Psalms 67:1 - Meaning and Application

The psalm opens with a strong, warm faith that rises into prophecy about God enlarging his kingdom. The writer first prays for the good of the church already gathered, because he knows his own joy is tied to theirs. Our Lord taught us to pray, “Our Father,” so we should pray with others and for others, not only for ourselves.

“God be merciful to us, and bless us, and make his face shine upon us” is a rich prayer. It begins with mercy, because all our happiness starts there. We are sinners who need pardon, as the tax collector admitted, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). We are also needy and miserable, and we need God to lift us out of our trouble.

The prayer then asks for blessing, which means God giving us a share in his promises and all the good they contain. When God speaks well to us, he is also doing well for us. These words are full and beautiful, and they should never be used carelessly or as a mere saying.

The last part asks for the light of God’s face, that is, for his favor and the comfort of knowing he loves us. We need nothing more to be truly happy than God shining on us in grace. The margin can also be read as, “shine with us,” meaning that God would go with our efforts and crown them with success. If we walk with him by faith, we may hope for that light.

From there the psalm widens to pray for the conversion of the Gentiles, the non-Jewish nations: “That your way may be known on earth” (Psalm 67:2). The psalmist does not pray only for Israel, but for all mankind. That is the right spirit for prayer, broad and generous, like “hallowed be your name” and “your kingdom come.” We do not lose anything when others share in God’s mercy, blessing, and favor.

This can also be read as a prayer that God would show special kindness to Israel, so that other nations would be drawn to him through that witness, saying, “We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you” (Zechariah 8:23). The Old Testament saints did not want to keep the church’s privileges to themselves. They wanted the enclosure thrown open, so the nations could come in. That was very different from the spirit shown by many Jews in Christ’s day, who opposed the gospel when it was preached to the Gentiles.

These words are both a prayer and a prophecy. They pray for what God has promised to do, which shows that the church’s prayers are sure to be answered. The first thing asked for the Gentiles is divine revelation, that God’s way and his saving help would be known among all nations (Psalm 67:2). God’s way is the rule of duty, what he requires of us. His saving health, or salvation, is the gift of rescue and life that is revealed in the gospel.

If people know God’s way and walk in it, they will also see his saving help (Psalm 50:23). Those who have tasted the goodness of God’s ways and the comfort of his salvation naturally want others to know them too. All people need God’s way and God’s salvation, and there is enough in both for everyone.

The next request is that divine worship would be set up among the nations as they receive that revelation (Psalm 67:3, 5). “Let the peoples praise you, O God,” means let them have both the reason and the heart to praise him. The psalmist repeats this because it is very close to his heart. Those who love praising God themselves also want others brought into that same joy, so God receives honor and people receive blessing.

This means the gospel should be preached to the nations, so they would have good cause to praise God, like the sunrise after a long night. It also means they should be converted and brought into the church, so they would turn from dead idols to the living and true God. Then their wrong thoughts about God would be silenced, and they would see in the gospel that he is love itself and worthy of praise. It also means they should be gathered into public worship, so they can praise God together with one heart and one voice. Where God is openly honored and his worship is rightly kept, a land shows a true face of religion.

The psalm also asks that God’s rule be gladly accepted by the nations: “O let the nations be glad and sing for joy” (Psalm 67:4). Holy joy is part of thankful praise. It is joy in God, joy in his name, and joy that he reigns. The unconverted nations resist that rule, but the psalm looks forward to the time when they will rejoice that God has taken his great power and reigns (Revelation 11:17, 18).

Let them be glad, first, that the kingdom belongs to the Lord (Psalm 22:28). He rules the nations as their absolute King. Through his providence, he directs the affairs of kingdoms according to his own will, even when they do not know or honor him. In time, he will also make all nations his disciples through the preaching of his gospel (Matthew 28:19), and he will set up his kingdom of grace among them as the devil’s kingdom falls. He will make a willing people in the day of his power, and even the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ.

Let them also be glad that every person’s judgment comes from the Lord. “Let them be glad that you will judge the people rightly, that you will give a law and gospel which are a right rule for judgment, and that you will pass a true sentence, according to that rule, on all people, without any appeal.” We should all be glad that we are not left to judge one another, but that the Lord himself judges us, and his judgment is always true.

The psalm then looks ahead with joy to all the good that will come when God does this, when the nations are converted and brought to praise him. The lower world will smile on them, and they will enjoy its fruitfulness (Psalm 67:6). God gave rain from heaven and fruitful seasons even when people sat in darkness (Acts 14:17). But when they were converted, the earth’s increase was yielded to God. Their food and drink then became, in effect, a meal offering and a drink offering to the Lord our God (Joel 2:14), and the earth became fruitful for a better purpose. It gave more to the comfort of people, who through Christ gained a covenant right to its fruits and a holy use of them. The success of the gospel sometimes brings outward blessings with it, for righteousness lifts up a nation. See Isaiah 4:2 and Isaiah 62:9.

The upper world will also smile on them, and they will receive its far better favor: God, even our own God, will bless us (Psalm 67:6). Again, God will bless us (Psalm 67:7). There is a people in the world who can, on good grounds, call God their own. Believers have reason to rejoice in their relationship to him and in the share they have in him. The words are spoken with triumph, “God, even our own God.” Those who, by grace, can call God their own may confidently and humbly expect a blessing from him. If he is our God, he will bless us with special blessings. God’s blessing, when he is ours in covenant, sweetens all our earthly joys and makes them true comforts. We enjoy the earth’s increase as a real mercy when, along with it, God, even our own God, gives us his blessing.

In this way, the whole world will be moved to follow their example. The ends of the earth will fear him, that is, worship him with reverent fear. The blessings God gives us call us not only to love him, but also to fear him, to think rightly of him, and to be afraid of sinning against him. As the gospel begins to spread, it will keep growing until it reaches the ends of the earth. The leaven hidden in the meal spreads through the whole batch until all of it is leavened. The many blessings that those in the church can testify to having received also invite others to join them. It is good to cast in our lot with those who are blessed by the Lord.