O Let the Nations Be Glad

2012-05-18

The text of Psalm 67

Title: To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song.

1: 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.

3: 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.

5: 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.

7: God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.

Discussion

It becomes rather clear that this Psalm uses a literary device called a chiastic structure. In short, this means that the first and last verse carry some similarity or parallelism, the second and the second to last also, and so on, until you reach the center of the Psalm. This center is what God wants to emphasize. Let us look at each piece a step at a time.

The title does not seem to be a part of the structure. In verses 1 and 7, the psalmist is talking about God’s blessing. In verse 1, he pronounced blessing upon the people, while in verse 7, he is stating that God will bless his people. In verses 2 and 6, there is a shift to the Lord’s witness in the entire earth. Verse 2 portrays God as the provider of “saving health” in the world. The testimony of God’s greatness is seen by the blessing upon his people. Verse 6 describes this provision as the increase of crops in the world. God is the sustainer of our world, and provides for our essentials. Verses 3 and 5 are identical. This is a call for all people to worship the Most High God. There is no other real god; God is to be praised because he is designer, creator, and sustainer of all those who dwell in the earth. We owe our allegiance to him because of this.

Verse 4 is the psalm’s emphasis: “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 is interesting to see that the nations should be joyful because God will judge them righteously. Judgment often brings fear, but there is a different take here. People should be glad because God has the power to save them from condemnation. Faith in Jesus Christ delivers us from the fires of hell, and for this reason we should be exceedingly joyful. We also can be glad because God’s judgment is righteous judgment. For those who are not saved, we know that they will not be punished more or less than what they deserve. We can also be thankful that God shows no partiality in his judgment. God’s grace is being published to the entire world; in the end, there will be no excuse for people not to believe on him. Jesus Christ will literally return to the earth and govern the nations. God is good.