God's blessing on the world
In the past few days we have been reminded of God’s glorious vision for his Kingdom, that “…all the families of the earth shall be blessed” Genesis 12.3b. But we have also seen, in Exodus 20, how, apart from Moses, people were terrified and fled from God’s holy presence.
So what do we learn of God’s Kingdom from Psalm 67?
This hope-filled psalm is the anthem of All Nations, giving us a glimpse of the culmination of our prayers and longing,
Let all the ends of earth revere the Lord!
The scope of this Psalm, just like the Kingdom, is global, but starts at home. First, asking the Lord for his mercy on us, for his grace and blessing. Then a request for intimacy with the Father, his smile on us. A smile is deeply personal, a sign of affection and approval. To live under the smile of Abba Father is our incomparable treasure!
Immediately after verse one we read Selah - a Hebrew word with the probable meaning ‘stop and listen’. It is entirely appropriate for us to pause here, to reflect, to worship and to listen. It’s an opportunity for us to settle more deeply into God’s presence, where we will be better positioned to receive the blessing he continually pours out over the earth. To savour his open invitation to mercy and salvation, an invitation wide open to all people in every nation.
C H Spurgeon, commenting on the psalm, wrote “This all nations need, but many of them do not know it, desire it, or seek it. Our prayer and labor should be, that the knowledge of salvation may become as universal as the light of the sun. Despite the gloomy notions of some, we cling to the belief that the kingdom of Christ will embrace the whole habitable globe, and that all flesh shall see the salvation of God—for this glorious consummation we agonize in prayer.” Let’s commit our own lives to pray and work to this end.
The heart cry of all who desire the Kingdom of God rings out emphatically from verses 3 and 5:
Let the peoples praise you O God,
Let all the peoples praise you!
Only when they have discovered God’s love will the nations shout and sing for joy as verse 4 describes. God is holy and inevitably his judgements bring repentance, truth and justice. But what joy will be released when the nations of the earth seek the Father’s will and ways. A second ‘selah’ gives us time to process the universal scale of God’s Kingdom. Nothing will be left out: ‘…to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven’ Colossians 1.20
The final two verses remind us that the whole of creation exists for fruitfulness and worship.
Your Kingdom come O God, on earth as it is in heaven. Amen!
- Catherine Horton
Quotation from Treasury of David, https://gracegems.org/Spurgeon/067.htm
So what do we learn of God’s Kingdom from Psalm 67?
This hope-filled psalm is the anthem of All Nations, giving us a glimpse of the culmination of our prayers and longing,
Let all the ends of earth revere the Lord!
The scope of this Psalm, just like the Kingdom, is global, but starts at home. First, asking the Lord for his mercy on us, for his grace and blessing. Then a request for intimacy with the Father, his smile on us. A smile is deeply personal, a sign of affection and approval. To live under the smile of Abba Father is our incomparable treasure!
Immediately after verse one we read Selah - a Hebrew word with the probable meaning ‘stop and listen’. It is entirely appropriate for us to pause here, to reflect, to worship and to listen. It’s an opportunity for us to settle more deeply into God’s presence, where we will be better positioned to receive the blessing he continually pours out over the earth. To savour his open invitation to mercy and salvation, an invitation wide open to all people in every nation.
C H Spurgeon, commenting on the psalm, wrote “This all nations need, but many of them do not know it, desire it, or seek it. Our prayer and labor should be, that the knowledge of salvation may become as universal as the light of the sun. Despite the gloomy notions of some, we cling to the belief that the kingdom of Christ will embrace the whole habitable globe, and that all flesh shall see the salvation of God—for this glorious consummation we agonize in prayer.” Let’s commit our own lives to pray and work to this end.
The heart cry of all who desire the Kingdom of God rings out emphatically from verses 3 and 5:
Let the peoples praise you O God,
Let all the peoples praise you!
Only when they have discovered God’s love will the nations shout and sing for joy as verse 4 describes. God is holy and inevitably his judgements bring repentance, truth and justice. But what joy will be released when the nations of the earth seek the Father’s will and ways. A second ‘selah’ gives us time to process the universal scale of God’s Kingdom. Nothing will be left out: ‘…to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven’ Colossians 1.20
The final two verses remind us that the whole of creation exists for fruitfulness and worship.
Your Kingdom come O God, on earth as it is in heaven. Amen!
- Catherine Horton
Quotation from Treasury of David, https://gracegems.org/Spurgeon/067.htm
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