Psalms 67
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God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.
2 That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.
3 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.
4 O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.
5 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.
6 Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.
7 God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.
Public Domain KJV text from Wordproject.org
Psalm 67:1-7
Make Your Face Shine upon Us
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
1May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
2that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
3Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
4Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
5Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
6The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
7God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him!
ESV Bible text displayed through the American Bible Society's Global Bible Widget
Psalm 67:1-7
Psalm 67
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.
1May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—
2so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
3May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
4May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.
5May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
6The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
7May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.
NIV Bible text displayed through the American Bible Society's Global Bible Widget
Commentary
"God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us."
This psalm begins with joy. And then it moves into an interesting theme often repeated in the psalms, a cry of hope for judgment -- "For You shall judge the people righteously." The psalms often speak about delighting in God's law and His judgment, which somewhat puzzled me for years, since most of us intuitively know that we don't measure up to God's law, and who wants to be judged? But then I realized -- who is it, who hopes to go to court? Someone who has been wronged, and hopes for things to be made right. The psalms cry out to God for judgment, from the position of plaintiff, not defendant. We know in our hearts that things on earth are deeply wrong, and only One can make things right again. He is the answer to the deepest crying ache of our hearts. He will bless us and make us a blessing. The psalm ends in joyous promise, "God, our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us."
Anne Carlson-Sipes
Acute Care Physical Therapist, Michigan USA (as of this writing)
