As part of the on-boarding process with EMI, each individual or couple is asked to choose a verse or passage that is meaningful to them, a sending verse of sorts. I spent a lot of time reflecting on what our theme verse would be (which is hard since I cannot even choose my favorite book of the Bible!).
Then I came to Psalm 67 and my goodness is it beautiful! After reading through this short Psalm it quickly became apparent that this was our verse (verse 4 in particular). Since then I have spent a lot of time praying and reflecting on this verse. I’d love to share some of my thoughts with you, my dear friends!
Psalm 67 [ESV]
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
2 that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
6 The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
7 God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him!
Psalm 67 consists of three different poetic sections. The first section, verses 1-2, is an appeal. The author is calling on God to bless the nation (Israel) for a purpose, which is ‘that your way may be known on the earth’. The second section, verses 3-5, is describes the vision behind the appeal. The vision is that all nations would be gathered with Israel in worship of the Lord. The last section, verses 6-7, is the conclusion to the Psalm. The end result is that God would bless the earth.
Structure
One thing I love about this Psalm is that it is a chiasm. Chiasms are a fancy way to describe poems and literature that are mirrored from beginning to end around some central stanza (also, the word itself is taken from the Greek letter chi, which resembles the English X. As shown below, chiasms roughly follow an X-shaped pattern). In this passage, the central message is verse 4, the worship of the nations. Here’s how the chiasm is structured:
A Requesting God’s Blessing (1)
B God’s Way Known on the Earth (2)
C Praising God (3)
D Joy and Justice for the Nations (4)
C’ Praising God (5)
B’ Yield on Earth (6)
A’ Assurance of God’s Blessing (7)
Takeaway
Clearly, the central theme of this passage is that God yearns for the nations to turn to Him in joy and to look to Him for justice. It was the responsibility of Israel to proclaim of peace and blessings to the nations. However, this is also the responsibility of the church today. As the church, we are the “make disciples of all nations”.
I have heard many times that the God in the Old Testament and the God in the New Testament seem to be different altogether, especially when it comes to missions and judgment. Yet, this passage clearly shows that God has not changed, He is and has been constant. His concern for the nations is evident in this passage as it is elsewhere throughout the Old Testament. I hope that by pointing this out, it would help to dispel the notion that God’s purposes have changed. God intended for His people, the Israelites, to be a beacon among the nations, to gather all the nations to Him in worship.