Latest / Reformed Thinking / Blessed by God So the Nations May Rejoice (Psalm 67) | Charles Spurgeon

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Blessed by God So the Nations May Rejoice (Psalm 67) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome to reformed thinking, it's good to have you with us
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  again. It is good to be here.
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  O Today we are opening up the archives again, looking at
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  Scripture. But as always, we're doing it
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  with a specific lens. We're grounded in the Protestant
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  tradition. Right.
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  And we look at these texts through the framework of the
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  Westminster Confession Standards.
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  Which means we're always keeping an eye out for certain big
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  picture ideas, God's sovereignty, the nature of the
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  covenant. And of course, the absolute
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  necessity of grace. It's not just a set of rules we
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  apply from the outside. It's, you know, a way of seeing
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  the architecture that's already in the Bible.
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  So today we're turning our attention to a song in the
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  Psalter, a very logically structured 1.
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  Actually, we're looking at Psalm 67.
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  And our main guide for this deep dive is Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
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  Spurgeon. I know he's a giant name.
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  I mean, people have his face on coffee mugs.
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  We're specifically using his commentary, The Treasury of
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  David. Which is a massive work, just a
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  huge book. It's a doorstop, It really is.
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  It is, but what I appreciate about Spurgeon here is that he's
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  not just giving his own thoughts.
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  He acts as a curator. He gathers up these gems from
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  Puritans like William Gernell, John Boys, Thomas Manton.
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  He pulls them all together for you.
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  He does. It's a one stop shop for some of
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  the best thinking on the songs. Now this Psalm, Psalm 67, it's
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  often called a missionary song. That's right, some of the older
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  expositors even called it the Old Testament pattern Oster.
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  The pattern Oster. That's the Lord's Prayer, our
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  Father. From Aladdin, yes.
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  OK, that feels like a big stretch to me.
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  I mean, comparing anything to the Lord's Prayer is that's
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  risky territory. It is a bold claim, but I think
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  it's justified. It captures the heartbeat of
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  God's purpose for the world. It's a prayer for blessing, yes,
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  but it's a prayer for blessing with a very specific end in
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  view, which is the glory of God among all nations.
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  It directly connects the personal blessing of the
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  believer to global evangelism. Before we get into the text
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  itself, let's look at the title, the superscription it says to
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  the chief musician on Nejanath. I have to be honest, when I see
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  that, my eyes usually just glaze over.
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  I think, OK, technical details. Does that actually matter to the
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  theology? Or is it just, you know, liner
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  notes for the original performance?
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  I think it matters. This is the 5th Psalm with that
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  specific direction. Nigginoth refers to stringed
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  instruments. So harps liars, that sort of.
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  Thing, right? It implies this wasn't just a
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  text to be read in silence in the study.
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  It was meant to be sung, probably with Harper's
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  accompanying. It suggests a combination of
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  sweetness and solemnity. It's also anonymous.
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  There's no offer listed. We usually get a Psalm of David
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  or a Psalm of Asaph, but here nothing.
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  That's true, but Spurgeon seems pretty convinced about who wrote
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  it. He does, doesn't he?
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  He notes that while no name assigned to it, it has a
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  distinct family likeness to David's other works.
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  He basically says you'd be a bold man to try and prove David
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  didn't write it. The themes, the structure of the
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  heart of it, it all feels very Davidic.
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  And the title also calls it a Psalm in song.
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  Is there a distinction there? I mean, aren't all Psalm songs?
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  Well, there's a subtle 1A Psalm suggests a piece of music with
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  lyrics, often with a focus on solemnity.
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  A song can be a bit broader by calling it both.
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  The idea is that it unites that solemnity with with vivacity.
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  It's serious, but it's also full of life and energy.
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  That sets the stage well, a serious song full of energy
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  aimed at mission. So let's layout the mission for
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  our deep dive today. We really want to see how this
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  song connects personal blessing with a global impact.
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  And we want to trace the order of grace that the psalmist lays
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  out. It's a very logical progression.
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  It goes from mercy to blessing, from blessing to knowledge, and
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  then from knowledge to doxology or praise.
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  And since this is Reformed thinking, we also have to look
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  at what this Psalm says about how God governs the nation's.
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  There's a strong political theology here.
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  Not in a partisan sense, no. No, not at all, But in the sense
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  of God's actual rule over the earth.
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  And it even touches on the physical implications of
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  spiritual renewal. It does the idea that when God
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  blesses a people, it literally changes the earth itself.
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  OK, let's jump into Section 1. We're looking at the very first
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  verse. God be merciful unto us and
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  bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us.
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  If you spend any time in a liturgical church, that should
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  ring a bell. Oh, absolutely.
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  It's a direct echo of the Auronic Benediction, the
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  blessing from Numbers, Chapter 6.
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  The Lord bless thee and keep thee.
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  The Lord, make his face shine upon thee.
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  Exactly. The psalmist is taking the
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  blessing that the high priest pronounced over the people, and
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  it's turning it back into a prayer to God.
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  Let's just pause there on the ironic benediction.
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  This wasn't just some nice words the priest mumbled at the end of
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  the service so everyone could go to brunch.
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  No, this had incredible weight in the Old Testament economy.
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  The high priest was the mediator.
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  He stood between a holy God and a sinful people.
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  So when he came out of the Tabernacle and raised his hands,
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  what was happening? He was placing God's very name
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  on the people. He was effectively saying you
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  are safe, God is for you. It was a declaration of peace
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  and favor from the throne of Heaven through the ordained
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  mediator. But look at the first request in
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  Psalm 67. It doesn't start with bless us.
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  It starts with God. Be merciful unto us.
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  Why that starting point? This is the theological anchor
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  for the whole Psalm. Spurgeon calls forgiveness the
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  foundation attribute. You can't build a house without
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  a foundation, right? And you cannot have a real
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  relationship with a holy God without first dealing with the
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  sin problem. It has to come first.
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  It makes me think of the doctrine of total depravity that
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  we often discuss. We're not starting from a
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  neutral position with God. We're not on level ground.
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  Not at all. We are starting from a deficit.
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  And Spurgeon points out something crucial here.
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  He says even the best Saints must unite with the worst
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  sinners in this petition. So it doesn't matter if you've
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  been a Christian for 50 years or 5 minutes.
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  The plea is the same. Be merciful.
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  It implies, as he says, the death of all legal hopes.
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  You are not coming to God, saying pay me what I've earned.
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  You're coming and saying please cancel the debt I can never pay.
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  William Gurnall, the Puritan, He wrote the Christian in Complete
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  armor. He had a wonderful insight on
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  this in the source material. He said God Forgives.
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  That is just a brilliant summary.
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  It's so concise. Gurnal's argument is that until
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  God is merciful to pardon our sins through Christ, He can't,
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  well, he can't look kindly on us.
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  There's an obstacle in the way, an offense, a massive offense.
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  Peace has to be made before patronage can be bestowed.
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  The treaty has to be signed before the gifts can be
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  exchanged. Grenal also had that really
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  striking metaphor about blessings in bullion.
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  Had to read that sentence twice to really get.
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  It it's a great image, isn't it? Fully.
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  I mean, is uncoined gold. So think of a big gold bar.
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  OK, it's incredibly valuable. Yeah, but you can't walk into a
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  grocery store and buy a loaf of bread with a gold bar.
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  It's not currency. So it's potential potential
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  wealth, but not usable wealth, Not in a practical, everyday
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  sense. That's the idea, girl says.
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  Our earthly enjoyments, you know, health, a good job,
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  family, a nice home. They're all blessings in bullion
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  until pardoning mercy stamps them.
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  Stamps them like a mint stampsicle.
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  Yes. Once mercy puts its stamp on
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  them, they become current currency.
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  They become actual, usable blessings.
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  Without that stamp of mercy, those things are just temporary
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  comforts at best. And at worst.
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  At worst, they might even increase our judgment later on.
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  Things we took for granted without ever thanking the giver.
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  That is a terrifying thought, that you can have the car, the
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  house, the job, the whole gold bar, but if it doesn't have the
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  stamp of God's mercy on it, it's just heavy metal that might
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  actually help drown you. That is the Puritan perspective
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  in a nutshell. A rich man without forgiveness
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  is just a man with a lot of Uncoin gold standing on a
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  sinking ship. But when those same things are
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  wrapped in mercy, they become tokens of God's love.
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  They become means of grace. And there's a distinction
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  between human blessing and divine blessing, too.
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  When we say bless the Lord, we're just using words.
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  We're speaking well of him. Or blessing is declarative, it
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  describes a reality. But when God blesses us, it's
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  effective, It creates a reality. His blessings are gifts and
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  deeds. He doesn't just wish us well, He
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  annexed goodness in our lives. Which brings us to the third
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  petition in verse one, 'cause his face to shine upon us.
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  That's such an evocative image. What does it actually mean for
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  God's face to shine? It's the language of personal
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  favor. It's a desire for a conscious
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  awareness of God's smile. You know you can have a king who
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  grants you a pardon from a distance.
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  You're right, he signs a paper. He signs a paper, maybe he even
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  gives you a pension, but he never actually looks at you, he
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  just waves you away. The psalmist here is saying, I
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  want more than the paperwork, I want the presents.
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  I want to see the King's face. Spurgeon makes a connection here
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  to Moses. He does he contrast the
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  experience of Israel as a whole with the personal experience of
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  Moses. The text says God made his acts
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  known to the children of Israel. So they saw the Red Sea part,
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  they saw the manifold. They saw the miracles, the big
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  showy acts. But the text says he made his
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  way known to Moses. Moses understood the secret
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  plans, the rationale, the very heart of God, because the face
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  of God shone upon him. He had that intimacy.
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  So this prayer is a request for that deeper communion.
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  We're asking not just to see God's hand, but to see his face.
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  And when the psalmist says US, God be merciful unto us, who is
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  he talking about? Well, in the immediate context,
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  it's the nation of Israel, but spiritually, and certainly in
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  the Reformed understanding of the continuity of the covenant,
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  it refers to the visible church. It's the community of God's
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  people praying together. A writer named Hugo in the notes
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  had an interesting classification.
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  He broke down these three petitions for three different
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  types of people. I found that helpful.
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  It's a good way to see the scope of the prayer.
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  He suggested that mercy is the prayer for penitence, those who
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  are actively repenting of their sin.
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  The starting point. Yes, then bless us is the prayer
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  for those just starting their walk.
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  They need strength, provision, help for the journey.
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  And the third one. 'Cause his face to shine is for
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  the sanctified, for those who are further along and are now
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  seeking that deeper grace of contemplation and communion with
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  God. So this one little verse covers
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  the entire Christian life. So we've established the
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  covenant blessing. We ask for mercy, for a tangible
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  blessing, and for intimacy, but the Psalm immediately pivots in
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  verse 2 with a so that this is Section 2, the missional purpose
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  of grace. This is the hinge.
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  This is the point upon which the whole Psalm turns.
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  Verse one is the intake of breath.
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  Verse 2 is the reason for it. We are blessed in order that
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  God's way may be known upon earth.
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  The blessing is not the final goal.
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  No, the blessing is the fuel for the mission.
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  It's not a destination, it's a starting block.
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  Spurgeon uses that analogy of the hills and the valleys here.
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  He says grace is like showers falling on the high hills, but
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  the water doesn't stay there on the summit, it runs down into
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  the valleys. The church is the hill the.
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  Church is the hill. We received the direct downpour
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  of God's grace, not so we can hoard it and become a stagnant
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  mountain lake, but so that flows down from us to the rest of the
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  world. We are blessed for the sake of
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  others. It identifies the great enemy of
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  mankind, and it's not primarily poverty or war or disease.
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  It's ignorance of God. That's the root issue, isn't it?
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  The world is in darkness regarding who God is and what
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  he's like, and the weapon against this darkness is the
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  testimony of the Saints. The notes describe this
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  testimony as experimental and grateful.
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  And when they say experimental, they mean experiential, right?
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  Based on experience, not like a science experiment.
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  Correct. It means testimony born out of
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  lived experience. We don't just go out and teach a
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  theory of mercy. We say I was lost and I have
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  received mercy. That's the testimony that
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  overcomes the ignorance of the world.
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  OK, let's breakdown these two phrases in verse 2.
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  Thy way and saving health, that thy way may be known upon earth.
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  What is thy way? There are a few views on this in
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  the commentaries. Albert Barnes suggests it refers
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  to the principles of God's government.
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  You know, the rules and methods by which he bestows blessings.
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  It's about making the logic of the Kingdom of God known.
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  But John Boys takes more Christological view, right?
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  He does, boys, argues that thy way is Christ himself.
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  After all, Jesus said, I am the way.
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  So for boys, the prayer is simply let Christ be known upon
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  earth. Which makes a lot of sense.
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  You can't really know the way of God's mercy without knowing the
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  mediator of that mercy you. Can't the 2 are inseparable?
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  William Gernwell comes back in here with a very strong point
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  about knowledge. He argues against what he calls
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  blind ascent. This is so vital for our
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  Reformed understanding of faith. Faith is not just a vague
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  feeling or a blind leap in the dark, Gurnell insists.
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  Faith cannot be a blind ascent. He uses great illustration.
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  The one of the ship. Yeah, he says.
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  You can't be a passenger on a ship that's aimed for heaven,
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  but be locked under the hatches the whole time, seeing nothing
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  of the journey. That's not faith, he says.
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  The Sun of Righteousness has to arise in your soul.
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  You have to know the way. So ignorance is not the mother
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  of devotion. Ignorance is the enemy of
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  salvation. You have to know what you
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  believe and why. Then we have the second phrase,
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  saving health by saving health among all nations.
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  It's a beautiful Old English phrase from the Book of Common
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  Prayer, I believe. But Spurgeon points out that the
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  original Hebrew is more direct. It just means salvation.
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  That thy salvation may be known among all nations.
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  Plain and simple. And it implies that this is a
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  universal need. Every nation needs this.
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  Even if they don't know they need it.
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  Especially if they don't know they need it.
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  And that's the tragedy. Most do not seek it.
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  They're blind to their own condition.
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  That's why the Church must pray this prayer for them.
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  We are praying for revelation of salvation to people who don't
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  even know they're sick. I found this little note from a
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  commentator named Gerhu who's fascinating.
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  He observed A grammatical shift in verse 2.
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  The shift from the third person to the second person.
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  Right in verse one, it's God be merciful 'cause his face to
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  shine. It's talking about God, but in
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  verse 2 it's that thy way may be known.
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  It's talking to God. Jeho sees this as a mark of
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  vehemence. The person praying is getting
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  more ardent, more passionate. As he prays, he becomes more
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  aware that he's in the very presence of God, and so he
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  starts to speak directly to him. The prayer intensifies.
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  And he also connects the word knowing with loving.
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  Which is such a critical insight in Scripture to know God isn't
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  just about intellectual data collection.
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  It's relational. It's intimate.
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  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
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  The shepherd knows his sheep. It's a knowing that involves
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  affection and care. So when we pray for God's way to
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  be known, we're praying for the nations to love God and to be
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  loved by Him. This moves us very naturally
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  into Section 3. If the nations come to know God
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  in this intimate way, what is the result?
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  Verses 3 and 4 give us the answer Universal praise and
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  divine government. Let the people praise Thee, O
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  God, let all the people praise thee.
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  John Boyes again sees a strict order of the Spirit here.
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  First comes mercy, then comes knowledge, and only then can you
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  have praise. You can't praise a God you don't
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  know. And you won't want to know a God
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  from whom you haven't first received mercy.
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  The order is critical. And look at the.
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  Scope all the people. All not just the clergy, not
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  just the elect nation of Israel. Spurgeon makes a point of this.
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  It includes pedants, Princess citizens.
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  It's a democratic praise in the best sense of that word.
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  Everyone gets to join in. Thomas Manton offers a beautiful
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  image here. He calls it the Circular Course.
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  I love this imagery, man says. Vapors go up, showers come down.
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  It's the water cycle of grace. Explain that.
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  The more we praise God, that's the vapors rising up to heaven,
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  the more blessings descend from Him like showers of rain coming
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  down. And the more the blessings
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  descend, the more praise goes up.
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  It creates a positive feedback loop of glory.
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  It's a virtuous cycle. Praise begets blessing, and
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  blessing begets praise. But then verse 4 introduces
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  something that might seem, well paradoxical to a modern
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  listener. Oh, let the nation's be glad and
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  sing for joy, and the reason for thou shalt judge the people
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  righteously. Usually the idea of judgement
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  makes people tremble, not sing for joy.
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  We generally don't like the idea of being judged.
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  That's true if you're guilty and you're facing a corrupt or harsh
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  judge. But the joy here comes from two
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  things. First, for the Saints, for
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  believers, they know the judge is also their advocate.
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  They have No Fear of condemnation.
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  But what about for the nation's more broadly?
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  For them, the joy comes from the fact that God's judgement is
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  equated with righteousness. It's a just judgement.
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  Contrast that with human governors.
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  Exactly. Spurgeon and the other
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  commentators note that wrongful rule, tyranny, corruption,
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  injustice is a primary source of misery for nations.
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  It makes the people groan. But God's rule rights all the
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  wrongs. It releases the oppressed.
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  It establishes equity. So the nations are glad because
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  for the first time there is a truly competent, just and good
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  ruler on the throne. The system isn't rigged anymore.
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  The verse says he will govern the nations.
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  The marginal reading in some Bibles is interesting.
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  It says lead. Like a shepherd leads his flock.
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  That's the nuance. He doesn't just drive them with
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  a stick, he leads them to good pasture.
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  Arthur Pritam has a very sharp insight here.
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  He says that currently in nations have a bridal in their
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  jaws, causing them to air. That's a vivid image.
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  And that they are being shaken in the sieve of vanity.
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  That sounds like a headline from today's newspaper.
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  It feels very accurate, doesn't it?
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  Pritam is saying that without God's direct rule, nations are
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  just wandering erratic and their pursuits are ultimately futile.
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  They're just being shaken around in a sieve and all the good
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  stuff is falling through. But the promise is that God will
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  eventually assume direct shepherd like control over them.
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  And that will be a cause for joy.
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  Spurgeon adds a warning, though, for nations that do know God.
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  He says it is a crime when a nation that has been given the
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  light says depart from us. He was speaking in 19th century
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  Britain, but it certainly resonates today.
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  He also makes the point that nations can change their forms
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  of government all they want. From monarchies to republics to
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  communes, he says. But they will retain their
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  wretchedness until they bow to the Lord.
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  The form of government isn't the Savior.
• 18:32
  The governor is That is a quintessential Reformed insight.
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  The structure is always secondary to the sovereignty of
• 18:39
  God. You can't legislate the Kingdom
• 18:41
  of God into existence through human systems.
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  It requires the King himself to take the throne of the heart and
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  of the nation. Moving on to Section 4, we see a
• 18:50
  repetition in verse 5. Let the people praise thee, O
• 18:53
  God, let all the people praise thee.
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  It's the exact same phrase as verse 3.
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  Yes, as a chorus. Wolfgang Musculus, a reformer
• 19:01
  from the 16th century, comments on this iteration or repetition.
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  And he says this isn't a vain repetition like the kind Jesus
• 19:09
  warned about in Scripture. Repetition is for emphasis.
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  It's teaching us a duty. Musculus says it is delightful
• 19:17
  to repeat what is good. And Spurgeon adds his own take.
• 19:20
  He says the psalmist is just so full of his theme, this idea of
• 19:23
  Gentile inclusion, that he can hardly contain himself.
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  He has to say it again. It's the overflowing of joy when
• 19:30
  you're truly excited about something, you really say it
• 19:32
  just once you come back to it. And this brings us to verse 6,
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  which introduces A cause and effect relationship that I think
• 19:38
  is really going to surprise people.
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  Then shall the earth yield her increase.
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  Then when when the people praise God, the text explicitly links
• 19:47
  the physical fertility of the earth to the spiritual condition
• 19:50
  of the people. This is where we get into that
• 19:52
  very reformed view of the physical world not being
• 19:55
  separate from the spiritual world, Spurgeon says.
• 19:59
  Sin laid a curse on the soil. Grace removes it.
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  And he gives a concrete example from his own time.
• 20:05
  He points to the land of Palestine.
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  It was once the land flowing with milk and honey, but under
• 20:10
  the Turkish rule of his day, he says, it had become a
• 20:13
  wilderness. And he attributes that bareness
• 20:16
  to what? To bad rule and a lack of the
• 20:18
  knowledge of God, he's making a direct connection between the
• 20:22
  spiritual state of the governor's and the physical
• 20:24
  state of the ground. There's a pithy quote from
• 20:26
  William Sucker on this. Our unthankfulness is the cause
• 20:30
  of the Earth's unfruitfulness. It really challenges our modern
• 20:33
  materialist worldview. We think crop yields depend
• 20:36
  solely on fertilizer, rainfall and agricultural science, the
• 20:39
  psalmist says. There is a moral dimension to
• 20:41
  agriculture. When we honor the Creator, the
• 20:44
  creation itself responds. Now, Edward Bickersteth provides
• 20:47
  a very detailed breakdown of this increase.
• 20:50
  He sees a climax of benefits. I want to spend some real time
• 20:53
  here because this shows that the increase isn't just about corn
• 20:56
  growing taller. Bickersteth is fantastic here.
• 20:59
  He starts with the obvious one, natural fertility.
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  He speaks of the removal of the curse of thorns and thistles
• 21:06
  from Genesis 3. He suggests the Earth is
• 21:08
  currently capable of yielding much more than it does, but it's
• 21:11
  held back by the curse. But then he pivots to something
• 21:14
  unexpected. He lists the redemption of art.
• 21:17
  Now hold on, how does art yield an increase to God?
• 21:21
  Is this just about everyone starting to paint Bible scenes?
• 21:24
  No, it's much deeper than that. Bigger.
• 21:26
  Stitz's point is that currently so much of art is turned toward
• 21:30
  human vanity. It glorifies the self or
• 21:32
  glorifies vice. Think about how much of our
• 21:35
  cultural output is cynical, or degrading or just plain ugly.
• 21:39
  So the increase here is an increase in beauty, yes.
• 21:43
  Bigger Stiff envisions a time when art is reclaimed for its
• 21:45
  proper purpose, to reflect the glory of the creator.
• 21:49
  Music, painting, architecture, all of it pointing back to the
• 21:52
  ultimate source of beauty. The world literally becomes more
• 21:55
  beautiful because the artists have a better subject.
• 21:57
  He then mentions the redemption of science.
• 21:59
  This fits with that William Reed perspective in our notes as
• 22:01
  well. It does.
• 22:03
  Reed argues that good things like industry, economy and
• 22:06
  moderation are begotten of godliness.
• 22:09
  He sees mechanical genius and scientific discovery as
• 22:12
  God-given means to mitigate the curse of toil from Genesis.
• 22:16
  This is fascinating because we often live in a world that pits
• 22:20
  faith against science. But Reed and Bickersteth are
• 22:23
  saying that science is actually part of the harvest that grows
• 22:26
  when the gospel takes root. They absolutely are.
• 22:28
  If you believe the universe is rational because it was created
• 22:31
  by a rational God, you have a solid foundation and motivation
• 22:34
  to study it. And if you believe you are a
• 22:37
  steward of creation, you'll use science to make life better for
• 22:40
  your neighbor. So in this increase, science
• 22:43
  isn't an enemy of faith, it's a tool that flourishes because of
• 22:46
  faith. It makes the earth yield more
• 22:48
  with less sweat. Baker says the list keeps going.
• 22:51
  He lists society. He's talking about moving from a
• 22:53
  society that is structured as if God doesn't exist to a true
• 22:57
  fellowship of Saints. Imagine a society where the
• 23:01
  social fabric is woven with grace and trust.
• 23:04
  You don't need to lock your doors.
• 23:05
  You can trust that contracts will be honored.
• 23:08
  That is a massive increase in the quality of life for everyone
• 23:11
  and. Finally, he lists the soul.
• 23:13
  This brings it back to the personal level.
• 23:15
  The human heart is like soil. The book of Hebrews talks about
• 23:18
  land that bears thorns and briars versus land that bears
• 23:21
  good fruit. The increase here is the fruit
• 23:24
  of the Spirit Lovejoy, peace replacing the thorns of sin
• 23:28
  within each person. And he finishes his list with
• 23:30
  the number of servants and perpetuity.
• 23:32
  A quantitative increase, more believers and a qualitative
• 23:36
  increase. This new state of affairs lasts.
• 23:39
  It isn't just a temporary revival that fades away.
• 23:41
  This is a very robust, optimistic vision of the future
• 23:44
  of the Kingdom on earth. It expects the Gospel to have a
• 23:47
  tangible historical impact. It does.
• 23:50
  It refuses to retreat into a spiritual only bunker.
• 23:55
  If God is the creator of the physical world, then the
• 23:58
  redemption of Christ must eventually touch and heal the
• 24:01
  physical world. It touches the soil, the
• 24:03
  artist's canvas, the scientist's laboratory and the City Hall.
• 24:07
  We are entering the final stretch now.
• 24:09
  Section 5, verse 6 continues. God, even our own God, shall
• 24:13
  bless us. Did you notice the pronoun
• 24:15
  change again? It's subtle but so meaningful.
• 24:18
  Not just Elohim, the general name for God, but our own God.
• 24:21
  That is covenant language through and through.
• 24:24
  It's a language of possession and relationship.
• 24:26
  As the Pearsons would say, we never love God or write until we
• 24:29
  know Him to be ours. John Howe, another Puritan, has
• 24:31
  a moving meditation on this. It's centered on that Latin
• 24:34
  phrase Deus meus ET omnia, my God and my all.
• 24:37
  He tells the story of Monsieur Durante, the French nobleman.
• 24:41
  Durante got a letter from a friend that ended with that
• 24:43
  phrase, My God and my all, and it sent him into a state of
• 24:46
  absolute jubilation. He wrote back saying, I don't
• 24:50
  know what you meant by putting those words there, but you
• 24:52
  invite me to return the same to you.
• 24:54
  He was overwhelmed by the sweetness of what he calls
• 24:57
  propriety. And propriety here doesn't mean
• 25:00
  having good table manners, it means property ownership.
• 25:04
  Exactly. Ownership.
• 25:06
  Use the analogy of a son, he says.
• 25:08
  You can see another man's son who is handsome, smart and
• 25:11
  polite. You can admire him.
• 25:12
  You can say that is a fine young man.
• 25:14
  But my own son, that brings a completely different kind of
• 25:16
  joy. That's propriety.
• 25:18
  And that interest in God as our God leads to an interest in his
• 25:22
  glory of. Course, if he is my God that I
• 25:24
  care deeply about his reputation in the world, His honor becomes
• 25:28
  my concern. And then we reach the final
• 25:29
  verse, verse 7. God shall bless us, and all the
• 25:32
  ends of the earth shall fear Him.
• 25:34
  It starts with a statement of absolute certainty.
• 25:37
  God shall bless us. Spurgeon really leans into that
• 25:41
  word. Shall he says.
• 25:42
  God may smite us, he may strip us, he may even slay us.
• 25:46
  But in the end, he must bless us.
• 25:49
  Why must? Because he cannot turn away from
• 25:51
  doing good to His elect. It's bound up in His nature and
• 25:55
  His covenant promise. It's a divine necessity.
• 25:57
  There's a prayer by a man named Pesky Aquizel mentioned in the
• 26:00
  notes. He prays to be treated rather as
• 26:02
  a Christian than as a Jew. That requires a bit of context.
• 26:06
  He's using Jew. There is shorthand for the Old
• 26:08
  Testament. Focus on earthly rewards, land,
• 26:11
  crops, victory, battle. He's saying, Lord, I will glamly
• 26:15
  take those temporal blessings if you give them, but please treat
• 26:18
  me as a Christian. Give me the spiritual blessings
• 26:20
  first, give me Christ. It's a prayer for the higher
• 26:23
  portion. And the final result of all this
• 26:25
  blessing is fear. All the ends of the earth shall
• 26:27
  fear him. This brings us back to that
• 26:29
  necessary balance in the Christian life.
• 26:31
  We had joy and singing in verse 4, and now we have fear in verse
• 26:35
  7. Wolfgang Musculus says the
• 26:37
  combination is vital. He says joy excludes crippling
• 26:40
  anxiety, but fear excludes contempt and false security.
• 26:45
  We rejoice in our Father, but we never trifle with Him.
• 26:48
  We are glad in our King, but we never forget that he is holy.
• 26:53
  So the final vision of the Psalm is comprehensive.
• 26:56
  Insolence is subdued. Injustice is banished.
• 27:00
  Idolatry has ended. And William Benny gives us a
• 27:03
  historical reality check to close on, which is just so
• 27:06
  encouraging. He reminds us of the 120
• 27:08
  disciples in the Upper Room. A small group.
• 27:11
  A very small group, humble stations in life, no political
• 27:14
  power, no money, no influence. Yet, he says they were endued
• 27:18
  with such power from the spirit that they overthrew the
• 27:20
  entrenched paganism of the entire Roman Empire.
• 27:23
  And his point is that the evangelization of the world
• 27:25
  today doesn't require some new secret strategy.
• 27:28
  It requires only a fresh effusion of the same spirit.
• 27:31
  The formula hasn't changed. It's still mercy leading to
• 27:34
  blessing, which brings light, which erupts in praise.
• 27:36
  That is a powerful place to land.
• 27:39
  Let's head into our outro and just summarize this argument one
• 27:41
  more time. The flow is just so clear, isn't
• 27:43
  it? We start with a plea for mercy.
• 27:45
  We don't deserve it. We don't earn it.
• 27:47
  We ask for it. That mercy leads to knowledge.
• 27:50
  God's face shines on us. His way becomes known to us.
• 27:54
  And that knowledge leads to praise.
• 27:56
  The nation's see the beauty of God's just government and they
• 27:59
  rejoice. That praise then leads to
• 28:02
  tangible government and increase the earth itself.
• 28:06
  The culture, the science, the very soil responds to the
• 28:09
  rightful reign of God. And the final result of all of
• 28:12
  it is that God is feared and revered to the very ends of the
• 28:16
  earth. It connects the prayer in your
• 28:17
  closet to the harvest in the field and the politics of the
• 28:20
  nation's. It's all one woven reality under
• 28:22
  God, and it really challenges the listener and us to rethink
• 28:26
  the whole purpose of our personal blessings.
• 28:28
  And that leads directly to our provocative thought for the Day.
• 28:31
  We talked about that connection between praise and increase.
• 28:34
  If the earth yields its increase when the people praise God, we
• 28:37
  have to ask a pretty hard question.
• 28:39
  If we are experiencing barrenness, and that could be in
• 28:42
  our own spiritual lives or in our churches or in our wider
• 28:45
  culture, is it because we have failed to praise?
• 28:49
  Is our unthankfulness causing the Earth's unfruitfulness?
• 28:53
  The Psalm presents us as channels, not reservoirs.
• 28:56
  We are the hills. The world is the valley.
• 28:59
  The blessing is supposed to flow through us.
• 29:01
  So if the valley is dry, maybe it's because the hill has built
• 29:04
  a dam. Are we acting as a dead end for
• 29:06
  God's mercy? Does the shining face of God
• 29:09
  upon you reflect outward to the nation's, or are you just
• 29:13
  enjoying the warmth for yourself?
• 29:15
  It's a question that demands an answer from all of us.
• 29:17
  We are blessed to be a blessing. If the flow stops with us, we
• 29:21
  have fundamentally misunderstood the covenant.
• 29:24
  Thank you for joining us on this deep dive into Psalm 67.
• 29:27
  We hope it has caused his face to shine upon you just a little
• 29:31
  bit brighter today. And may that light be known upon
• 29:33
  the earth. This has been reformed thinking.
• 29:35
  We'll see you next time.