Psalm 67: Let the Nations Be Glad
Introduction
What should missional prayers sound like? Sometimes churches go to poor areas, should we focus our prayers on meeting physical needs. Or how about infrastructure? Should we focus our prayers on denominational organization with other churches? We all agree that we should pray for salvations and heart changes. But even then, what does that mean? Would success in Romania be if ever single person in Romania decided to follow Jesus when the team arrived? If so, what do the Romanian people do when the team leaves? The importance of missions is not found in passports, airplanes, camps, or even the beautiful faces of the Romanian children. The most fundamental reason for missions is the glory of God.
The Passage
God be gracious to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us— Selah. That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations.
Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; For You will judge the peoples with uprightness And guide the nations on the earth. Selah. Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You.
The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us. God blesses us, That all the ends of the earth may fear Him. Psalm 67:1–7
Summary of the Passage
In Hebrew poetry, writers didn’t repeat sounds like rhymes but repeat words and thoughts. The usual structure is called a chiasm. It’s when the first and last of a poem repeats which emphasizes what’s said in the middle. Bible reading tip: When you’re reading a big chunk of scripture, look for repeated words and themes. In this psalm, verses 1-2 and 6-7 repeat the themes of blessing. Verses 3-5 reveal the major idea of the psalm which is the praise of God among the gentile nations.
Prayer for God’s Blessing (vv. 1-2)
Moses prayed to see God’s face (Ex 33:17-23). God’s face can bring wrath (Ps 34:16) it can also bring grace (Ps 80:7). God’s face, His presence, His sacredness results in His knowledge on the earth and the salvation of the nations (v.2). Knowledge of the one true God results in salvation.
Let the Nations Enjoy God (vv. 3-5)
No one has affected my understanding of this passage more than John Piper. He has 2 great quotes that summarize the thrust of this passage. The first: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” Notice, the nations are to be glad and sing for joy (v. 4). The nations worship by finding their joy in God. God made human beings to be worshippers. He made us to find our joy in Him. Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” We could rephrase it to be “our hearts are joyless until they find joy in you.” The kingdom of heaven is like a man who finds treasure in a field, then sells all he has to buy the field (Matt 13:44).
The great problem though is that the nations in general and individuals in particular do not worship God. People do whatever they want and find ways to justify it. But no matter how hard they try to hide their depravity, God will judge the nations with uprightness (v. 4). This leads me to the second Piper quote: “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” At the most fundamental level, worship is simply bringing the joy of our worship here somewhere else. This requires two things of missionaries: First, they must be worshippers. Second, they must enjoy it. This should be a test for any church evangelistic or outreach ministry: are people worshipping God? Are they enjoying worshipping God? What makes applying this test hard in modern contexts is that it requires reliance on the Holy Spirit.
A major theme in scripture is God’s mission for His glory to fill the earth. In Genesis 1, God made Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply to fill the earth (Gen 1:28). In Genesis 12, God called Abraham to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth (Gen 12:3). In Exodus 19, God called Israel His kingdom of priests to sanctify all the earth (Ex 19:5-6). In the New Covenant, Jesus doesn’t erase these mandates, He fulfills them and gives them to His church. Jesus is the new Adam who commissions His church, the new Eve to be fruitful and multiply making disciples over all the nations of the earth (Matt 28:18-20). Jesus is the seed of Abraham who blesses the entire world (Gal 3:14). Jesus is the greater Moses who makes church, the true Israel, to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (1 Pet 2:9). Missions is not just about the cool stories, the cool pictures, and the cool memories (those are good gifts from our loving God; I don’t want to trash on those). However, missions is also more than that. Missions is making much of Jesus. Missions is all about worship!
Praise for God’s Blessing (vv. 6-7)
God blesses us in the present. He will bless us in the future. That’s why all the ends of the earth will fear Him. Jesus will receive the reward of His suffering. He will receive a kingdom over the entire globe. He deserves praise for blessing us with His kingdom.
Conclusion
Let’s pray for the Romania team as they seek to make God’s way known among the people in Romania. Romania team, the ultimate goal of your trip and of your evangelism is the glory of God and the joy of the people. God’s ultimate glory and man’s ultimate joy are both found in the person of Christ.