Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 67:4

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 67:4. Glad and sing for joy — They shall be made happy in thy salvation. Even their political state shall be greatly meliorated; for God will be acknowledged the supreme Judge; their laws shall be founded on his word; and the nations of the earth shall be governed according to judgment, justice, and equity,

Selah. — This is true. There are innumerable facts to confirm it. All the nations who have received the Gospel of Christ have been benefited politically, as well as spiritually, by it.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 66-67 God and the nations

It appears that in Psalms 66:0 the people join in singing the first part of the song, and that the king sings the latter part alone. The song opens with a call to people worldwide to sing praise to God for a notable victory he has just won for Israel (66:1-4). Centuries earlier God brought Israel out of Egypt and led the people through the Red Sea, and the same God still rules in the affairs of nations (5-9). The worshippers acknowledge that in allowing them temporarily to be defeated, God had been working for their good. His purpose was to correct their waywardness so that once again they might enjoy the freedom of life that is found only in his presence (10-12).

The king then sings his praises, promising to present sacrifices in fulfilment of the vows he made to God during the time of trouble (13-15). He urges godly people everywhere to take note of what the experience has taught him (16). Above all, it has taught him not to ignore personal wrongdoing. God answers the prayers of those who have no known sin unconfessed in their lives (17-20).

Psalms 67:0 shows God’s loving purposes towards all the nations of the world. When the people of Israel enter into the fulness of God’s blessing, they will be in a fit condition to take the message of his salvation to other nations (67:1-3). These nations will then have their way of life changed through coming under the just rule and merciful guidance of God (4-5). People everywhere will rejoice in God’s good gifts and offer thanks to him (6-7).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"God be merciful unto us and bless us, And cause his face to shine upon us; (Selah) That thy way may be known upon earth, Thy salvation among all nations. Let the peoples praise thee, O God; Let all the peoples praise thee. O let the nations be glad and sing for joy; For thou wilt judge the peoples with equity, and govern the nations upon earth. (Selah) Let the peoples praise thee, O God; Let all the peoples praise thee. The earth hath yielded its increase: God, even our God, will bless us. God will bless us; And all the ends of the earth shall fear him."

"God be merciful… bless us… cause his face to shine upon us, etc." As Addis noted, "This Psalm is an expansion of the Aaronic blessing of Numbers 6:24-26."W. E. Addis, p. 384.

This short psalm is further shortened in meaning by the verbatim repetition of Psalms 67:3 in Psalms 67:5.

There is not much we can add by way of interpretation to that which we have already stated above. This great prophecy of the reception of the Gentiles into the government of God, along with the Jews, is fully as clear and specific as those great Old Testament passages which the apostle Paul quoted in Romans 9-10, such as Hosea 1:10; Hosea 2:23; Isaiah 28:16; Deuteronomy 32:21; and Isaiah 65:1-2.

Despite such dogmatic, specific prophecies as this and many other passages of the Old Testament, racial Israel never seemed to catch on to the fact that God Almighty desired the salvation of any one else on earth except themselves.

In time the racial nation grew totally apart from the true "seed of Abraham," and viewed with the utmost contempt the whole Gentile world. No better illustration of this can be found than the example of Jonah, who preferred death itself to witnessing the conversion of Nineveh; and when it finally happened in spite of him, the attitude of Israel was such that he never dared to return to his native land, finally being buried in Nineveh.

This says in tones of thunder that his instrumentality in the conversion of Nineveh was sufficient grounds for his becoming thereby "persona non grata" forevermore in his native Israel. (See a full discussion of this in Vol. 1 of my minor prophets Series, pp. 341-352.)

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

O let the nations be qlad, and sing for joy - All the nations of the earth. Let them all be made acquainted with thee; with thy character; with the principles of thy govermnent; with the methods by which thou dost bestow thy favors, that they all may be made glad. These things pertain to them all. The knowledge of these things would convey inestimable blessings to them all, and fill all their hearts with joy. Nothing would, in fact, diffuse so much happiness over a miserable and guilty world - nothing would furnish such an occasion for universal joy, gratitude, and praise - as the possession of the knowledge of the great principles on which God rules the world, and on which he blesses people.

For thou shalt judge the people righteously - That is, The great principles of thy administration are right, or righteous. and the nations will have occasion to rejoice in them.

And, govern the nations upon earth - Margin, lead. So the Hebrew. That is, God would instruct them what to do; he would guide them in paths of prosperity, happiness, salvation. Individuals and nations, as they follow the counsels of God, are safe and happy; and in no other way.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 67:1-7

Psalms 67:1-7 :

God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us ( Psalms 67:1 );

Three things: be merciful unto us, bless us, cause His face to shine upon us. Now there are some people that would find fault with this prayer. "I never like to ask God for anything personal." That's so idealistic it stinks. I want God to bless me. I want God to be merciful unto me. And I want God's face to shine upon my life. But, the motive behind it,

That thy way may be known upon the earth, thy saving health among all nations. Let the people praise thee O God, let all the people praise thee ( Psalms 67:2-3 ).

Oh God, be merciful; cause Your face to shine upon me. God, bless me in order that Your way may be known upon the earth, Your saving health, that I might be the blessing then, actually, to all nations. That all people may praise Thee.

O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for you shall judge the people righteously, and govern the nations of the eaRuth ( Psalms 67:4 ).

Jesus is coming to judge the nations righteously. In the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew we are told of the coming again of Jesus Christ to judge the earth. This was declared by Enoch in the (apocryphal) book of Enoch, the prophecy of Enoch, "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment upon the earth. And also to reign righteously as He governs over the nations upon the earth" ( Jude 1:14-15 ).

Now there are many people that are concerned with the judgment of God. What about a little child that dies before it is old enough to know Jesus Christ? What about people that have never heard of Jesus Christ? What about... ? Now the Bible doesn't give us the specifics of His judgment, what He is going to do in specific cases. But it does tell us that He is going to judge the world righteously, so whatever God does will be righteous. It will be fair. It will be just. I don't know what God is going to do. There are a lot of unknowables, a lot of questions, a lot of imponderables.

Now, I do know some things. I do know that if I am walking with God, my children under the age of accountability are safe. I know that. What about the children of the parents who are sinners? I don't know that. That I am going to have to wait to find out. But I don't like to live in a question mark, and thus, I like to be sure. Now, I know for certainty how God is going to judge in certain areas, those that believe on Jesus Christ I know what is going to happen to them. But what about those that don't? Well, I don't know for sure, but I don't want to live in that kind of a question mark. I want to live on the safe side, that which I know. I want to be found in Christ, not having my own righteousness but the righteousness which is of Christ through faith.

Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase ( Psalms 67:5-6 );

Now this is interesting, "Let all the people praise thee, then shall the earth yield her increase." More and more we are discovering the effect of man's attitudes upon plants. They are now connecting some of these lie detector things to plants to watch the reaction. For plants react much like human beings in that they have measurable responses upon these lie detector machines. And even as if you are holding the electrodes of a lie detector, as you start to tell a lie, your pulse begins to pick up and moisture begins to exude, and these little electrodes pick it up and you get this movement on the graph from this sensitive needle that is moving back and forth. And so a man who is skilled can ask you a series of questions and tell you which ones that you were telling the lie and which ones you were telling the truth. And by the galvanic responses and so forth. Now they are finding that plants have similar kinds of responses, and they respond to words of praise. It is interesting.

Now I didn't know this, but, and of course, it is very early in the experimental stage. I have watched some experiments. I have watched the plants respond, and it is interesting to watch the plant responses on these machines. But when we were living in Newport Beach, we had a hibiscus that I planted out in the front yard, and every time I would come out the door I would say, "Praise the Lord, hibiscus." And when I would enter the house I would turn over to it and I would say, "Praise the Lord, hibiscus." And you know, that was the most blossoming hibiscus you've ever seen in your life. Beautiful double orange blossoms covered constantly year round. That thing grew and prospered. It was the most healthy plant, the most beautiful blossoming plant, and I'd just come out and say, "Praise the Lord, hibiscus."

"Let the people praise Thee, O God. Let all the people praise Thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase." Isn't that wild? The earth responding, plants responding to praise unto the Lord. Now if I come into your house and I see all of your plants withered and wilted, you're going to be suspect.

God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall reverence him ( Psalms 67:7 ).

The psalm begins with a prayer for blessing and ends with an assurance of that blessing. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 67

This is another song that exhorts the nations to praise God that an unknown psalmist penned. Its theme is similar to that of Psalms 66.

"If a psalm was ever written round the promises to Abraham, that he would be both blessed and made a blessing, it could well have been such as this. The song begins at home, and returns to pause there a moment before the end; but its thought always flies to the distant peoples and to what awaits them when the blessing that has reached ’us’ reaches all." [Note: Kidner, p. 236.]

"The evidence for the early date of the psalm challenges the critical supposition that Israel’s missionary outlook developed after the Exile. Clearly the psalm is a missionary psalm, since it looks forward to the rule of God over Jews and Gentiles (cf. Acts 28:28)." [Note: VanGemeren, p. 440.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

God’s people should praise Him because He rules justly. Because He does rule justly all nations should look to Him for guidance.

"The capricious kindliness which makes no moral judgments is as alien to biblical thought as the tyranny that rules without love." [Note: Kidner, p. 237.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. God’s praise from His people 67:3-7

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

O let the nations be glad and sing for joy,.... As they were glad, and did sing for joy, and glorified God, when Christ was made known, and the Gospel was preached unto them, Acts 8:5.

for thou shalt judge the people righteously; meaning not the people of the world at the last day, at the general judgment, which will be a righteous one; when God will judge the world in righteousness, according to the strict rules of justice and equity, by him whom he has ordained, Psalms 96:1; but either the righteous judgment which will be executed on the enemies of Christ's church and people; particularly on antichrist, which will be matter of great joy,

Revelation 19:1; and Kimchi interprets it of the judgment of the nations which shall come with Gog and Magog; or else the judging and vindicating the Lord's own people, defending their cause, righting their wrongs, and suffering no weapon to prosper against them;

and govern the nations upon earth; or "lead [them]" n; not to punishment, as Kimchi, who interprets this clause as the other; but by his grace and Spirit, into the knowledge of his way, and saving health; or as a shepherd leads his flock into green pastures, and beside the still waters; or as a king leads and governs his people, as David guided the people of Israel, with the skilfulness of his hands; so Christ leads and governs his people, protects and defends them, holds them by his right hand, guides them with his counsel, and then receives them to glory; see Psalms 23:2.

Selah; on this word, Psalms 23:2- :.

n תנחם "duces eas", Montanus; "deduces", Junius Tremellius, Cocceius "deducis", Piscator.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

To the chief musician on Neginoth. A psalm or song.

      1 God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.   2 That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.   3 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.   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.   5 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.   6 Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.   7 God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.

      The composition of this psalm is such as denotes the penman's affections to have been very warm and lively, by which spirit of devotion he was elevated to receive the spirit of prophecy concerning the enlargement of God's kingdom.

      I. He begins with a prayer for the welfare and prosperity of the church then in being, in the happiness of which he should share, and think himself happy, Psalms 67:1; Psalms 67:1. Our Saviour, in teaching us to say, Our Father, has intimated that we ought to pray with and for others; so the psalmist here prays not, God be merciful to me, and bless me, but to us, and bless us; for we must make supplication for all saints, and be willing and glad to take our lot with them. We are here taught, 1. That all our happiness comes from God's mercy and takes rise in that; and therefore the first thing prayed for is, God be merciful to us, to us sinners, and pardon our sins (Luke 18:13), to us miserable sinners, and help us out of our miseries. 2. That it is conveyed by God's blessing, and secured in that: God bless us; that is, give us an interest in his promises, and confer upon us all the good contained in them. God's speaking well to us amounts to his doing well for us. God bless us is a comprehensive prayer; it is a pity such excellent words should ever be used slightly and carelessly, and as a byword. 3. That it is completed in the light of his countenance: God cause his face to shine upon us; that is, God by his grace qualify us for his favour and then give us the tokens of his favour. We need desire no more to make us happy than to have God's face shine upon us, to have God love us, and let us know that he loves us: To shine with us (so the margin reads it); with us doing our endeavour, and let it crown that endeavour with success. If we by faith walk with God, we may hope that his face will shine with us.

      II. He passes from this to a prayer for the conversion of the Gentiles (Psalms 67:2; Psalms 67:2): That thy way may be known upon earth. "Lord, I pray not only that thou wilt be merciful to us and bless us, but that thou wilt be merciful to all mankind, that thy way may be known upon earth." Thus public-spirited must we be in our prayers. Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. We shall have never the less of God's mercy, and blessing, and favour, for others coming in to share with us. Or it may be taken thus: "God be merciful to us Jews, and bless us, that thereby thy way may be known upon earth, that by the peculiar distinguishing tokens of thy favour to us others may be allured to come and join themselves to us, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you," Zechariah 8:23.

      1. These verses, which point at the conversion of the Gentiles, may be taken, (1.) As a prayer; and so it speaks the desire of the Old-Testament saints; so far were they from wishing to monopolize the privileges of the church that they desired nothing more than the throwing down of the enclosure and the laying open of the advantages. See then how the spirit of the Jews, in the days of Christ and his apostles, differed from the spirit of their fathers. The Israelites indeed that were of old desired that God's name might be known among the Gentiles; those counterfeit Jews were enraged at the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles; nothing in Christianity exasperated them so much as that did. (2.) As a prophecy that it shall be as he here prays. Many scripture-prophecies and promises are wrapped up in prayers, to intimate that the answer of the church's prayer is as sure as the performance of God's promises.

      2. Three things are here prayed for, with reference to the Gentiles:--

      (1.) That divine revelation might be sent among them, Psalms 67:2; Psalms 67:2. Two things he desires might be know upon earth, even among all nations, and not to the nation of the Jews only:-- [1.] God's way, the rule of duty: "Let them all know, as well as we do, what is good and what the Lord our God requires of them; let them be blessed and honoured with the same righteous statutes and judgments which are so much the praise of our nation and the envy of all its neighbours," Deuteronomy 4:8. [2.] His saving health, or his salvation. The former is wrapped up in his law, this in his gospel. If God make known his way to us, and we walk in it, he will show us his saving health, Psalms 50:23. Those that have themselves experimentally known the pleasantness of God's ways, and the comforts of his salvation, cannot but desire and pray that they may be known to others, even among all nations. All upon earth are bound to walk in God's way, all need his salvation, and there is in it enough for all; and therefore we should pray that both the one and the other may be made known to all.

      (2.) That divine worship may be set up among them, as it will be where divine revelation is received and embraced (Psalms 67:3; Psalms 67:3): "Let the people praise thee, O God! let them have matter for praise, let them have hearts for praise; yea, let not only some, but all the people, praise thee," all nations in their national capacity, some of all nations. It is again repeated (Psalms 67:5; Psalms 67:5) as that which the psalmist's heart was very much upon. Those that delight in praising God themselves cannot but desire that others also may be brought to praise him, that he may have the honour of it and they may have the benefit of it. It is a prayer, [1.] That the gospel might be preached to them, and then they would have cause enough to praise God, as for the day-spring after a long and dark night. Ortus est sol--The sun has risen.Acts 8:8. [2.] That they might be converted and brought into the church, and then they would have a disposition to praise God, the living and true God, and not the dumb and dunghill deities they had worshipped, Daniel 5:4. Then their hard thoughts of God would be silenced, and they would see him, in the gospel glass, to be love itself, and the proper object of praise. [3.] That they might be incorporated into solemn assemblies, and might praise God in a body, that they might all together praise him with one mind and one mouth. Thus a face of religion appears upon a land when God is publicly owned and the ordinances of religious worship are duly celebrated in religious assemblies.

      (3.) That the divine government may be acknowledged and cheerfully submitted to (Psalms 67:4; Psalms 67:4): O let the nations be glad, and sing for joy! Holy joy, joy in God and in his name, is the heart and soul of thankful praise. That all the people may praise thee, let the nations be glad. Those that rejoice in the Lord always will in every thing give thanks. The joy he wishes to the nations is holy joy; for it is joy in God's dominion, joy that God has taken to himself his great power and has reigned, which the unconverted nations are angry at,Revelation 11:17; Revelation 11:18. Let them be glad, [1.] That the kingdom is the Lord's (Psalms 22:28), that he, as an absolute sovereign, shall govern the nations upon earth, that by the kingdom of his providence he shall overrule the affairs of kingdoms according to the counsel of his will, though they neither know him nor own him, and that in due time he shall disciple all nations by the preaching of his gospel (Matthew 28:19) and set up the kingdom of his grace among them upon the ruin of the devil's kingdom--that he shall make them a willing people in the day of his power, and even the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ. [2.] That every man's judgment proceeds from the Lord. "Let them be glad that thou shalt judge the people righteously, that thou shalt give a law and gospel which shall be a righteous rule of judgment, and shalt pass an unerring sentence, according to that rule, upon all the children of men, against which there will lie no exception." Let us all be glad that we are not to be one another's judges, but that he that judges us is the Lord, whose judgment we are sure is according to truth.

      III. He concludes with a joyful prospect of all good when God shall do this, when the nations shall be converted and brought to praise God.

      1. The lower world shall smile upon them, and they shall have the fruits of that (Psalms 67:6; Psalms 67:6): Then shall the earth yield her increase. Not but that God gave rain from heaven and fruitful seasons to the nations when they sat in darkness (Acts 14:17); but when they were converted the earth yielded its increase to God; the meat and the drink then became a meat-offering and a drink-offering to the Lord our God (Joel 2:14); and then it was fruitful to some good purpose. Then it yielded its increase more than before to the comfort of men, who through Christ acquired a covenant-title to the fruits of it and had a sanctified use of it. Note, The success of the gospel sometimes brings outward mercies along with it; righteousness exalts a nation. See Isaiah 4:2; Isaiah 62:9.

      2. The upper world shall smile upon them, and they shall have the favours of that, which is much better: God, even our own God, shall bless us,Psalms 67:6; Psalms 67:6. And again (Psalms 67:7; Psalms 67:7), God shall bless us. Note, (1.) There are a people in the world that can, upon good grounds, call God their God. (2.) Believers have reason to glory in their relation to God and the interest they have in him. It is here spoken with an air of triumph. God, even our own God. (3.) Those who through grace call God their own may with a humble confidence expect a blessing from him. If he be our God, he will bless us with special blessings. (4.) The blessing of God, as ours in covenant, is that which sweetens all our creature-comforts to us, and makes them comforts indeed; then we receive the increase of the earth as a mercy indeed when with it God, even our own God, gives us his blessing.

      3. All the world shall hereby be brought to do like them: The ends of the earth shall fear him, that is, worship him, which is to be done with a godly fear. The blessings God bestows upon us call upon us not only to love him, but to fear him, to keep up high thoughts of him and to be afraid of offending him. When the gospel begins to spread it shall get ground more and more, till it reach to the ends of the earth. The leaven hidden in the meal shall diffuse itself, till the whole be leavened. And the many blessings which those will own themselves to have received that are brought into the church invite others to join themselves to them. It is good to cast in our lot with those that are the blessed of the Lord.