Key Verse: Psalm 67: 1-7, "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us—so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us. May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him."
If you've had the fortune/curse of putting together a complex piece of furniture (or watched as your mom or dad struggled through it), you know how important the plans are. If you miss even one step, the whole thing may fall apart. There's nothing more frustrating than getting to the end of a project only to find you put something on backwards or upside down.
The stakes are higher if you help another person put something together. Not only do you have to make sure you're both on the same page, there's the added pressure of building something for someone else. You want to make sure you do a good job as they will be happy with their new creation.
While we don't actually know who wrote this psalm, it's safe to say they were thankful for God's blessing. This psalm seems to be more of a prayer than a hymn and while songs or prayers like this were usually sung after successful harvests, this psalm has a deeper message.
God read verse 1 again and think to yourself how you might summarize it in one sentence. A good summary might read something like, "The psalmist is praying for God's good favor, or blessing" simple enough. Now there's the cool part. Read verse 2 and again, think how you might summarize it in one sentence. You might have come up with something similar to, "The psalmist want all the people of the world to know of God and His ways." Put these two verses together and an awesome picture appears.
The psalmist wants God to bless him and his people. But this petition for blessing is not out of a selfish desire, it's so that others might see the Blessings God has poured out, give God glory for these blessings, and desire to be similarly blessed. The goal of the psalmist's prayer is so God would be glorified.
When you build a piece of furniture or fix a bike, you have to follow a plan. A set of rules. A guide that has the big picture in mind. God's mission to reach the world is the same way. He has a plan. And the coolest part is that you play a major role in His plan. He has chosen you, your friends, your church, and all Christ-followers everywhere to be one of the main ways God spreads His story of love, grace, and redemption. Do you take this responsibility seriously? Do you live in such a way that your life follows God's plan to share His love with all the world? What changes do you need to make today in order to be on mission with God in all that you do?
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