to be worshippers, but we are also to be proclaiming God’s majesty among all nations, all peoples.  Why is worship and missions so closely related?  They are closely connected in part because worship is goal of missions.  As pastor and author John Piper puts it:

“The ultimate goal of the church is to reflect and display the glory and worth of God. Missions is a means, not an end. Missions exists because worship and obedience don't. In the age to come there will be no missions. It is not our ultimate end. It is a means to that end.” 

In other words, missions exists to take the Gospel to a place in order that God might transform people into worshippers – something he is seeking (John 4:23).  Then worship will also LEAD to missions.  People who have been reached with the Gospel will then desire to GO with the Gospel (missions). 

Remember that it is not the other way around – missions (or evangelism) is not the goal of worship.  The goal for worship is to give God glory, and then God’s people will be moved to obediently and gratefully take the Gospel to all nations.  We worship (Psalm 96:1) which then moves us to go and declare his salvation to all who will hear (v.2-3).  Evangelism certainly must happen in worship as people come into our midst and hear the Gospel preached (woe unto us if people don’t hear the Gospel in our worship service!).  However worship is for GOD, not for us, though we are the happy beneficiaries of his grace!

A massive motivation for both: “For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.”  He gives a compelling reason to worship and witness:  the greatness of God.  God is worthy to be praised because He is great, and there is no other god besides Him:  “He is to be feared above all gods.”  Truly nothing can compare with Him, and if that grabs hold of us we will bow in humble worship and run to tell the nations of His glory and grace. 

As you reflect on our time with Pastor Emma, ask God to give you this heart of Psalm 96 – a heart to worship and a heart to “declare his glory among the nations.”  May God stoke the fires of worship and witness in our midst!

In Him,

Pastor David