Psalm 67

Psa 67:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: "A PSALM. A SONG." God's destruction of Sennacherib's army ensured an unexpected period of peace for Israel, and also a respite from Assyrian invasions for the nations they had oppressed. This divine deliverance was followed by the astonishing fruitfulness of a Year of Jubilee (2Ki 19:29) and, in glad relief, a surge of Gentile enthusiasm for the worship of Yahweh (2Ch 32:23). Isaiah refs to this in Isa 60:3,4 and elsewhere. This psalm is practically a commentary, in its far-reaching perspective, upon the Abrahamic promises, in that it expresses poetically God's blessing of all nations through Abraham and his "seed" (Gen 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 22:18; etc). And so the whole "creation" (ie the New Creation esp) trembles in anticipation, and stretches forward as though to grasp the blessings of the age to come (Rom 8:18-24).

MAY GOD BE GRACIOUS TO US AND BLESS US: Psa 29:11. This echoes the High Priest blessing in Num 6:24-27, but with the significant difference that the Covenant Name (Yahweh/Jehovah) is replaced by Elohim. This is fitting to the divine might of the God of Israel being acknowledged by all Gentile, or non-covenanted, nations. This v also invites attention to Heb 9:28 -- Christ, the heavenly High Priest, coming forth from the Holy of Holies (cp Psa 65:1).

AND BLESS US: Vv 1,6,7. Cp the three blessings of Num 6:23-27.

AND MAKE HIS FACE SHINE UPON US: Cp Psa 4:6; 31:16; 80:3,7,19. More exactly, "make the light of his face (abide) with us" (WK). Thus this calls to mind Joh 1:14 and Rev. 21:3. The ref to "face" suggests, in Messianic fulfillment, 2Co 4:6. In Psalms, always ref God's presence in ark/tabernacle/temple: see VL, Psalms, God's face.

See Lesson, Selah.

Psa 67:2

THAT YOUR WAYS MAY BE KNOWN ON EARTH: Here, and until v 6, the pronouns change to second person. God's way is strongly emphasized in Acts (Act 8:31,36,39; 9:2; 18:25,26; 19:9,23; 22:4) as the gospel in action, bringing Israel and Gentiles to God through Christ. Also consider Gen 3:24 (the way to the tree of life); Gen 6:12 (God's way); and Joh 14:6 -- where "the way, the truth, and the life" should be read "the true way to (the tree of) life"!

YOUR SALVATION: "Thy saving health" (AV) is, simply, the Heb "yeshua", which means salvation. (In archaic English, "health" had a much wider range of meanings, and was used by King James' translators as the equivalent of "deliverance". Notice how "yeshua" is translated by "health" in Psa 42:11; 43:5.) "Yeshua" is almost the name of Jesus. It also occurs in Psa 68:20; 69:29; 70:4.

YOUR SALVATION AMONG ALL NATIONS: This is clearly referred to by Paul in Act 28:28 ("God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles") and also (less obviously) in Tit 2:11 ("the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men").

Psa 67:3

Vv 3,5 are identical.

MAY THE PEOPLES PRAISE YOU: The LXX has the same word as appears in Phi 2:11.

ALL THE PEOPLES: Both "peoples" are plural ("amim"). But the second word is not merely repetitive; with the addition of "all", it is expansive: 'First one people, and then all peoples!' It is the word very commonly used for the tribes of Israel. After the destruction of the Assyrians, Hezekiah's reformation must have come to a great climax: first, the people of Judah rejoiced and praised God. Then the multitudinous captives, from all the twelve tribes of Israel, returning from captivity, joined in their rejoicing and praise. The word for "all" is unusual and is characteristic of Isaiah -- poss he wrote this psalm himself. (But of course the real intent of these words is as a prophecy of Messiah's kingdom -- when first one people and then all peoples, worldwide, will worship the Lord. Cpd with this, the initial ref is relatively trivial!)

Psa 67:4

FOR YOU RULE... AND GUIDE: The words imply both the strength and the tenderness of Christ's rule. Such passages as Exo 34:6,7; Isa 11:1-9; 42:1-4 anticipate this dual nature of his kingdom.

GUIDE: Sw "lead" (mg): cp Psa 23:3; 78:72.

See Lesson, Selah.

Psa 67:6

The Heb and the RV: "The earth hath yielded." Apart from the tense, this is an exact quotation from Lev 26:4: the blessing which God promised to His people when they were loyal to Him. This is a brief echo of the lovely "harvest" passage in Psa 65:9-13; the Edenic curse (Gen 3:17-19) has been rescinded, and the Land of Israel has been returned to its former fruitfulness (Num 13:23).

Psa 67:7

GOD WILL BLESS US: Thus rounding off the Psa precisely as the High Priest blessing is concluded: "And I will bless them" (Num 6:27c).

SUBSCRIPTION: "FOR THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC."