For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Psalm 67

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
    and make his face shine on us – 
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
    your salvation among all nations.

3 May the peoples praise you, God;
    may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
    for you rule the peoples with equity
    and guide the nations of the earth.
5 May the peoples praise you, God;
    may all the peoples praise you.

6 The land yields its harvest;
    God, our God, blesses us.
7 May God bless us still,
    so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

A. Find Out:

1. What does the Psalmist want the Lord to do? v.1
2. What will happen when the Lord does that? v.2
3. What is the desire of the psalmist? v.3,5
4. What will cause them to do that? v.4
5. What will be an outworking of this? v.6,7a
6. And what will be the ultimate end product? v.7b

B. Think:

1. What, do you think, is the Psalmists ultimate, main desire?
2. How is that expressed?
3. How does he see that being fuelled?

C. Comment:

This is a psalm all about relationship with God. The first two verses provide a summary of all else that follows: he wants God to bless them so that it will be seen around the world and as a result the Lord will be known and glorified. There is an echo of the priestly blessing from Num 6:24-26 in the first verse. This is God’s desire and so we should not be afraid to pray it. There is a circular series of actions here: the Lord blesses, so that people hear and come to know Him, so that He can bless more people. God’s desire is that the world comes to know Him and receive goodness from Him.

The Psalmist declares his desire for all peoples to praise God (v.3-5) and they will do this when they are relationship with Him and come into His kingdom (His rule) where there is love, joy, peace etc. (that His Spirit brings – Gal 5:22,23). When the people come into right relationship with the Lord, then His presence will bring blessing to their lives and fruitfulness and good harvest will result. The Bible repeats this again and again – that when we are in relationship with the Lord and His presence is with us, then His presence brings blessing to all around us, every aspect of our lives. The final result? That all the world will know, will understand and come into that right relationship with the Lord that is founded on the awesome respect for Him.

D. Application:

1. Knowing the Lord involves receiving His guidance and direction.
2. As we follow his guidance and direction so blessing ensues.