1 God be gracious to us, and bless us; His face shine among us. 2 That Your way be known on the earth; Your salvation among all the nations.
Psalm 67 appears to be an anonymous song of blessing and praise. We can’t really tell much about the background of the psalm, who wrote it, the occasion for writing it, or when it might have been sung in Israelite worship. It’s possible that the call for God’s blessing, and the expressed desire for God’s praise to be heard among all the nations on the earth, points to a situation where God’s people were oppressed and longing for a future day when the name of God would be exalted. However, the sentiment of the psalm is one that the believer might express at any time. We are never without the need of God’s blessing, and we constantly long for our unbelieving neighbors to give God the glory and honor He’s due.
These opening verses echo the famous Aaronic blessing in Numbers 6:24-26: “May the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord cause His face to shine toward [or upon] you and be gracious to you…” The slightly different language in Psalm 67 reflects a different context. In Numbers, God instructed Aaron and his sons to proclaim the blessing upon the people. In the psalm we hear the prayer of the people desiring God’s blessing upon themselves. In Numbers, the blessing is for God’s face to shine upon them–God’s shining face being a sign of God’s good favor, as opposed to His hidden face. In the psalm, the people want God’s favor to be manifest with or among them (the Hebrew in Psalm 67 is ‘ittânû, “with us,” as opposed to ‘êleykâ, “to (or upon) you” in Numbers). The people of God here recognize that when God’s grace and blessing are made manifest among His people, it will affect those around them. They will see the work of the Lord among them, which will provide opportunity for the people of God to, in Peter’s words, give a reason for the hope within them, testifying of God’s love and mercy. In this way, God may be pleased to bring salvation to those that don’t know Him.
This psalm reminds us that God doesn’t just bless us for our own good. His face doesn’t shine upon or among us simply to make us feel better, or so we can know that God is pleased with us. As God’s people, we are the means by which He demonstrates His love and power on the earth. He holds us up as trophies of His grace, declaring to this fallen world that He is able to save to the uttermost all who come to Him. The Lord blesses us that His name might be made famous, that the whole earth might know of His salvation, and that all creation might recognize that it to Him and Him alone that their praise and worship is due.
Not only are we the pinnacle of God’s creation, we are the crowning act of God’s work among His creation. The salvation bought for us in Christ was an act of God’s mercy to an undeserving people. There is nothing that compares to the love of God for His people, and nothing that so graphically demonstrates God’s love for us than the giving of the Son for our sin. Even though we often feel as if we fail God, and that we’re hopeless sinners, God looks upon us as glowing examples of His grace. Our testimonies are testimonies not of us, but of God.
I pray that we won’t bottle up God’s blessings, but proclaim them, that the world might know the mighty works of the Lord, and He might be gracious to use our testimony to bring many to a knowledge of salvation in Christ. Have a great week!
