"Let all the peoples praise you!

Psalm 67

Pastor Tom Johnson, August 17, 2014

When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, he delivered them from hundreds of years of slavery. He brought his people out with the assurance that they would enter the own land—the promised land in Canaan—what we call Israel or Palestine. Brothers Moses and Aaron were the two who led God's people. God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on the mountain. Moses was a teacher and would explain what the Law meant. God gave Aaron priestly duties. He served in the Tabernacle. And God gave Aaron a blessing for every time the Israelites gathered. I'm sure you are familiar with these words. To this day, it is the most common blessing we hear in the Christian church as well: "The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." This is called the Aaronic Blessing.

 

This blessing assures God's people that he is with us. He will provide for us. He will protect us. He will watch over us with his bright and shining face. He will be our light and our guide through our own journey together. Somewhere along the line, a songwriter who heard this blessing again and again changed the words and made it his own. In the music world, this is called a remix. This refashioning of this blessing is Psalm 67. "The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make his face shine upon us." Or as our paraphrase of the Psalm says, "May God be merciful to us, Bless us, shine on us from above." And so we do so often pray for ourselves and our church family. We pray for God's mercy and forgiveness. We pray for him to bless us, heal us, provide for us, and to reveal his presence to us in our lives. What a beautiful way to pray—to take God's Word itself—to take his promise of blessing and hold it up back to him as a prayer. That is to say, "God speak blessing over us, your people. Make it happen! May it be so. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!"

 

This is one of the great insights of prayer that I think should bring us great comfort and peace. The Psalmist is using God's own words to hold him to his promises. It is something that I think we should do often. "God, you tell us to be anxious for nothing. Your Word says that you give peace—not as the world gives—but a peace that surpasses human understanding. Where is this peace? I need it now!" This is a bold way to pray. This is a biblical way to pray. And, I believe, it is a kingdom way to pray that God delights in. We may not get the exact results that we want but we will get the answers that we need.

 

The other thing that makes this Psalm genius is how it works in one other promise. And that is the promise God made to Abraham. God told Abraham to look at the stars in the sky—all those bright and shining lights. "Your descendants will outnumber all of the stars in the sky. And," God adds, "in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." "Literally, all the Gentiles—the nations—people of all languages, tribes, and ethnic groups."

 

And so the Psalm writer weaves these two promises together, "The Lord bless and keep us. The Lord make his face shine upon us so that—for the purpose of worldwide blessing—to the end that every human soul hears the Good News of God's love for his creation. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son." He broke the power of sin and death on the cross for everyone. He conquered death and the grave and rose victoriously to life so that everyone has the promise of eternal life. Our prayers are not just contained within these walls. Our blessings are not just limited to us as a people or a church. Our songs are not just for those we call our own. Our particular worship has universal consequences. The great insight of this Psalm is that God moves us out of preoccupation with our selves into empathy and interest in the whole world. It moves us away from tribalism, bigotry, and prejudice. And it leads us from a mere tolerance and acceptance of others into celebration.

 

Let all the peoples praise you, O God!" Your name is too great to be contained on our lips alone. Your love is too universal to be hidden away in a corner. Your promise is too high and wide to be limited by us. As your Son himself taught us to pray, "Hallowed be Thy Name!" Lead us to reverentially speak, sing, and pray your name. And put that same holy Name into the mouths of every creature. If we all give you the glory, thanks, and praise—if all our hearts are full of gratitude and wonder of your love—if we all see that you desire a relationship with every person—if we, like you, cherish every every human soul—we will see the connection between our love for you, your love for us, and our love for one another—your blessing us and your blessing the world through us—our love for God and our love for our neighbor.