Psalm 67 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 67 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
Verse 2that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.
Verse 3Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
Verse 4Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
Verse 5Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
Verse 6The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us.
Verse 7May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him.
Devotion
Later in the week, we’ll glance at the hymn, "There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy." Today's reading from Psalm 67 suggests (twice) how far God wants that wideness to extend:
Let the peoples praise you, God,
let all the peoples praise you.
This psalm is a prayer that all come to know and experience what God is up to in the world—bringing about universal justice, offering a "saving" health care plan with universal coverage! The psalmist sees God's action in the world as the way for all nations. It's a way where everyone finds justice, where grateful people come to recognize God's mercy and God's blessings in life. As just one example, check out how God operates through mother earth to sustain the blessing of life. The psalmist's hope is that "all the ends of the earth" will acknowledge the breathtaking blessings of a God like this. It's the perfect place for a word we like to use—awesome!
Prayer
Gracious God, We thank you for our world and everything that lets us live, move and have our being. May all experience the awe and the wonder at being God-blessed. Amen