설교자 : 담임목사 정정정
본문말씀 : 시편 67:1-7
Ask for Blessings.
Psalms 67:1-7
Ask God for blessings.
Human by nature, people want to be blessed. Desiring to receive blessings is a natural human nature given by God. So, regardless of the East or West, many people say “bless you” as greetings. Especially when it comes to the New Years, everyone says “Wishing you many blessings” to each other. One of the most popular greetings in America is “God Bless You”. Even when concluding a letter or message, we often say “God Bless You.”
God wants to bless, and He especially wants to bless His children. As a parent, do you want your children to be blessed? Father God wants to bless us more than we want to bless our children. God delights when His children ask for blessings. In today’s scripture, Psalms 67, it talks about asking for blessings. In this short Psalm of 7 verses, the author asks for blessings three times.
In verse 1, it says, “may God bless us…” and ask for blessings.
In verse 6, it says, “God shall bless us.”
In verse 7, it says “God shall bless us.”
Ask God for blessings.
Verse 1: “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, (Selah)
* God wants to bless. So, God commanded Moses “you priests should bless my people like this.”
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”
Can you tell how much God wants to bless His people? God said to them that when the priests blessed the people as He said, then God would give them the same blessing.
Numbers 6:27: “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”
Psalms is about seeking blessings based on the words of Numbers. Some people think that God likes to punish, and they tremble in fear even if they make a small mistake. That is the devil’s trick. Of course, God rebukes what we did wrong, but He does it because loves and wants to bless us. Believe that God loves to bless you and seek His blessings.
* Ask for blessings in grace
Psalms 67:1 “May God be gracious to us and bless us…” The old version says, “May God be merciful to us and bless us...” Mercy and grace are like a pair. Mercy means to exempt from punishment and judgement. And grace is to bless those who do not deserve it. Blessing is that God is merciful to us and gives us grace.
The reason for blessing is not in us, but in God’s mercy and grace. Blessings are not given because of our good deeds. It is not given because of merits. It is given because of God’s mercy and grace. When God is merciful, God is gracious. When the prodigal son disobeyed his father and wasted all his father’s property, the father’s mercy was stirred. When the father saw his prodigal son returning, his mercy was sparked, and he ran from far away with barefoot and kissed the son. The father did not rebuke his son for what he did wrong. He did not ask, “What have you done to become such a beggar? Have you use all of my possessions?” He forgave and accepted unconditionally. This is mercy.
Not only that, he invited neighbors and held a feast. He gave his son nice clothes and put a ring on his finger. The ring means the son, the heir. This is grace.
“May God be gracious to us and bless us…” What a grateful word!
“May God be merciful to us and bless us...” What an encouraging word!
Do not think you don’t deserve the blessing. Do not think that you are fall too short to ask for blessing. It is in God’s mercy and grace that bless us, not in our qualifications. God’s mercy and grace is for the sinners. We were saved by God’s abundant mercy and grace, and became children of God, and we live with Holy Spirit by God’s grace. Hold on to God’ s grace and mercy and ask for blessings. Let us say altogether. “God bless us with grace.”
* Seek God’ face to shine upon us.
“…and make His face to shine upon us.”
If “to bless” means only about the external blessings like health or material things, “shining God’s face upon us” can be seen as a deeper inner blessing and a spiritual blessing.
God does not just bless us superficially. When the light of his face shines upon us, we are filled with grace to the deepest of our hearts, made whole, and satisfied. To shine the light of God’s face is to love us and turn his face toward us. We must seek the light of His face in which God loves us. When God smiles at us, we know that we are loved. There is nothing more blessed than that. When we pray, we should seek to see God rejoice and smile at us. When God is pleased, it becomes our joy and our strength. Let us say it altogether. “Let the light of Your face shine upon me.”
* God told us to ask for blessings.
After God said that He would bless the people of Israel, He still said that you must ask.
Ezekiel 36:37: “Thus says the Lord God: This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them…”
God give us when we ask, so He wants us to know what He gives. God blessed Jacob even before he was born. God said that He loved Jacob and hated Esau. He said that the greater will serve the lesser. However, Jacob did not just wait for blessings. He was always looking for an opportunity to receive the eldest son’s blessing, and he bought the birthright with a bowl of red bean porridge from Esau who was hungry after returning from hunting. Jacob deceived his father Isaac and received blessings from his father. Even after that, Jacob remained alone in the river Jabbok and held onto the angel and said he would not let the angel go unless the angel bless him. Even when the angel struck Jacob’s thigh bone and his hop bone was broken, he did not give up asking for blessings. Jacob finally received blessings from the angel, and as proof the angel said, “You have fought with God and you have won”, then he received a new name “Israel”.
We who believe in Jesus are already blessed. Still, we must pray for God to bless us. God is pleased with those who log for blessings. Let us say it altogether. “God, bless me.”
2. Ask for blessings for good purposes.
Verse 2: “that your way my be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.”
Asking for blessings is not just for yourself. Not just for their own people. When I am blessed, my people will be blessed, and all nations will be blessed. All nations will come to the Lord and blessed to worship and praise God. The word “us” in the verse refers to the chose people of Israel. We, Israel, are God’s chose people. And God is the only true God we believe and serve. All other gods in the world have believed and said that they are vain.
Therefore, when we who serve the true God, Jehovah, receive blessings, we can show the living God to the gentiles who worship silent idols. When gentiles ask, “where is your God?”, then we can proudly proclaim that our God exists, and furthermore, we want them to believe in the true God, Jehovah, so we ask for blessings. Even now, when unbelievers say, “where is your God?”, the best and surest answer is to show them God’s blessings.
* Ask for blessings to make His way known on earth to all nations.
The motive for seeking blessings is not just for myself alone. He hoped that God’s way and His salvation would be known to all nations and that they could receive blessings of salvation. God sees our motives. God looks at our motives for seeking blessings. When God blesses, it is not just for me. It is for God’s glory, His work, and for others. It is given to live with God and to work with God.
* Ask God for blessings for all people to praise and worship.
Verse 3: “Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!”
The ultimate purpose of wanting to be blessed is to have all nations praise the Lord.
To make all nations to worship God. To have all nations to be saved, and praise and worship God. That is why some refer to this Psalms as a priestly prayer. The same is said in verse 5.
Verse 5: “Let the peoples praise you, O God; let the peoples praise you!”
These phrases: “Praise the Lord” and “sing for joy” appears five times. With me receiving blessings and with the result of our blessings, nations must praise God and ask for blessings.
* Ask for blessings to declare the reign of God.
Verse 4: “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. (Selah)
‘Nations’ (all people) refers to whom have been saved. Only those who are saved can praise and worship God. Only those who are saved can glorify God. The reign of God blesses those who have been saved, so that they can sing joyfully to God. And by judging those who do not believe, God shows that He is the judge. Dream of the day when all people will be saved and praise and worship God because of the blessings we have received. This is God’s dream. This is the heart of God. We must seek the day when the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the water covers the sea. We must dream of that day and ask for blessings.
* The blessings we have received are not everything.
Verse 6: “The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.”
When it says the land has yielded its produce, it indicates a bountiful harvest. So, some people see this poem as a hymn that is sung on Thanksgiving. The blessing of the earth producing fruit was seen as only the beginning of the blessing. When we say that God will bless us, we believe that He will give us even greater blessings. There is no limit to God’s grace and blessing. We should expect and seek greater blessings. Believe that God’s wisdom, power, wealth has not limit and ask for greater blessings.
* Be a channel of blessings.
Verse 7: God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!”
Let the blessings you receive flow. Don’t wait for more blessings to come and let the blessings you receive now to flow. Because of the blessings you receive now, let others be blessed so that they may fear God. If you let the blessings you receive flow, you will become a channel of more blessings. This is not just about the material. If you received grace, pass it on to others. Last week, one of our congregations said “I feel God’s grace through Pastor’s message everything, and I send it to all over the world. It was very moving words. Don’t wait to receive great grace but let the little grace we receive everyday flow. You will gradually become a person of grace. Don’t wait to receive great material blessings but let the blessings you receive now flow. You will be able to share more and more abundant material with others.
If you’ve received today’s message with faith, please respond with Amen when I proclaim.
“Bless me with your grace.”
“Bless me so that many people may praise and worship you.”
“I will let the blessings I receive flow.”
“Bless me, bless us.”
