Psalm 67
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us. May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him. Psalm 67 (NRSVUE)
“A Song” it begins; a song for worship. It calls on God to bless us, and to continue to bless us, and that raises questions.
Who is “us”?
Why should God bless us?
How do others fit into the picture?
Like me many of you probably slid right over those issues as you skimmed the over the familiar phrases that echo the words at the end of so many church services. Like me you probably skimmed through the middle verses that seemed to be all about praising God. When you hit the first line of verse 7 did you also stop and wonder if we in America are blessed? Or will continue to be blessed?
Of course, the Psalmist is talking about Israel and not America. So, what’s in it for us? To answer that question let’s ask first, “What’s in it?”
It would be easy to see the opening words as a little selfish, a little entitled, but Israel, “God’s Chosen People” recognizes here that blessings carry responsibilities. Verse 2 “that your way may be known upon earth,/your saving power among all nations” clarifies the point: the blessings on Israel are there to benefit all the people. The psalmist goes on: 2“saving power among all nations,” “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.”
The conclusion: “. . . our God, has blessed us./May God continue to bless us;/let all the ends of the earth revere him” summarizes the point. Israel’s blessings are there to lead others to revere our God, a God who “judge(s) the peoples with equity/and guide(s) the nations upon earth.”
Questions for Reflection:
- What does it mean to be blessed? What burdens does it lighten for us? What burdens does it place on us?
- What links might we draw between the theme of Psalm 67 and the song “They’ll know we are Christians by Our Love”? What’s the point of “them” knowing we are Christians?
- How does Psalm 67 anticipate Jesus’s prayer, “Thy kingdom come/Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”?
Prayer:
We pray for peace; ‘we pray that all unity will one day be restored,’ but most of all we pray for mercy and justice, that your will be done on earth. Help us to work for your will, seeing in the stranger and the immigrant not an enemy but a fellow human, made in your image and loved by you. Make our faith be active in love and may you hold us, all of us, in your heart.
Amen
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