Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
Psalm 105:1 NIV
Among the Nations
The 2021 edition of the annual report called Canada Among the Nations, and titled Canada and Great Competition, “projects forward into the year 2022. 2021 was a year of challenges for Canada and a watershed in its engagement with the global political economy. Beset by a pandemic, hemmed-in by an America-first administration in Washington and punitive recrimination from a Chinese government with global ambitions, the shrinking horizons of a foreign economic policy premised on liberal internationalism and multilateral institutionalism have sapped Canada’s global ambitions.”
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The more things change the more they are the same. There are more and more nations around the world persecuting religious minorities – there are countries that want to be officially Hindu, or Buddhist, or officially one particular Christian group, or Communist. Anyone who doesn’t fall into line is persecuted. That was what the world looked like in the days of the Old Testament. Israel was surrounded by nations, each with their own national god or gods. Only Israel’s God, the one true God, was the God who called to be proclaimed among all the nations. So King David writes this in Psalm 105:1: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.” This verse and so many more in the Bible that make the same point, are what have driven, and continue to drive, global missions. The God of the Bible is the Creator of the whole world, and praise to Him will be lifted up by people of every tribe, nation and tongue. It is happening more and more in our world today, in spite of unprecedented persecution. Give praise to the Lord – join the nations in doing so.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley