Psalms 67King James Version
1[To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song.] God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.
2That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.
3Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.
4O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.
5Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.
6Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.
7God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.
About Psalms 67
God be merciful unto us, and bless us. That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. Let all the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.
What happens here?
A short missional blessing. The opening echoes the Aaronic benediction from Numbers 6: God be merciful, bless, cause his face to shine. But the purpose is explicit: that his way may be known on earth, his saving health among all nations. The refrain repeats twice: let all the peoples praise thee. The harvest in v6 is the nations' glad return. The psalm is a seven-verse sketch of the entire missional arc of Scripture.
The big idea?
The blessing of God on Israel is not a terminus but a transit point: God's purpose is that his way become known among all nations, not just among the chosen.
A line to remember
verse: "That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations." The blessing is means, not end: the 'that' clause is everything.
Set the scene
Superscription: 'To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song.' Neginoth: stringed instruments. The harvest imagery (v6) suggests autumn festival use. The symmetrical structure (three stanzas with refrain between them) is unusually clean for a psalm of this brevity. Likely used as a public benediction.
Who's in it?
The corporate Israel receiving and passing on the blessing; God whose face shines; all nations and peoples addressed and invited; the earth that yields its increase.
Why it matters
Psalm 67 is one of the most explicitly universalist psalms in the Psalter. Its structure echoes the Aaronic blessing of Numbers 6:24-26, but the direction of that blessing is outward toward all nations. Paul's mission theology in Romans 15:9-12 cites several psalms in sequence to establish this universalist trajectory.
For when you feel...
For when worship feels enclosed and self-focused. This psalm is a corrective: the blessing you receive is meant to travel.
