Commentary - Psalm 67:1-2

Bird's-eye view

Psalm 67 is a compact and powerful missionary anthem. It begins by invoking the ancient Aaronic blessing from Numbers 6, asking for God's grace, blessing, and favor, the light of His face. But this is no inwardly-focused prayer for parochial comfort. The psalm immediately pivots on a crucial purpose clause: the blessing is requested so that God's way and salvation might be known throughout the entire earth. The logic is simple and profound: God blesses His covenant people in order that they might be a beacon of His salvation to all nations. This is the Abrahamic promise (Gen. 12:1-3) set to music. The psalm is a corporate prayer that teaches Israel, and by extension the Church, to view every divine blessing not as a private luxury but as public fuel for the Great Commission.

The structure is a call and response of global praise. The psalmist prays for blessing upon the "us" so that the "them", all the peoples, might praise God. This is not a prayer for God to bless us instead of them, but rather to bless us for them. It is a radically God-centered and outward-facing vision of what it means to be the people of God. The end goal is not Israel's comfort but God's glory filling the earth as all nations joyfully submit to His righteous rule.

Outline

Context In Psalms

Psalm 67 is one of the great missionary psalms, alongside others like Psalm 96. It is placed in the second book of the Psalter. Its placement here reminds the worshipping community that even in times of trouble and deliverance, the ultimate purpose of God's dealings with them is for the sake of the nations. It transforms the Aaronic blessing, which could be mistaken as an exclusive privilege for Israel, into the very engine of international mission. It is a song for the congregation, shaping their identity. They are not blessed simply for their own sake. They are a "kingdom of priests" (Ex. 19:6), and the function of a priest is to mediate God's presence and blessing to others. This psalm is the musical embodiment of that priestly, missional identity.

Key Issues

Blessed to Be a Blessing

We live in a therapeutic age, and so when we come to a passage like this, our first instinct is to treat it like a spiritual comfort blanket. We want God to be gracious to us. We want Him to bless us. We want His face to shine on us. And all of that is good and right. But our therapeutic culture trains us to stop there. The blessing becomes the terminus, the end goal. We want the blessing for our own comfort, our own peace of mind, our own prosperity. But that is to take a divine rocket and treat it like a decorative paperweight.

This psalm will not allow us to do that. The prayer for blessing is immediately qualified by its grand purpose. The entire psalm hinges on the word "That" at the beginning of verse two. We are asking for the tank to be filled up with high-octane fuel, not so we can idle comfortably in the driveway, but so that we can go somewhere. The destination is "all nations." This psalm teaches us to pray dangerous prayers. When we pray, "God, bless my family," this psalm adds, "...so that my family can be a beacon of your salvation in our neighborhood." When we pray, "God, bless our church," this psalm adds, "...so that our church can be an instrument of making your way known on the earth." The blessing is not a cushion for us to sit on; it is a commission for us to carry out.

Verse by Verse Commentary

For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.

These are the liner notes, the technical instructions for the Levites in charge of the temple music. This was not a private poem for quiet meditation; it was a public hymn intended for corporate worship, accompanied by music. The faith of Israel was a singing faith, and the songs they sang were designed to shape their hearts and minds, to catechize them in sound theology. This song, right from the start, is identified as part of the formal, public worship of God's people. It is meant to be sung together, loudly, with musical skill.

1 God be gracious to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us, Selah.

The psalmist begins by reaching back into Israel's liturgical memory to the high priestly blessing given to Aaron in Numbers 6:24-26. This is foundational. He is asking for three things that are really one thing viewed from three angles. First, he asks for grace. This is hanan in Hebrew, meaning unmerited favor. It is a plea for God to deal with them not on the basis of their performance, but on the basis of His own covenant kindness. All true blessing begins here, with grace. Second, he asks God to "bless us." This is a request for God's active, positive intervention in their lives, for fruitfulness, for provision, for victory, for shalom. Third, and most poetically, he asks God to "cause His face to shine upon us."

This is the heart of biblical blessing. For God's face to shine upon you is for Him to turn toward you with pleasure, approval, and delight. It is the opposite of God hiding His face, which is a sign of judgment and wrath. It is the personal, relational core of what it means to be right with God. It is to have the joyful, life-giving presence of the Creator directed toward you. This is what the priest was to pronounce over the people, and it is what the people now sing back to God as their deepest desire. The Selah invites a pause. We are to stop and consider the magnitude of what is being asked. Do you want the unmerited, active, smiling favor of Almighty God? Let that sink in before you move on.

2 That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations.

And here is the pivot, the purpose for which the shining face is sought. "That" or "so that." The blessing of verse one is the means to the end of verse two. The light is not given to Israel so they can hoard it in a private club; the light is given so it can illuminate the whole world. What is it that is to be made known? Two things are mentioned. First, "Your way." This refers to God's manner of acting, His moral character, His covenant faithfulness, the path of righteousness that He has laid out for men. It is the whole divine pattern for human life and worship.

Second, and more specifically, it is "Your salvation." The Hebrew word here is yeshua. That ought to get our attention. God's way is ultimately the way of salvation, and that salvation has a name. The blessing is given to the covenant people so that Jesus might be made known on the earth. And the scope is breathtaking: "on the earth" and "among all nations." The word for nations is goyim, the standard term for the Gentile peoples. This is not a tribal deity concerned only with one ethnic group. This is the God of all creation, and His plan from the beginning was to bring His salvation to every tribe, tongue, and people. The Aaronic blessing on Israel was the floodlight being switched on so that the whole world could see the stage where God's salvation would be accomplished.

Application

This psalm fundamentally reorients our prayers. It forces us to ask why we want the blessings we ask for. Do you pray for a promotion at work? It is a good thing to pray for. But this psalm challenges you to pray, "Lord, grant me this promotion that I may have more resources to support the work of the gospel, and a greater platform to live out Your way before my colleagues." Do we pray for our church to grow? We should. But the prayer must be, "Lord, grow our church that we might be a more effective outpost of Your salvation in this city and among the nations."

Every blessing we receive from God's hand is a stewardship. It is capital to be invested for the advance of His kingdom. A healthy marriage, obedient children, a stable job, a sound church, these are not ends in themselves. They are gifts from God's gracious hand, and they are given to us so that His face, which has shone on us, might be reflected by us into a dark world. The ultimate shining of God's face was in the person of Jesus Christ. "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6). We have seen that light. This psalm commands us to pray that God would intensify that light in us, for the express purpose of making it known everywhere.