The Book of Psalms

Word Study

"be merciful," Hebrew yechonnenu (יְחָנֵּנוּ), be gracious to us. The psalm opens with the words of the ancient priestly blessing, "God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us" (compare Numbers 6:24-26). It is the benediction God gave Aaron to speak over Israel, now turned into a prayer.

"bless us," vivarekhenu (וִיבָרְכֵנוּ). So far it sounds like a prayer simply to be blessed, and we all know how to pray that. What follows will turn the whole thing outward.

"cause his face to shine," ya'er panav (יָאֵר פָּנָיו). The third petition of Aaron's blessing, the picture of God's favour breaking over His people like sunrise. A shining face is a face turned toward you and pleased with you.

"thy way," darkekha (דַּרְכֶּךָ). Then comes the word that changes everything: "That thy way may be known upon earth." Why does God bless His people? Not merely for their own comfort, but that His way might become known to the whole world through them. The blessing is not a reservoir to be hoarded; it is a channel to be poured through.

"saving health," yeshu'atekha (יְשׁוּעָתֶךָ), thy salvation, from the root of the name Jesus. What is to be made known is not merely a set of ways but a rescue. The healthiest prayer for blessing always has a "that" attached: shine on me, that others may see and seek You.

"all nations," kol-goyim (כָּל־גּוֹיִם). Here is the reach of the purpose. Israel was blessed to make God known to the nations, and the same is true of the church and of every believer; a blessing received for ourselves alone curdles, but a blessing received to be passed on multiplies.

Explanation

Everything in this psalm hangs on the little word "that" at the start of verse 2, so do not read past it. The prayer opens with a request for blessing, "God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us", the very language of the priestly benediction God gave Aaron to speak over Israel (Numbers 6:24-26). So far, it sounds like a prayer simply to be blessed, and we all know how to pray that. But the next word turns the whole thing outward: "That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations." There is the purpose. Why does God bless His people? Not merely for their own comfort and prosperity, but "that" His way and His salvation might become known to the whole world through them. The blessing is not a reservoir to be hoarded; it is a channel to be poured through. Israel was blessed to make God known to the nations; and the same is true of the church, and of every believer. God pours His mercy and shines His face upon us so that others, watching a blessed people, may come to know the God who blessed them. This corrects a self-centred way of praying that asks God only for personal favour and stops there. The healthiest prayer for blessing always has a "that" attached: bless me, shine on me, be gracious to me, that Your way may be known, that others may see and seek You. A blessing received for ourselves alone curdles; a blessing received to be passed on multiplies. God's kindness to you is meant to travel through you to a watching world.

Gospel Focus

"That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations", the "saving health" this psalm longs to see among all nations is yeshu'ah, salvation, the very root of the name Jesus, and it has come to the world in Him. God's ancient purpose to bless one people so all peoples might be blessed goes back to Abraham, "in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:3), and it is fulfilled in Christ, "the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham" (Galatians 3:8). Aged Simeon held the infant Jesus and said, "mine eyes have seen thy salvation... a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel" (Luke 2:30-32), the very vision of Psalm 67. And the risen Christ turned the blessing into a commission: "ye shall be witnesses unto me... unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8), so that God's saving health is now carried to all nations. This is the pattern for every believer: we are blessed in Christ, "with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:3), that we might make Him known, "ye are... a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him" (1 Peter 2:9). Receive God's blessing in Jesus, and remember its "that": you are blessed to be a blessing, that His saving health, the Lord Jesus Christ, may be known among all nations.

Word Study

"praise thee," Hebrew yodukha (יוֹדוּךָ), give thee thanks. Twice the refrain rings out, framing this section: "Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee." It is a longing repeated for emphasis, and it is the answer the psalm hopes for from its opening prayer.

"the people," ammim (עַמִּים), the peoples. The word is plural, and the refrain adds "all." The psalm is not content that some praise God; it yearns for every people, all the nations, to join the song.

"be glad and sing for joy," yismechu viranenu (יִשְׂמְחוּ וִירַנְּנוּ). "O let the nations be glad and sing for joy." Two verbs of open happiness, and what follows gives the reason for them, which is the surprise of the whole section.

"judge righteously," tishpot... mishor (תִּשְׁפֹּט... מִישֹׁר), judge with equity. Stop and feel how unexpected the reason is. We usually think of God's judgment as something to dread; this psalm says the nations should sing for joy precisely because God judges them. To everyone crushed by corrupt courts or cheated by the powerful, the news that God "shall judge the people righteously" is not a threat but a rescue.

"govern," tanchem (תַּנְחֵם), lead, guide. The word is one of leading rather than crushing. God's just rule is not a threat to the peoples but the ground of their gladness, not tyranny to be feared but justice to be welcomed with singing.

Explanation

The refrain that opens and closes this section is a longing repeated for emphasis: "Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee." Notice the word "all", the psalm is not content that some praise God; it yearns for every people, all the nations, to join the song. But the heart of the section is the surprising reason it gives for the nations' gladness in verse 4: "O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth." Stop and feel how unexpected that is. We usually think of God's judgment as something to dread, and of His rule as a burden. This psalm says the very opposite: the nations should be glad and sing for joy precisely because God judges and governs them. Why? Because a world ruled by a righteous God is a world where wrong is finally set right. Think of everyone who has ever been crushed by corrupt courts, cheated by the powerful, oppressed with no one to plead their cause, to all of them, the news that God "shall judge the people righteously" is not a threat but a rescue. Under human government the innocent are often trampled and the guilty prosper; but God governs "with equity," and that means the oppressed can breathe and the wronged can hope. So the psalm invites the nations to rejoice not in spite of God's judgment but because of it: a righteous Judge on the throne of the whole earth is the best news the peoples could hear. His rule is not tyranny to be feared but justice to be welcomed with singing.

Gospel Focus

"O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously", the righteous Judge and gracious Governor whose rule gladdens the nations is the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom the Father "hath committed all judgment" (John 5:22) and "given him authority to execute judgment" (John 5:27). His coming is announced to the nations as good tidings of great joy, "which shall be to all people" (Luke 2:10), and His reign is the hope of the world, for God "hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained" (Acts 17:31). Under His rule the wrongs of history will be set right, the oppressed lifted up, and every injustice answered, which is why His kingdom is cause for the nations' singing and not their dread, for all who take refuge in Him. And the psalm's longing that "all the people praise thee" is being answered as the gospel gathers worshippers "out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" (Revelation 5:9), until at last "all nations... shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest" (Revelation 15:4). So join the psalm's prayer and its joy: let all the people praise Him, and be glad that the righteous Judge and King of all the earth is the Lord Jesus Christ, whose just and gracious reign is the gladness of the nations.

Word Study

"yield her increase," Hebrew natnah yevulah (נָתְנָה יְבוּלָהּ), gave her produce. The harvest is spoken of as already gathered, a token that God has indeed been gracious. The earth's fruitfulness is the visible evidence of the blessing the psalm prayed for in verse 1.

"our own God," Eloheinu (אֱלֹהֵינוּ). Notice the tender phrase in the middle of so much talk of "all nations" and "the ends of the earth." The psalmist does not lose the intimacy of belonging: the God of all the earth is still "our own God," personally ours, for the wideness of God's plan does not dilute the closeness of His love.

"shall bless us," yevarekhenu (יְבָרְכֵנוּ). The psalm closes where it began, and the circle is complete: God blesses His people, the nations come to know and praise Him, and as that harvest of praise comes in, God blesses His people yet again. Blessing is not a one-way stream that empties us but a cycle that returns and fills us afresh.

"ends of the earth," afsei-aretz (אַפְסֵי־אָרֶץ). The farthest edges, the outermost peoples. Nothing less than the whole world is in view, which is what the opening prayer was for all along.

"fear him," yire'u oto (יִירְאוּ אֹתוֹ). And see the final goal of the whole psalm, its last words. The end of all the blessing, the mission, and the praise is that the farthest peoples of the earth would come to reverence the true God.

Explanation

Trace the circle the whole psalm has drawn, and you will see the beautiful economy of God's blessing. It began with a request: "God... bless us" (v1). It gave that blessing a purpose: "that thy way may be known... among all nations" (v2). It longed for the result: "let all the people praise thee" (vv3-5). And now, at the close, the blessing comes round again, twice over: "God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us." The circle is complete. God blesses His people, so that the nations come to know and praise Him, and as that harvest of praise comes in, God blesses His people yet again. Blessing is not a one-way stream that empties us; it is a cycle that, poured out for others, returns and fills us afresh. The more God's blessing flows through us to the world, the more it flows back to us. And notice the tender phrase in the middle, "God, even our own God." Amid all this talk of "all nations" and "the ends of the earth," the psalmist does not lose the intimacy of belonging: the God of all the earth is still "our own God," personally ours. The wideness of God's plan for the world does not dilute the closeness of His love for His people. And see the final goal of the whole psalm, the last words: "and all the ends of the earth shall fear him." The end of all the blessing, the mission, and the praise is this, that the farthest peoples of the earth would come to reverence the true God. That is what God is doing in history, and every believer who receives His blessing is part of it.

Gospel Focus

"God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him", the psalm's closing vision, the whole world brought to reverence the true God, is the goal of the gospel of Jesus Christ and shall surely come to pass. In Christ the blessing of Abraham has come upon the Gentiles (Galatians 3:14), and the ends of the earth are being gathered to fear and worship God, for the Father "seeketh such to worship him" (John 4:23) from every nation. The Lord Jesus is the One in whom "all the ends of the earth" are called to look and be saved, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else" (Isaiah 45:22), and the day is certain when "every knee should bow... and... every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Philippians 2:10-11). The circle of blessing runs on: God blesses His church in Christ, the church carries His saving health to the nations, the nations come to praise Him, and God blesses His people still, until the whole earth fears Him. So take your place in that widening circle. Receive the blessing of God in the Lord Jesus, let it flow through you to a watching world, and long, and labour, and pray, that all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.