Psalms 67

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.

1 ^[a]May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us—^[b]

2 so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

3 May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you.

4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.

5 May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you.

6 The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us.

7 May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

Psalms 67 Commentary

Chapter 67

A prayer for the enlargement of Christ's kingdom.

- All our happiness comes from God's mercy; therefore the first thing prayed for is, God be merciful to us, to us sinners, and pardon our sins. Pardon is conveyed by God's blessing, and secured in that. If we, by faith, walk with God, we may hope that his face will shine on us. The psalmist passes on to a prayer for the conversion of the Gentiles, which shows that the Old Testament saints desired that their advantages might also be enjoyed by others. And many Scripture prophecies and promises are wrapped up in prayers: the answer to the prayer of the church is as sure as the performance of God's promises. The joy wished to the nations, is holy joy. Let them be glad that by his providence the Lord will overrule the affairs of kingdoms; that even the kingdoms of this world shall became the kingdom of the Lord, and of his Christ. Then is declared a joyful prospect of all good when God shall do this. The success of the gospel brings outward mercies with it; righteousness exalts a nation. The blessing of the Lord sweetens all our creature-comforts to us, and makes them comforts indeed. All the world shall be brought to worship Him. When the gospel begins to spread, it shall go forward more and more, till it reaches to the ends of the earth. It is good to cast in our lot with those that are the blessed of the Lord. If nothing had been spoken in Scripture respecting the conversion of the heathen, we might think it vain to attempt so hopeless a work. But when we see with what confidence it is declared in the Scriptures, we may engage in missionary labours, assured that God will fulfil his own word. And shall we be backward to make known to the heathen the knowledge with which we are favoured, and the salvation we profess to glory in? They cannot learn unless they are taught. Then let us go forward in the strength of the Lord, and look to him to accompany the word the Holy Ghost; then Satan's kingdom shall be destroyed, and the kingdom of our Redeemer established.

Cross References

• 1. Numbers 6:24-26; Psalms 4:6
• 2. Isaiah 40:5; Isaiah 52:10; Isaiah 62:1
• 3. Psalms 98:2; Isaiah 62:2; Acts 10:35; Titus 2:11
• 4. ver 5
• 5. Psalms 100:1-2
• 6. S Psalms 9:4; Psalms 96:10-13
• 7. Psalms 68:32
• 8. S Genesis 8:22; S Leviticus 26:4; Psalms 85:12; Isaiah 55:10; Ezekiel 34:27; Zechariah 8:12
• 9. S Genesis 12:2
• 10. S Psalms 2:8
• 11. Psalms 33:8

Footnotes

• [a]. In Hebrew texts 67:1-7 is numbered 67:2-8.
• [b]. The Hebrew has "Selah" (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 4.

Chapter Summary

To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm [or] Song. According to the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, this psalm is a psalm of David; and very probably it was written by him, since the spirit and language of it agree with that sweet singer of Israel, though his name is not in the title; wherefore Aben Ezra says, we know not who composed it: and so the inscription of the Syriac version pronounces the same uncertain; which adds, "the people sung it when they brought David over Jordan;" meaning after Absalom's rebellion was over, 2 Samuel 19:41; but what follows better expresses the occasion and intent of it; "but to us it intimates a prophecy in it concerning the calling of the Gentiles, and the preaching of the apostles; likewise concerning the judgments of the Lord:" and it seems indeed to breathe out the desires of the church after the coming of Christ, and spiritual blessings by him, and the spread of the Gospel among the Gentiles, as what would bring forth much fruit in the earth, and be the occasion of great joy. The ancient Jews {i} apply it
abl dytel, "to future time"; the world to come, the times of the Messiah: and Kimchi understands it of the gathering of the present captivity when the Messiah comes, and of the destruction of Gog and Magog. Of the word "neginoth," See Gill on "Ps 4:1," title.

{i} Debarim Rabba, s. 1. fol. 233. 4. Yalkut Simeoni in loc.