Sowing the Seed of Abraham in the Dust of Death

Psalm 67:1-4

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.

1 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

Think about that for a moment. If we learn to sing the psalms and/or pray them on a regular basis, we will be learning how to take on the mind of Christ. Notice why the blessing of God is requested . . . not so my day off doesn’t get rained out, not in order that I’d get the job I’m applying for . . . those are out of bounds things to pray for, but the psalms are layered images. The longer you stare at them, the more you begin to see that the underlying focal point is Jesus Christ. The petition for God to bless us and be pleased with us is ‘in order that’ the way of God may be known on earth . . . that God’s saving power might be known among the nations. The subjunctive at the beginning of verse 3 continues this same kind of thinking. People are not praising God and they should be. And so this becomes part of the prayer as well. The whole world will rejoice with joyful singing and with gladness in their hearts . . . why? Because God’s saving power will be made known to everyone and the ways of God will be made known. All the people who are brought into this knowledge will recognize that God judges everyone with equity and that God judges the nations upon the earth. That fact is worth rejoicing over, according to the Scriptures. And as you come to believe this, you will worship God with renewed gladness and joy as you grow in the knowledge this schema is not describing you being so special that God can’t help but gush over you. It’s about Jesus Christ, and because of your union with Him, it is true of you as well. But remember which end is up on this thing. Christ became for us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. 

Think about the order so far. The petition is for God to be pleased with us. With whom does God ever say, in the whole human line, since the fall, “I’m pleased with you”? He says it of Jesus Christ. The Aaronic blessing, like a covenantal rainbow, actually lands in the baptismal waters of Christ. That’s verse 1. Keep going. How will the way of God be made known on the earth? That is the great commission that Christ has enlisted His followers into, following in His footsteps. How was God’s saving power made known in all the nations? By the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, what power calls the “power of God for salvation to all who believe”. Who has been given the authority and the power to judge the nations righteously? Jesus owns that position. And He shares in the praises of God the Father, whose will it is that all creation should praise Him.

Also worth noting, the word for equity is a Hebrew word (מִישׁ֑וֹר/misowr) that means “evenly”. God judges the nations evenly. This means that God does not look at the nations over the whole world and say, “Ahh, let those guys alone. After-all, they gave us rugby.” God still judges nations. He still looks at groups of people. But you don’t want to have in your mind a critical theory view of groups. God actually judges groups and groups within those groups. This is part of the realization that the nations undergo as the Gospel moves amongst them. All nations are given the exact same opportunity that at one time only Israel possessed. As the Gospel, carried by the people of God, makes its way into other nations, places that have not heard, Emmanuel, God with us, is in their midst. In the preaching of the Gospel, Christ is crucified in their hearing, and as martyrs are put to death in front of them, Christ is crucified and put on display before their own eyes. Praise God. The Americas were given this opportunity. China is being given it. Africa is being given it. God is good to everyone and His Son is given to the world.