Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

Psalm 67. This psalm, like Psalm 65, seems to be a thanksgiving for a fruitful harvest. Unlike Psalm 65, it is not really a thanksgiving hymn; it is rather a prayer that God will bless his people Israel so that the rest of the world may come to know the true God. Verses 3 and 5 of Psalm 67 are the same, marking the ends of their stanzas; they summarize the desire of this psalm, "Let all the peoples praise you!" Singing this helps Israel to keep its own calling in view: their blessing is not simply for themselves but for the Gentiles too (cf. Gen. 12:2-3). Each Israelite is a player in a grand story that stretches far beyond the boundaries of his own life, or even of his own land.

67:1-3 May God Bless Us, So that All Nations May Know Him. Verse 1 adapts the priestly blessing (Num. 6:24-26: may God be gracious, bless, make his face to shine), and Ps. 67:2 follows it with a purpose clause: the goal for which the congregation prays for God's blessing is that God's way may be known on earth--specifically, that his saving power might be known among all nations. God called Abram both to bless him and his descendants and to make them a vehicle of blessing to the Gentiles (Gen. 12:2-3). These words turn that calling into a song.