God loves the nations. God calls the nations to come to him through Christ. These two thoughts are all over the Psalms. And still there is more. In the Psalms God clearly promises to bring the nations in to his kingdom!
The book of Psalms opens with a two-sided coin in Psalm 2. On the one hand the nations are pictured in opposition to the LORD and his Anointed One, whom we know is Jesus Christ. The peoples scorn God but God laughs at their puny opposition (see vv. 1–6). But then in verse 8 comes this extraordinary decree and amazing promise of grace where the LORD says to his royal Son, “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.”
So, despite the hatred and opposition of the nations—and Christ will crush that opposition with his rod of iron (v. 9; see Rev 19:11–21)—yet there will also be a selection or remnant of all the nations that will come to Christ in faith and humble submission. So the closing warning of Psalm 2 to all earthly kings to, “Kiss the Son lest he be angry, and you perish in the way” is a gospel call for the nations to repent and embrace Jesus as King. And God’s promise in verse 8 guarantees that many among the peoples will do exactly that.
The King Saves the Nations
Psalm 2’s promise is actually the direct background to Christ’s command in Matthew 28. The nations will be Christ’s heritage and possession! The terms “heritage” and “possession” in the OT were normally applied only to Israel but Psalm 2 predicts that they will one day be applied to the Gentiles—and ever since Pentecost this has been coming true. In fact, all our missionary activities are based on this promise in Psalm 2:8—isn’t that a great comfort and encouragement?
We can be nervous at times about speaking of Jesus to our neighbours or starting a church plant or going out as an ordained missionary; we can wonder whether we’ll say the right things or if our efforts will make any difference. But in Psalm 2 God has promised Christ that the nations will come in and be given to him, so you and I can relax about the results and simply focus on getting the gospel out to unbelievers. God will convert or not convert according to his ancient plan but in the end a multitude from every tribe and tongue will be gathered in faith around the throne of the Lamb (Rev 5:9–10).
The promise of Psalm 2 is also not a one-off in the Psalter. It comes up repeatedly, for example in Psalm 22:27, “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.” You can hear in that an echo of God’s promise to Abram to bless all the families of the nations through him (see Gen 12:1–3), a promise which has been coming true ever since Jesus came. Psalm 45:17 is also quite plain: “Nations will praise you [the LORD] forever and ever.” There is nothing equivocal about that—the Gentiles will praise the LORD! The unbeliever singing that lyric hears that there is a place for him in God’s kingdom while the believer hears that many will respond in faith—very missional indeed!
Psalm 82:8 recalls Psalm 2, “Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!” Psalm 86:9 is very pointed, “All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O LORD, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.” Something much the same is said in Psalm 102:15: “Nations will fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.” Notice how it’s more than just citizens of the nations; it’s also the kings who will recognize the LORD for who he is. That comes out again in Psalm 138:4, “All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth, and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD.”
And perhaps the grand-daddy of all the psalms which emphasizes that the missionary call will absolutely be heard and believed by the nations is Psalm 87:
“Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God. Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon; behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush—‘This one was born there,’ they say. And of Zion it shall be said, ‘This one and that one were born in her’; for the Most High himself will establish her. The LORD records as he registers the peoples, ‘This one was born there’ (vv. 3–6).
Isn’t that beautiful? The Sons of Korah list a number of surrounding nations, including some of Israel’s worst enemies like the Philistines and the Babylonians and then God says that he will make these people residents of Zion! He will make these former enemies members of his church. They will be born—that is to say, born again—in Zion and the LORD will call them his people! Any new believer who wants to grow in faith and come to know God and Jesus Christ more and more cannot fail to be deeply moved by a psalm like that!
Wouldn’t the missional impulse of the entire Psalter, not to mention the King’s many other teachings found there in the Word of God in song form, be a refreshing blessing for those whom the LORD brings in to worship him?