500_The blessing of God?

Psalm 67 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
2 that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

6 The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
7 God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him!

Henrietta Mears was a follower of Jesus who lived in the early 20th century. Through her work in developing and teaching adult Sunday School year after year, hundreds of young men and women came to know Christ personally. Some of them went on to become Christian leaders, like Billy Graham, Young Life founder Jim Rayburn, and Campus Crusade for Christ founder Bill Bright. Nearly 400 others went into full-time ministry after attending her Sunday school class. When asked the secret of her fruitfulness, she said, “I only ever asked God to bless me so that others would be blessed through me.”

Her life was like a channel, not a container. She desired only that the knowledge of God would spread through her life like a river that waters everything in its path.

This is what Psalm 67 reminds us of. Many of us approach the idea of God’s blessing in very personal terms. We think of blessings as a better job, a safe home, a healthy body, or a thriving family. But this psalm reminds us that the reason we should seek God’s blessing goes far deeper—and reaches much wider—than just our individual lives.

The psalm begins with a familiar prayer: “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us.” This echoes the priestly blessing of Numbers 6, where Moses instructed Aaron to bless Israel with those words. It’s a beautiful picture of God’s favor, His protection, and His pleasure—resting on His people.

And then the psalmist tells God why he desires the blessing: “So that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.” In other words, God’s blessing on His people would tell the world about God and show them that He was a Savior.

This is a radical shift in perspective. The psalmist isn’t asking for blessing just to live out his life on earth in comfort. He longed for all people across the earth to know the glory of God.

Israel wasn’t chosen to be a cul-de-sac of God’s blessing, but a highway. God had made them His own, not to isolate them from the world, but to reveal Himself through them to the world. Psalm 33:12 declares, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.” Their blessing had a purpose—to be a light to the nations, a testimony to the goodness of the one true God.

And this desire fills the rest of Psalm 67 like a chorus: “Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!” The psalmist longs for the day when all nations—every tribe, language, and people group—will come to know and worship the Lord. It’s a song of global mission, rooted in the covenant love of God.

And what’s striking is the confidence the psalmist has in God’s righteous rule. He writes, “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.” This is no vague optimism; it’s a bold declaration of the justice and wisdom of God. In a world riddled with injustice, corruption, and suffering, the psalmist sees a day when God’s just reign will make the nations glad. Because He judges without partiality or prejudice—and He guides nations like a wise Shepherd.

This should give us hope, especially when we are disheartened by the evil and brokenness around us. The Lord hasn’t abandoned the world to chaos. He is actively working out His purposes, and one day, His justice will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. And he will renew all things.

But then comes verse 6: “The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.” Ever since the fall, the earth has resisted our labor. God told Adam that the ground would produce thorns and thistles. He told Cain that the soil would no longer yield for him. The curse affected not only humanity, but creation itself.

Yet here the psalmist envisions a time when the curse will be lifted, when the land will once again flourish under God’s favor. The world will be restored and healed. God’s presence will fill every corner, and His people will be a blessing to every nation.

The prophets echoed this hope. Isaiah foresaw a day when “the mountains and hills will burst into song and the trees of the field will clap their hands.” When instead of thorns, cypress trees would grow. When instead of briers, myrtles would spring up. It’s the reversal of Genesis 3. It’s Eden restored. And at the center of it all is the name of the Lord, lifted high and honored.

But how will this happen? How can God reverse the curse that man brought on himself by his own free choice to disobey his good Creator? How can man receive the blessing of God and become a blessing?

The answer is found only in Jesus Christ. Galatians 3:13 tells us, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us… so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles.” For Christ became our atonement, our one perfect and sufficient sacrifice. He became a curse for us, hanging on the cross of shame, so that the curse of the law might be finished there. In him, dead to the law, we are free from its curse. In him, we have received the blessing that Israel was offered in Abraham.

For through Christ, God made it plain that his blessing never was limited to Israel. It’s for every nation. Every person. Every heart that believes. In Him, we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3). But just as even Christ did not please himself, we are blessed in order to bear and display His glory to a world in unbelief, a world in need.

Psalm 67 ends with a forward-looking declaration: “God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear Him.” This is a promise. A day is coming when the blessing poured out through Christ will reach its final destination: the worship of God among all nations.

As we understand this, let us fervently pray for God’s blessing apart from our desire for physical safety or prosperity. Let us ask that through our lives, God’s way may be known, and His saving power demonstrated to others. Let us pray, not only for our comfort, but for our usefulness.

This means living each day with eyes wide open to God’s will. It means being faithful to his ways. It means being generous with our time, our resources, and our love. It means walking in holiness, not to look good, but simply out of our joy and gratitude for God’s goodness. It means speaking of Christ, not to win arguments, but to win hearts. It means, like Levi in Malachi 2, standing in awe of God’s name, walking in uprightness, and turning many from iniquity.

May the Lord bless us with the blessing of His Son—so that the world may praise His name and fear Him. God bless.