Psalm 67 - seeking and sharing blessings

 We're beginning a new Psalm today: in our Bibles, it is number 67. It's short, but important!

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.

What do we think of, when we hear the word "blessings"?

Do we think of the prayer we say before our meal?

Do we think of Auntie who says "bless his/her heart" about all the nieces and nephews?

Do we remember just a few hours before, when we had our prayer time, and we casually asked for blessings for ourselves or others?

I think when we look at this psalm, we see the writer had a specific reason for seeking God's blessings. We'll be studying this week to discover it.

Many people do consider this a very important psalm - the folks who lead the Church of England decided that this should be read in each and every worship service! 

It reads a little bit like the blessing that the priests were to pronounce on Israel. We find that in the book of Numbers:

The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)

It's also similar to what God promised Abraham (well, he was called Abram at the time) in Genesis:

“I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:2-3)

In Matthew's gospel, Jesus instructed us to pray that His will would be done on earth. And Paul cited scriptures when he was explaining his calling to preach to the Gentiles. The theme is there throughout the Bible - we seek God's blessing so that our joy can be spread to all the nations. 

Let's dig in this week and learn more!