Psalm 67

May God be gracious to us and bless us
    and make his face shine on us—
so that your ways may be known on earth,
    your salvation among all nations.
May the peoples praise you, God;
    may all the peoples praise you.
May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
    for you rule the peoples with equity
    and guide the nations of the earth.
May the peoples praise you, God;
    may all the peoples praise you.
The land yields its harvest;
    God, our God, blesses us.
May God bless us still,
    so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

• Psalm 67:1-7

Type of Psalm

Intercessional psalms:  These are psalms where the psalmist intercedes with God for others.

Messianic psalms:  These psalms can be shown as being prophetic (or verses within the psalm) and the prophecy relates to the coming Messiah.  Oddly in the lists that follow, Psalm 22 is listed as a psalm of affliction and a prophetic psalm, but not as a Messianic psalm.  Yet, Jesus quotes from this psalm from the cross, the first verse, and there is language within the psalm that could relate to Christ’s suffering, but maybe the person creating the list thought the connection to Messianic prophecy was not strong enough.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“This psalm relates to the church and is calculated for the public. Here is, I. A prayer for the prosperity of the church of Israel, ver. 1. II. A prayer for the conversion of the Gentiles and the bringing of them into the church, ver. 2-5. III. A prospect of happy and glorious times when God shall do this, ver. 6, 7. Thus was the psalmist carried out by the spirit of prophecy to foretel the glorious estate of the Christian church, in which Jews and Gentiles should unite in one flock, the beginning of which blessed work ought to be the matter of our joy and praise, and the completing of it of our prayer and hope, in singing this psalm.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 67:1 face to shine “When a king smiled on a supplicant with pleasure, the petitioner was likely to receive his request (cf. Num. 6:24–26; Pss. 31:16; 44:3; 80:3, 7, 19; 119:135; Prov. 16:15).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

My Thoughts

This psalm starts with a portion of the Aaronic Benediction, Numbers 6:24-26.  It is modified a little.

Then the remainder of this psalm speaks of everyone praising the Lord, all nations on earth.  The verb “may” is used so that the psalmist is asking the Lord for this to happen.

These three psalms are Messianic psalms, according to my unknown source from beginning to end.  In this case, it would be talking about the millennium reign of Jesus when this occurs in that all nations bow down to Jesus, and all nations will fear the Lord.

As for us, now, we can use this is prayer as a means to praise God and request that this aspect of the future is hastened to its conclusion.

But short of that, God can be praised by us.

Psalm 68

May God arise, may his enemies be scattered;
    may his foes flee before him.
May you blow them away like smoke—
    as wax melts before the fire,
    may the wicked perish before God.
But may the righteous be glad
    and rejoice before God;
    may they be happy and joyful.
Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
    extol him who rides on the clouds;
    rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.

• Psalm 68:1-4

For the entirety of Psalm 68, click this link HERE.

Type of Psalm

Imprecatory psalms: Asking for vengeance against enemies.  From the two examples above, these requests for vengeance are usually not specific in how God does it.  I have written about this type of psalm or prayer in that they are legitimate requests to God.  We know that God will eventually stamp out all evil in the world.  Praying that God would do as He promises that He will eventually do is legitimate, but when a face is applied to that evil, our first reaction should be one of forgiveness and mercy.

Prophetic psalms: Prophetic psalms are those psalms containing prophecy that is not specifically Messianic prophecy.

Messianic psalms:  These psalms can be shown as being prophetic (or verses within the psalm) and the prophecy relates to the coming Messiah.  Oddly in the lists that follow, Psalm 22 is listed as a psalm of affliction and a prophetic psalm, but not as a Messianic psalm.  Yet, Jesus quotes from this psalm from the cross, the first verse, and there is language within the psalm that could relate to Christ’s suffering, but maybe the person creating the list thought the connection to Messianic prophecy was not strong enough.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“This is a most excellent psalm, but in many places the genuine sense is not easy to come at; for in this, as in some other scriptures, there are things dark and hard to be understood. It does not appear when, or upon what occasion, David penned this psalm; but probably it was when, God having given him rest from all his enemies round about, he brought the ark (which was both the token of God’s presence and a type of Christ’s mediation) from the house of Obed-edom to the tent he had pitched for it in Zion; for the first words are the prayer which Moses used at the removing of the ark, Num. 10:35. From this he is led, by the Spirit of prophecy, to speak glorious things concerning the Messiah, his ascension into heaven, and the setting up of his kingdom in the world. I. He begins with prayer, both against God’s enemies (ver. 1, 2) and for his people, ver, 3. II. He proceeds to praise, which takes up the rest of the psalm, calling upon all to praise God (ver. 4, 26, 32) and suggesting many things as matter for praise. 1. The greatness and goodness of God, ver.4-6. 2. The wonderful works God had wrought for his people formerly, bringing them through the wilderness (ver. 7, 8), settling them in Canaan (ver. 9, 10), giving them victory over their enemies (ver. 11, 12), and delivering them out of the hands of their oppressors, ver. 13, 14. 3. The special presence of God in his church, ver. 15-17. 4. The ascension of Christ (ver. 18) and the salvation of his people by him, ver. 19, 20. 5. The victories which Christ would obtain over his enemies, and the favours he would bestow upon his church, ver. 21-28. 6. The enlargement of the church by the accession of the Gentiles to it, ver. 29-31. And so he concludes the psalm with an awful acknowledgment of the glory and grace of God, ver. 32-35. With all these great things we should endeavour to be duly affected in singing this psalm.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 68:35 : ”God is in sovereign control. In the midst of those very circumstances that today have you baffled, wondering what you’re going to do, or even how you’re going to go on, you can rest assured that God’s power and sovereign control are already at work. God never knows frustration. He never has to scratch his head, wondering what in the world He’s going to do next with people like us, or with the nations of this world.”

• Charles R. Swindoll, Bedside Blessings

My Thoughts

This psalm begins with an imprecatory passage, asking God to blow away the enemies like smoke, scattering them.  Sometimes, concentrating an enemy is good in that the target has a greater chance of being hit severely, but an enemy that is scattered has no support system, and each individual would easily be outnumbered.

But the righteous are to praise God and rejoice.  David praises God for being a father to the fatherless and a defender of widows.  This is a recurring theme throughout the Bible.  We are told to take care of widows and orphans, and God defends them and speaks of them through the prophets.

I agree with Matthew Henry that much of the prophecy here is hard to understand, but Jesus will reign and the enemies will be conquered.  In “hitting the high points”, David speaks of mountain tops, very important in maintaining a military advantage, able to see the enemy movement and easier to hide the location of your own forces.

And as we pray for the return of Jesus Christ, David asks God to marshal the armies and get ready, for on this occasion, God will utterly defeat His foes.

Psalm 69

Save me, O God,
    for the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in the miry depths,
    where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
    the floods engulf me.
I am worn out calling for help;
    my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
    looking for my God.
Those who hate me without reason
    outnumber the hairs of my head;
many are my enemies without cause,
    those who seek to destroy me.
I am forced to restore
    what I did not steal.

• Psalm 69:1-4

May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
    and their backs be bent forever.
Pour out your wrath on them;
    let your fierce anger overtake them.

Charge them with crime upon crime;
    do not let them share in your salvation.
May they be blotted out of the book of life
    and not be listed with the righteous.

• Psalm 69:23-24, 27-28

For the entirety of Psalm 69, click this link HERE.

Type of Psalm

Psalms of Affliction: Psalms where the psalmist is crying out in pain or distress, asking God where He is in the psalmist’s time of need.  But no matter how dire the circumstances or how long the lament, there seems to always be a word of praise.  Otherwise, why do we go to God in such times, other than to recognize Him as the only one who can help us?

Imprecatory psalms: Asking for vengeance against enemies.  From the two examples above, these requests for vengeance are usually not specific in how God does it.  I have written about this type of psalm or prayer in that they are legitimate requests to God.  We know that God will eventually stamp out all evil in the world.  Praying that God would do as He promises that He will eventually do is legitimate, but when a face is applied to that evil, our first reaction should be one of forgiveness and mercy.

Prophetic psalms: Prophetic psalms are those psalms containing prophecy that is not specifically Messianic prophecy.

Messianic psalms: These psalms can be shown as being prophetic (or verses within the psalm) and the prophecy relates to the coming Messiah.  Oddly in the lists that follow, Psalm 22 is listed as a psalm of affliction and a prophetic psalm, but not as a Messianic psalm.  Yet, Jesus quotes from this psalm from the cross, the first verse, and there is language within the psalm that could relate to Christ’s suffering, but maybe the person creating the list thought the connection to Messianic prophecy was not strong enough.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“David penned this psalm when he was in affliction; and in it, I. He complains of the great distress and trouble he was in and earnestly begs of God to relieve and succour him, ver. 1-21. II. He imprecates the judgments of God upon his persecutors, ver. 22-29. III. He concludes with the voice of joy and praise, in an assurance that God would help and succour him, and would do well for the church, ver. 30-36. Now, in this, David was a type of Christ, and divers passages in this psalm are applied to Christ in the New Testament and are said to have their accomplishment in him (ver. 4, 9, 21), and ver. 22 refers to the enemies of Christ. So that (like the ver. 1-31) it begins with the humiliation and ends with the exaltation of Christ, one branch of which was the destruction of the Jewish nation for persecuting him, which the imprecations here are predictions of. In singing this psalm we must have an eye to the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that followed, not forgetting the sufferings of Christians too, and the glory that shall follow them; for it may lead us to think of the ruin reserved for the persecutors and the rest reserved for the persecuted.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 69:5 “We do ourselves no favors in justifying or deeds or glossing over our sins. Some time ago my daughter Andrea got a splinter in her finger. I took her to the restroom and set out some tweezers, ointment, and a Band-Aid.
“She didn’t like what she saw. ‘I just want the Band-Aid, Daddy.’
“Sometimes we are just like Andrea. We come to Christ with our sin, but all we want is a covering. We want to skip the treatment. We want to hide our sin. And one wonders if God, even in his great mercy, will heal what we conceal.
“How can God heal what we deny? How can God touch what we cover up?”

• Max Lucado, A Gentle Thunder

My Thoughts

In this psalm, David is in affliction.  He begins with an entreaty for God to save him.  David’s enemies have him worn down and he seems to be at his last tether.

Rather than enumerating his sins, David says that God knows how he has failed, but there is hope in the Lord and David asks that for those with who hope, may they not be disgraced.  But then, David speaks of being mocked and he is the song of the drunkard.  Thus, his request that the righteous not be disgraced is more of a request and not a guarantee.

But David speaks of God’s knowledge and God’s Love.  Combining those, David asks for mercy and rescue.

There are two imprecatory passages near the end of this psalm and praises of joy to the Lord.  David knows that God is good, and his requests will be answered.  And no matter how completely the enemy will be defeated, David, in his unfailing faith, knows that God will indeed deliver him.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

Psalm 67

“1. What blessings has God brought into your life? For whose benefit? For what wider purpose?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

Psalm 68

“1. Give a brief review of your personal ‘salvation history’: What was your ‘Egypt’? Your Exodus? Desert? Promised land? Kingdom expansion? What evil had to be rooted out of your life?
“2. Who or what are some mighty ‘mountains of Bashan’ that threaten or intimidate you? What does it mean to you that God chooses the ‘weak and the small’ (such as Zion} to confound the strong and accomplish his purpose?
“3. Why do you think God works that way? What will that encourage you to go out and do next week for him?
“4. Paul applies verse 18 to Jesus (see Eph 4:8).­ How does Christ’s ascension demonstrate God’s power and care? How do verses 19-20 express what Christ has done for you?
“5. Do you experience an awesome God in your church sanctuary? Is the building inspirational? The people? The ceremony? How does worship affect your mission in life?”

Psalm 69

“1. When you feel ‘up to your neck in hot water,’ do you keep it to yourself? Do you cry on someone’s shoulder? Do you tell everybody in sight? What response do you want from others: (a) Good biblical answers? (b) Advice? (c) ‘I know how you feel?’ (d) No response, just a listening ear?
“2. The New Testament applies three verses in this psalm to Jesus (vv.4,9,21). In what ways might Jesus have felt like David? Why wouldn’t Jesus drink the wine he was offered, knowing it would ease his pain (v.21; see Mt 27:34,48)?
“3. Jesus never cursed his accusers as David did; instead, Jesus forgave his persecutors from the cross (Lk 23:34) and urged us to do the same (Mt 5:10- 12). How are you like David? Like Jesus?
“4. How do people today substitute formal religion (‘an ox and bull’) for heartfelt gratitude? What tips you off when this is happening to you? What can you do to keep the heart in your worship?”

There is one set of questions for each of these psalms.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.