1 Chronicles 16:23–24: “Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.”

September 4th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Here in 1 Chronicles 16, we find one of twenty-five times the beautiful Psalm 96 is quoted in various parts of the Old Testament. This Psalm is often correctly called the “missionary psalm” because when it says, “all the earth,” we understand that to be taken literally. The New Testament tells us that representatives from every tribe and village from all over the earth will be worshiping God in heaven (Rev. 7:9). We Gentiles need to rejoice that God’s salvation is not just for the ancient Jewish people, or any other special or elite group, but for “all the earth.”

How we need to heed the truth that Israel received the good news and that it was their responsibility to share it with their non–Jewish neighbors. They were chosen of God to be a great missionary nation. But it is now every believer’s great privilege to take His good news to every corner of the earth. It is awe inspiring to be involved in something today that will continue to be important a million years from now. Someone recently asked, “But how will I know if I am supposed to go?”

While at the beach one summer, a man observed a lifeguard suddenly jump to his feet, take the Red Cross flag out of its stand, and wave it frantically. Then he threw it to the ground, grabbed a life buoy, and rushed into the water. Moving like an Olympian, he swam toward a man. In a few seconds, sirens wailed as an ambulance came up and 3 other guards swam out to help. They rescued the man and were able to resuscitate him. This same scene was repeated several times that day because the undertow was unusually strong. Later that afternoon the man who had been observing these great feats went to the main station to say thanks, as a private citizen, for the dedication of these men. When he walked into the station, the first thing he noticed was a large sign with bold red letters that read: “IF IN DOUBT, GO!”

“Thank You, LORD, for your clear command to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Please empower us to do that today.”