Psalm 67
Living the Blessed Life Series, Part 11
First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
(Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version.)
To view a video of the worship service which includes this sermon, click on the following link: “Properly Thanking God”
• Well, here we are on the Lord’s Day before Thanksgiving.
• Who would have thought last March that we would be gathering virtually this late in the year due to COVID-19?
• Nevertheless, we have much for which to be grateful.
• Some families have a Thanksgiving tradition of giving thanks before dinner in which each family member takes a turn at sharing what he/she is grateful to God for. That’s one of many good ways to demonstrate gratitude to God.
• In fact, as I shared a few weeks ago, the thanksgiving Psalms in the Bible remind us that we haven’t properly thanked God until we tell others what He has done!
• As many of you know, there is a whole category of Psalms referred to as thanksgiving Psalms.
• Psalms of thanksgiving don’t deny trouble. Rather, they give an inventory of real life.
• One distinction of psalms of gratitude is that they declare the specific acts of salvation that God has or will undertake to save the psalmist and/or those with whom he’s concerned about.
• Another interesting thing about Thanksgiving Psalms is that the community is invited to join in the praise.
• For me, one of the highlights of our in-person corporate worship is when we spend time together offering prayers of thanksgiving to God.
• It thrills me to hear simple, spontaneous, one-line prayers of thanksgiving offered up to our loving God, followed by the congregation in unison praying the words, “We give You thanks!”
• Today we’re going to spend some time together considering Psalm 67.
• Psalm 67, is considered to be a psalm of thanksgiving even though it doesn’t follow the outline common to most thanksgiving Psalms.
• So let’s begin.
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
67 1May 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!
• Psalm 67 is considered a National Psalm of Thanksgiving for Israel.
• The setting in which it might have been sung is during the Feast of Tabernacles that includes praise and thanksgiving over a period of seven days.
• It was a time to thank God for His bountiful harvest and that’s reflected in v. 6: The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
The psalmist prays that Israel be blessed for a purpose (vv. 1-2).
1May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
• Selah is often understood to mean “stop and think about that.”
• And so the Jew would be taken back to the time of Moses when the priestly blessing was given in…
• Numbers 6:24-26: 24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you;
25 may the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 may the Lord look with favor on you
and give you peace.”’ (CSB)
• But why?
2 that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
• So the request for God’s grace and blessing isn’t just for Israel, but for non-Hebrew nations and people groups to come to know God, His way, and His salvation.
• And so the Israelite might refer back further into Hebrew history, to the calling of Abraham in…
• Genesis 12:1-3: The Lord said to Abram:
Go from your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.
2 I will make you into a great nation,
I will bless you,
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt,
and all the peoples on earth
will be blessed through you. (CSB)
• So, God promised Abraham that not only through His descendants would a great nation form, but that all people groups (all ethnicities, races, nations, etc.) would be blessed.
• And so the psalmist picks up in verses 3-5 a call for universal praise of God:
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
• I like the wording of the God’s Word translation:
• V. 3, GW: Let the people give thanks to you, O God.
Let all the people give thanks to 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
• Again, the psalmist asks us to give pause to what he’s written.
• Let the nations be joyful for God’s fairness and guidance to all people from all the nations of the earth!
• And then in verse 5 he repeats word for word verse3:
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
• And then psalmist uses harvest language as he writes of the blessing that will follow (vv. 6-7):
6 The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
So let’s consider what we’ve learned thus far:
• The psalmist has encouraged praise and thanksgiving be given to God by all nations.
• He has requested that God bless Israel in such a way that God, God’s way, and God’s powerful salvation be known (experienced) by all nations, not just them.
• With that in mind, what did Simeon, to whom the Holy Spirit had revealed that he wouldn’t die before He had seen the Lord’s promised Messiah, sing when Mary and Joseph presented Baby Jesus at the temple when He was 8 days old?
• Luke 2:29-32: 29 “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace,
as you have promised.
30 I have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared for all people.
32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
and he is the glory of your people Israel!” (NLT)
• “A song of praise from the New Testament, about Christ who is the light, was backed by [a song] from the Old [Testament], about the church which reflects the light. That is the best kind of evangelism. Indeed it is the regular way…in which the field of the world is to be harvested.” –Michael Wilcock, The Message of Psalms 1-72, p. 234.
• You know, in verse 6, when the singing proclaims The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us, he isn’t just thinking about God providing a great harvest of grain. He is pointing to something much larger that ultimately includes all nations.
• What did this Jesus say about harvesting?
• Matthew 9:36-38: 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (ESV)
• Just before Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven, Jesus told His apostles in Acts 1:8: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (NLT)
• What did Savior Jesus tell the apostles and all who would ever follow Him, including you and me, to do?
• Matthew 28:18-20: 18 When Jesus came near, he spoke to them. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 So wherever you go, make disciples of all nations: Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach them to do everything I have commanded you.
“And remember that I am always with you until the end of time.” (GW)
• Jesus tells you and me to be about making disciples of Jesus who make disciples of Jesus wherever we are so that ultimately disciples will be made from all nations and people groups.
• So when the psalmist declares in verse 6 that the earth has yielded its increase, he’s alluding to the great gathering in of the nations through the gospel—the Good News—of Jesus the Christ!
• Look again at verses 1 and 2:
1May 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.
• What would Jesus grow up to say of Himself?
• John 14:6: Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (ESV)
• Before followers of Jesus were called Christians—whether Jew or Gentile—they were referred to as “The Way” (Acts 9:2; 16:17; 19:9, 23; 24:14).
• Verse 4 speaks of God’s universal rule.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
• And verse 7 speaks of God being worshiped by people from all over the globe:
7 God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him!
• V. 7, GW:… may all the ends of the earth worship him.
• Fast forward to the Revelation of Jesus Christ given to the apostle John:
Revelation 15:2-4: 2 I also saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had won the victory over the beast, its image, and the number of its name, were standing on the sea of glass with harps from God. 3 They sang the song of God’s servant Moses and the song of the Lamb:
Great and awe-inspiring are your works,
Lord God, the Almighty;
just and true are your ways,
King of the nations.
4 Lord, who will not fear
and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All the nations will come
and worship before you
because your righteous acts
have been revealed. (CSB)
• This psalm “could well become the daily prayer of God’s people!” –Tesh & Zorn, Psalms, p. 447
• In this psalm we give praise and thanks to God that through His Son, Jesus, The Way, people from nations throughout the world have been and will be brought into God’s family by giving allegiance to King Jesus!
• If you know Jesus as both your Savior, Lord and King, have you properly thanked God and continue to properly thank God for His salvation through Christ by telling others?
One of the special aspects of communion is that it’s not only a meal of remembrance, but a meal of thanksgiving in which we thank God for the sacrificial death of Christ that was sufficient to pay for our sins!
• To thank means to testify or proclaim and Paul said: For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.