Psalm 67

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

2 that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.

This psalm is a great missionary prayer that encapsulates both the nature of God and his purpose for mankind. First, God’s nature is to be gracious, to bless us, and to make himself known to us. The metaphor of a shining face is frequent in the psalms and it generally suggests God’s favor. When the light of God’s face shines on you, things go well with your soul. Of course, no one can see God’s face and live, so glorious and awesome is he, so this is referring to that reflected glory, like the light of the sun that warms us and gives life to all things. This first verse is also a statement of the levitical blessing, “May the Lord bless you and keep you, be gracious to you, and lift up his countenance upon you,” so these words were quite familiar and comforting. All of this speaks to the goodness of God and his desire to bless all people. The second verse accents the purpose of God, “that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among the nations.” It is a prayer for the whole world to experience what Israel has experienced. God’s “way” likely refers to his law, his word, which includes both God’s way of being and doing as well as the way that we should live in light of that. God makes his path known, and this is also the way that we should live, in harmony with his way. “Path” also suggests an invitation for us to walk with him. The other experience that we have with God is his “saving power.” To the psalmist this was most powerfully expressed in the exodus event, and to us, the complementary event is our salvation from sin and death through Jesus. To summarize these two verses it is simply that we are blessed by God in order that we might be a blessing to the world. It is the principle of privilege and purpose. In scripture, if we are ever privileged, it is so that we can be a blessing to others. If we are ever favored or gifted something from God, it is so that we can share it with others. The others should never be limited to those closest to us, but rather, all the nations of the earth. What are you doing to take the good news of God to the peoples of the earth? Are you too wrapped up in what’s going on in your own little world? This is your purpose. To whom much has been given, much will be required. It starts with prayer, this very prayer. 

3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!

4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

God is praised by the nations for two things: He judges the peoples with equity and he guides (governs) the nations on the earth. God’s justice and sovereignty are at the core of this psalm which expresses a desire for everyone to experience to goodness of God as Israel has, to know this God who has made himself known in the torah and in time, to experience his saving power expressed in delivering people from slavery. Israel was unique in many ways in the ancient world and this psalm expresses that desire for every other nation to become like them in their worship of God, ushering in the blessings that inevitably come with that. In what sense does God judge the peoples with equity? From Israel’s perspective, they were probably thinking of how in their experience eventually the bad guys were punished and the good guys were blessed. This was their experience in Egypt and it was repeated many times in the promised land where their enemies fell before them and this was understood as the justice of God on display. This is similar to the way in which God guided (or governed) the nations, ultimately sovereign in their affairs even though he exercised his sovereignty through their free will (again consider Pharaoh whose heart God hardened). This is a powerful truth if it is indeed true: God is just and God is governing the world. Now one might say if that’s the case, why is there so much injustice? Either God is not just or he’s not powerful. A third possibility is that God in his ultimate sovereignty allows for human free will for by allowing us to reject him and his ways, he also opens the door for us to trust and obey him. We then can serve as agents of justice, demonstrating the just and good rule of God. This has been demonstrated historically when genuine Christianity invades a culture -- justice, grace, forgiveness, love, self-sacrifice and other virtues encouraged by Christianity make the world a better place. This is cause for praise and joyful singing. It’s also a call for believers to take seriously the call to flesh out their faith by taking action. 

5 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!

6 The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.

7 God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!

This is a picture of how the world ought to be. All the people of the earth acknowledge God and live in harmony with one another and the planet. The earth is blessed by this. Her resources aren’t used for war, rather they are harnessed for the blessing and flourishing of people. The blessing of God on the nation of Israel seems to be conditioned on their worship of him and the extent to which they are a blessing to the nations. I first heard this text taught at a missions conference as a young man, and it has impacted me ever since. We are blessed to be a blessing. This is a golden rule of the Bible which begins in the very beginning. God made human beings and blessed them, commanding them to cultivate the earth and reproduce themselves. On the whole we’ve done a pretty good job of that, but sin has marred everything as well. I’ve read where most famine and starvation is man made -- either through government policy or civil war. While the causes for world poverty are complex, there is no doubt that corruption and theft are a major factor. I remain convinced that the earth has enough resources for all human beings to flourish were it not for sin and selfishness. This text links a good harvest to the degree to which people worship God. God is calling Israel here, and now the church to promote human flourishing by worshiping God. By worship of course we mean surrendering the entirety of our being to God, working out our salvation into every aspect of our lives -- what we value, how we treat others, how we spend the resources that we have. When all the peoples praise God, their individual lives are transformed into his likeness (we become like that which we worship). As we worship God, our lives are blessed because we are living in the way that we were designed to live.