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Psalm Sixty-seven
Psalm 67
Chapter Contents
A prayer for the enlargement of Christ's kingdom.
All our happiness comes from God's mercy; therefore the
first thing prayed for is
God be merciful to us
to us sinners
and pardon our
sins. Pardon is conveyed by God's blessing
and secured in that. If we
by
faith
walk with God
we may hope that his face will shine on us. The psalmist
passes on to a prayer for the conversion of the Gentiles
which shows that the
Old Testament saints desired that their advantages might also be enjoyed by
others. And many Scripture prophecies and promises are wrapped up in prayers:
the answer to the prayer of the church is as sure as the performance of God's
promises. The joy wished to the nations
is holy joy. Let them be glad that by
his providence the Lord will overrule the affairs of kingdoms; that even the
kingdoms of this world shall became the kingdom of the Lord
and of his Christ.
Then is declared a joyful prospect of all good when God shall do this. The
success of the gospel brings outward mercies with it; righteousness exalts a
nation. The blessing of the Lord sweetens all our creature-comforts to us
and
makes them comforts indeed. All the world shall be brought to worship Him. When
the gospel begins to spread
it shall go forward more and more
till it reaches
to the ends of the earth. It is good to cast in our lot with those that are the
blessed of the Lord. If nothing had been spoken in Scripture respecting the
conversion of the heathen
we might think it vain to attempt so hopeless a
work. But when we see with what confidence it is declared in the Scriptures
we
may engage in missionary labours
assured that God will fulfil his own word.
And shall we be backward to make known to the heathen the knowledge with which
we are favoured
and the salvation we profess to glory in? They cannot learn
unless they are taught. Then let us go forward in the strength of the Lord
and
look to him to accompany the word the Holy Ghost; then Satan's kingdom shall be
destroyed
and the kingdom of our Redeemer established.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 67
Verse 2
[2] That thy way may be known upon earth
thy saving health
among all nations.
Thy way — The way of truth
or the true religion; the same which
in the next clause is called his saving health
and both together signify the
way of salvation; deal so graciously with thy people
that thereby the
Gentile-world may at last be allured to join with them.
Verse 4
[4] O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou
shalt judge the people righteously
and govern the nations upon earth.
/*Selah*/.
Judge — Rule them.
Govern — Heb. lead; gently
as a shepherd doth his sheep; and
not rule them with rigour
as other lords had done.
Verse 6
[6] Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God
even
our own God
shall bless us.
Them — When the people of the earth shall be converted to God
God will cause it to yield them abundance of all sorts of fruits. Under which
one blessing
all other blessings both temporal and spiritual are comprehended.
Our own — He who is Israel's God in a peculiar manner.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
Other Works
TITLE. To the
Chief Musician. Who he was matters not
and who we may be is also of small consequence
so long as the Lord is glorified. On Neginoth
or upon stringed
instruments. This is the fifth Psalm so entitled
and no doubt like the others
was meant to be sung with the accompaniment of "harpers harping with their
harps." No author's name is given
but he would be a bold man who should
attempt to prove that David did not write it. We will be hard pushed before we
will look for any other author upon whom to father these anonymous odes which
lie side by side with those ascribed to David
and wear a family likeness to
them. A Psalm or Song. Solemnity and vivacity are here united. A
Psalm is a song
but all songs are not Psalms: this is both one and the other.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. God be merciful unto us
and bless us; and cause his face
to shine upon us. This is a fit refrain to the benediction of the High
Priest in the name of the Lord
as recorded in Nu 6:24-25. "The Lord bless
thee
and keep thee: the Lord make his face shine upon thee
and be gracious
unto thee." It begins at the beginning with a cry for mercy.
Forgiveness of sin is always the first link in the chain of mercies experienced
by us. Mercy is a foundation attribute in our salvation. The best saints and
the worst sinners may unite in this petition. It is addressed to the God of mercy
by those who feel their need of mercy
and it implies the death of all legal
hopes or claims of merit. Next
the church begs for a blessing; bless us—a
very comprehensive and far reaching prayer. When we bless God we do but little
for our blessings are but words
but when God blesses he enriches us
indeed
for his blessings are gifts and deeds. But his blessing alone is not
all his people crave
they desire a personal consciousness of his favour
and
pray for a smile from his face. These three petitions include all that we need
here or hereafter. This verse may be regarded as the prayer of Israel
and
spiritually of the Christian church. The largest charity is shown in this
Psalm
but it begins at home. The whole church
each church
and each little company
may rightly pray
bless us. It would
however
be very wrong to let our
charity end where it begins
as some do; our love must make long marches
and
our prayers must have a wide sweep
we must embrace the whole world in our
intercessions. Selah. Lift up the heart
lift up the voice. A higher key
a
sweeter note is called for.
Verse
2. That thy way may be known upon earth. As showers which
first fall upon the hills afterwards run down in streams into the valleys
so
the blessing of the Most High comes upon the world through the church. We are
blessed for the sake of others as well as ourselves. God deals in a way of
mercy with his saints
and then they make that way known far and wide
and the
Lord's name is made famous in the earth. Ignorance of God is the great enemy of
mankind
and the testimonies of the saints
experimental and grateful
overcome
this deadly foe. God has set a way and method of dealing out mercy to men
and
it is the duty and privilege of a revived church to make that way to be everywhere
known. Thy saving health among all nations
or
thy salvation. One likes
the old words
"saving health
"yet as they are not the words of the
Spirit but only of our translators
they must be given up: the word is salvation
and nothing else. This all nations need
but many of them do not know it
desire it
or seek it; our prayer and labour should be
that the knowledge of
salvation may become as universal as the light of the sun. Despite the gloomy
notions of some
we cling to the belief that the kingdom of Christ will embrace
the whole habitable globe
and that all flesh shall see the salvation of God:
for this glorious consummation we agonize in prayer.
Verse
3. Let the people praise thee
O God. Cause them to own thy
goodness and thank thee with all their hearts; let nations do this
and do it
continually
being instructed in thy gracious way. Let all the people praise
thee. May every man bring his music
every citizen his canticle
every peasant
his praise
every prince his psalm. All are under obligations to thee
to thank
thee will benefit all
and praise from all will greatly glorify thee;
therefore
O Lord
give all men the grace to adore thy grace
the goodness to
see thy goodness. What is here expressed as a prayer in our translation
may be
read as a prophecy
if we follow the original Hebrew.
Verse
4. O let the nations be glad and sing for joy
or
they shall
joy and triumph. When men know God's way and see his salvation
it brings to
their hearts much happiness. Nothing creates gladness so speedily
surely
and
abidingly as the salvation of God. Nations never will be glad till they follow
the leadership of the great Shepherd; they may shift their modes of government
from monarchies to republics
and from republics to communes
but they will
retain their wretchedness till they bow before the Lord of all. What a sweet
word is that to sing for joy! Some sing for form
others for show
some
as a duty
others as an amusement
but to sing from the heart
because
overflowing joy must find a vent
this is to sing indeed. Whole nations will do
this when Jesus reigns over them in the power of his grace. We have heard
hundreds and even thousands sing in chorus
but what will it be to hear whole
nations lifting up their voices
as the noise of many waters and like great
thunders. When shall the age of song begin? When shall groans and murmurs be
exchanged for holy hymns and joyful melodies?
For
thou shalt judge the people righteously. Wrong on the part of governors is a
fruitful source of national woe
but where the Lord rules
rectitude is
supreme. He doeth ill to none. His laws are righteousness itself. He rights all
wrongs and releases all who are oppressed. Justice on the throne is a fit cause
for national exultation. And govern the nations upon earth. He will lead them
as a shepherd his flock
and through his grace they shall willingly follow
then will there be peace
plenty
and prosperity. It is a great condescension
on God's part to become the Shepherd of nations
and to govern them for their
good: it is a fearful crime when a people
who know the salvation of God
apostatize and say to the Lord
"Depart from us." There is some cause
for trembling lest our nation should fall into this condemnation; may God
forbid. Selah. Before repeating the chorus
the note is again elevated
that
full force may be given to the burst of song and the accompaniment of harps.
"Strings
and voices
hands and hearts
In the concert bear your parts;
All that breathe
your Lord adore
Praise him
Praise him
evermore!"
Verse
5. These words are no vain repetition
but are a chorus worthy to be
sung again and again. The great theme of the psalm is the participation of the
Gentiles in the worship of Jehovah; the psalmist is full of it
he hardly knows
how to contain or express his joy.
Verse
6. Then shall the earth yield her increase. Sin first laid a
curse on the soil
and grace alone can remove it. Under tyrannical governments
lands become unproductive; even the land which flowed with milk and honey is
almost a wilderness under Turkish rule; but
when the principles of true
religion shall have elevated mankind
and the dominion of Jesus shall be
universally acknowledged
the science of tillage shall be perfected
men shall
be encouraged to labour
industry shall banish penury
and the soil shall be
restored to more than its highest condition of fertility. We read that the Lord
turneth "a fruitful land into barrenness
"for the wickedness of them
that dwell therein
and observation confirms the truth of the divine threatening;
but even under the law it was promised
"The Lord shall make thee
plenteous in every work of thine hand
in the fruit of thy cattle
and in the
fruit of thy land for good." There is certainly an intimate relation
between moral and physical evil
and between spiritual and physical good.
Alexander notes that the Hebrew is in the past tense
and he concludes that it
is ungrammatical to render it in the future; but to us it seems that the
prophet bard
hearing the nations praise the Lord
speaks of the bounteous
harvest as already given in consequence. On the supposition that all the people
praise Jehovah
the earth has yielded her increase. The future in the English
appears to be the clearest rendering of the Hebrew. And God
even our own God
shall bless us. He will make earth's increase to be a real blessing. Men shall
see in his gifts the hand of that same God whom Israel of old adored
and
Israel
especially
shall rejoice in the blessing
and exult in her own God. We
never love God aright till we know him to be ours
and the more we love him the
more we long to be fully assured that he is ours. What dearer name can we give
to him than "mine own God." The spouse in the song has no sweeter
canticle than "my beloved is mine and I am his." Every believing Jew
must feel a holy joy at the thought that the nations shall be blessed by
Abraham's God; but every Gentile believer also rejoices that the whole world
shall yet worship the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
who
is our Father and our God.
Verse
7. God shall bless us. The prayer of the first verse is the
song of the last. We have the same phrase twice
and truly the Lord's blessing
is manifold; he blesses and blesses and blesses again. How many are his
beatitudes! How choice his benedictions! They are the peculiar heritage of his
chosen. He is the Saviour of all men
but specially of them that believe. In
this verse we find a song for all future time. God shall bless us is our
assured confidence; he may smite us
or strip us
or even slay us
but he must
bless us. He cannot turn away from doing good to his elect. And all the ends of
the earth shall fear him. The far off shall fear. The ends of the earth shall
end their idolatry
and adore their God. All tribes
without exception
shall feel
a sacred awe of the God of Israel. Ignorance shall be removed
insolence
subdued
injustice banished
idolatry abhorred
and the Lord's love
light
life
and liberty
shall be over all
the Lord himself being King of kings and
Lord of lords. Amen
and Amen.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole
Psalm. How admirably balanced are the parts of this missionary song! The
people of God long to see all the nations participating in their privileges
"visited with God's salvation
and gladdened with the gladness of his
nation" (Ps 106:5). They long to hear all the nationalities giving thanks
to the Lord
and hallowing his name; to see the face of the whole earth
which
sin has darkened so long
smiling with the brightness of a second Eden. This is
not a vapid sentiment. The desire is so expressed as to connect with it the
thought of duty and responsibility. For how do they expect that the happy times
are to be reached? They trust
in the first instance
to the general diffusion
of the knowledge of God's way
the spreading abroad of the truth regarding the
way of salvation. With a view to that
they cry for a time of quickening from
the presence of the Lord
and take encouragement in this prayer from the terms
of the divinely appointed benediction. As if they had said
"Hast thou not
commanded the sons of Aaron to put thy name upon us
and to say: The Lord bless
thee and keep thee; the Lord cause his face to shine on thee and be gracious to
thee? Remember that sure word of thine. God be gracious unto us and bless us
and cause his face to shine upon us. Let us be thus blessed
and we shall in
our turn become a blessing. All the families of the earth shall
through us
become acquainted with thy salvation." Such is the church's expectation.
And who shall say it is unreasonable? If the little company of a hundred and
twenty disciples who met in the upper chamber at Jerusalem
all of them persons
of humble station
and inconspicuous talents
were endued with such power by
the baptism of the Holy Ghost
that within three hundred years the paganism of
the empire was overthrown
one need not fear to affirm that
in order to the
evangelisation of the world
nothing more is required than that the churches of
Christendom be baptised with a fresh effusion of the same Spirit of power. William
Binnie.
Whole
Psalm. There are seven stanzas; twice three two line stanzas
having one
of three lines in the middle
which forms the clasp or spangle of the septiad
a circumstance which is strikingly appropriate to the fact that the psalm is
called "the Old Testament Paternoster" in some of the old expositors.
Franz Delitzsch.
Verse
1. God be merciful unto us
and bless us
etc. God forgives
then he gives; till he be merciful to pardon our sins through Christ
he cannot
bless or look kindly on us sinners. All our enjoyments are but blessings in
bullion
till gospel grace and pardoning mercy stamp and make them current. God
cannot so much as bear any good will to us
till Christ makes peace for us;
"On earth peace
good will toward men." Lu 2:14. And what joy can a
sinner take
though it were to hear of a kingdom fallen to him
if he may not
have it with God's good will. William Gurnall.
Verse
1. God be merciful unto us. Hugo attributes these words to
penitents; Bless us
to those setting out in the Christian life; Cause
his face to shine upon us
to those who have attained
or the sanctified.
The first seek for pardon
the second for justifying peace
the third for
edification and the grace of contemplation. Lorinus.
Verses
1-2. Connect the last clause of Ps 67:1 with the first of Ps 67:2
and
observe that God made his face to shine upon Moses
and made known to him his
way. "He made known his ways unto Moses
his acts unto the children of
Israel
"as if the common people could only see the deeds of the Lord
but
his way
his plans
his secrets were revealed only to him upon whom the light
of God's face had shone. C. H. S.
Verse
2. That thy way may be known
etc. The psalmist here supposes
that there are certain rules or principles
in accordance with which God
bestows blessings on mankind; and he prays that those rules and principles may
be everywhere made known upon the earth. Albert Barnes.
Verse
2. That thy way may be known
etc. By nature we know little
of God
and nothing of Christ
or the way of salvation by him. The eye of the
creature
therefore
must be opened to see the way of life before he can by
faith get into it. God doth not use to waft souls to heaven like passengers in
a ship
who are shut under the hatches
and see nothing all the way they are
sailing to their port; if so
that prayer might have been spared which the
psalmist
inspired of God
breathes forth in the behalf of the blind Gentiles: That
thy way may be known upon earth
thy saving health among all nations. As
faith is not a naked assent
with affiance and innitency (Act of leaning on) on
Christ; so neither is it a blind assent
without some knowledge. If
therefore
you continue still in thy brutish ignorance
and knowest not so much as who
Christ is
and what he hath done for the salvation of poor sinners
and what
thou must do to get interest in him
thou art far enough from believing. If the
day be not broke in thy soul
much less is the Sun of Righteousness arisen by
faith in thy soul. William Gurnall.
Verse
2. That thy way may be known. The sinful Jew
obstinate in
his unbelief
shall see and hate. He shall see
and be enraged at the salvation
of the Gentiles; but let us see and know
that is
love. For to know
is often put for to love
as in the passages—"My sheep hear my
voice
and I know them: I know mine
and am known of mine; "that is
I
love my own sheep
and they love me... There is here a sudden transition from
the third person to the second
that in speaking of God he might not say
"His
way
"or "his salvation
"but Thy way
and Thy
salvation setting forth the vehemence of an ardent suppliant
and the grace
of God as he reveals himself to that suppliant while still pouring forth his
prayers. Gerhohus (1093-1169).
Verse
2. That thy way may be known
etc. As light
so the
participation of God's light is communicative: we must not pray for ourselves
alone
but for all others
that God's way may be known upon earth
and his
saving health among all nations. Thy way; that is
thy will
thy word
thy works. God's will must be known on earth
that it may be done on earth
as
it is in heaven. Except we know our Master's will
how shall we do it? Ergo
first pray with David here: Let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for
thou shalt judge the people righteously
and govern the nations upon earth;
and then
Let all the people praise thee. God's will is revealed in his
word
and his word is his way wherein we must walk
turning neither to the
right hand nor to the left. Or
Thy way; that is
thy works
as David
elsewhere (Ps 25:10): "All thy ways of the Lord are mercy and truth."
Or
as others (Augustine; Jerome; Hilary) most fitly: Thy way
that is
thy Christ; "Thy saving health
"that is
thy Jesus:
for "I am the way
"saith our Saviour (Joh 14:6): "No man cometh
unto the Father
but by me; " wherefore
"Let thy Son be known
upon earth; thy Jesus among all nations." John Boys.
Verse
3. Let the people praise thee. Mark the sweet order of the
blessed Spirit: first
mercy; than
knowledge; last of all
praising of God. We
cannot see his countenance except he be merciful to us; and we cannot praise
him except his way be known upon earth. His mercy breeds knowledge; his
knowledge
praise. John Boys.
Verse
3. Let the people praise thee
O God; let all the people praise
thee. What then? "Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God
even our own God
shall bless us." We have comforts increased
the
more we praise God for what we have already received. The more vapours go up
the more showers come down; as the rivers receive
so they pour out
and all
run into the sea again. There is a constant circular course and recourse from
the sea
unto the sea; so there is between God and us; the more we praise him
the more our blessings come down; and the more his blessings come down
the
more we praise him again; so that we do not so much bless God as bless
ourselves. When the springs lie low
we pour a little water into the pump
not
to enrich the fountain
but to bring up more for ourselves. Thomas Manton.
Verse
3. This verse is exceedingly emphatic.
1.
First
by an apostrophe to God
in the pronoun
Thee. As if he said: Let the
people praise thee
not strange gods; for thou art the only true God.
2.
Secondly
inasmuch as it is not said
Let us praise thee
O God; but let
the people praise thee
and let all the people. For here is
expressed the longing of the pious heart
and its fond desire that God should
be praised and magnified throughout all lands and by all people of the round
earth.
3.
Thirdly
by the iteration
in which the same particle is repeated in this and
the fifth verse no less than four times
as if the duty could not be
sufficiently inculcated. It is not enough to have said it once; it is
delightful to repeat it again. Wolfgang Musculus (1497-1563).
Verse
4. For thou shalt judge the people righteously
etc. The
Psalmist may here seem to contradict himself; for if mercy make men rejoice
then judgment occasions men to tremble. Answer is made
that all such as have
known the ways of the Lord
and rejoice in the strength of his salvation
all
such as have the pardon of their sins assured and sealed
fear not that
dreadful assize
because they know the judge is their advocate. Or
(as
Jerome
)let all nations rejoice
because God doth judge righteously
being the
God of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews. Ac 10:34. Or
let all nations
rejoice
because God doth govern all nations; that whereas theretofore they
wandered in the fond imaginations of their own hearts
in wry ways
in byways;
now they are directed by the Spirit of truth to walk in God's highway
which
leads unto the celestial Jerusalem; now they shall know Christ
the way
the
truth
and the life. For judging is often used for ruling. 1Sa 7:15 2Co 1:10.
So David doth here expound himself: thou shalt judge. that is
thou
shalt govern the nations. John Boys.
Verse
4. Govern. Lead and guide them as the shepherd his flock. Benjamin
Boothroyd.
Verse
4. And lead(margin) the nations. God now overrules
the nations in their ways
but surely they are led by another guide.
There is a bridle in their jaws causing them to err. They are held and shaken
in the sieve of vanity
until he come to whom the government pertains. Arthur
Pridham.
Verses
5-6. Let the people praise thee
O God; let all the people praise
thee! What then? Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God
even
our own God
shall bless us. Our unthankfulness is the cause of the earth's
unfruitfulness. While man is blessing God for his mercies
He is
blessing man with his mercies. William Secker
in "The Nonsuch
Professor
" 1660.
Verse
6. Then shall the earth yield her increase. An increase of
wealth is but the natural result of increased piety and intelligence. There are
certain qualities essential to temporal prosperity. These are industry
economy
moderation; and such are the qualities begotten of godliness. . . .
Nor is it an unreasonable expectation that our globe should
under the reign of
righteousness
yield all those temporal advantages of which it is capable.
Science
favoured by piety
may greatly add to the earth's fruitfulness; and
mechanical genius may still farther abbreviate human toil
and increase human
comforts. The great inventions and discoveries of science
by which toil is
lessened and comfort enhanced
are all the product of Christian minds... Can
we
then
doubt that in the era to which we look forward
labour shall cease to
be a burden? Can we believe that the life of the labouring classes is to
continue to be all but a ceaseless round of toil and vexation—every hand
stretched out to procure something that is needed
or to ward off something
that is feared? Scripture predicts the mitigation of the curse; and
in the
discoveries of science
and the inventions of mechanics
we see the means by
which the prediction is to be accomplished. This consummation may still be in
the distant future; but if we do not grudge the oak years for its growth
the
glory to be revealed is surely worthy of a process as gradual. William Reid
in "Things to Come Practically Considered
" 1871.
Verse
6. God
even our own God
shall bless us. What a rapturous
expression is that: God
even our own God
shall bless us! and that
"Thy God
thy glory!" Upon interest in God follows their interest in
his glory and blessedness; which is so much the dearer and more valuable
as it
is theirs; their glory from their God. They shall be blessed by God
their own
God; "drink waters out of their own well." How endearing a thing is
propriety! Another man's son is ingenuous
comely
personable; this may be a
matter of envy; but mine own is so
this is a joy. I read in the life of a
devout nobleman of France
(Monsieur de Renti) that receiving a letter from a
friend in which were inserted these words: "Deus meus et omnia
"my
God and my all
he thus returns back to him: "I know not what your intent
was to put into your letter these words
`Dues meus et omnia
My God and
my all:' only you invite me thereby to return the same to you
and to all
creatures. `My God and my all: my God and my all; my God and my all.' If
perhaps
you take this for your motto
and use it to express how full your
heart is of it
think you it possible I should be silent upon such an
invitation
and not express my sense thereof? Likewise be it known unto you
therefore
that he is `my God and my all; 'and
if you doubt of it
I shall
speak of it a hundred times over. I shall add no more
for anything else is
superfluous to him that is truly penetrated with `my God and my all; 'I leave
you
therefore
in this happy state of jubilation
and conjure you to beg for
me
of God
the solid sense of these words." And do we think
"my God
and my all." or
"my God and my glory
"will have lost its
emphasis in heaven? or that it will be less significant among awakened souls?
These things concur
then
concerning the object; it is more excellent
even
divine
entire
permanent
and theirs: how can it but satisfy? John
Howe
in "The Blessedness of the Righteous."
Verse
6. Our own God. How inexpressible was the inward pleasure
wherewith we may suppose those words to have been uttered. How delightful an
appropriation! as if it were intended to be said
the blessing itself were less
significant
it could not have that savour with it
if it were not from our own
God. Not only
therefore
allow but urge your spirits thus to look towards God
that you may both delight in him as being in himself the most excellent one
and also as being yours; for know
you are not permitted only
but obliged to
eye
accept
and rejoice in him as such. John Howe.
Verses
6-7. The promise refers directly to the visible fertility of the
renewed earth at the time of Israel's recovery
but it includes a fuller
reference to higher things; for the true increase yielded by any of God's works
is the revenue of praise which redounds to his holy name. Such
then
is the
promise I have to bring before you. In its widest sense
the lower creation is
now made subject to vanity
because of man's sin; but in the kingdom of Christ
this curse will be removed
and all God's works will yield their full increase—a
tribute of unmingled honour and praise to his name. Let us consider (1.) The
preparation for this increase. (2.) The increase itself. (3.) The blessing of
God
which will crown it.
I.
THE PREPARATIONS FOR THIS INCREASE. What are the means? What is the way of its
accomplishment? Whence does it proceed? Our Psalm is full of instruction.
Consider—
1. Its
fountain: the free mercy of God. The Psalm begins
God be merciful unto
us
and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us. Whatever the details
and steps of the work of redemption
all must be traced up to this original
fountain
the sovereign grace and mercy of our God... The eternal
free
unchangeable
inexhaustible mercy of our God revealed through his dear Son
Jesus Christ; this is the fountain head of the blessed increase here
foretold...
2. The
order in which this increase is granted may next be considered. Salvation
is given to the Jew first
and then also to the Greek. The prayer of this Psalm
is
Cause his face to shine upon us; that thy way may be known upon earth
thy saving health among all nations. It is the divine plan first to choose
his people and bless them
and then to make them a blessing
as we see in
Abraham
the father of the faithful. It is through his church that God blesses
the world... The same principle is true in every revival of pure religion...
But all this order of divine mercy has yet to be more fully seen in what is
before us; in the restoration of Israel
and in its effect upon the world at
large...
3. The
immediate precursor of this increase is the return of our Lord from heaven
the coming of Christ to judge the earth and reign over all nations. The Psalm
calls all nations to rejoice in this: O let the nations be glad and sing for
joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously
and govern the nations upon
earth. ... The world craves
and will crave more and more for righteous
government. The Lord has promised to supply this natural want of the human
heart
though he take vengeance on his hardened enemies. Even in the coming of
the Lord to judgment
goodness will so finally triumph that the nations are to
be glad and sing for joy... It is the Lord judging the people and governing the
nations
and all the people praising him
that prepares directly and immediately
for the promised blessedness. Then shall the earth yield her increase.
II.
THE INCREASE ITSELF. This increase has many aspects. Let us view them in a
climax of benefits.
1. Natural
fertility. The first sentence of curse and barrenness
of thorns and thistles
was pronounced on Adam's fall
and renewed on Cain's murder. It seems to have
been specially removed after the deluge... Even now
two thirds of our world
are ocean
incapable of increase; half of the rest
and perhaps more
is almost
desert
and of the remainder the largest part is very imperfectly tilled. There
is room
even in the latter
for a vast increase
when the whole earth might
become like the garden of the Lord.
2. The
redemption of art. Its activity
its talent
and discoveries are now great
and wonderful; but it is mainly turned to human self sufficiency and vanity
and bears little fruit to God's glory and the highest benefit of man. But in
the period predicted in this Psalm
every creature
when redeemed to man's use
shall be also reclaimed to God's glory...
3. The
redemption of science....
4. Society
will yield its increase to God.... Men now live as without God in the
world
full though it be of proofs of his wisdom and love... What a change when
every social circle shall be a fellowship of saints
and all bent to one great
purpose
the divine glory and the blessedness of each other.
5. The
soul shall yield its increase. The earth is only the figure of the human
heart
a soil ever fertile for good or evil. Thus the apostle
in his Epistle
to the Hebrews
regards it: "For the earth which drinketh in the rain that
cometh oft upon it
and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is
dressed
receiveth blessing from God; but that which beareth thorns and briers
is rejected
and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. But
beloved
we are persuaded better things of you
and things that accompany salvation
though we thus speak." Then the thorns and briers of a crooked and
perverse generation will cease... The fruits of righteousness will abound from
the human race to the glory of God. Much praise
much zeal
much reverence
much humility
will distinguish his servants. Faith
hope
and love will all be
in the fullest exercise. Christ will be all and in all
and every power will be
consecrated to him. This is the best increase the earth yields to God.
6. The
large number of God's true servants
thus yielding themselves to him
is
another part of this blessedness...
7. The
perpetuity of this increase has to be added to this glory. This is
according to the promise made to the Wonderful
Counsellor
the Mighty God
the
Everlasting Father
the Prince of Peace. Condensed from Edward Bickersteth's
Sermon in the "Bloomsbury Lent Lectures
" 1848.
Verses
6-7. Double blessings from God—temporal and spiritual
blessings
peculiar to the Jews
and blessings suited to Christians. O Lord
I refuse not
the temporal blessings it pleases thee to send me; I will receive them with
humble gratitude as the gift of thy goodness: but I entreat from thee
especially for spiritual blessings; and that thou wouldest treat me rather as a
Christian than as a Jew. Pasquier Quesnel (1634-1719)
in "Les Psaumes
de David avec des Reflexions Morales."
Verse
7. Note
how joy in God
and fear of God
are combined. By joy the
sadness and anxiety of diffidence are excluded
but by fear contempt and false
security are banished. So Psalm 2
"Serve the Lord with fear
and rejoice
with trembling." Wolfgang Musculus.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
1.
1.
Here is mercy in God the Father.
2.
Here is blessing as the fruit of that mercy in God the Son.
3.
Here is the experience of that blessing in the comfort of the Holy Ghost.
Verse
1. The need of seeking a blessing for ourselves.
Verses
1-2. The prosperity of the church at home
the hope for missions
abroad.
Verse
2.
1.
The way of God towards the earth.
(a)
A way of mercy.
(b) Of blessing.
(c) Of comfort.
2.
The knowledge of that way.
(a)
By outward means.
(b) By inward teaching.
3.
The effect of that knowledge. Salvation among all nations.
Verse
2. What is the true health of men?
Verse
3. Viewed
1.
As the desire of every renewed heart.
2. As a prayer.
3. As a prophecy.
Verse
4.
1.
The reign of God in the world: it is not left to itself.
2.
The joy of the world on that account: Let the nations
etc.
3.
The reason of that joy: He will judge righteously.
(a)
As faithful to his law.
(b)
Faithful to his promises of mercy.
Verses
5-7.
1.
The prayer (Ps 67:5).
2. The promise (Ps 67:6).
(a) Of temporal good.
(b) Of spiritual good.
3. The prediction (Ps 67:7).
Verses
6-7. See "Spurgeon's Sermons
"No. 819: "The Minstrelsy
of Hope."
Verse
7.
1.
God to man: shall bless us.
2. Man to God: shall fear him.
WORK UPON THE
SIXTY-SEVENTH PSALM
In "The
Works of JOHN BOYS
"1626
folio
pp. 42-45
there is an Exposition of
this Psalm.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》