Bible Studies

Pslam 67

Bible study time!

Psalm 67
ESV

Make Your Face Shine upon Us
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.

67 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!

Verse 1

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

Selah

This verse is inspired by the Aaronic blessing in Numbers 6:24-26 and ends with Selah. This gives us the chance to stop, ponder and reflect on what the message of this verse is.

This prayer is for God's grace and mercy. How much as sinful human beings are we in need of God's grace and mercy. We have God's grace shown through Jesus Christ, our Lord and saviour and we have mercy shown through Jesus Christ our Lord and saviour. Without God's grace, we would we be? The fact we are alive, have breath and hope is enough to show gratitude because many don't have those simple things. Next, the psalmist asks for a blessing. With God's mercy, forgiveness, grace and care we ask for God to bless us. God's blessings are powerful because it's unstoppable and not based on what we deserve. God gives out of His grace and finally, The psalmist asks for the Lords face to shine upon us. This can speak of God's favour, delight and joy. God is looking down and we radiate His glory.

Verses 2-3

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!

We see the intention behind the request. The psalmist was not just asking for grace, for favour and mercy for himself and his own satisfaction but he went beyond himself. He spoke about the glory of God behind his prayers. He prayed that as God will be giving mercy and favour that the result will be far beyond himself and towards the nations. That when they see the testimony of God's greatness, His goodness, His light, His power and more that it will lead to the nation's receiving salvation. We have Jesus and Jesus is the greatest gift we have received as fallen creatures and through this gift of salvation, breath and transformation it will move the world to repentance and to recognise the power of God.

We have many believers that say they are Christain but deny the power of it  (2 Timothy 3:5).

But we as Christians are known for our fruit (Matthew 7:16) and because the world sees the fruits we bear and the difference in who we are, speak, dress, act and behave they not only glorify God but it ministers to their souls (Matthew 5:16, 1 Corinthians 10:31).

The psalmist in verse 3 calls for all people, not just Israel but outside of Isreal He calls for the whole world to PRAISE God.

Verse 4
Gives more of the impact of God's answering to verse 1. The psalmist desires for the nations to be glad and sing because of the fact God is a righteous judge. In a world where we see cruelty, where we see pain, suffering, injustice and hurt knowing a righteous judge is coming which we know is our Lord Jesus Christ who is coming back will judge this world and guide the nations. He desires for all to repent, He desires all to be saved (2 Peter 3:9) and He is coming to wipe every tear, to comfort every heart and bring joy forevermore. He is also coming for judgement on those who have rejected his grace.

Verse 5 is a repeat of verse 3.

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

This can be for emphasis and the heart of the psalmist is that He desires the whole world to worship, the whole world to be saved and to benefit from the blessing we receive. Like a circle, we receive grace and that grace overflows to others and the glory goes back to God who continues to pour on His people who pour on others.

Verses 6-7

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!

The Psalmist ends this beautiful Psalm by asking for God's blessing and prays that the whole earth will marvel, be in awe, worship, praise, respect and seek the Lord and the fear of Him will be in their hearts.