“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us.” (Psalm 67:1)

This psalm is designated a song.  It has a wonderful chorus that appears twice in the song. The chorus is, “Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!” Why this phrase? It is, perhaps, because of what God is doing in the lives of His people. In the first part, God is gracious. God gives out of love even though who receive the gifts may not be worthy. God blesses us. God provides all that we need and is a ready help in time of trouble; not because we deserve to be blessed but because He desires to bless. God makes His face shine on us. God doesn’t turn His back on us in spite of our rebellion. God gave us the sun and the moon, but beyond that is the light that comes from God Himself. He is the light of the world.

Let the people praise God, let everyone on the earth praise Him.

God judges with equity. Unlike judges on earth, God uses righteous judgment. God does the right thing as Abraham suggested that He would. Not only is God just and fair; God is also merciful. God wants us rescued, and in that desire, He sent His only begotten son to die for us, to pay our debt and God took the sacrifice of Jesus and declared us innocent.

God guides the nations upon the earth. Nothing happens in this world without God’s consent. We may not understand what is happening, but God is still in control. If the nations would heed God’s guidance, the world would be a blessed place to live. The Old Testament shows that those nations who failed to follow God’s guidance ultimately came under His judgment.

Task for Today: Sing a new song today and let it be the words of this psalm. Sing, “Let the people praise God, let everyone on earth praise Him.” Make it personal, sing, “I will praise you, God, with all the saints on earth I will praise you.”