Psalms 67:1

The Bible says in Psalms 67:1-2, “God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.[2] That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.” Anyone who is smart will seek the two things that are mentioned in verse one: mercy and blessing. You come to know the mercy of God when you meet Jesus as your personal Savior. Once you have God’s mercy, it means that all of your sins are forgiven. Once you have God’s mercy, it means that you will live forever in heaven. God’s mercy is the one great principle that overrides the earthly principle of consequences. The proof of that is simple logic. Because I have sinned, I deserve to go to hell. If there were no mercy, I would already be dead and be living in hell forever. That would be the proper and normal consequence to my evil deeds. Not only am I not dead at this moment, but when I finally die, I will go to heaven, thanks to Jesus. Since everyone is a sinner, everyone needs mercy. But until we go to heaven, as we go through life, we need blessings. And God is the author of the blessings that we need. He blesses us with food, and protection, and opportunity, and beauty everywhere: just to name a few of His blessings. It says in Ezekiel 34:26, “There shall be showers of blessing,” and there are.

Once a few people come to know the mercy and blessing of God, then it can spread to other people. At least that is God’s plan. That is why Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Psalm 67:2 says, “That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.” Believers know the joy and wonder of experiencing the mercy and blessings from Jesus, but the Lord wants “all nations” to be rightly related to Him also.

The Bible says in Psalms 67:3-4, “Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.[4] O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.” It would be wonderful if everyone knew the Lord and praised the Lord. That is one of the purposes of church services. We gather together in the name of Jesus and praise His name together. That pleases God. A church congregation is a small symbolic picture of what heaven will be like. Jesus is there in our midst, and we are praising the name of the Lord.

The Bible says in Psalms 67:5-6, “Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.[6] Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.” Why should we praise God? We should do so because it is the right thing to do. God’s love and blessings and kindness and works are so abundant and so evident that He is worthy of our praise. It says about Jesus in Revelation 4:11, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” If you understand God and truth, and if you are honest, then you will praise Him. It is important to notice that verse six associates our praising God with the earth yielding “her increase.” The fields belong to God and the crops and the herds of cattle and sheep. God will decide what happens to them, even after you do all the work that you are supposed to do. Make sure you both work and praise God. Just as a reminder: the greatest reason to praise God is because Jesus came and died for us on the cross of Calvary, He rose from the dead, and He is coming back to right all wrongs and to rule as the King of kings. Praise God.

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