Sunday, July 4, 2010 pm
LET ALL THE PEOPLES PRAISE YOU
PSALM 67
Many see this psalm as prophetic in that it looks toward that day
when all nations will see the mercy of God – therefore it anticipates
the coming of the kingdom. While
David might have been thinking locally at that time, these words very
aptly are fulfilled in the book of Acts.
I choose to believe this to be at least one of the messages as it
calls for UNIVERSAL acceptance and praise of God, something Israel
almost always had (and still have) a problem with.
This also accords with many passages of scripture in the Old Law
anticipating the coming of the Gentiles.
Consider briefly:
·
2
Samuel 22:50 toward the
end of David’s life he said, “Therefore I will give thanks to You, O
Lord among the Gentiles, and sing praises to Your name”;
·
David had
said in another psalm, “Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD,
among the Gentiles, and sing praises to Your name.”
(Psa. 18:49).
·
Moses in
Deuteronomy 32:43, toward
the end of his life said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; For He
will avenge the blood of His servants, and render vengeance to His
adversaries; he will provide atonement for His land and His people.”
NOTE: All of the above were either by David or BEFORE his time.
·
Also the
prophets, such as Isaiah spoke of these things:
Isaiah 11:10 says, “And
in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner
to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place
shall be glorious.”
·
I mention
these specific verses because they are ALL found in
Romans 15:7-13 where Paul
was speaking of Christ becoming Savior and servant of all man, both
circumcised and uncircumcised.
Having said this, let us now read and examine this short psalm.
a.
The
mercy of God –
is a subject we need to give consideration to often.
It is ONE OF the key elements of
the salvation offered to us.
There is not greater example of mercy than that which God extends toward
us. It is seen in so many
things – His longsuffering toward us, the sacrifice of His Son for us,
His continued forgiveness of our sinful conduct when we repent.
We cannot begin to fully appreciate how great His mercy is. The
term mercy is a word associated with “compassion, pity, forbearance,
forgiveness and kindness shown by the merciful rather than upon guilt or
lack of deserving on the part of those to whom mercy is extended.”
(KJ Bible Word Book)
Vine defines the word as, “the outward manifestation of pity; it assumes
need on the part of him who receives it, and resources adequate to meet
the need on the part of him who shows it.”
Ephesians 2:4 says, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great
love with which He loved us…”
His mercy has to do with not meeting out to us what we deserve as He
extends to us His grace.
2 Corinthians 1:3 describes God as, “the Father of mercies and God of
all comfort.”
Hebrews 4:14-16 says, “Seeing then
that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not
have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in
all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come
boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in time of need.”
b.
Mercy extended to Israel –
one of the greatest demonstrations of the mercy of God was seen in His
dealings with Israel throughout their history.
I am convinced it was also in the mind of the psalmist as He
penned these words.
c.
May
His face shine upon us –
based upon a blessing the priests were to invoke upon Israel.
It is found in Numbers 6:24-27.
d.
That Your way may be known on earth
(2)
As we understand and receive the mercies of God in our lives, we ought
to desire to tell others of it.
In fact, it is one of the blessings of our faith that can be
positive incentive for others to obey.
Will we share our blessings?
Titus 2:11,
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men…”
1 Peter 2:9-10, “But
you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own
special people, that you may
proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His
marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people
of God, who had not obtained
mercy but now have obtained mercy."
a.
“Let the peoples praise You, O God…”
is found twice in this psalm, here and vs. 5.
In some way, this was associated with the poetry and/or tune of
the song. For many, it also
serves as a division of this psalm into three sections.
b.
“Let
all the peoples praise You…” That ought to be the goal of every
Christian and it ought to be our prayers for our nation and every
nation.
1 Tim. 2:1-4 reminds us to
pray for our leaders and for good to prevail.
In essence, we petition God that as His will prevails it will lead to
nations that fear and reverence Him in humility.
c.
When God’s mercy shines upon the nations there is gladness
–
i.
God’s
standard for nations is different than individual souls.
National blessings have to do with godly behavior and reverence, and the
fulfillment of God’s plans for the world.
A key to understanding the later part of the book of Romans is to
understand the difference between the nation of Israel (and later Judah)
and individual accountability.
The existence of Israel (and Judah) was necessary until the
promises made to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3), David
(2 Samuel 7) and so many others were ultimately fulfilled in Christ (cf.
Gal. 3:19-23).
ii.
ON the
other hand, individuals stand accountable for themselves
(Rom. 12:10-12, 2 Cor. 5:10).
Among our individual responsibilities is to submit to our government –
Romans 13:1-7 as governments are ordained by God and serve a good and
necessary purpose.
iii.
The
point is that nations CAN be glad and rejoice in God – when a nation is seeking godly, BIBLICAL values it will prosper.
Examples of this include moral accountability, respect for
others, a healthy work ethic, belief in God and permission to worship
Him, as well as punishment of evildoers.
History over and over reveals this as we examine prosperous and
failed nations.
d.
His
judgment is righteous (4)
–
i.
When
nations rise and fall, it is according to His divine purpose
(Isa. 14:26, Zeph. 3:6-8, Prov. 19:21). Nations that arose to punish
Israel and Judah were either accepting God’s will or rejecting it, but
they were accomplishing His purpose and were judged accordingly.
Those that were ungodly, while
accomplishing God’s purpose (such as Assyria and Babylon), would later
face the wrath of God as well.
ii.
Proverbs 14:34 says, “Righteousness
exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”
iii.
A
righteous nation can have both Christians and rogues,
as well as every temperament in between.
The question of God’s blessings has to do with the overall
disposition of that nation.
When godly influence is permitted and encouraged a nation WILL prosper.
Ecclesiastes 8:11 says, “Because
the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore
the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.”
Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe to those
who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light
for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.”
“He who justifies the wicked, and
he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to the
Lord. ” (Proverbs 17:15, NKJV)
“You have wearied the Lord with your words; “Yet you say, “In what way
have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil Is good
in the sight of the Lord, And He delights in them,” Or, “Where is the
God of justice?” ” (Malachi 2:17,
NKJV)
e.
He
will also govern the nations of the earth.
We have been discussing this very point in the previous two sections of
this verse. David
acknowledges that God is in control
a.
Vs. 5
repeats vs. 3 and the meaning is STILL the same – let all peoples praise
Him.
b.
Vs. 6,
Then the earth shall yield it’s increase.
In this statement I see a more universal appeal.
It is not just about the rise and fall of nations, but the whole
world. That can apply in two
different ways:
i.
It can
apply to the overall disposition of the world – often the moral actions
of one nation affect others.
In many instances the world, especially today, is so connected that the
attitudes of one nation has direct impact on most of the rest of the
world (i.e. economics).
This was also true during the times of the Roman Empire.
In other words, when one nation suffers, others suffer with it
(as in world wide recessions) and prosperity is often global.
This is true morally as well.
Spurgeon, in his commentary on this psalm said, “There is
certainly an intimate relation between moral and physical evil, and
between spiritual and physical good.”
That is simple application of the law of sowing and reaping (cf.
Gal. 6:7-8)
OFTEN, in Isaiah and Ezekiel we find references to universal judgments.
All nations would answer to God together.
BUT this verse has reference to increase – as when the world, as a
whole, is behaving itself it fares better.
At least that was the psalmist’s desire!
ii.
Spiritually, the gospel was preached to “every creature under heaven”
and thus the earth did indeed yield its increase.
(Acts 1:8, cf. Col. 1:23)
With the coming of Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom,
eventually blessings were made available to all mankind (1 Tim. 2:4, 2
Peter 3:9)
c.
All
the ends of the earth shall fear Him (7)
– in this concluding verse, we find the result, as desired by David (and
the Christian).
The ultimate point for us to remember in this verse – God’s will WILL
prevail! (Romans 8:28, Isa. 46:9-11)
Furthermore, it is OUR desire as the godly that the world prospers
spiritually and is blessed by God for good.
This brings us around FULL CIRCLE.
In vs. 1, we find the Christian seeking the blessings of God.
As we are blessed, we seek to spread these blessings on others.
With success, the world is blessed.
Thus we see an optimistic psalm for the
world. Will the world ever
reach the blessings of God in its fullest form as recorded in vs. 7?
Probably not, as long as this world exists.
BUT, as blessed Christians, may it ALWAYS be our desire to do our
little part to make the world as good as it can possibly be.
Matt. 5:16, “Let
your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and
glorify your Father in heaven.”