Sing! Psalm 67

A text – Psalm 67

¹ 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 upon 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, has blessed us.
⁷ May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him.

A reflection:

This psalm was meant to be sung with musical instruments in worship. It’s a hymn that does several things. It asks for God’s continued blessing and good favor, in order that God’s name be praised by every human being. It’s a missional hymn, meant to make the Lord known for blessings. It also says that when the other nations, people who don’t know our God, when they too are blessed and given God’s favor, they too will praise God. And it sings with gratitude for the blessings already received: good crops, especially.

It seems to be God’s purpose to make a relationship with human beings, to promise blessings to them, to walk with them in good times and bad, to receive their thanks and to bless them again and again, in a most bountiful way. You could say God’s purpose, God’s mission, is to connect with us, using all the gifts and signs and wonders at God’s disposal, to make our lives richer and also ground our lives in our relationship with God. When Jesus came to us, one of his messages was to say that we already had God’s love. We didn’t have to earn it by following the 613 laws outlined in the Jewish Talmud (the scrolls containing centuries of explanation, debate, and refinement of Moses’s Torah). Nope, not 613 laws. We could do it by loving God with all of our being and loving our neighbor as ourselves. This psalm is as simple as that. May God bless us. May all the people sing of God’s goodness. As a result, may more and more people live in harmonious relationship with God.

Since our God is invisible and since human beings are selfish enough to think they have earned every good thing all by themselves, it is good to hear this song sung in worship or to pray it weekly to remind ourselves of how generous God is to us in good times and in bad times. Singing it frequently can also show those many folks who haven’t experienced God how wonderful God is. This psalm is a way to sing just how blessed we feel to be in relationship with our God. So sing!

A prayer:

Lord God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for the psalms, written so long ago and sing for centuries to thank and praise you. Help us to remember they are good for us to sing, too. Help us to boldly sing them. Amen.