20260714 [새벽묵상] 모두 찬양해, 영원하신 하나님의 사랑 Praise His Eternal Love, All Nations! (시/Ps 117:1~118:7)

117:1 너희 모든 나라들아 여호와를 찬양하며 너희 모든 백성들아 그를 찬송할지어다

117:2 우리에게 향하신 여호와의 인자하심이 크시고 여호와의 진실하심이 영원함이로다 할렐루야

1 Praise the Lord, all you nations;

    extol him, all you peoples.

2 For great is his love toward us,

    and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord.

118:1 여호와께 감사하라 그는 선하시며 그의 인자하심이 영원함이로다

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

    his love endures forever.

118:2 이제 이스라엘은 말하기를 그의 인자하심이 영원하다 할지로다

118:3 이제 아론의 집은 말하기를 그의 인자하심이 영원하다 할지로다

118:4 이제 여호와를 경외하는 자는 말하기를 그의 인자하심이 영원하다 할지로다

2 Let Israel say:

    “His love endures forever.”

3 Let the house of Aaron say:

    “His love endures forever.”

4 Let those who fear the Lord say:

    “His love endures forever.”

118:5 내가 고통 중에 여호와께 부르짖었더니 여호와께서 응답하시고 나를 넓은 곳에 세우셨도다

118:6 여호와는 내 편이시라 내가 두려워하지 아니하리니 사람이 내게 어찌할까

118:7 여호와께서 내 편이 되사 나를 돕는 자들 중에 계시니 그러므로 나를 미워하는 자들에게 보응하시는 것을 내가 보리로다

5 When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;

    he brought me into a spacious place.

6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.

    What can mere mortals do to me?

7 The Lord is with me; he is my helper.

    I look in triumph on my enemies.

                오늘의 본문, 시편 117편은 성경에서 가장 짧은 장입니다. 그러나 고작 2절 밖에 되지 않는 시편임에도 불구하고 이 시편은 이스라엘을 향한 하나님의 사랑이 너무나 커서 모든 민족에게 그 구원이 미칠 것을 암시하는 매우 큰 내용을 담고 있습니다. 화자는 바로 그런 하나님의 사랑과 진실하심을 모든 민족이 찬양하라 명령하고 있지요. 시편 118편도 모두가 함께 하나님의 인자하심을 찬양하자고 명령합니다. 화자가 선창을 하고 회중이 응답을 하여 모두가 한 목소리로 ‘영원하신 하나님의 인자하심’ 을 찬양하고 있습니다. 우리가 그렇게 한 목소리로 하나님을 찬양하는 이유는 무엇입니까? 바로 각 개인의 삶에서 하나님을 실제적으로 경험하였기 때문입니다. 그 경험이 있기에 우리는 함께 모여 목소리 높여 하나님을 찬양하는 것이지요. 오늘은 “모두 찬양해, 영원하신 하나님의 사랑”이라는 제목으로 말씀을 나누기 원합니다.

Introduction: The Reason We Praise Together

Today’s text, Psalm 117, is the shortest chapter in the entire Bible. However, even though it is only two verses long, this psalm contains a profound message. It implies that God’s love for Israel is so immense that His salvation will ultimately reach all nations. The psalmist commands all nations to praise God for that exact love and faithfulness.

Psalm 118 also commands everyone to praise the Lord's steadfast love together. The worship leader leads the call, and the congregation responds, praising the eternal steadfast love of God in one voice.

Why do we praise God in one voice like this? It is because we have personally experienced God in our individual lives. Because we have that real, tangible experience, we gather together and lift our voices to praise Him. Today, I want to share a message titled, "Praise His Eternal Love, All Nations!"

Body

                먼저 시편 117편을 함께 보기 원합니다. 이 시편은 그 시작부터가 특이합니다. 118편만 보더라도 이스라엘에게 하나님을 찬양하라고 명령하고 있는데 이 시편은 시작부터 모든 나라, 모든 백성들에게 여호와를 찬양하라고 명령하고 있습니다. 여기서 ‘모든 나라’ 라고 하는 말은 모든 민족을 가르키는 말로 사실상 이스라엘의 반대되는 개념입니다. 이스라엘이 하나님의 선택을 받은 언약 백성이라고 한다면 이들은 철저히 이방인, 즉 언약의 밖에 있는 사람들이지요. 보통 시편에서는 이들 이방 민족들을 심판의 대상이나 조롱의 대상으로 등장시키는 것이 일반적이었습니다. 그런데 오늘 본문은 이들 모든 이방 민족들과 또 그 사람들을 하나님을 찬양하는 주체로서 표현하고 있습니다. 어떻게 이런 일이 가능한 것일까요? 우리는 그 내용을 2절에서 확인할 수 있습니다. 117편 2절을 함께 한번 읽어보겠습니다. “우리에게 향하신 여호와의 인자하심이 크시고 여호와의 진실하심이 영원함이로다 할렐루야” 먼저는 ‘우리’, 즉 이스라엘에게 향하신 하나님의 신실하신 사랑이 크다고 말하고 있습니다. 그러나 이스라엘이 경험하였던 하나님의 크신 사랑, 그것은 이스라엘만을 위한 것이 아니었습니다. 하나님께서는 그들을 통하여 모든 민족에게 복을 주시기 원하셨습니다. 하나님의 사랑과 구원이 이스라엘 공동체를 넘어서 모든 민족과 나라에 미치는 것을 암시하고 있는 것이지요. 그렇습니다. 이스라엘은 하나님의 크신 사랑과 구원을 경험하였습니다. 그러나 하나님은 그 경험이 그들 안에서만 머무르는 것을 원하시지 않았습니다. 그들을 통하여 모든 민족이 하나님을 찬양하며 영원하신 하나님의 사랑을 찬송하기를 원하셨던 것입니다.

1. Psalm 117: Salvation Flowing Out to All Nations

Let us first look at Psalm 117. This psalm begins in a very unusual way. While Psalm 118 commands Israel to praise God, Psalm 117 starts by commanding all nations and all peoples to praise the Lord.

Here, "all nations" refers to the Gentile peoples. In the context of the Old Testament, they are the exact opposite concept of Israel. If Israel is the chosen covenant people of God, these nations are total outsiders—people completely outside of the covenant. In most psalms, it was common for these Gentile nations to appear as objects of judgment or targets of mockery. Yet, today's text portrays all these Gentile nations and peoples as the main subjects who praise God.

How is such a thing possible? We find the answer in verse 2. Let us read Psalm 117, verse 2 together:

“For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!”

First, it says that God's faithful love toward "us"—meaning Israel—is great. However, the great love of God that Israel experienced was never meant for Israel alone. God desired to bless all nations through them. It implies that God's love and salvation overflow beyond the borders of Israel to reach all nations and peoples.

Yes, Israel experienced God's great love and salvation. But God did not want that experience to stay trapped inside them. He wanted all nations to discover and sing of His eternal love through their testimony.

                시편 118편도 마찬가지입니다. 118편 1절에서 화자는 선창을 합니다. 함께 읽어보겠습니다. “여호와께 감사하라 그는 선하시며 그의 인자하심이 영원함이로다” 그는 하나님의 선하심과 신실하신 사랑을 찬양합니다. 그리고 2절에서 그는 이스라엘 공동체에게 명령합니다. 하나님의 선하심과 신실하신 사랑은 개인의 체험이나 고백에 머무르지 않고 공동체 전체가 함께 기억하고 고백해야 할 내용이라는 것입니다. 3절에서 그의 명령은 제사장들을 향합니다. 이들은 하나님 앞에 가장 가까이 서서 예배를 집행하는 사람들이지요. 사실 이들에게는 이런 명령이 필요 없을 것입니다. 하지만 굳이 이들에게 이런 명령을 하는 것은 그들이 자신의 종교적 기능이나 할 일에 매몰될 것이 아니라 이들이야말로 하나님의 사랑을 누구보다 먼저 기억하고 고백해야함을 보여줍니다. 이제 마지막으로 4절에서는 그 명령의 대상이 이스라엘 공동체가 아니라 여호와를 경외하는 모든 자로 확장됩니다. 마치 시편 117편에서 함께 본 것 과도 같지요. 이스라엘이든 이방 민족이든 누구든 여호와를 경외하는 자는 하나님의 영원하신 사랑을 찬양하라 명령합니다. 117편에서는 그 시작점이 무엇이었습니까? ‘우리,’ 즉, 이스라엘을 향하신 하나님의 크신 사랑이었습니다. 118편에서는 그 시작점이 무엇입니까? 바로 5-7절까지에 있는 화자가 경험한 하나님의 구원입니다.

2. Psalm 118: The Expansion of Praise

The same logic applies to Psalm 118. In verse 1, the psalmist leads the call. Let us read it together:

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever.”

He praises God's goodness and faithful love. Then, in verse 2, he commands the community of Israel to join in. This means that God's goodness and faithful love should not stay confined to personal experience; it must be remembered and confessed by the entire community together.

In verse 3, his command is directed to the house of Aaron—the priests. These are the people who stand closest to God and conduct worship. In reality, they shouldn't even need such a command. But the reason he specifically directs this to them is to show that they must not be consumed by their religious routines or duties. Instead, as spiritual leaders, they should be the very first to remember and confess God's love.

Finally, in verse 4, the target of this command expands beyond Israel to "all who fear the Lord." This perfectly mirrors what we saw in Psalm 117. Whether you are part of Israel or the Gentile nations, anyone who fears the Lord is commanded to praise His eternal love.

• In Psalm 117, the starting point of praise was God's great love toward "us" (the nation).

• In Psalm 118, the starting point of praise is the personal salvation experienced by the individual psalmist in verses 5 through 7.

                5절을 보니 화자는 지극히 개인적인 자신의 경험을 이야기합니다. 그는 고통중에 여호와께 부르짖었습니다. 여기서 ‘고통’ 이라는 말은 좁은 곳을 말합니다. 사방이 막혀 도저히 솟아날 구멍이 없는 상황의 고통인 것이지요. 그런데 “내가 고통중에 여호와께 부르짖었더니” 어떻게 되었다고 하십니까? “여호와께서 응답하시고 나를 넓은 곳에 세우셨도다”라고 고백하고 있습니다. 5-7절까지의 내용 중에 ‘나’를 가르키는 말이 총 9번이나 나옵니다. 5절, ‘내가’ 여호와께 부르짖습니다. 그러자 여호와께서 ‘나를’ 넓은 곳에 세우셨습니다. 6절 “여호와는 내 편”이십니다. ‘내가’ 두려워하지 아니할 것입니다. 사람이 ‘내게’ 어찌하겠습니까? 7절 여호와께서 ‘내 편’이 되셔서 ‘나를’ 돕는 자들 중에 계시니 그러므로 ‘나’를 미워하는 자들에게 보응하시는 것을 ‘내가’ 볼 것입니다. 어쩌면 이것은 지극히 개인적인 한 사람의 구원의 경험일지도 모르겠습니다. 그러나 그는 자신의 간증을 통하여 하나님의 구원과 신실하심을 찬양하고 있습니다. 그 고백들이 모여 이스라엘이, 그리고 여호와를 경외하는 자들이, 그리고 모든 나라들과 모든 백성들이 하나님을 찬양합니다. 그렇습니다. 이것이 우리가 함께 모여 다함께 하나님의 사랑을 찬양하는 이유입니다. 바로 우리 각자가 그런 하나님의 사랑을 직접 경험하였기 때문입니다.

3. From Personal Agony to Spacious Deliverance

In verse 5, the psalmist shares his deeply personal experience. He cried out to the Lord in his distress. In the original language, the word for "distress" literally means a "narrow place." It refers to the suffocating agony of a situation where you are boxed in on all sides with absolutely no way out.

But what happened when he cried out from that suffocating space? He confesses:

“I cried to the Lord in my distress; the Lord answered me and set me in a spacious place.”

In verses 5 through 7, words referring to "I," "me," or "my" appear a total of nine times:

• Verse 5: "I" cried out to the Lord, and the Lord set "me" in a spacious place.

• Verse 6: The Lord is on "my" side; "I" will not fear. What can mere mortals do to "me"?

• Verse 7: The Lord is on "my" side as "my" helper; therefore, "I" will look in triumph on those who hate "me."

This is a deeply personal, individual experience of salvation. Yet, through his personal testimony, he praises God's public faithfulness. When these individual confessions gather, they form a grand chorus. Israel joins in, those who fear the Lord join in, and eventually, all nations and peoples join together to praise God.

This is the exact reason we gather and praise God's love together. It is because each of us has directly experienced that very same delivering love of God in our own "narrow places."

                말씀을 맺습니다. 여러분이 하나님의 인자하심을, 그 크고 영원한 사랑을 경험하셨다면 여러분은 예배의 자리로 나아오셔야 합니다. 여러분을 구원하신 하나님의 사랑은 너무나 커서 여러분 안에서만 머물러 있을 수 없습니다. 여러분이 그 사랑을 함께 찬양하며 찬송할 때에 하나님의 그 사랑이 여러분 안에서 뿐만 아니라 우리 한사랑 공동체 안으로 넘쳐 흐르고 또 이 시애틀 전 지역으로 넘쳐 흐를 것입니다. 우리 모두 함께 영원하심 하나님의 사랑을 찬양합시다.

Conclusion: Let the Love Overflow

Let us conclude. If you have experienced God's steadfast love—that great and eternal love—you must step into the place of corporate worship. The love of God that saved you is too immense to remain hidden inside your own heart.

When you praise and sing of that love together, God's love will overflow. It will not only fill your life, but it will overflow within our Hansarang Community, and it will flood across the entire Seattle region. Let us all lift our voices and praise the eternal love of our God together.

Let us pray.