Big Idea: As the nations see God’s equitable judgment and guidance in the life of Israel, they will come to acknowledge his sovereignty.

Understanding the Text

Judging from its first-person plural pronouns (“us”), this psalm is a community psalm of thanksgiving.1 Hakham calls it a psalm of thanksgiving for an abundant harvest.2 Israel acknowledges God’s blessings and prays for their extension, even salvation to the nations of the world (67:2, 7).

Psalm 66 ends with a word of blessing (“Blessed [baruk] be God”; NIV: “Praise be to God”; 66:20), and Psalm 67 begins with a prayer of blessing in language akin to the priestly benediction. While the priestly benediction (Num. 6:24–26) was given to Israel by a priest (“The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you”), here it is t…