Psalm 67 – Blessed to be a blessing

Psalm 67 is a Psalm of thanksgiving to God by the nation of Israel. This anonymously written song to the choir director was to be sung with the stringed instrument. Here the Psalmist articulated the gratitude of God’s people to Him and also expressed His assurance that God would continue to bless them. Verse 1 begins with the declaration of a portion of the Aaronic or priestly blessing recorded in Numbers 6:24-25. It is a declaration of the desire that God be gracious to His people and bless them, and causes His face to shine upon them. The Psalmist asserted that when the desire of this declaration is fulfilled, God’s ways will be known to the earth and His salvation made visible to the nations. Though God has a unique relationship with Israel, He is nonetheless the Almighty God, the One who owns heaven and earth and the nations. His blessing of Israel is a harbinger of what He could also do for the rest of the nations.

In verses 4-5, the Psalmist then calls for the people to praise this great God. He exhorts and urges the whole earth to sing for joy and worship Him. This God will not only judge with fairness and uprightness, He will also be a guide to the nations of the earth. This Psalm promulgates the promise God had made in the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 12:1-3. God promised to bless Abraham and his descendants, and that through them the rest of the families of the earth will be blessed. When Israel is blessed the whole earth shall be blessed.

Verses 6-7 state with confidence what the Psalmist had said in verses 1-5. He knew that God’s deliverance of Israel will demonstrate to the nations that He indeed is the Sovereign ruler of the universe. This will trigger the rest of the earth to praise Him. The nation of Israel is God’s chosen and unique vessel. A key to the world’s recognition of the Sovereign God is locked in the salvation of Israel. When God saves Israel the world will recognize Him as judge and shepherd of the nations. When Israel is blessed the attention of the world will be aroused. They will see in the history of Israel, the Sovereign rule of God. The church today is an extension of the Abrahamic covenant. Like Abraham, we are now the channel of God’s blessing to the world. So we, whom God had drawn to Himself through Christ Jesus, must corporately fulfil our calling to be the channel of God’s blessing to the world.