Cover to Cover

Reading: Psalms 66-69

Focus: Psalm 67

In Jewish theology, there is an aspect of their understanding of God’s blessing which is fascinating. However, even in Jewish thought, blessings are often seen as God’s gift and pleasure for the recipients. We are blessed because God sees fit to give us good things or grant us success in life’s endeavours. We praise and thank God for His blessing, but we often miss out on a key aspect regarding blessings reflected in Jewish theology (which should be ours, also).

This psalm (Psalm 67) is a clear reflection of one aspect of God’s blessing that is often neglected. The psalm opens in a desire for God’s blessings upon His people, but then the remainder of the psalm is a declaration of the purpose of God’s blessing. The purpose of God’s blessing, outlined in this psalm, is to testify and witness to God’s goodness and fame. As God’s people are blessed, the nations are to hear the praise of God, the declarations of God’s goodness towards His people, the proclamation of God’s salvation for the world. In God’s blessing, it is to be accompanied with an increase of God’s fame.

Most of us will praise and thank God for His blessing, but how many of us will declare His goodness and His awesome deeds to those around us? When you are blessed, do you share God’s love for this world? Do you share God’s power seen through Creation? Do you share God’s grace for us—the sinners? Is God’s fame—God’s name and reputation—increased because you have been blessed?

Next Reading: Psalms 70-74