(New) Life Together
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Introduction
Introduction
Are you Blessed by God?
How we should think about God’s blessing? If things are going well for us—we have plenty of money, our families are happy and healthy, things are breaking our way—then we can be confident that the blessing of God is on us? And what if things aren’t going so well for us? Should we then decide that God must not be blessing us and start looking for what’s clogging up the flow of blessings in our lives? These are all very real questions, aren’t they? Today, we will seek to understand more about God’s blessings from Psalm 67.
Have you ever been torn about seeking God’s blessings? Perhaps you’ve thought that you don’t deserve them
There are three responses you should have to Seeking God’s Blessings...
Seek God’s Blessings for God’s Glory - vs. 1-2
Seek God’s Blessings for God’s Glory - vs. 1-2
This opening plea for blessing is modeled on God’s word.
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’
This Psalm then is a prayer modeled on a promise from God.
Seek His Favor - vs. 1
Seek His Favor - vs. 1
what does it mean to be favored by God?
Psalms, Volume 2: (Psalms 42–106): An Expositional Commentary God’s Blessing on Israel
A shining face is the opposite of an angry or scowling face, and a face turned toward someone is the opposite of a face turned away in indifference or disgust. A shining face implies favor, the favor of the one whose face is shining, and it implies the friendliness of warm personal relationships too. So what is meant by this blessing is something more than what we normally think of when we ask God to “bless us.” Usually all we mean is that we want God to help us to succeed at something or enable us to make money or give us the job, house, or car we desire. But although such forms of material blessing are not excluded by the Aaronic benediction, they are only part of it—and a lesser part at that. More desirable is that God would himself enter into a gracious personal relationship with his people.
This is what real blessing is, of course. We usually think that God has blessed us if we get to be rich. But Jesus overthrew that narrow, selfish idea of blessing when he asked the crowds pointedly, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). If spiritual blessing, which is to know God, does not lie at the base of all our blessings, including the possession of material things and of a happy life, then these other blessings are hollow and may even be a dangerous deception and snare. On the other hand, to know God and be favored by God is the greatest blessing anyone can experience either in this life or afterward.
Seek God’s Blessings, but do it for God’s glory - vs. 2
Seek God’s Blessings, but do it for God’s glory - vs. 2
His ways to be known
His ways to be known
God wants to be known. There is no room in this Psalm for a new age kind of spirituality that is popular today. God is not experienced through creating a mood of serenity or seriousness through emptying your mind. God is known through his word.
God wants to be know for who he really is. One of the hardest things about being lied about is not being known for who you really are.
merciful & gracious - vs. 1-2
praiseworthy - vs. 3, 5
just - vs. 4
generous - vs. 6
powerful - vs. 7
God is zealous to be known and praised and enjoyed and feared among all nations.
God is displeased when people are ignorant of him or disrespectful to him or bored around him or unduly casual in his presence.
We know him subjectively with joy, praise, and fear; and objectively as just, powerful, and gracious.
His salvation to be received
His salvation to be received
The point I have been making, that the shining face of God is to be thought of as God’s entering into a personal, gracious relationship with his people, is made abundantly clear in verse 2. For the purpose of the blessing on Israel is that “your ways [may] be known on earth, your salvation among all nations”—that is, that the Gentiles may come to possess the same blessing possessed by Israel, which is to know God. Or to put it in other words, it is that the nations of the world might come to hear and believe the gospel and so be saved.
All are to recieve this gift of salvation
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
This combination of God’s ways being known and his salvation being received is a hope that is wonderfully fulfilled in the Scriptures
and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
True knowledge of God is life-giving
Seek God’s Blessings for Other People - vs. 3-5
Seek God’s Blessings for Other People - vs. 3-5
God promises to bless his people because he wants them to be a blessing to the nations. This Psalm is a missionary Psalm
Psalms, Volume 2: (Psalms 42–106): An Expositional Commentary God’s Blessing on Israel
When a section of a psalm begins and ends with a similar verse, phrase, or emphasis, scholars call it inclusio. This is a literary device that sets the included subject matter apart and gives it emphasis. We have two such “inclusions” in this psalm, one within another. The second, middle stanza is set apart in this way, and is the clearest example because it begins and ends with the same verse: “May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you” (vv. 3, 5). The less apparent example is the psalm itself, which begins and ends with the prayer that God might bless Israel and that the God of Israel might be known and feared among the Gentiles (vv. 1, 7).
vs. 3, 5 reveal that this a daring prayer full of great vision and hope - “peoples” - “all peoples”
What is the focus of this Psalm? - vs. 4
God is the Lord that every tongue must confess
His Reign is Joyful (cf. good and pleasant - Ps 133)
“govern” shepherd-like guidance
cf. with...
“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”
God blesses his people in order to accomplish this!
If Israel’s fall has led to such blessing on the Gentiles, then what will Israel’s glory do?!?!
Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
These verses ask that the Gentiles might come to know and praise God, that they might understand his just dealings among the earth’s peoples, that they might be informed of his ways. But how is this to happen? How are the nations to get to know God?
The Power of God in His People
Non-Christian people are watching us. We claim to know, to love and to follow Jesus Christ. We say that he is our Savior, our Lord, and our Friend.
“What difference does he make to these Christians?” the world asks searchingly.
“Where is their God?” It may be said without fear of contradiction that the greatest hindrance to evangelism in the world today is the failure of the church to supply evidence in her own life and work of the saving power of God.
Rightly may we pray for ourselves that we may have God’s blessing and mercy and the light of his countenance—not that we may then monopolize his grace and bask in the sunshine of his favor, but that others may see in us his blessing and his beauty, and be drawn to him through us.
Does your life show forth the presence of God within? Does anyone ever look at you and think, “God certainly makes a difference for that Christian.”
“If being a Christian were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”
The Power of God’s Word Through His People
How are the nations of the world to get to know God? How is this great blessing to be known throughout the earth? The answer is that we must tell them.
A great hindrance to evangelism is the church’s failure to give evidence of the power of God in each individual and in her corporate life, and that is surely true. But an equally great problem is our failure simply to do evangelism itself, our failure to tell others about God.
Here I want to go back to the idea of the “priestly” blessing and ask how the blessing of the priest, Aaron or any other, was actually to come to the people. Magically? Mechanically by the laying on of hands, or something of that sort?
No. Blessing comes to God’s people by someone bringing his Word to them. The Word of God comes to them today by our speaking it to them—that is, instructing them from the Bible. The Old Testament priest dramatized the word of the gospel by performing the sacrifices, but he spoke the Word too.
Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God,
that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Plan to Use your Blessings Wisely
We cannot expect God’s blessings if we do not plan on using them for his purposes!
We must pray this blessing on ourselves for the sake of the nations!
The spirit of this Psalm is of the Abrahamic hope:
I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
Psalm 67:1-2 turns these promises into a prayer. This is what we should always do with God’s promises!
What promises do you need to turn into prayers?
God promises to bless his people because he wants them to be a blessing to the nations. We must pray this blessing on ourselves for the sake of the nations!
We will be most prone to experience God’s blessings when we are planning and longing and praying to bless others.
God will give through you what he will not give to you.
We are most Blessed When Other people are blessed through us.
I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
Have you ever asked God to bless you so you could be a blessing to others? This ought to be the way we live!
It shows that we understand we are stewards.
It shows we understand that we are not the goal of the universe.
Expect God to Bless Us in order to Bless Others - vs. 6-7
Expect God to Bless Us in order to Bless Others - vs. 6-7
Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.
This is an expectant prayer. We may pray boldly, for he is our God. Not ours to monopolize, but ours to magnify!
God’s blessing is sure like the harvest.
“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
Pray this way for your evangelism efforts. Expect God to work.
Pray this way for our merger
Pray this way for your finances
William Carey “Attempt great things for God. Expect great things from God.”
In the late eighteenth century, William Carey preached what would ultimately be an incredibly influential sermon in which he challenged his hearers to “expect great things from God [and to] attempt great things for God.” Carey’s challenge was aimed at rousing the church of his day from its complacency, at least in regard to foreign missions. As he saw it, the fact that Christians were not attempting great things for God indicated that they were not expecting Him to do great things in and through them. They may well have known that God was “able to do far more abundantly than all” they asked or even thought (Eph. 3:20), but they were obviously not expecting that He would actually do so in point of fact. Their actions, or, more accurately, their lack of actions, showed that they believed they were living in a day of small things. And that is why Carey’s sermon challenged them to think bigger and to expect more from God. He knew that if and when they did, they would begin to step out in faith and take risks for the cause of Christ.
It is only when we expect great things from God that we begin attempting great things for God.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Do you pray for God’s blessing in your life? Surely, everyone who is a Christian does this. Even unbelievers pray for God’s blessing.
But why do you ask God to bless you?
This Psalm challenges us to seek God’s blessing so that we can be a blessing. Seek God’s blessing so that the Lord will be magnified.
Application Questions:
What does it mean to be favored by God? How is seeking God’s favor in this Psalm different than prosperity gospel preaching?
Seeking God’s blessing could result in selfishness, where we squander those blessings on ourselves. How can we avoid this?
How could we pray specifically for the spread of God’s salvation?
Should we wait to give to missions until we feel that we have experienced God’s blessing, or is giving one way to experience His blessing?
How are we as a church (or you as an individual) fulfilling our role of being God’s priest to the people of the world? (1 Peter 2:9)