PM July 26th Psalm 67

July 26^th Psalm 67

A Psalm or song

Let all the nations Praise God

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.

To the chief musician

Psalm 68

A song or Psalm of David

The true God

1: Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. 2: As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. 3: But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. 4: Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him. 5: A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. 6: God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land. 7: O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah: 8: The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel. 9: Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary. 10: Thy congregation hath dwelt therein: thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor. 11: The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it. 12: Kings of armies did flee apace: and she that tarried at home divided the spoil. 13: Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold. 14: When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon. 15: The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan. 16: Why leap ye, ye high hills? this is the hill which God desireth to dwell in; yea, the LORD will dwell in it for ever. 17: The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. 18: Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them. 19: Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. 20: He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death. 21: But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses. 22: The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea: 23: That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and the tongue of thy dogs in the same. 24: They have seen thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary. 25: The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels. 26: Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel. 27: There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah and their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali. 28: Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us. 29: Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee. 30: Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war. 31: Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. 32: Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah: 33: To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice. 34: Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds. 35: O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.

To the chief musician upon Shoshannim

Today we are reading in Psalm 67 & 68. Psalm 67 is a very short Psalm of only 6 sentences. The Psalmist says may the Lord be merciful to us and bless us and may his face shine upon us because if this is so then the way of the Lord (i.e. righteous living according to law) will be known in the earth and the Lord will bring health to all the nation and this will save them. May Israel praise the Lord and may all the nations be glad and rejoice in the Lord. The Lord Christ will govern the nations in justice and righteousness, he will rule the nations of all the earth. Think about how wonderful that will be. This Psalm is thinking about a future day when the Kingdom of heaven is set up on earth. The psalmist says let all people praise the Lord, because the Lord will reward men by making the earth yield a full increase of crops and God, the God of Israel will bless all men. The Lord will bless all men and the Lord will be feared in every far distant country. What a great future this world has to look forward to! In Psalm 68 David brings a psalm asking for the Lord to rise up and scatter his enemies – all those who hate the Lord. He says may they be driven away like smoke from a fire. May the wicked perish from the presence of God. But let all the righteous be glad and rejoice in the Lord, in fact may they rejoice exceedingly. Then David encourages the people of God to sing Gods praises. Then he describes the Lord as the father to orphans and the one who bring justice to widows. The Lord is the one who stands up for the poor and needy. David says, the Lord puts those who are lonely into families and he sets free the imprisoned but all those who rebel against him are sent into the desert. This happened Lord, says David, in our history when you led us out of Egypt and into the desert. Think about that. When the people came to Sinai the heavens came down at the presence of God and the mountain shook. When you brought them into their land the rains came and made everything bountiful. You looked after the poor. You gave your word and those who published it were a great company. Those who came with their armies were routed. The Lord blessed his people with wealth. The Lord Almighty scattered the heathen kings. The Lord will dwell on his mountain forever. The Lord has 20,000 chariots and thousands of angels because the Lord is among his people as he was at Sinai. This passage seems to be moving on to describe the ministry of Christ and the future kingdom. When you, Christ, ascended to heaven you led those OT saints held captive in the grave and you gave gifts to men even for the benefit of rebellious Israel because he will dwell with them one day. The Lord is blessed because daily he gives us many good things because he is the God who will save us. Think about that !! Then David looks far into the future saying, The Lord is the God who will save us. Even though we are murdered, the Lord will wound the head of our enemies. The Lord will resurrect his ancient people. They will rise even from the depths of the sea to fight and conquer their enemies. They will see the Lord in his sanctuary. They will make a procession to come to the Lord with singing and dancing. The Lord God of Israel will be blessed in their congregations. The Lord will raise up princes and rulers over Israel. The Lord, Christ, will sit in his temple and the Kings of the earth will bring gifts to him. This is a Messianic sign which was seen in the coming of the wise men at the birth of Christ. The Lord will rebuke the armies of the world until they all bring tribute to him. The Princes of Egypt will come to him and Ethiopia will come to worship the Lord – Christ. So says David may all the kingdoms of the earth come and sing praises to the Lord. Think about that. The Lord who rides on the heaven of heavens will speak with a mighty voice. And the Lord will be the strength of his people. He will rule over Israel. His rule will be through the use of weather. Your judgments O Lord God are terrible which come out of your holy place. The God of Israel is the Lord who gives strength and authority to his people Israel. The Lord is blessed.

• How will all the nations worship the God of Israel?
• How deep was the hatred of Israel by her enemies?
• What does David call upon the Lord to do about it?