When Praise Sounds Weak and Warbly

Psalm 67 is a beautiful, awe inspiring 7 verses that I’ve been memorizing recently. It’s a Psalm of gratitude, asking God to keep His promises to His people. It’s a Psalm that stirs up the soul toward excitement for missions and for the church globally and generationally. Phrases like, “the peoples,” “the nations,” and “all the ends of the earth” declare the mission of the gospel and where it is headed.

Psalm 67 (ESV): Make Your Face Shine upon Us

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.

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!

As a side note, Psalms were meant to be sung. Don’t just take my word for it. I highly recommend you whip out your trusty copy of “The Book of Psalms for Worship” (or buy a copy here!) and sing this beautiful Psalm. I’m partial to the 67C version myself.

My study Bible notes on this Psalm, “May God’s favors to His people be so obvious that all the world takes notice.” God promises every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3) so that “all the ends of the earth may fear Him.” When God blesses us abundantly, the watching world can’t help noticing and glorifying our gracious and loving Father. This is part of the Christian’s witness to the world. Pray that praise from every corner of the earth will resound to God and that His blessings on us will be so plentiful that the world will have no other option than to respond with rejoicing and worship.

I wanted to add some related verses from the two Psalms directly before 67.

Psalm 65:8: They who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs, You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy.

All people will ultimately see God’s saving acts on behalf of His people and therefore will bend their knee and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:11). All creation will rejoice (see Psalm 19), joining in the human chorus to celebrate the blessings of God in creation and redemption. What an exhilarating thought! All earth from the farthest corners will be praising the Almighty with us. If it seems to be just your small congregation with feeble, quavering voices in worship on Sunday morning, keep in mind that one day we will join in an everlasting refrain of praise to God with the dawn, the angels, and the people of God throughout the generations. It will sound incredible to be glorifying God as we see Him face to face with the church triumphant. John Boys said, “The servants of the Lord are to sing His praises in this life to the world’s end; and in the next life, world without end.”

How should we await this eternity of adoration? As Psalm 66:1-2 says, let us, “Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious.” We are called to give honor and worship to our Holy God. Let’s be overflowing with His glory and declaring what He has done for us. Make His praise glorious, not just half-hearted, timid, and occasional. Our praise should be constant and glorious, because our God alone is worthy of all glory. With this knowledge, we should be driven to missions, whether across the street or across the ocean. The vision of Psalm 67, “That your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations” should drive us forward in fulfilling the Great Commission. 

Psalm 28: Prayer Transformed to Praise

I'm Lydia Goerner from Christ Church RPCNA in Utica, NY. I'm excited to be the newest author of Selah and to be able to share what God is teaching me through the marvelous book of Psalms. Recently, I've been meditating on Psalm 28, so without further ado, here are my thoughts. Let me know why you love Psalm 28 in the comments!

To you, Lord, I call;
you are my Rock,
do not turn a deaf ear to me,
For if you remain silent,
I will be like those who go down to the pit.

It is futile to call to rocks for deliverance, but our Rock will save us and give us peace. It is vain to rely on words to rescue us from judgment, but the eternal Word died so that we could have eternal life. We can call on our Rock: a steady, immovable deliverance. This verse starts on a desperate note, pleading with God to hear and answer the Psalmist’s prayer. If God remains silent, if he does not answer our prayers and cries for mercy, we will be no better off than those who are dead. Spurgeon said of this verse, “We must have answers to prayer: ours is an urgent case of dire necessity; surely the Lord will speak peace to our agitated minds, for he never can find it in his heart to permit his own elect to perish.” 

Hear my cry for mercy
as I call to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
toward your Most Holy Place.

The Psalmist is distraught and fervently petitions God to be his salvation. Many of us can probably relate to these desperate cries for mercy in times of illness or despair. When hard times hit, it's crucial to turn to the only thing that can deliver us. Nothing else can fully answer our calls for help. At these times, we can beseechingly lift up our empty hands to God our refuge. 

Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with those who do evil,
who speak cordially with their neighbors
but harbor malice in their hearts.
Repay them for their deeds
and for their evil work,
repay them for what their hands have done
and bring back on them what they deserve.
Because they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord
and what his hands have done,
he will tear them down
and never build them up again.

God is just and will repay men for the evil things they have done; justice will be done to the men who “speak cordially with their neighbors” and wear a mask of righteousness while their hearts are full of malice. God sees the hearts of men and no thought, word, or deed escapes his omnipresent gaze. Even if the wicked seem to prosper in this life, God will deal justly with them in the life that is to come. He won’t reward them for their cordial speech but according to their evil thoughts and deeds. They have no regard for the works that God has done, so He will have no regard for their work, but will make it futile. It's probably not news to many that we live in an evil and perverse generation. Psalm 28 is a prayer that we would not be like those who go down to the pit but that we would be spared from being judged along with the wicked. 

Praise be to the Lord,
for he has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me,
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.

The Psalm of prayer turns to praise, illustrating the Puritan William Jenkyn’s words: “Praise shall conclude that work which prayer began.” The trusting, reliant soul will find an answer and be lead to joyfully worship God for His marvelous provision. We can be certain that if we pray fervently and unceasingly now, joyous and unending praise will follow, if not in this sin cursed world then throughout eternity. God heard the prayers of Jesus Christ, and we have assurance that He hears our prayers as well if we are God's anointed. Psalm 34:15 confirms: "The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry." Our Rock will hear us and deliver us from His and our enemies.

The Lord is the strength of his people,
a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them forever.

God grants to His people these two main things: salvation and blessing. He saves us from death and our sin and blesses us by making our lives and labors fruitful. The answer to this prayer is fully answered in the ministry of the good shepherd. Christ shepherds, teaches, and guides us as God protects and makes our labors flourish. We also learn that we shouldn't just pray that God will bless us and our personal life, but all His people—the church militant. Spurgeon said of this verse’s petition: “Carry them in thine arms on earth, and then lift them into thy bosom in heaven. Elevate their minds and thoughts, spiritualise their affections, make them heavenly, Christlike, and full of God. O Lord, answer this our petition, for Jesus' sake.”
This one brief verse in a relatively short Psalm holds enough promise and hope for a lifetime- even for an eternity. I pray that God will continue to carry us forever, guiding us constantly even to death (Psalm 48:14).


Resource: The Treasury of David by C.H. Spurgeon.