Let the Nations Be Glad! (Psalm 67)

Psalm 67 is a “missionary psalm” with a Great Commission focus to reach the nations (Acts 1:8). For God’s purpose in blessing his people, Israel, has always been to multiply those blessings “to the ends of the earth” (e.g., Ps 98:1-3). As God first promised Abraham, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen 12:2-3). God’s covenant with Abraham went far beyond one family or one nation, for Israel’s greatness had an outward focus. Through Abraham’s family, the Jews, all the families of the earth would be blessed: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord” (see Ps 22:27-28).

After rescuing Israel in the Exodus, God once again communicated his purposes to Moses: “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel” (Exod 19:3b-6). Egypt had borne God’s wrath when they tried to enslave God’s children. Yet even after centuries of captivity, God still loved his chosen people, Israel. They remained his “treasured possession among all peoples, . . . a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” For God would not forget the unbreakable covenant he had first made with Abraham.

Thus, throughout Israel’s storied history, God blesses his people to draw all the nations to himself. He is a “missionary God” who longs to make Israel “a light for the nations, that [his] salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Isa 49:6). Over one-fourth of the words in Psalm 67 point to “the nations,” “the peoples,” or “all the earth” to express God’s mission of salvation to the world. Even the chiastic structure of this psalm, propped up by the identical refrain in verses 3 and 5, builds to a mountain peak in verse 4, “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy.”[1] The psalmist prays for worldwide gladness in God as they worship God with praise. So, as we scale to the heights of this psalm, let us rejoice in the blessings of God that we might in turn be a blessing to others.

Receive God’s Saving Grace (vv. 1-2)

Psalm 67 begins by recalling the priestly blessing of Aaron: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Num 6:24-26). Israel’s priests would pronounce this benediction over the gathered congregation, but the psalmist expresses it here as a prayer: “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us” (Ps 67:1). He is reminding Israel that God’s promises still apply and that God’s favor still shines upon them. The Selah which follows this verse holds our attention so that we might pray this prayer ourselves. For God himself is the blessing we seek, and not just the gifts that he bestows. His grace is undeserved. His shining countenance reveals the opposite of a scowl. His kindness toward us conveys warmth, favor, and goodwill as he welcomes us into his forever family.

The psalmist knows that the priests could only promise such grace to God’s covenant people if their sins had been forgiven. For this reason, the priests themselves would mediate on the people’s behalf by offering atonement sacrifices to the Lord (e.g., Lev 16). Only through these priestly sacrifices could Israel receive the priestly blessing. This blessing, though, would not be for Israel’s good alone, but to show God’s favor to the nations: “that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations” (Ps 67:2). The psalmist prays that all the earth might know God’s goodness by his ways and by his saving grace. For he is “the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exod 34:6-7a). The Lord delivered his people not only from captivity in Egypt, but also from the consequences of their own sin. Thus, he is characterized by steadfast love and faithfulness—first poured out on Israel, but now to all those who come to worship him. For when God blesses his people with salvation, that blessing goes out to a watching world.

As Paul later reflects in Galatians 3:8-9, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” Israel was to be a visible blessing of God’s favor, so that all the nations might seek the Lord themselves. Israel was to sing of God’s goodness until all the nations joined in praise as well. They would proclaim God’s blessings until “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea” could testify in faith: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” (Rev 5:13).

Rejoice in God’s Glorious Purposes (vv. 3-5)

Psalm 67 quickly reaches its climax as the psalmist prays for all the nations to rejoice in God’s glorious purposes (vv. 3-5):

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!

The most noticeable aspect of this psalm is the repeated refrain which echoes the call to praise God—to give him thanks—to express such gratitude with gladness (see 54:6; 57:9; 100:4; 118:21). And the emphasis of the word order falls upon the universal nature of this praise: “Let the peoples praise you, all of them!”). Bounded by this refrain, verse 4 then stands at the heart of Psalm 67 as the only three-line verse and begins by calling out, “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy.” For the soul’s greatest satisfaction comes from worshiping God with gladness. As created beings, we were made to worship God. And we are most satisfied in God when we find our delight in him.

The key word, “for” produces a dual reason for our gladness: that God is both our righteous Judge, and also our good Shepherd (78:72; 96:10). He leads his people “in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (23:3). Amazingly, it makes the nations glad to see a King who rules with equity and shepherds his flock with lovingkindness. They know the corruption and cruelty of their own human kings, so they would willingly worship a King who leads his people well. Yet the ultimate fulfillment of this promise would not come through the fickle kings of Israel, but through the Messiah’s future reign. For the Anointed One would come as the King of kings whose throne remains forever as he wields “a scepter of uprightness” (45:6). David’s greater Son would “judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity” (98:9). He would establish his kingdom on this earth and reclaim his authority. He would restore broken lives, broken hearts, and broken relationships as he shepherds his people into eternal glory. This is good news that God will save his people from their sin, so that his salvation might go to the ends of the earth! Then, once again, the Selah stops us in our tracks at the pinnacle of this psalm. Our first pause focused on God’s covenant blessings for Israel, while this second pause centers our hearts on God’s Great Commission blessings for the nations.

Revere God’s Power to Bless (vv. 6-7)

Psalm 67 concludes with another prayer for blessing: “The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!” (vv. 6-7).[2] The reference here to crops suggests this might have been a harvest hymn—a song of thanksgiving to celebrate God’s provision. For this same God who blessed his people in the harvest would continue to bless them in the future. This same God who had promised Abraham “a great nation” and had promised Moses “a kingdom of priests” would eventually bless all the nations of the world. Thus, the abundance of the annual harvest points forward to the future increase of God’s spiritual family.

The reference to “our God” indicates the personal, covenantal nature of this blessing.[3] Israel cherishes her status as God’s beloved. So, the psalmist prays that God would make his people obedient so that he might bless them with a fruitful harvest. As God had promised through Moses, “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock” (Deut 28:1-4). Through God’s marvelous outpouring of abundance on Israel, all the peoples of the earth would worship him in reverent fear (Ps 67:7). Through God’s salvation of his people, Israel, all the nations would know his ways and his saving power (v. 2).

The only problem with this chain of blessing is that Israel does not remain faithful to her God, so she does not receive the promises of the covenant. She consistently lives in disobedience to God, which yields curses and not blessings. Thus, instead of testifying to God’s goodness, she reveals God’s wrath against rebellious sinners. Israel too would need a perfectly righteous Judge and gracious Shepherd to lead her back to the place of blessing. And this could only be the Son of God himself who makes known his Father’s glory to a watching world (John 1:18). For in Christ Jesus, God’s people receive “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Eph 1:3). In Christ Jesus, we receive the ultimate fulfillment of Aaron’s priestly blessing: grace (Eph 2:8) and peace (Rom 5:1) and favor from the Lord (Jas 4:6-10). In Christ Jesus, we receive the harvest of the Gentile nations who have been grafted into Israel (Rom 11:11-24). In Christ Jesus, all God’s children receive the blessings of his covenant through the obedience of his Son (Rom 5:19b). Therefore, in Christ Jesus, we praise our God with great gladness and songs of joy (Col 3:15-17).

Today, the church consists of both Jews and Gentiles from around the world (Eph 2:11-22). Yet the church still has a Great Commission as Peter echoes God’s promises to Israel: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Pet 2:9-10; see Exod 19). We are chosen by God, children of the king, holy and beloved as God’s own possession. So, when we realize who we truly are in Christ and how much God has blessed us, we come to a spiritual awakening. As we marvel at God’s grace and mercy in our lives, we grow in missionary zeal to proclaim his excellencies among the nations. As we tremble that God has called us out of darkness into light, we call others to revere him. Our passion for God’s glory invites many others to worship with us. As John Piper writes in Let the Nations Be Glad,

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.

Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal of missions. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. “The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!” (Ps. 97:1). “Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!” (Ps. 67:3, 4).

But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can’t commend what you don’t cherish. Missionaries will never call out, “Let the nations be glad!” who cannot say from the heart, “I rejoice in the Lord. . . I will be glad and exult in you, I will sing praise to your name, O Most High” (Ps. 104:34; 9:2). Missions begins and ends in worship.[4]

Life Application Study

1. Look for all the occurrences in Psalm 67 pointing to salvation for the Gentiles (e.g., “the nations,” “the peoples,” “all the earth”). How does this “missionary psalm” compel you to continue Christ’s Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20)?
2. In what ways has God blessed you physically or spiritually (Eph 1:3)? How can those blessings in your life be a testimony which draws others to worship God as well (1 Pet 2:9-10)?
3. In what ways did Israel fail to obey God and to be his witness to the nations? How have you failed in your own obedience and what has Christ done to restore you (Eph 2:1-10)?
4. Take a moment to praise God and give thanks for all the blessings he has given you (large or small).
5. Reflect on the lyrics of the hymn, “O God, Show Mercy to Us.”
6. Read John Piper’s quote again. Does your passion for God’s glory cultivate in you a heart for the nations? What can you do today to become more involved in missions?
7. Pray Psalm 67 back to God:
   • O God, be gracious to us and bless us that we might be a blessing to others (v. 1).
   • May our changed lives be a testimony of your saving power (v. 2).
   • Let all the nations be glad in you and give you thanks (vv. 3-5).
   • Remind us of your goodness with every increase of our blessings (v. 6).
   • Then, may your glory go out to all the earth (v. 7).

[1] The chiastic structure can be represented as follows:

[2] There is some debate as to whether the verb should reflect God’s provision in the past, “has yielded,” or to show that his promises for the future are as a good as done, “shall yield.” The context of the psalm seems to point toward future blessings and Israel’s desire for the covenant promises of Leviticus 26, “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land [earth] shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit” (vv. 3-4; see Deut 28:1-14).

[3] The mini-chiasm in vv. 6b-7a is focused solely on God: “He shall bless us, God will. Our God, he shall bless us.”

[4] John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad!: The Supremacy of God in Missions (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2022), 3.