Psalms 67

Psalms 67. THE church expresses a wish to God that he would impart to her blessing and salvation, in order that the manifestation of his grace, in his guidance of his people, may bring all the heathen to him: verses 2 and 3. This wish depends on the firm basis of the word and the deeds of God; and the confident assurance, (verses 4 and 5) therefore stands in its proper place, that the nations in future shall praise the Lord, on account of his righteous and good government, with which they become acquainted in the first instance, from his conduct towards his own people. In verses 6-8 the church grounds this confidence, specially on a blessing enjoyed at the present time, namely, the rich harvest which God grants to his people. The only reference to a matter of fact contained in the Psalm, viz: “the land gave its increase,” is sufficient to determine the occasion on which it was composed: the title, To the Chief Musician, for instrumental music, a song of praise, is alto-gether general; compare on שיר, at Psalms 65. The Psalm was composed on the completion of harvest; and that it was design- ed for the temple service, is obvious from the title, “to the chief musician,” and from the reference to the priestly blessing in ver. 1st. The Psalm contains the complete number of seven verses, which is divided, as generally, into a four and a three.

The se-cond part is separated from the first, by this, that the special blessing of God, presently enjoyed, is first made mention of in it-a blessing which had rendered vivid in the minds of men the thought of the Psalm, “that the blessing of God upon Israel shall at a future time allure to him all the nations of the earth.” By this thought the Psalm is connected with the preceding one: and it is assuredly for this reason that the two have been as-sociated together. The same thought which had been called forth by a deliverance of the people, is here suggested by the usual operations of nature.

Every manifestation of the power and grace of God awakens in Israel the hope, that the unnatural relation, in which the heathen stand towards him shall, in fu-ture, cease to exist. The constant use of the general name of God, Elohim, has been occasioned by the contents of the Psalm, which announce the conversion of all the nations of the earth. The name Jehovahstands in reality every where along side of it, and the Elohim only gives prominence to the idea of the universality which is admissible along side of the greatest limitation, but on the ground of this was frequently misunderstood. The word Elohim must have been designed to recall this idea always afresh to the minds of the people: comp. the Beitr. P. II. p. 299, 312.

Psalms 67:1-2

The first part of the first strophe is ver. 1 and 2.-Ver. 1May God be gracious to us, and bless us, may he cause his face to shine with us. Ver. 2. That thy way may be known upon the earth, thy salvation among all nations. The Psalmist at first speaks of God, because he confines himself strictly to the blessing of Moses, Numbers 6:24; Numbers 6:25; but as soon as he leaves it, he addresses God. The wish in ver. 1, is for grace and blessing, in every respect. The sixth verse renders it manifest that tem-poral blessings are not excluded, but that these are in the first instance referred to; compare also the expansion in Deuteronomy 1-14. In the fullest sense, however, (and we may say this both of the prayer and of the design of it), the fulfilment is only in Christ. It is only after God has imparted all the blessings of grace and salvation in him to his own people, that there follow really and comprehensively those effects upon the heathen world which are the object of the Psalmist’s wishes and hopes. In reference to the light and the shining of the face of God, comp. at Psalms 4:6; Psalms 31:16. Instead of the “upon” of the priestly blessing, we have here “with,”- the את being used exactly as it is in Genesis 4:1,-so that his shining counte-nance may guide us along our way.-On ver. 2, Calvin says: “The prophet wishes, that the favour of God towards the chosen people may become visible, in order that, by its splendour, it may lead the heathen to the hope of sharing in it.” The way of God is his procedure: from his guiding of Israel, the hea-then shall know how God acts, what are those treasures of sal-vation which are laid up with him for his people; as, even at the present time, there are not more powerful means of bring-ing the world to God, than the perception of the gifts which he imparts to the living members of his church: comp. Psalms 25:10, “all the ways of God are grace and truth”: 103:7, “He has made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the children of Israel.” The parallel term, “his salvation,” is decisive against the translation, “his religion”: comp. Psalms 96:2; Psalms 98:2. Thethought, that the blessings of Israel shall exert an attractive in-fluence on heathen nations, occurs also in the promises made to the patriarchs, Genesis 22:18; Genesis 26:4, “And all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in thy seed,” i. e. they wish for, and they earnestly desire for themselves the lot of Israel as the highest good, and this wish shall be the means of their obtaining the blessing, (to be blessed, Niph. Genesis 12:3; Genesis 18:18), inasmuch as it will lead them to the author of the blessing. Isaiah 60:3 also is parallel: “and the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”

Psalms 67:3-5

The second part of the first strophe is ver. 3 and 5.-Ver. 3.The nations shall praise thee, O God, all the nations shall praise thee. Ver. 4. The nations shall be glad and shout for joy, be-cause thou judgest the people righteously, and guidest the nations upon earth. There is first an announcement of the future con- version of the nations, and then a reference to the basis of this. This last is to be supplemented from ver. 1 and 2:-because, as the example of Israel shews, or as they see from the experience of Israel. Calvin saw that, according to the expression and con-nection, the language refers only to these nations who have sub-mitted to the dominion of the Lord, and who have spoken as at Isaiah 2:3. God acts judicially every time he imparts satiation.As an expansion of “he judges,” we may refer to what is said in Psalms 67:12-14, of the judicial conduct of Messiah. On רושימ, properly, “even,” then “evenness,” in a moral sense, in the accusative here, as מישרום in Psalms 58:1, comp. at Psalms 45:6. On “thou guidest;” comp. Isaiah 58:11, “And the Lord guides thee continually and satisfies thy soul in drought.”

Psalms 67:5-7

The second strophe is Psalms 67:5-7. Ver. 5. Nations shall praise thee, O God, all the nations shall praise thee. Ver. 6. The land gave its increase, God, our God, blesses us. Ver. 7. God blesses us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. For ought in reality to be supplied before Psalms 67:6. The Psalmist tells us in these verses what it was that had given him occasion and ground for his hope that the heathen, at a future time, should praise the Lord. First, a special event, which had just occurred, and which is expressed in the preterite tense; and, second, a general truth which had received from that event a recent confirmation, and, in the annunciation of which, the future tense is employed. The words in which the first is represented are borrowed from Leviticus 26:4 so designedly literal, as to render it manifest that attention was designed to be directed to the faithfulness of God in fulfilling his promises: “And I give you rain in due season, and the land gives its increase, and the trees of the fields give their fruit,”—a reference which refutes the idea that the äàøõ here denotes the whole earth, (the “our God” serves the same purpose), and that the fruit of the land is a figurative expression for blessings generally. In reference to this thought, Calvin: “We must maintain, that as often as God adorned that ancient people with his benefits, he, at the same time, shone upon the whole world with a burning torch, so as to allure the heathen to seek him.” In Psalms 67:7, “God blesses us,” is repeated for the purpose of connecting immediately together cause and effect:—”And because God blesses us,” etc.

Psalms 67:6-7

The second strophe is ver. 5-7.-Ver. 5. Nations shall praise thee, O God, all the nations shall praise thee. Ver. 6. The land hath given its increase, God, our God, blesses us. Ver. 7. God blesses us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.-For ought in reality to be supplied before ver. 6. The Psalmist tells us here what it was that had given him occasion and ground for his hope that the heathen, at a future time, should praise the Lord. First, a special event, which had just occurred, and which is expressed in the preter. tense; and, se-cond, a general truth which had received from that event a re-cent confirmation, and, in the annunciation of which, the future tense is employed. The words in which the first is represented are borrowed from Leviticus 26:4 so designedly literal, as to ren- der it manifest that attention was designed to be directed to the faithfulness of God in fulfilling his promises: “And I give you rain in due season, and the land gives its increase, and the trees of the fields give their fruit,"-a reference which refutes the idea that the הארץ here denotes the whole earth, (the “our God” serves the same purpose), and that the fruit of the land is a figurative expression for blessings generally. In reference to this thought, Calvin: “We must maintain, that as often as God adorned that ancient people with his benefits, he, at the same time, shone upon the whole world with a burning torch, so as to allure the heathen to seek him.” In ver. 7, “God blesses us,” is repeat-ed for the purpose of connecting immediately together cause and effect:-“And because God blesses us,” etc.