Psalm 67
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.
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
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 psalm has a missions theme of letting God be known among the earth and all peoples praising Him, which is quite fitting for this month, since it’s missions month. We’ve spent the last few weeks as a church highlighting missions and praying for our missionaries. We invited Pastor Ryun to speak on both missions and mission, and we sent out our brother Kwadwo to Indonesia for medical missions.
But anyway, back to the psalm. The psalmist begins with humility, by asking God to be gracious. Other translations say God be merciful. And then asking God for a blessing, and for His face to shine upon Him. But this request for blessing isn’t for a selfish reason, but it’s so that God’s way may be known on earth and His saving power among all nations. He follows up with a call for all the peoples to praise God and and the nations to sing for joy.
One thing that stands out to me in this psalm is the repetition of praise to our God. “Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!” in verse 3, and the verse 5 is the same exact thing. “Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!” I admire the heart of the psalmist. He has a desire for all of God’s peoples. God is worthy of not just our own praise and worship, but ALL praise and worship. Not just from us, but from all the peoples.
Another thing that strikes me about this psalm is the faith of the psalmist. He begins the psalm in verse one asking God to bless Him. “May God be gracious to us and bless us”. Then, he finishes the psalm in verses 6-7 with a confident expectation of God’s blessing. “God, our God, shall bless us” in verse 6. And again right after, “God shall bless us” in verse 7. He is calling out to God with an expectation that God will answer, that God will bless Him. How do we bring our requests before God? I know a lot of times when I pray, I’m not always confident. I bring requests before God and think, yea God it’d be nice if you answer these prayers, but there’s not much confidence or faith.
Let’s take some time to reflect on this passage. How is God calling you to make His way known on earth? Is God growing your heart for all His peoples?? How are you approaching God in your prayers? Even this morning? Do you trust that God hears your prayers? That He answers them? Let’s pray with faith this morning, with confidence.
Dear heavenly father, I thank you for this morning, and this time of prayer that we get to spend in Your word and with You. God I pray that you would grow our heart for all the peoples, and all the nations. Would we see them the way You see them, and love them the way You love them. God I also pray that we continue to pray this morning, that we would pray to You in faith. Trusting that You are a faithful God, that You listen, and You work
