Missionary Psalm: Blessed to Be a Blessing Overseas

Psalm 67 is often called the missionary psalm, and the text says right up front that God is merciful, God blesses, and God causes His face to shine. God has been merciful to sinners, merciful to families, merciful to churches, and merciful to America. God’s blessing is real, and nobody ought to act like it is a small thing to live in a place with churches, freedom, Christian homes, and the gospel close by.

Psalm 67 also gives the reason for blessing: “that thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.” God does not bless His people just so they can sit around and say they are blessed. God blesses His people so they can be a conduit of blessing to others. The nations cannot be glad and sing for joy if the nations never hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The missionary burden gets very personal through the picture of a little girl in Southeast Asia. That little girl represented boys and girls all over the world who may die and go to hell, not because they said no to Jesus, but because they never had an opportunity to say yes to Jesus. The burden became a call: even an old man who did not know the language, did not know the culture, and did not feel able, could still say that if one life were changed, it would be worth it.

The fruit of that surrender has shown up in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and beyond. First generation Christians, former Buddhists, former Muslims, and former animists are now singing, worshiping, being discipled, training for ministry, planting churches, and learning how to build Christian families. That is what Psalm 67 calls increase. God blesses, His people sow, others are reached, and then God blesses again.

America’s blessing also carries a warning. The country has been blessed, but the country is in trouble. Revival will not come to the nation until it comes to churches, and revival will not come to churches until it comes to individual Christians. The honest prayer is not first about everyone else needing to get right, but “It’s me, it’s me, O Lord, standing in need of prayer.”

God’s people have been blessed with salvation, freedom, homes, churches, schools, and open doors. That blessing is not meant to stop with comfort. That blessing is meant to cross oceans, reach the poor, strengthen schools, support missions, train leaders, and help the nations praise God.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Blessing is meant to travel God’s blessing is not a private possession to admire, protect, and spend only on comfort. Psalm 67 gives the purpose plainly: God blesses so His way and His saving health may be known among the nations. A blessed church becomes spiritually dangerous in the best sense when blessing turns into gospel movement instead of religious ease. [62:36]
• 2. The unreached need an opportunity The little girl in Southeast Asia carried the weight of a whole spiritual reality. Many perish not after rejecting a clear gospel witness, but after never being given a real chance to hear and respond. That truth turns missions from a side interest into a matter of eternal urgency. [50:27]
• 3. Revival starts in one heart The need of a nation can feel so large that responsibility gets pushed somewhere else. Yet revival does not begin as a political slogan or a complaint about culture. The Spirit of God presses the matter inward first, saying that the one standing in need of prayer is the individual believer before God. [68:27]
• 4. Freedom should serve the gospel Religious liberty is not normal in many places, and it should not be treated lightly where it exists. Open worship, soul winning, Christian education, and public witness are gifts that many believers around the world do not have. Freedom becomes faithful when it is used to advance Christ, not merely to preserve comfort. [77:06]
• 5. Fruit abounds beyond sight Mission giving and prayer often look small from a distance, but God keeps better records than people do. Churches planted, students trained, families helped, and first generation Christians discipled become fruit that abounds to the account of those who sent and supported. Hidden faithfulness on one side of the world can become visible praise on the other.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [45:37] - Family, Friendship, and Ministry Background
• [48:05] - Called to Southeast Asia at Fifty Five
• [49:00] - A Little Girl and a Broken Heart
• [51:15] - Fourteen Years of Mission Fruit
• [54:01] - Churches, Bible Colleges, and Leadership Training
• [56:20] - The Christian School in Cambodia
• [59:29] - Fruit That Abounds to the Church’s Account
• [60:57] - Psalm 67, The Missionary Psalm
• [62:36] - Blessed to Be a Blessing
• [66:28] - America’s Blessing and America’s Need
• [68:27] - Revival Begins with Individual Christians
• [70:09] - The Spirit’s Question: How About You?
• [77:06] - Freedom, Persecution, and Gospel Opportunity
• [81:12] - The Gospel Invitation and Final Appeal

1. In Psalm 67, what three requests are made in the opening verse, and what purpose is given in verse 2 for those blessings? [01:02:25]
2. What picture was given of the little girl in Southeast Asia, and what made that moment so heavy? [50:27]
3. What kinds of fruit and increase were described among first generation believers in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand? [51:15]
4. What examples were given of freedoms that many believers in America have, but many believers in other countries do not? [01:17:06]

1. Psalm 67 connects God’s blessing with God’s mission among the nations. What does that suggest about the danger of enjoying God’s gifts without using them for His purpose? [01:02:36]
2. The nations are called to be glad and sing for joy, yet they cannot praise Christ if they have not heard of Him. How does that shape the church’s responsibility toward people who have little or no gospel witness? [01:03:24]
3. Psalm 67 says, “Then shall the earth yield her increase.” How should that increase be understood in light of churches being planted, people being saved, and families being discipled? [01:04:51]
4. Revival in a nation is tied to revival in churches, and revival in churches is tied to individual hearts. Why is it easier to talk about national problems than to ask whether one’s own heart is right with God? [01:08:27]

1. God has been merciful and has given many people salvation, churches, freedom, and Christian influence. Which of those blessings has been easiest to take for granted lately, and how could gratitude for that blessing turn into action? [01:15:17]
2. Blessing is meant to travel. What would it look like this month for a person or family to become more of a conduit than a container of God’s goodness? [01:02:52]
3. Many people around the world have never really had an opportunity to say yes to Jesus. How does that truth affect the way this group thinks about praying, giving, going, or speaking about Christ where God has already placed them? [50:43]
4. Revival begins with the words, “It’s me, O Lord, standing in need of prayer.” Where might a person be tempted to focus on everybody else’s need to change while avoiding his own need to repent? [01:08:41]
5. Freedom should serve the gospel, not just personal comfort. How is religious liberty being used right now: mostly for convenience, or for witness? What is one specific way that freedom could be used more faithfully this week? [01:17:34]
6. God’s increase often shows up through patient sowing over time. Where has discouragement set in because the fruit cannot yet be seen, and how might this passage help a believer stay faithful anyway? [01:05:11]
7. The question “How about you?” presses past excuses. Is there an area of obedience, service, generosity, or surrender that has been delayed by age, comfort, fear, or feelings of inability? [01:10:20]