The Big Worldwide Crunchy Psalm

Nate Hunt - Bass
Nate Hunt grew up in Muscatine, Iowa and came to IHOP in July 2008. His passion is to know Christ and make Him known through prayer, singing, playing, and preaching His beauty until every tribe, tongue, people, and nation have heard the true gospel. 


Ok, I admit it!  I am a total Psalm junkie.  It's how I spend most intercession sets.  Singing the same Psalms again and again.  Over and over.  Again and again.  They never really get old.  If you want to know God's heart, sing the Psalms straight back to Him.  It's the quick ticket to His emotions.  If you're out of prayer ideas for that 2 hour block, pop open the Psalms and get singing.

Asking a Psalm junkie like me his favorite Psalm is so unfair.  It's like asking Allen Hood his favorite member of the Trinity, or asking Justin what his favorite instrument is in our giant orchestral band (no offense everyone, but I bet he'd say bass).  It's so hard to pick! 

If I had time, I would probably pick Psalm 22.  You can't understand Jesus any better than by reading Psalm 22.  The first half is what He thought when He died on the cross.  The second half is what He was dying for on His cross.  It is “the joy set before Him” for which He endured the cross.  Ahh...  I'm in love.  But since this blog entry is due tomorrow and I only get 800 words to explain a whole Psalm, I think I'll have to pass.

If you want a good revival Psalm, you have to check out Psalm 85.  What good promises He has for our nation, or any nation!  But if you're needing a more somber, salvific, intercessory Psalm for your unsaved relatives or friends, take a bite of Psalm 69, another suffering servant passage.  Oh and who could forget Psalm 72?  All about the Millenial King and His Millenial  Kingdom.  The souls will be saved.  The poor will be fed.  Oppressors will be broken!  Children will be rescued!  Works great as an out of context intercessory substitute for the President of our nation.  They're all just so juicy!

But since convergence is such a hot topic right now around IHOP and in the Body, I think Psalm 67 is an appropriate choice.  It's a burning desire of mine to see the missions and prayer movements come together.  I crave to see houses of prayer planted everywhere.  I want everyone to worship and be happy and make joyful noises in different languages with a caucaphony of instruments.  But even more than that, I want souls saved.  (Please note: these desires didn't come out of thin air, nor was I born with them; they came primarily from singing the Psalms.)  With a 3^rd great awakening on the brink, another student volunteer missions movement on the horizon, and giant carrots popping up everywhere, let's dive into Psalm 67.

1) God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us,  Selah 

As we all know, America is in a desperate hour.  This Psalm goes also for Israel or any nation with a calling to reach the nations.  I think that means it applies to every nation these days.  This verse summarizes what we are asking for at every solemn assembly.  We are begging God for His mercy.  We want His approval again toward what we do as a country.  We want Him for us and not against us, nationally speaking.  This is the pleading of the blood.  This is the Joel 2 cry to turn and relent from doing harm.  This is the revival plea found in Psalm 80, to be restored back to our founding purpose as a nation.  It carries special weight because of the recent trip I took to Boston with IHOPU.  We visited countless places of covenant and revival and read many documents.  Do we realize how much the founders of the colonies longed to see this New World be a light and a missions sending platform to the nations?  This first verse asks for mercy to be restored to what we originally committed to be, a city on a hill.

2) That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations. 

Oh how desperately I long for the great commission to be finished.  Who can deny that God's plan to reach every tribe, tongue, and nation has been around longer than 2000 years?  This verse points to the idea that Israel is meant to be the light to all nations to bring the gospel to every people's.  I think it's safe to pray it over our nation as well, knowing that the promise of another student volunteer missions movement is here.  As we receive His mercy, the completion of the great commission is accelerated.  I can't wait!

3) Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You.

4) Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You shall judge the people righteously, and govern the nations on earth.  Selah 

If we think about it, the prayer movement is nothing new.  The Psalms are FILLED with a great plea for the prayer movement to be raised up.  Any time we read, “Let the peoples praise You,” “Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!” or “Sing to the LORD, all the earth...” we read another declaration or supplication for the prayer movement to spring forth globally.  I once had a vision of many cultures and peoples worshipping in their different styles.  American marching bands.  Russian men's choirs.  Jews playing harps.  Africans playing golden xylophones.  Urban rappers.  Mountain yodelers.  All playing the same song.  All rejoicing together.  All with Jesus conducting at the center from Jerusalem.  You should have heard the drum break that went around the world!  Verse 3 of this Psalm is another plea for just that, a worldwide prayer movement with Jesus at its heart.  Verse 4 tells us that we do it just because He is worthy.  He is the only righteous judge, and He is the soon coming king.  We look forward to it with joyful singing. 

5) Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You.
6) Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us.

In this instance, the worship movement continues, but this time, we see a secondary motive behind it.  Whereas in verses 3-4 we seek His face, in verses 5-6 seek His hand.  The worship movement will cause the earth to yield two types of increases.  One will be a massive increase in the souls in the great harvest.  I can't wait for 1 billion souls to be added to our number, for the body to reach it's full growth!  I often pray that it would increase to 2 billion, and you should too.  But more than that, another type of increase is coming.  Have you heard?  In some parts of the world where revival has occurred already, who could believe the crop yields?  I've heard stories of carrots the size of a man's leg and coconuts bigger than basketballs.  Someday, I might actually get to read James while eating a giant peach!  Jack and his magic beans are about to be put to shame when He sees this beanstalk!  Sometimes my only motive for praying for revival is to see the giant vegetables.  Psalm 22:9 says, “All the prosperous of the earth Shall eat and worship...”  I say, as long as everyone is eating and worshiping, everything's alright.  It's what I am living for.  No seriously, I am.

7 God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him. 

I can't wait.  Every tribe, tongue, people, and nation on the earth will worship Him!  One day every knee will bow.  It's the worldwide dream come true.  This is history's happily ever after.  This is His kingdom come and His will done.  This is what we get after everyone has gotten their daily bread.  This is Him getting the glory, the kingdom, and the power forever. This is the ultimate answer to prayer.

So for all of you missions, prayer movement, and food junkies, you may have just discovered your new favorite Psalm for a while.  Who couldn't want a forgiven nation, another missions movement, and a big enough carrot to feed the whole family for a week?  This Psalm is urgent, global, seeker-friendly, and delicious.  So pop it open next intercession set and sing!

Nate 

© 2010 Nate Hunt