Psalm 67 – The plan of God

I have been reading through the psalms lately, and paused for a time on Psalm 67. It is here that we can see so clearly God’s plan for the nations:

A. In Genesis 12:2-3, God proclaimed His plan for the nations:

2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

This promise is extraordinary – the Lord had never said anything like this before – that through one family/nation He would bless all the peoples of the earth. It is in the heart of the Father to bless all nations and peoples. Abraham was blessed so that He could be a blessing. God actually gave him 7 blessings in these 2 verses:

• I will make you a great nation

• I will bless you

• I will make your name great

• You will be a blessing

• I will bless those who bless you

• I will curse those who curse you

• In you all the families of the earth will be blessed

B. In Exodus 19 God called all of Israel to participate in His priesthood over the nations.

The Lord has determined to raise up a holy, royal priesthood to act as agents of His blessing to the nations.

Ex. 19:5-6 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

Once again, this powerful promise is made to God’s people – they are to be ministers of His presence so that they can become ministers of God’s blessings throughout all the earth. The Lord has never looked for one or two “special” people to carry His blessings – He has always wanted a holy nation of people to be His priests and ministers (1Pet. 2:5,9).

C. In Psalm 67 God proves His Purpose to bless the nations and have all nations bless Him. (NLT):

1 May God be merciful and bless us. May his face smile with favor on us. Interlude

2 May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere.

3 May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you.

4 Let the whole world sing for joy, because you govern the nations with justice and guide the people of the whole world. Interlude

5 May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you.

6 Then the earth will yield its harvests, and God, our God, will richly bless us.

7 Yes, God will bless us, and people all over the world will fear him.

All the verses of this psalm are 2 line verses except the middle verse (4) which is the highlight or blessing verse that comes as a result of priestly nations praising Him! Verse 4 has 3 lines or thoughts.

Verse 5 begins where Verse 3 left off – crying out for praising people in all nations.

This poetic composition brings great balance to this psalm

Again – there is a cry for God’s blessings so that through us, all the nations will be blessed.

Franz Delitsch and other theologians refer to this psalm as the Old Testament “Paternoster” or, “Our Father.” It is a beautiful prayer – calling for God’s blessing that results in the fear of the Lord gripping all nations and peoples. Reference is made to the natural harvest of the earth and is tied to the ingathering spiritual harvest of peoples from all nations.

This is a wonderful missionary Psalm!

On Being A Sheep

John 10:27
My sheep hear My voice,
and I know them, 
and they follow Me.

In these days, I feel like this little sheep (look at those ears!) - listening for the voice of the Good Shepherd

Of course - there are three things happening here -

1. We have to hear His voice - we can only hear when we listen
2. We are known by the Shepherd - we can only be known when we give ourselves to Him
3. We must follow Him - We can only follow Him to the extent that we obey Him

Is. 40:11

He will feed His flock like a shepherd;

He will gather the lambs with His arm,

And carry them in His bosom,

And gently lead those who are with young.

7 Things - Reaching The Heavens

I love to meditate on God's goodness and character reaching as far as the heavens. The Psalmists that wrote these words had never flown in planes or seen camera footage from lofty heights. The concept of being up in the clouds was far beyond anything they could imagine. 

This is a picture of the vastness of God's mercy - beyond anything we can imagine!

Here are 7 things that reach the clouds or the heavens - it is interesting that His mercy is mentioned in so many of these verses, and it is His mercy and glory that go even beyond the heavens:

• God's glory is above the heavens - Ps. 8:1 O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! (Ps. 113:4; 148:13)

• God's judgments are far above - out of sight - Ps. 10:5 His ways are always prospering; Your judgments are far above, out of his sight; As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.

• God's faithfulness reaches the clouds - Psalm 36:5 Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

• God's truth reaches the clouds - Ps 57:10  ...His mercy reaches to the heavens – His truth to the clouds

• God's mercy reaches above the heavens - Ps. 108:4 For Your mercy is great above the heavens, And Your truth reaches to the clouds. (Ps. 103:11)

• God's wonders are in the heavens - Acts 2:19 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.

The final one of these seven is the greatest of them all - 

• God's Son, Jesus, is far above all the heaves - Eph. 4:10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.

Psalm 103:11

As high as the heavens are above the earth

that is how vast His mercy is

towards those who fear (worship, obey) Him.