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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.

 

A student of the Old
Testament will quickly recognize verse one: “May God be gracious to us
and bless us and make his face shine on us…”  This verse is based on the
Aaronic blessing of Numbers 6:22-27. 

The Lord’s face shining on
His people was a sign of His goodwill and blessing.

 

Many unfamiliar with the
Old Testament might not recognize the significance of this short
Psalm.  In these seven verses, the
psalmist is validating Israel’s mission-minded purpose of existing.  Israel was never intended to be closed off
from the cultures and nations around them. 
They were called to be different and set apart but they were not called
to be isolated from the world.  Their
purpose was to be a light to the world. 
Psalm 67 speaks of this mission. 

 

It would be in the Lord’s
graciousness that would ensure their success in making the Lord’s salvation to
the nations (verse 2).  It was not
Israel’s message they were carrying but the Lord’s.

 

Look at the purpose statement
of this mission:

 

They wanted the nations to
praise the Lord (verses 3 and 5).

They wanted the nations to
be glad under the Lord’s rule (verse 4).

 

As the land promised to
them was blessed by God, even that would be a witness to their world of the
Lord’s provision (verse 6).  The Lord’s
blessing was tangible through the land (and the people) and these blessings were
not occurring for the purpose of Israel’s pride, but their testimony of the
Lord’s goodness. 

 

As the church of Jesus
Christ, our mission has not changed.  We
are not to be so separated from the world that we fail to actually reach the world.  Jesus said (in Luke 19:10) that He “came
to seek and to save the lost.”  The mission of God in the Old Testament is
the mission of God in the New Testament. 
Therefore, may we give testimony by our blessings and our words that we live for His glory!