Sermon Tone Analysis
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May God’s Face Shine on You
of spiritual maturity in Christ because we would buy our way
out of many of our trials and tribulations?
Psalms 67
And while Jesus promises to give unto us
anything asked in His name (John 14:13)
surely to keep from giving us “stones
masqueraded as the bread of tidings”
(Matthew 7:9) He must have some criteria in
which requests are granted!
If there were no
criteria, then even His own would be tempted
to treat Him like a genie in a bottle and our
selfish desires would be our god and not Him!
Online Sermon:
http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567
Ever since we heard those terrible words of the curse,
“by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food” (Genesis
3:19), people have strived to mitigate the pain of living in a
fallen world through a variety of different ways.
For some the
key to obtaining an “easy and good” life they believe can only
be found through hard work and cunning to take beyond their
share of money, fame, and power to “buy” the favorable
circumstances needed to make them happy.
For those born of
the water and Spirit (John 3:5-8) Scripture states we are to seek
happiness in life not from our own abilities alone but primarily
from the sovereign God who promises to always do good to
those who love Him (Romans 8:28).
We want God to bless us
beyond all measure by shining His face upon us, but we must
admit that too often we struggle in both defining blessings and
in seeking them rightly.
For instance, is it right to ask God to
take us from obscurity and being poor to fame and riches like
He did Joseph or King David if this would mean it might rob us
1
C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 56-87, vol. 3 (London; Edinburgh; New
York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 128.
2
Robert L. Jr. Hubbard and Robert K. Johnston, “Foreword,” in Psalms, ed.
W. Ward Gasque,
Robert L. Hubbard Jr., and Robert K. Johnston, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2012), 278.
The following sermon is going to review Psalms 67 and suggest
that blessings are given not for the express purpose of making
the recipients life easier but are meant to be a profound witness
to the world of God’s grace and mercy.
May the Lord Make His Face Shine on You
The Psalmist begins with a song1 that is an “echo”2 of the
Aaronic Blessing of Numbers 6:24-26.
It originally was a prayer
given by God to Moses to be used in tabernacle worship by
Aaron and his sons.3
As he reflects on the contents of this
3
Roger Ellsworth, Opening up Psalms, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One
Publications, 2006), 110.
1|P age
prayer the Psalmist begins his song with a cry for mercy and
forgiveness of sin.4 Lacking any “legal hopes or claims of merit”5
the only way to be blessed he thought must come from God
Himself shining His face upon His own.
Perhaps the Psalmist
thought “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.”6
Grace was the bases of this blessing and truly the only way a
fallen human being under the curse could have any hope of
pleasing He who is sinless, without blot or blemish and wholly
other!
So, the Psalmist begins by singing about this God-given,
unmerited hope for here he finds is the key to not only making
living in a fallen world bearable but enjoyable as well!
May thy Ways be Known Upon Earth
Psalms 67 invited Israel and us to change our way of
thinking when it comes to being blessed.9
I remember the first
time I flew in an aeroplane how small and insignificant the world
appeared the higher I went up into the sky!
Above the clouds all
I could think was how awesome and great our God is to have
created and maintain such incredible beauty!
Too many of us in
our day-to-day grind tend to focus on things that are of lessor
importance.
Since the material wealth of the Aaronic blessing
if viewed and used improperly could become
“hollow and a dangerous deception and snare,”7
the Psalmist focused on the far greater and more
important part of Aaronic blessing, to know and
be close to God who grants a personal
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