Read Psalm 67
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
3 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.
5 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
6 The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
7 May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Go Deeper
If you’ve ever experienced a long period of darkness and dreary weather, you’ve also felt the warm relief of the sun coming back out and lighting up the sky. This is just a small glimpse of how we feel knowing God’s face is shining on us.
Psalm 67 begins with a blessing request: Lord, be gracious to us; shine Your face upon us. Written in a time before Jesus, the psalmist and God’s people were requesting that God graciously fulfill His promises. Praise God that we now know that God’s Son fulfilled the ultimate promise. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we can have life eternal⏤the greatest blessing of all (John 3:16, Romans 10:9-10).
For those who have received God’s blessing of salvation (Ephesians 2:8), let us share who God is with others. Let’s lock arms and all work toward the goal of every single person on earth knowing our Heavenly Father. There are people in our neighborhood, our city, our country, and throughout the world who have never heard of God’s blessings! We are called to bless others by sharing the greatest blessing bestowed upon us. It’s exciting just thinking about it! Yet, we can get carried away and forget that we have a role to play. We aren’t meant to hold tightly to God’s blessings but to share them with the world around us.
Blessings also call for praises! Be glad. Sing for joy. It’s contagious. Others will notice. Even for what may feel like a very small blessing, we remain faithful by praising a gracious God who continues to shine His face upon us. The Doxology sums it up well:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.
Questions
- What should our reaction to God’s salvation be?
- How are you making Christ known “among the nations”?
- List ten blessings in your life and thank God for each one.
Watch This
Please listen to (and sing along) with this worship song entitled “The Blessing” written and sung by Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes, along with Elevation Worship.
4 thoughts on “Psalms of Praise: Psalm 67”
His ways are better, His ways are higher, He knows the end from the beginning and has set this world and the things of the world in motion. Praises even when it does’nt seem like there should be, there is a reason for praises. 7 May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.
God thank You for being in the middle of the messes I make. Thank You for there always, always being something to thankful, grateful and blessed about so that I can praise You. Thank You for being the song in my heart. Your ways are better, Your ways are higher, to You be the glory honor and praise forever and ever. Thank You God for theses minutes of this day, that my actions, thoughts, words and heart can glorify You in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One practical way I’ve found to embrace “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us, so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations” is praying for unreached people groups around the world. By joining/signing up with The Joshua Project at http://www.joshuaproject.net a daily email is sent to your inbox highlighting a specific request to pray for an unreached people group. With each daily request is a short bio of the people group, ministry obstacles, outreach ideas, a scripture and prayer focus. Today the unreached group is the Sorani Kurd in Iraq.
1. Awe and worship, joy and praise!
2. Share the gospel. Explain Jesus’ sacrifice and the importance of asking forgiveness of sins.
Pray. Ask Holy Spirit to direct my path to someone that I can encourage and pray for.
Abiding in the Word of God is a tool to spiritual maturity. This begins at home with our children, grandchildren.
3. Salvation, redemption, mercy, 4 sons, 6 grandchildren and the freedom to worship.
2 “so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.”
We have been blessed to live in and travel to many nations of the world. It is always such an amazing experience to interact with believers in these countries. The kinship that is felt with people with whom I otherwise would not have much in common is profound!
Below is a great resource for praying for different nations on a daily basis. Start with Afghanistan then work your way to Zimbabwe, then start over!
https://prayercast.com/topic-category/nations/