Charles H. Spurgeon

Whole Psalm. How admirably balanced are the parts of this missionary song! The people of God long to see all the nations participating in their privileges, "visited with God's salvation, and gladdened with the gladness of his nation" (Ps 106:5). They long to hear all the nationalities giving thanks to the Lord, and hallowing his name; to see the face of the whole earth, which sin has darkened so long, smiling with the brightness of a second Eden. This is not a vapid sentiment. The desire is so expressed as to connect with it the thought of duty and responsibility. For how do they expect that the happy times are to be reached? They trust, in the first instance, to the general diffusion of the knowledge of God's way, the spreading abroad of the truth regarding the way of salvation. With a view to that, they cry for a time of quickening from the presence of the Lord, and take encouragement in this prayer from the terms of the divinely appointed benediction. As if they had said, "Hast thou not commanded the sons of Aaron to put thy name upon us, and to say: The Lord bless thee and keep thee; the Lord cause his face to shine on thee and be gracious to thee? Remember that sure word of thine. God be gracious unto us and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us. Let us be thus blessed, and we shall in our turn become a blessing. All the families of the earth shall, through us, become acquainted with thy salvation." Such is the church's expectation. And who shall say it is unreasonable? If the little company of a hundred and twenty disciples who met in the upper chamber at Jerusalem, all of them persons of humble station, and inconspicuous talents, were endued with such power by the baptism of the Holy Ghost, that within three hundred years the paganism of the empire was overthrown, one need not fear to affirm that, in order to the evangelisation of the world, nothing more is required than that the churches of Christendom be baptised with a fresh effusion of the same Spirit of power. William Binnie.

Whole Psalm. There are seven stanzas; twice three two line stanzas, having one of three lines in the middle, which forms the clasp or spangle of the septiad, a circumstance which is strikingly appropriate to the fact that the psalm is called "the Old Testament Paternoster" in some of the old expositors. Franz Delitzsch.

Verse 1. God be merciful unto us, and bless us, etc. God forgives, then he gives; till he be merciful to pardon our sins through Christ, he cannot bless or look kindly on us sinners. All our enjoyments are but blessings in bullion, till gospel grace and pardoning mercy stamp and make them current. God cannot so much as bear any good will to us, till Christ makes peace for us; "On earth peace, good will toward men." Lu 2:14. And what joy can a sinner take, though it were to hear of a kingdom fallen to him, if he may not have it with God's good will. William Gurnall.

Verse 1. God be merciful unto us. Hugo attributes these words to penitents; Bless us, to those setting out in the Christian life; Cause his face to shine upon us, to those who have attained, or the sanctified. The first seek for pardon, the second for justifying peace, the third for edification and the grace of contemplation. Lorinus.

Verses 1-2. Connect the last clause of Ps 67:1 with the first of Ps 67:2, and observe that God made his face to shine upon Moses, and made known to him his way. "He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel, "as if the common people could only see the deeds of the Lord, but his way, his plans, his secrets were revealed only to him upon whom the light of God's face had shone. C. H. S.

Verse 2. That thy way may be known, etc. The psalmist here supposes that there are certain rules or principles, in accordance with which God bestows blessings on mankind; and he prays that those rules and principles may be everywhere made known upon the earth. Albert Barnes.

Verse 2. That thy way may be known, etc. By nature we know little of God, and nothing of Christ, or the way of salvation by him. The eye of the creature, therefore, must be opened to see the way of life before he can by faith get into it. God doth not use to waft souls to heaven like passengers in a ship, who are shut under the hatches, and see nothing all the way they are sailing to their port; if so, that prayer might have been spared which the psalmist, inspired of God, breathes forth in the behalf of the blind Gentiles: That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. As faith is not a naked assent, with affiance and innitency (Act of leaning on) on Christ; so neither is it a blind assent, without some knowledge. If, therefore, you continue still in thy brutish ignorance, and knowest not so much as who Christ is, and what he hath done for the salvation of poor sinners, and what thou must do to get interest in him, thou art far enough from believing. If the day be not broke in thy soul, much less is the Sun of Righteousness arisen by faith in thy soul. William Gurnall.

Verse 2. That thy way may be known. The sinful Jew, obstinate in his unbelief, shall see and hate. He shall see, and be enraged at the salvation of the Gentiles; but let us see and know, that is, love. For to know is often put for to love, as in the passages—"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them: I know mine, and am known of mine; "that is, I love my own sheep, and they love me... There is here a sudden transition from the third person to the second, that in speaking of God he might not say, "His way, "or "his salvation, "but Thy way, and Thy salvation setting forth the vehemence of an ardent suppliant, and the grace of God as he reveals himself to that suppliant while still pouring forth his prayers. Gerhohus (1093-1169).

Verse 2. That thy way may be known, etc. As light, so the participation of God's light is communicative: we must not pray for ourselves alone, but for all others, that God's way may be known upon earth, and his saving health among all nations. Thy way; that is, thy will, thy word, thy works. God's will must be known on earth, that it may be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Except we know our Master's will, how shall we do it? Ergo, first pray with David here: Let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth; and then, Let all the people praise thee. God's will is revealed in his word, and his word is his way wherein we must walk, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left. Or, Thy way; that is, thy works, as David elsewhere (Ps 25:10): "All thy ways of the Lord are mercy and truth." Or, as others (Augustine; Jerome; Hilary) most fitly: Thy way, that is, thy Christ; "Thy saving health, "that is, thy Jesus: for "I am the way, "saith our Saviour (Joh 14:6): "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me; " wherefore, "Let thy Son be known upon earth; thy Jesus among all nations." John Boys.

Verse 3. Let the people praise thee. Mark the sweet order of the blessed Spirit: first, mercy; than, knowledge; last of all, praising of God. We cannot see his countenance except he be merciful to us; and we cannot praise him except his way be known upon earth. His mercy breeds knowledge; his knowledge, praise. John Boys.

Verse 3. Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. What then? "Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us." We have comforts increased, the more we praise God for what we have already received. The more vapours go up, the more showers come down; as the rivers receive, so they pour out, and all run into the sea again. There is a constant circular course and recourse from the sea, unto the sea; so there is between God and us; the more we praise him, the more our blessings come down; and the more his blessings come down, the more we praise him again; so that we do not so much bless God as bless ourselves. When the springs lie low, we pour a little water into the pump, not to enrich the fountain, but to bring up more for ourselves. Thomas Manton.

Verse 3. This verse is exceedingly emphatic.

1. First, by an apostrophe to God, in the pronoun, Thee. As if he said: Let the people praise thee, not strange gods; for thou art the only true God.

2. Secondly, inasmuch as it is not said, Let us praise thee, O God; but let the people praise thee, and let all the people. For here is expressed the longing of the pious heart, and its fond desire that God should be praised and magnified throughout all lands and by all people of the round earth.

3. Thirdly, by the iteration, in which the same particle is repeated in this and the fifth verse no less than four times, as if the duty could not be sufficiently inculcated. It is not enough to have said it once; it is delightful to repeat it again. Wolfgang Musculus (1497-1563).

Verse 4. For thou shalt judge the people righteously, etc. The Psalmist may here seem to contradict himself; for if mercy make men rejoice, then judgment occasions men to tremble. Answer is made, that all such as have known the ways of the Lord, and rejoice in the strength of his salvation, all such as have the pardon of their sins assured and sealed, fear not that dreadful assize, because they know the judge is their advocate. Or, (as Jerome,)let all nations rejoice, because God doth judge righteously, being the God of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews. Ac 10:34. Or, let all nations rejoice, because God doth govern all nations; that whereas theretofore they wandered in the fond imaginations of their own hearts, in wry ways, in byways; now they are directed by the Spirit of truth to walk in God's highway, which leads unto the celestial Jerusalem; now they shall know Christ, the way, the truth, and the life. For judging is often used for ruling. 1Sa 7:15 2Co 1:10. So David doth here expound himself: thou shalt judge. that is, thou shalt govern the nations. John Boys.

Verse 4. Govern. Lead and guide them as the shepherd his flock. Benjamin Boothroyd.

Verse 4. And lead(margin) the nations. God now overrules the nations in their ways, but surely they are led by another guide. There is a bridle in their jaws causing them to err. They are held and shaken in the sieve of vanity, until he come to whom the government pertains. Arthur Pridham.

Verses 5-6. Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee! What then? Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. Our unthankfulness is the cause of the earth's unfruitfulness. While man is blessing God for his mercies, He is blessing man with his mercies. William Secker, in "The Nonsuch Professor," 1660.

Verse 6. Then shall the earth yield her increase. An increase of wealth is but the natural result of increased piety and intelligence. There are certain qualities essential to temporal prosperity. These are industry, economy, moderation; and such are the qualities begotten of godliness. . . . Nor is it an unreasonable expectation that our globe should, under the reign of righteousness, yield all those temporal advantages of which it is capable. Science, favoured by piety, may greatly add to the earth's fruitfulness; and mechanical genius may still farther abbreviate human toil, and increase human comforts. The great inventions and discoveries of science, by which toil is lessened and comfort enhanced, are all the product of Christian minds... Can we, then, doubt that in the era to which we look forward, labour shall cease to be a burden? Can we believe that the life of the labouring classes is to continue to be all but a ceaseless round of toil and vexation—every hand stretched out to procure something that is needed, or to ward off something that is feared? Scripture predicts the mitigation of the curse; and, in the discoveries of science, and the inventions of mechanics, we see the means by which the prediction is to be accomplished. This consummation may still be in the distant future; but if we do not grudge the oak years for its growth, the glory to be revealed is surely worthy of a process as gradual. William Reid, in "Things to Come Practically Considered," 1871.

Verse 6. God, even our own God, shall bless us. What a rapturous expression is that: God, even our own God, shall bless us! and that, "Thy God, thy glory!" Upon interest in God follows their interest in his glory and blessedness; which is so much the dearer and more valuable, as it is theirs; their glory from their God. They shall be blessed by God, their own God; "drink waters out of their own well." How endearing a thing is propriety! Another man's son is ingenuous, comely, personable; this may be a matter of envy; but mine own is so, this is a joy. I read in the life of a devout nobleman of France, (Monsieur de Renti) that receiving a letter from a friend in which were inserted these words: "Deus meus et omnia, "my God and my all, he thus returns back to him: "I know not what your intent was to put into your letter these words, `Dues meus et omnia, My God and my all:' only you invite me thereby to return the same to you, and to all creatures. `My God and my all: my God and my all; my God and my all.' If, perhaps, you take this for your motto, and use it to express how full your heart is of it, think you it possible I should be silent upon such an invitation, and not express my sense thereof? Likewise be it known unto you, therefore, that he is `my God and my all; 'and, if you doubt of it, I shall speak of it a hundred times over. I shall add no more, for anything else is superfluous to him that is truly penetrated with `my God and my all; 'I leave you, therefore, in this happy state of jubilation, and conjure you to beg for me, of God, the solid sense of these words." And do we think, "my God and my all." or, "my God and my glory, "will have lost its emphasis in heaven? or that it will be less significant among awakened souls? These things concur, then, concerning the object; it is more excellent, even divine, entire, permanent, and theirs: how can it but satisfy? John Howe, in "The Blessedness of the Righteous."

Verse 6. Our own God. How inexpressible was the inward pleasure wherewith we may suppose those words to have been uttered. How delightful an appropriation! as if it were intended to be said, the blessing itself were less significant, it could not have that savour with it, if it were not from our own God. Not only, therefore, allow but urge your spirits thus to look towards God, that you may both delight in him as being in himself the most excellent one, and also as being yours; for know, you are not permitted only, but obliged to eye, accept, and rejoice in him as such. John Howe.

Verses 6-7. The promise refers directly to the visible fertility of the renewed earth at the time of Israel's recovery, but it includes a fuller reference to higher things; for the true increase yielded by any of God's works is the revenue of praise which redounds to his holy name. Such, then, is the promise I have to bring before you. In its widest sense, the lower creation is now made subject to vanity, because of man's sin; but in the kingdom of Christ this curse will be removed, and all God's works will yield their full increase—a tribute of unmingled honour and praise to his name. Let us consider (1.) The preparation for this increase. (2.) The increase itself. (3.) The blessing of God, which will crown it.

I. THE PREPARATIONS FOR THIS INCREASE. What are the means? What is the way of its accomplishment? Whence does it proceed? Our Psalm is full of instruction. Consider—

1. Its fountain: the free mercy of God. The Psalm begins, God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us. Whatever the details and steps of the work of redemption, all must be traced up to this original fountain, the sovereign grace and mercy of our God... The eternal, free, unchangeable, inexhaustible mercy of our God revealed through his dear Son Jesus Christ; this is the fountain head of the blessed increase here foretold...

2. The order in which this increase is granted may next be considered. Salvation is given to the Jew first, and then also to the Greek. The prayer of this Psalm is, Cause his face to shine upon us; that thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. It is the divine plan first to choose his people and bless them, and then to make them a blessing, as we see in Abraham, the father of the faithful. It is through his church that God blesses the world... The same principle is true in every revival of pure religion... But all this order of divine mercy has yet to be more fully seen in what is before us; in the restoration of Israel, and in its effect upon the world at large...

3. The immediate precursor of this increase is the return of our Lord from heaven, the coming of Christ to judge the earth and reign over all nations. The Psalm calls all nations to rejoice in this: O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. ... The world craves, and will crave more and more for righteous government. The Lord has promised to supply this natural want of the human heart, though he take vengeance on his hardened enemies. Even in the coming of the Lord to judgment, goodness will so finally triumph that the nations are to be glad and sing for joy... It is the Lord judging the people and governing the nations, and all the people praising him, that prepares directly and immediately for the promised blessedness. Then shall the earth yield her increase.

II. THE INCREASE ITSELF. This increase has many aspects. Let us view them in a climax of benefits.

1. Natural fertility. The first sentence of curse and barrenness, of thorns and thistles, was pronounced on Adam's fall, and renewed on Cain's murder. It seems to have been specially removed after the deluge... Even now, two thirds of our world are ocean, incapable of increase; half of the rest, and perhaps more, is almost desert, and of the remainder the largest part is very imperfectly tilled. There is room, even in the latter, for a vast increase, when the whole earth might become like the garden of the Lord.

2. The redemption of art. Its activity, its talent, and discoveries are now great and wonderful; but it is mainly turned to human self sufficiency and vanity, and bears little fruit to God's glory and the highest benefit of man. But in the period predicted in this Psalm, every creature, when redeemed to man's use, shall be also reclaimed to God's glory...

3. The redemption of science....

4. Society will yield its increase to God.... Men now live as without God in the world, full though it be of proofs of his wisdom and love... What a change when every social circle shall be a fellowship of saints, and all bent to one great purpose, the divine glory and the blessedness of each other.

5. The soul shall yield its increase. The earth is only the figure of the human heart, a soil ever fertile for good or evil. Thus the apostle, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, regards it: "For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God; but that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak." Then the thorns and briers of a crooked and perverse generation will cease... The fruits of righteousness will abound from the human race to the glory of God. Much praise, much zeal, much reverence, much humility, will distinguish his servants. Faith, hope, and love will all be in the fullest exercise. Christ will be all and in all, and every power will be consecrated to him. This is the best increase the earth yields to God.

6. The large number of God's true servants, thus yielding themselves to him, is another part of this blessedness...

7. The perpetuity of this increase has to be added to this glory. This is according to the promise made to the Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Condensed from Edward Bickersteth's Sermon in the "Bloomsbury Lent Lectures," 1848.

Verses 6-7. Double blessings from God—temporal and spiritual, blessings peculiar to the Jews, and blessings suited to Christians. O Lord, I refuse not the temporal blessings it pleases thee to send me; I will receive them with humble gratitude as the gift of thy goodness: but I entreat from thee especially for spiritual blessings; and that thou wouldest treat me rather as a Christian than as a Jew. Pasquier Quesnel (1634-1719), in "Les Psaumes de David avec des Reflexions Morales."

Verse 7. Note, how joy in God, and fear of God, are combined. By joy the sadness and anxiety of diffidence are excluded, but by fear contempt and false security are banished. So Psalm 2, "Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." Wolfgang Musculus.

Verse 1.

1. Here is mercy in God the Father.

2. Here is blessing as the fruit of that mercy in God the Son.

3. Here is the experience of that blessing in the comfort of the Holy Ghost.

Verse 1. The need of seeking a blessing for ourselves.

Verses 1-2. The prosperity of the church at home, the hope for missions abroad.

Verse 2.

1. The way of God towards the earth.

(a) A way of mercy.
(b) Of blessing.
(c) Of comfort.

2. The knowledge of that way.

(a) By outward means.
(b) By inward teaching.

3. The effect of that knowledge. Salvation among all nations.

Verse 2. What is the true health of men?

Verse 3. Viewed,

1. As the desire of every renewed heart.
2. As a prayer.
3. As a prophecy.

Verse 4.

1. The reign of God in the world: it is not left to itself.

2. The joy of the world on that account: Let the nations, etc.

3. The reason of that joy: He will judge righteously.

(a) As faithful to his law.

(b) Faithful to his promises of mercy.

Verses 5-7.

1. The prayer (Ps 67:5).
2. The promise (Ps 67:6).
(a) Of temporal good.
(b) Of spiritual good.
3. The prediction (Ps 67:7).

Verses 6-7. See "Spurgeon's Sermons, "No. 819: "The Minstrelsy of Hope."

Verse 7.

1. God to man: shall bless us.
2. Man to God: shall fear him.