FROM WEST END TO WORLD'S END SERMON 2

Series: From West End to World’s End

Sermon Two: The Song of the Nations

Text: Psalm 67:1–7

Imagine walking through the woods and suddenly hearing voices in a language you don’t understand. You can’t translate the words, but you know deep in your heart — it’s worship.

That’s exactly what David Brainerd, the missionary to the Native Americans, once experienced. He wrote in his journal:

“I was awakened to hear them singing in their wigwams, and their song was, ‘God is with us, God is with us.’”

Psalm 67 is often called “The Missionary Psalm.” It is a prayer, a psalm of praise, and a prophecy of a day yet to come — when heaven will be filled with worship from every tribe, language, and tongue.

God’s heart has always been for the nations. Sometimes we think we have an “American God” — one who wears a tie on Sunday and attends a Baptist church. But God is far greater than that! His world is bigger, His love is wider, and the people He longs to bring into His heaven are much more diverse than we often imagine.

Our vision at West End Baptist Church must reflect His vision. Yes, we must reach our community — but we must also care for the nations. The gospel must ripple out from West End to the world’s end.

1. God’s Giving Declared

(Psalm 67:1)

“God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause His face to shine upon us.”

In Hebrew, this verse doesn’t just look forward — it looks back. The idea is: “Because God has blessed us, because He has been merciful to us, because His face has shined upon us…”

The psalm begins with blessing and moves forward from there.

We must never think that the American church is the top of God’s blessing chain. God blesses us not to hoard, but to help; not to store, but to send.

Every blessing — forgiveness, fellowship, provision — carries a missionary purpose. God has not poured His grace into us to keep, but to flow through us to those who do not yet know Christ.

The missionary song begins with God’s giving declared.

2. God’s Glory Displayed

(Psalm 67:2)

“That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.”

When we recognize and appreciate the source of our blessings, it moves us toward mission. Blessing leads to broadcasting.

If we think God’s gifts are only for our enjoyment, we are being selfish. God blesses His people so that His Son can be displayed to a lost world.

The psalmist sings: “Because You’ve blessed us, Lord, we want to make You known among the nations!”

How has God blessed you — in talents, property, finances, health, influence?
How can you use those blessings to make Christ known among the nations?

At West End, we may not be a large church, but we are a blessed church. And what God does here every week must go as far as possible — across our street and across the seas — to make Christ known.

3. God’s Goal Defined

(Psalm 67:3–4)

“Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.”

God’s plan for the nations has never been political, economic, or social first — it has always been spiritual.
He wants the world to find its help, hope, and happiness in Him.

• Colossians 1:16 — “All things were created by Him, and for Him.”

• Philippians 2:13 — “It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”

• Psalm 100:3 — “It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves.”

• Romans 11:36 — “For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things.”

We were made by Him and for Him — to bring praise to Him.

When we come to church, it’s not for a performance or for someone to sing our song — it’s to sing His.
The song of salvation, the song of Zion — a song not confined to America or the Bible Belt, but written for every nation, every language, every tribe.

A Missionary’s Heart

David Brainerd said,

“I care not where I go, or how I live, or what I endure so that I may save souls. When I sleep, I dream of them; when I awake, they are first in my thoughts.”

The Apostle Paul felt that same deep burden when he wrote:

“I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart… for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren.” (Romans 9:2–3)

Both men burned with the same passion — that people might come to Christ.

If David is indeed the writer of Psalm 67, then his desire matched theirs: that the nations would know God.

A Question for Us

What is our heart for the world?
Do we long for people to join us in heaven?
Are we willing to use our blessings, time, talents, and treasures to expand God’s worship and presence among the nations?

Let’s make sure the song that began in David’s heart — the song of the nations — continues to echo through West End Baptist Church, until it reaches the ends of the earth.