Psalm 67-The Blessing of God

Because the phrase blessing is tied to the extreme, out of balance, prosperity message many Christians swing the pendulum too far and totally ignore the truth that God’s heart is to bless His children. What that looks like is different for each person.

The purpose of this article is not about what are the various blessings God has for Christians or even to define the word. Instead, we are going to explore the number one reason God desires to bless us-to bring glory to His name. We are going to explore Psalm 67, titled The Nations Exhorted to Praise God.

1 God be gracious to us and bless us,
And cause His face to shine upon us— Selah.
2 That Your way may be known on the earth,
Your salvation 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 will judge the peoples with uprightness
And guide the nations on the earth. Selah.
5 Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
6 The earth has yielded its produce;
God, our God, blesses us.
7 God blesses us,
That all the ends of the earth may fear Him.

Psalm 67 (NASB)

God Bless Us

1 God be gracious to us and bless us,
And cause His face to shine upon us— Selah.
2 That Your way may be known on the earth,
Your salvation among all nations.

Psalm 67:1-2

The Psalmist is asking for God to be gracious and to bring His blessing. Does any Christians believe we are to ask God to be judgmental and wrathful upon us and to bring a curse upon us? Of course not. But when you hear some preachers preach against the false prosperity doctrine you could come to the conclusion that asking God to bless you is sinful and that it is not God’s heart to bless His children.

It is clear in verse 2 that the blessing of God upon His people is a means for the world to know our gracious and loving God. The grace and blessing of God upon Christians can entice the lost to want to know more about our God and give an opportunity to share the Gospel message.

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 will judge the peoples with uprightness
And guide the nations on the earth. Selah.
5 Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.

Pslam 67:3-5

In verse 3 it says “Let the people praise you”. When God blesses us we should give Him praise. If every Christian gives God the praise for the blessings that come their way the earth will be filled with His praise.

In verse 4 it says let the nations be glad. Others will want to know about our God who is gracious and has blessed us abundantly. Ultimately Christians will not be the only ones that will praise Him but others who see the working of God in our life will join with us in praise as they come to know our Saving Savior. Followers of Christ praising God for His graciousness and His blessings can lead to change in a nation. It certainly will bring more positive influence upon a nation than Christians complaining about everything.

In verse 5 praise is repeated again. It should be clear we should be a people of praise. We have much to give God praise, especially in regard to the blessing of the free gift of salvation.

6 The earth has yielded its produce;
God, our God, blesses us.

Pslam 67:6

Notice this Psalm goes back to saying God blesses us. Is there any Christian that can say God has not blessed them. Maybe if they are chasing after the physical/material blessings that the false prosperity gospel promotes insistently. (But take not verse 6 states ‘yielded its produce’. God certainly does provide us what we need physically.

7 God blesses us,
That all the ends of the earth may fear Him.

Psalm 67:7

Why does God bless us? So that others see the working of God in our life and have a desire to know Him. Why does God bless us? So that all the ends of the earth may fear Him. Why will they fear Him? Because they will see he is a powerful, wonder working God. A God that should be awed with fear and trembling.

Conclusion
Our Heavenly Father can use His blessings in our life to bring others to know Him and praise Him. But we need to do our part. We need to praise Him. We need to share with others our testimonies of how God has worked in our life. We need to give Him glory. We need to find every opportunity to witness about our GREAT BIG GOD so that the ends of the earth may fear Him and individuals will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.