Psalm 67 Devotional

bible 4

Psalm 67

1 God be gracious to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us- 2 That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation 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 will judge the peoples with uprightness and guide the nations on the earth. 5 Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. 6 The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us. 7 God blesses us, That all the ends of the earth may fear Him.

The Psalm before us today has been referred to as “the most missionary of all the Psalms.” Psalm 67 is actually a prayer, and the writers of the 1611 KJV preceded this Psalm with a notation that read, “A prayer for the enlargement of God’s kingdom, to the joy of the people, and the increase of God’s blessings.”  Stop now and read the Psalm above and look for the three parts of the Psalm mentioned by the 1611 writers.

I spoke to a local missionary earlier this week who helps churches minister to youth in central Florida. I asked him what a quarantined missionary does. He has spent quite a bit of time calling pastors and church youth leaders to be an encouragement to them. He told me that he has spoken to pastors of small churches who are reaching up to 10 times their normal audience with on-line sermons and worship services.

Wednesday, I texted another missionary friend whose normal mission field is the USF Tampa campus. I asked how things were going for him and his ministry. He told me that virtual Bible studies have opened doors to reach people they otherwise would not have reached. Even though most students have gone home, he said, it’s easier to connect with them now and, with everybody cooped up at home, he believes they are hungrier than ever to connect with God and others. He told me of a guy who gave his life to Jesus last week in a virtual Bible study.

Some of you know we recently started a Bible study in our neighborhood. Saturday afternoon, a neighbor who is new to the Bible, at his request, brought his Bible over and we sat under some trees. He read, stopped to ask questions, then read some, stopped to discuss, etc. We did this for well over an hour. Our neighborhood Bible study began in January and this week we held our first ‘virtual’ meeting. Individuals and families in all three homes on our little dirt road sat around laptops and cell phones while we laid out the Gospel story from Genesis to Revelation.

TCO, the fields are ripe for harvest. Don’t miss the opportunity and privilege to be a part of what God is doing during these days of Covid-19 and Safer-at-Home. Focus a minute around v. 2 and consider the following:

Isaiah 49:5-6 - And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the Lord, And My God is My strength), He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To Raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Also, read the following words of our Lord Jesus:

Matthew 24:14 – This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Matthew 28:19a – Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.

Last week in Pastor’s Wednesday night Facebook chat, he mentioned the book, Don’t Waste Your Life, by John Piper. In that book, Piper speaks of the “great global purpose of God” as described in Psalm 67:4, “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy.” Surely TCO, you must want to be a part of His purpose?

Vin Scully, legendary baseball broadcaster and the voice of the L.A. Dodgers from 1950 to 2016, said earlier this week on Fox News that “More people will be coming back to the faith,” predicting that this pandemic will result in the percentage of Americans attending Houses of Worship returning to post-World War II numbers. I hope Mr. Scully is right!

Remember, now, that this Psalm is prayer. So, reread the Psalm as a prayer to the Lord.

Extras:

  1. Read Psalm 67 in another translation that you like to read (text above is NASB).
  2. One of the things I like about the NASB text is the use of capital letters for pronouns and descriptive nouns when those nouns and pronouns represent God or a single Person of the Trinity. That makes a passage like Isaiah 49:5-6 a little easier to understand as to who is speaking, or who is being spoken of.
  1. Go to the Psalter app that you downloaded on Monday. Navigate to Psalm 67. You’ll notice the Psalter has two versions of this Psalm. Pick one and read it in the English translation of this old Scottish text. Tap the ‘Help’ key to select a suggested tune or listen to Live Recordings of others singing. Use the song to help you learn and memorize Psalm 67.