That The World May Know

Psalm 67

For the choir director: A psalm, to be accompanied by stringed instruments. A song.

1May God be merciful and bless us.

May his face shine with favor upon us.

Interlude

2May your ways be known throughout the earth,

your saving power among people everywhere.

3May the nations praise you, O God.

Yes, may all the nations praise you.

4How glad the nations will be, singing for joy,

because you govern them with justice

and direct the actions of the whole world.

Interlude

5May the nations praise you, O God.

Yes, may all the nations praise you.

6Then the earth will yield its harvests,

and God, our God, will richly bless us.

7Yes, God will bless us,

and people all over the world will fear him.

As the Israelites wandered in the desert, God gave Aaron a blessing to recite over the people, a way to assure them of God’s relationship with them (Numbers 6:24-26).

May the Lord bless you and protect you.

May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.

May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.

Tucked away in the middle of the rule books of Israel, this simple blessing is not about holiness or law keeping but about gracious blessing, and it was to be the identifying mark of the Israelites (Numbers 6:27).

Psalm 67 picks up where that blessing leaves off. But instead of restricting the blessing to the Israelites, it invites the whole world to receive God’s favor. When all the nations praise God, “the earth will yield its harvests” (verse 6).

We often mistakenly think of the Old Testament as a book that is concerned only with the Israelites and their status as God’s chosen people. But a message of God’s love for all people dances throughout the Old Testament. Through Abraham, God promised, “all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). We see this highlighted in Psalm 67. Let us join in the psalmist’s prayer that all the world would come to praise God!

Let all the world in every corner sing, “My God and King!”

The church with psalms must shout; no door can keep them out.

But more than all, the heart must bear the longest part,

Let all the world in every corner sing, “My God and King!”

GEORGE HERBERT

Fascinating Fact

Ancient writers called Psalm 67 the Lord’s Prayer of the Old Testament.

Notable Quotable

“We can pray . . . boldly for he is our God. But he is not ours to monopolize, nor will he be any less ‘our God’ when all his rightful subjects bow to him.”

DEREK KIDNER