The Nations Exhorted to Praise God.
For the choir director; with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
67 God be gracious to us and bless us,
And cause His face to shine [a]upon us— [b]Selah.
2 That Your way may be known on the earth,
Your salvation 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 will judge the peoples with uprightness
And guide the nations on the earth. Selah.
5 Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
6 The earth has yielded its produce;
God, our God, blesses us.
7 God blesses us,
[c]That all the ends of the earth may fear Him.
The way some folks talk, you’d think God wants all his children to be paupers, begging in the street, and barely scraping by. Yet God can and does bless his children. Yes, even with material things, though those blessings are secondary (or even lower) in comparison with spiritual gifts, and emotional and relational blessings.
Some folks have to go through what seems like hell to get there. As we saw earlier, we all need to be tried in the fire, refined, or pruned. Use whatever metaphor you like, but improving (or outright changing) our character doesn’t come easy. When you’re going through the mess, it might seem unfair to see others enjoying (what appears to be) a carefree life. But there is always something bigger and better on the other side.
Whatever it is, whatever blessings God chooses to pour out on us, it isn’t about us. And the blessings are not just for us either. You’ve probably heard it said that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Technically, God owns the cattle on all the hills… But when He blesses you with a few of them, it’s so you can learn to be more like him, to learn the joy of giving.
God’s blessings aren’t meant to be cooped up, stored away for safe keeping. They are to be shared, to be a blessing to others, and to show his greatness, so that “all the peoples” would praise Him, and “all the ends of the earth may fear Him.” Use what God has given you to make his way known on the earth, to share his salvation among all nations. Give, as He has given to you already!