Catholic Commentary on Psalm 67

"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." (Psalm 67:1-2)

The Aaronic Blessing and the Nations

Psalm 67 opens by echoing the Aaronic blessing of Numbers 6:24-26: May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us. But it immediately gives the blessing a purpose that goes beyond Israel: so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. The blessing of Israel is not for Israel's exclusive benefit. It is the means by which God's ways become known to all nations. This is the missionary theology of the Old Testament in its most compressed form: Israel is blessed so that through Israel the nations come to know the God of blessing.

The refrain of the psalm is repeated twice and frames the middle section: May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. The vision is universal: all the peoples, every nation, every tongue, joining the praise. This anticipates Pentecost, where the disciples spoke in the languages of every nation. It anticipates the heavenly liturgy of Revelation, where the great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language stands before the throne. Psalm 67 is the psalm of Catholic universalism: the blessing flows outward until all the earth fears him.

The Land Yields Its Harvest

The harvest imagery in the middle of the psalm connects God's blessing of the land with the blessing of the nations: the land yields its harvest, God blesses his people, and the ends of the earth fear him. Creation, people, and nations are all enrolled in the movement from blessing to praise. The Catechism's understanding of the Eucharist as the sacrifice of thanksgiving for all creation finds its Old Testament roots here: everything that is good in creation leads back to the God who made it and blesses it.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, pray Psalm 67 for your country and your continent. May God be gracious to Nigeria, to Africa, to whatever land you inhabit, and bless it, and make his face shine on it, so that your ways may be known on earth. The blessing that flows from God's face is not meant to stop at any national border. It is meant to reach the ends of the earth.

Prayer

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us. May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

67
May God Cause His Face to Shine upon Us
For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song.
 
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us,
and cause His face to shine upon us,
Selah
2 that Your ways may be known on 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 judge the peoples justly
and lead the nations of the earth.
Selah
5 Let the peoples praise You, O God;
let all the peoples praise You.
 
6 The earth has yielded its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
7 God blesses us,
that all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.

Public Domain