The Ultimate Disconnect1

The Ultimate Disconnect1

Psalm 67

Main Idea: God blesses his people for the sake of his praise among all peoples.

Quite possibly more than any other chapter in the Bible, Psalm 67 has shaped my understanding of my life, my family, and God’s purpose for the church in the world. I’ll never forget where I was sitting the first time I heard this psalm taught and the way God used it to put my life on a totally different trajectory.

Psalm 67 contains one primary truth, and this truth forces us to address one common danger. We’ll also consider what this psalm tells us about who God is, why he blesses, and what this means for us, his people.

One Truth

In a sense Psalm 67 is simple. It contains one primary, overarching truth, a truth absolutely critical to understanding Christianity and the purpose of your life in this world. God blesses his people for the sake of his praise among all peoples. Let’s unpack this massively important statement.

There’s a pause at the end of verse 1 in the middle of a sentence. It says Selah, which is basically a musical term that signifies some kind of pause, as if to say, “OK, don’t move on too quickly in the song yet; just let it soak in.” Verse 1 is a petition based on a high-priestly blessing in Numbers 6:24-26. People would go to the priest, and the priest would bless them, saying, “May the Lord bless you and protect you; may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.”

The petition, “May God be gracious to you,” is like asking God to show you, a sinner who has rebelled against him, unmerited love and undeserved compassion. It is asking God not only to not give you what you deserve (condemnation) but also to give you what you don’t deserve (mercy). “May God bless you” is likewise a gracious petition for blessing. Even though in our sin we are all due the curse of God’s condemnation, this is an appeal for the blessing of God’s kindness and love. Asking for God to make “his face shine upon us” is like asking for the smile of the holy God of creation.

Is Psalm 67 talking about spiritual blessing or physical/material blessing? According to the text, the answer seems to be yes. Certainly the psalm has to do with spiritual blessing—the gift of God’s grace, the light of God’s face—but then in verse 6 the reference to the “earth” clues us in that the psalmist has in mind God’s blessing on the land, most likely at harvest time. So in addition to spiritual blessings, there’s a picture of physical and material blessings.

After verse 1 there’s a pause, not a period. We don’t simply ask for God’s blessing and then move on to something else. No, the thought is incomplete. Yes, we pause, but then we keep going. And the most important words in the psalm are the first words of verse 2: “So that.” Apparently God has a purpose behind his blessing.

God blesses his people for the sake of his praise among all peoples. He blesses so that his saving power might be made known among all the nations (v. 2). The psalmist then erupts in verses 3-5, calling on the peoples to praise God and the nations to “rejoice and shout for joy.” The terms peoples and nations refer to tribes and clans and ethnic groups in the world. Scholars have identified more than eleven hundred different ethnic groups in the world today. These are groups of people who share a common language and cultural characteristics. In Hebrew the psalmist uses three different words for peoples and nations in this passage, underscoring that God aims to be praised by all (Goldingay, Psalms 42–89, 302–3). The psalmist wants people from the north to the south, from the east to the west, from the rich to the poor, from the young to the old, from the urban to the rural, in every tribe, in every language, and among every ethnic group on the earth to praise God. That’s the reason God blesses his people.

God’s desire for praise among all peoples is a theme that shows up throughout Scripture, as an all-too-brief tour will demonstrate.

The Patriarchs

In Genesis 12:1-3 God made the following promises to Abraham, the father of the people of Israel:

Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

Even though Abraham was an idolater, God chose to bless Abraham (and eventually Israel, the nation that came from Abraham) so that he might be a conduit of his blessing to all peoples. Genesis 12:1-3 is echoed in the purpose of God’s blessing articulated in Psalm 67.

To Isaac, Abraham’s son, God said, “I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring” (Gen 26:4). To Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, God said, “Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring” (Gen 28:14).

God was doling out extravagant promises to the patriarchs, all for the sake of his global, self-exalting purpose.

The Exodus

When God delivered his people from Egypt, he declared, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. Then I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord” (Exod 14:4). God had brought his people to the edge of the Red Sea, which meant they had a massive body of water in front of them and the fast-approaching Egyptian army behind them. That’s not good military strategy. You don’t run into a dead end if an army’s about to overtake you. So, why did God lead his people to the edge of the Red Sea? So that he would gain glory for himself among the Egyptians. He would split that sea in half and send his people through it on dry land. They were able to look in their rearview mirrors and see the water come crashing down on the Egyptians. The Egyptians found out that God is “the Lord.” God blessed his people for his glory and for his praise among all the peoples.

Giving the Law

We can also see God’s global purposes in his giving of the law.

Look, I have taught you statutes and ordinances as the Lord my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to possess. Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, “This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.” For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him? And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today? (Deut 4:5-8)

God gave Israel the law so that when they followed his commandments, they would show his goodness and wisdom to the surrounding nations. In other words, God gave Israel his law for the sake of his praise among the nations.

Taking the Promised Land

Once Israel finally made it to the promised land in Joshua 5–6, the first major city they came to was Jericho, a city with massive walls encircling it. Of the various military options available—going over the walls, going under the walls, breaking through the walls, sending in a decoy, or starving out the people inside the walls—God again chose a rather unusual strategy. He told Joshua to command the priests to blow trumpets and then have the people shout really loud. The walls would fall down, and Israel would take Jericho. That must have sounded like a strange plan to Joshua. Imagine telling an army that’s been training for war for an entire generation that you’re turning it over to the music guys! So why did God design this battle plan for the first major city in the promised land? Because he was orchestrating events so that only he would get the glory for the outcome.

King Solomon

Why, you might ask, was Israel’s King Solomon given such wisdom? The queen of Sheba’s reaction upon seeing him gives us the answer—that this pagan queen might praise God: “Blessed be the Lord your God! He delighted in you and put you on the throne of Israel, because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel. He has made you king to carry out justice and righteousness” (1 Kgs 10:9).

The Psalms

We see this pattern in the psalms as well. In Psalm 23 we hear that the Lord is our shepherd and that he provides, renews, and leads us. Why? He does it “for his name’s sake” (23:3). In Psalm 25 the psalmist asks the Lord for forgiveness “for the sake of your name” (25:11). God carries out his saving work for his own glory.

Israel in Exile

We see something similar in Daniel 3 with the well-known story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Why would God let three Hebrew boys who were standing up to worship him be thrown into a fiery furnace? We will miss the point unless we read the entire story. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego spend some time in a fiery furnace and then come out on the other side without a drop of sweat on their brow, King Nebuchadnezzar, the pagan king of Babylon, praised God, saying, “For there is no other god who is able to deliver like this” (Dan 3:29). Likewise, when God delivered Daniel from the lions’ den, King Darius, another pagan king, decreed that everyone in his kingdom “must tremble in fear before the God of Daniel” (Dan 6:26). He continued,

For he is the living God, and he endures forever; his kingdom will never be destroyed, and his dominion has no end. He rescues and delivers; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth, for he has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions. (Dan 6:26-27)

Once again, God’s extravagant blessing was for his extravagant glory.

The Prophets

In Isaiah 43 God says some of the most beautiful words to his people in the whole Old Testament:

Now this is what the Lord says—the one who created you, Jacob, and the one who formed you, Israel—“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine. I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flame will not burn you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, and your Savior. I have given Egypt as a ransom for you, Cush and Seba in your place. Because you are precious in my sight and honored, and I love you, I will give people in exchange for you and nations instead of your life. Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back!’ Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the ends of the earth.” (Isa 43:1-6)

God speaks of blessing upon blessing for his people, but then in the next verse he says his people are “created for my glory” (Isa 43:7). In other words, he created his people for his glory, and he loves them for his glory.

When God gave his new covenant promise through the prophet Ezekiel, he told the prophet why he was going to act on behalf of his people:

Therefore, say to the house of Israel, “This is what the Lord God says: It is not for your sake that I will act, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you profaned among the nations where you went. I will honor the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am the Lord—this is the declaration of the Lord God—when I demonstrate my holiness through you in their sight.” (Ezek 36:22-23)

God was acting for the sake of his name among the nations.

The Gospels and Acts

God’s global purposes don’t change in the New Testament. When we get to the end of the Gospel accounts, Jesus says to his disciples, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19). Similarly, Luke’s Gospel teaches us that Jesus died and rose again so that repentance and forgiveness of sins “would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations” (Luke 24:47). Luke picks up that same story in Acts 1, as Jesus promises his disciples that they would “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you” (Acts 1:8). Why? Because “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). This worldwide gospel witness is what we see happening in the rest of the New Testament.

The Letters of the New Testament

Paul tells the church in Galatia that God revealed Jesus to him “so that I could preach him among the Gentiles” (Gal 1:16). To the church at Rome, he says, “My aim is to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named” (Rom 15:20). There were peoples who were not praising God, and Paul was called to go to them. This is still the mission of the church today. Finally, in Revelation 7 we see how God’s original promise to bless the nations through Abraham comes to fruition:

After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! (Rev 7:9-10)

This is the all-consuming, final, ultimate, glorious, global purpose of God. God blesses people for the sake of his praise among all peoples.

One Danger

Having identified God’s desire to see all peoples praise him, there’s a danger of which we all need to be aware: We are prone to disconnect God’s blessing in our lives from God’s purpose for our lives.

Our hearts resonate with the idea of grace, and for good reason. However, it is oftentimes a grace centered around us. So while grace is worthy of our attention, if disconnected from its purpose, the sad result is a self-centered Christianity that misses the purpose of God.

If you ask the average Christian in our culture, “What is the message of Christianity?,” you will likely hear something along the lines of, “God loves me.” But that’s not Christianity. It’s true, of course, but it’s incomplete. In this me-centered version of Christianity, we become the focus. We make plans for our lives and careers based on what’s best for us. We choose a house to live in, a car to drive, clothes to wear, even a way of living, based on what we want. However, the message of Christianity is “God loves me so that . . .” God is the end goal. So, does this mean God has an ulterior motive in blessing us? Yes!

To some people it sounds arrogant for God to claim that he is the center of the universe and to say that everything revolves around him. And it would be arrogant for any one of us to say that. But remember: you and I are not God! God lives to exalt himself. If that rubs you wrong, then ask yourself, “Who else should he exalt?”

This does not mean God doesn’t love us deeply—he does! God possesses unusual, extreme, and intimate passion for his people. This is the beauty of the gospel! God glorifies himself by making his salvation known to us. He glorifies himself by saving you and me through the sacrifice of his Son on a cross. He glorifies himself by showering us with his grace, and that grace has a goal, namely, his glory.

What made Psalm 67 such a life-altering text in my life is that, for the first time, I realized that the blessing of God does not center on me. Instead, the blessing of God is intended to spread through me. God has given me the gospel for a reason, and that reason is so that all peoples might know the gospel. God has given me material blessings in this world for a purpose, and that purpose is not so that I can be more comfortable or have more luxuries or so that I can coast out my Christian life until I get to heaven. No, that’s not biblical Christianity. God has given me wealth in this world for the spread of his worship in this world. All of his blessings ultimately center on him, not on me.

Out of more than eleven hundred people groups in the world, more than six thousand of these ethnic groups have never even heard of the saving power of God. That’s over two billion people. It’s not that they have heard the good news of God’s grace in Christ and rejected it; it’s that they have not even heard it. And the primary reason, it seems, that they haven’t heard the gospel is because we who have the gospel have disconnected God’s grace from God’s purpose. We are sitting back with the gospel in the confines of comfortable churches where we’re content to spend the majority of the time and money God has graciously given us on ourselves, never realizing that God gave it to us for a greater purpose.

Could it be that God might lead many, if not most, of us who live in a land of gospel saturation to go to the peoples of the earth for the praise of his name? That seems so far-fetched to us that we wouldn’t even consider it, that is, until we realize that it’s the purpose of our salvation. Psalm 67 helps us see that purpose, and in so doing it transforms our lives. Below we’ll look at three realizations that spring from this psalm.

Three Realizations

Realize Who God Is

Psalm 67 helps us realize who God is by revealing to us various aspects of his character. That he is the gracious Savior means we have good news to tell the nations! We don’t go to the peoples of the world with a message of condemnation; we go with a message of celebration. God loves you! He is gracious! He is merciful! He has sent his Son to save you from your sin! We say to peoples living in spiritual darkness, “The light of God shines on you! (See Matt 4:16.) Turn from yourselves, trust in him, and be saved forever!”

While God is gracious and loving, we must also see that he is the righteous Judge (v. 4). This is sobering news for all who don’t trust in Christ, but it’s news we must make known. Put yourself in the shoes of those who have never heard: if God is indeed the Judge of all people everywhere, and if we stand condemned before him, then wouldn’t we want somebody to come and tell us how we can be pardoned? Wouldn’t we want somebody to leave behind their comforts and take the risk of moving their family to where we are in order to learn our language so they could share this gospel with us? We would want everybody involved in this effort, not just a select few.

A third attribute of God is also found in verse 4: he is the sovereign King. God is the King over all the nations on earth. This is why the church should fast and pray fervently, give sacrificially, and go willingly: because Jesus is King of the nations! He doesn’t deserve the praise of only some people groups; he deserves the praise of all people groups. “Let the peoples praise you, God; let all the peoples praise you!” (v. 3; emphasis added). The question is, Do we believe this? Do we believe this enough to give our lives to this?

Realize Why God Blesses

Psalm 67 helps us realize not only who God is but also why God blesses: for the sake of his praise among all peoples. More specifically, he aims to be known among all peoples (v. 2). In order for the peoples to praise God, they obviously must know God. And when they know him for who he is, they will praise him for what he is worth.

Intellectual knowledge is not all that he is after. He aims to be enjoyed by all peoples (v. 4). God has used John Piper to open my eyes to the beauty of this psalm and this truth in particular. His book Let the Nations Be Glad is one of the most influential books I have ever read outside of the Bible. Piper says, “The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God” (Let the Nations Be Glad, 11). It’s not only Psalm 67 that is expressing this truth. Consider a few more examples: “The humble will see it and rejoice. You who seek God, take heart!” (69:32). “Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; let those who love your salvation continually say, ‘God is great!’” (70:4). “The Lord reigns! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coasts and islands be glad” (97:1).

You may also be tempted to think God is using you, as if you are merely a pawn in his desire to bless others. You may wonder if he really loves you. In response, God is using you for his purpose, but his purpose for you is good. In fact, his purpose for you is evidence of his love for you. We tend to get this backward, thinking that if God loves us, then he must focus solely on us. However, what if God’s love for us is most fully realized in sharing it with others? And what if our joy in God will increase, not when we hoard God’s blessings for ourselves but when we spread God’s blessings among others? I know few greater joys than leading people to joy in Jesus. Greater than all the comforts of this world is the satisfaction of seeing more and more men and women glad in God. That is a purpose worth living for!

God has designed our hearts to be glad in giving, not in hoarding. Yet, in our culture, we find ourselves swimming in an ocean of deceit. We’re surrounded by the lie that says getting will make you happy. It’s not true. God loves you, and in his love he tells you to give your life away so that you and others might be glad in him.

Also, he aims to be feared by all peoples (v. 7). Piper writes, “God is jealous to be known and praised and enjoyed and feared. He is displeased when people are ignorant of him or disrespectful to him or bored around him or unduly casual in his presence” (“Let the Nations Be Glad”). The God we make known in the gospel is not to be trifled with. He is holy, just, and all-powerful.

Realize What This Means

You may be wondering what Psalm 67 means for your life. It is not just for information. This psalm means this prayer must be constant on our lips. The desire for God to be known among all peoples should fuel prayer in our lives and our families and our churches.

Further, this purpose must captivate our lives. The time is short, and the need is urgent. We do not have time to sit back and soak in a message of grace that centers on us. God has given us much, including his gospel and many other temporal blessings, for the purpose of making his glory known among all peoples. Therefore, let us connect God’s blessing in our lives with God’s purpose for our lives. For when God’s purpose captivates our lives, then the blessing of God will follow in our lives. God wants to be praised, known, enjoyed, and feared among the nations, and he will bless those who are aligned with what he wants. This is why Jesus gives us not only a Great Commission but also a promise to go with us and provide us everything we need to accomplish it (Matt 28:18-20).

Do we want to experience the fullness of everything God offers? Then let’s give ourselves to the purpose God has ordained! Let’s pray and give and go, and as we do, let’s expect the blessing of God to follow the purpose of God. Again Piper notes,

If God blesses his people for the sake of the nations; then God is most likely to bless us when we are planning and longing and praying to bless the nations. If God wants his goods to get to the nations, then he will fill the truck that’s driving toward the nations. He will bless the church that’s pouring itself out for unreached peoples of the world. And this blessing is not payment for a service rendered; it’s power and joy for a mission to accomplish. When we move toward the unreached peoples, we are not earning God’s blessings, we are leaping into the river of blessings that is already flowing to the nations. (“Let the Nations Be Glad”)

The river of God’s blessing is flowing to the nations, so let’s jump in and enjoy!

God’s global purpose for his praise among the peoples can’t be a sideshow in the church; it’s what fuels the central mission of the church. We have all been commissioned and blessed so that we would give our lives for the spread of God’s praise among the peoples of the world. This is what it means to be the church.

Finally, while Psalm 67 is a prayer and a purpose, it’s also a promise (vv. 6-7). God will bless us, and he will bring all the ends of the earth to fear him. This promise must compel risk-taking, life-giving, death-defying confidence in our Lord. In fact, this is happening already among our brothers and sisters around world. There is more to this life than having a nice job, a decent family, a comfortable life, and then tacking on church attendance. We have been created, saved, and blessed by God for the praise of God among the peoples of the world.

One day Christ, the sovereign King and righteous Judge and gracious Savior, will return, and God’s face will shine on us in a much greater way. Revelation 22:4 says, “They will see his face.” Let’s live and die for that day.

Reflect and Discuss

1. In what ways has God blessed you physically and materially? In what ways has God blessed you spiritually? Make a list of each.
2. Respond to the following statement using Scripture: “God’s desire to bless all nations began in the book of Acts.”
3. When you receive more physical blessings—money, job promotion, house, car, etc.—what is your first impulse? Do you typically think about how to leverage those blessings for the gospel? If not, why not?
4. How does the overarching message of Psalm 67 clash with a culture that is heavily influenced by consumerism?
5. If God blesses others through us, does that mean he is only using us? How is it good news to be used to bless others?
6. How should the truth of God’s sovereignty give us confidence in the church’s mission?
7. Sharing the truth of God’s justice and wrath with unbelievers can be uncomfortable. Why it is critical that we don’t neglect these sobering truths?
8. How might Psalm 67 shape the way a church uses its resources?
9. Some people think Christians are simply trying to keep people from enjoying life. How does verse 4 speak to this misperception?
10. In light of the message of Psalm 67, what are some things that need to change about the ways you are currently leveraging your job, your money, your time, etc.?