May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, Selah that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. Selah May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him. Psalm 67
I can’t help but consider how many times this prayer has been offered over all the years since it was first written. Was it written in response to the Aaronic blessing of Numbers 6:24-26? As I read this psalm, I offer it as a prayer for our world. I stop and pause at the “Selah” moments in this psalm and consider what would happen if God chose to answer this prayer today. Then I consider what would it be like to have all the peoples of all the nations praising God. I weep for those who are unable. They do not know God and so they live in darkness. They are not able to sing and be glad. Oh, if only they could praise him! If only they could know him! How I must be constantly looking for ways to make God known. I must remember that those who do not know him are held captive. Sometimes that captivity to sin and sorrow can cause them to respond in anger, but if only they could know the grace of God.
O God, be gracious to us who know you, and bless us—but not for ourselves Lord! For your sake. Bless us and make your face shine on us so that your ways may be known in all the earth, so that all the peoples can praise you. Amen.