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

67:4-5 May All Nations Be Glad in His Rule. In addition to their knowing God's saving power, the psalmist prays that the nations be glad and sing for joy because he rules over (you judge) them with equity. This could be a prayer that these Gentiles come to appreciate the author of that general and kind providence they have experienced, and then to worship him (cf. Acts 14:17); but, since the term "judge" seems to indicate a more direct rule than simply oversight (cf. also the term guide, or "lead"; see Ps. 73:24; 77:20), it is more likely that this is praying for the day when God's acknowledged rule is extended to include the Gentiles (cf. Isa. 2:4; 11:3-4, both using the same word, "judge," applied to the Gentiles). (In the OT, the first duty of the judge was to protect the innocent; he was a kind of savior.) The OT very decidedly looks to a future era in which the Gentiles receive God's light, and this song fosters this hope in each ordinary believer. (See also the note on Ps. 67:6-7, "the ends of the earth.") The Christian message includes the announcement that this era has arrived, due to Jesus' resurrection, which installs him on the throne of David (Rom. 1:1-5).