Another bright and joyous song, evidently intended for use in the Temple worship, perhaps, like the two last, at the Passover, but more probably, as the harvest seems to have been gathered in (Psalm 67:6), at the Feast of Pentecost (Harvest), or Feast of Tabernacles (Ingathering).

It consists of three stanzas of four, five, and six lines respectively. The second and third have an initial refrain.

i. In words borrowed from the ancient priestly benediction the assembled people pray for God’s blessing, that all the world may learn the character of His providential dealings with men (Psalm 67:1-2).

ii. O that all nations might join in worshipping God, and rejoice in the establishment of His kingdom upon earth (Psalm 67:3-4)!

iii. Yea surely, they will join in His worship. He has granted Israel an abundant harvest; He does bless them and will continue to bless them, and so all nations will be won to acknowledge Him as their God (Psalm 67:5; Psa 67:7).

The Psalm may be connected in origin as well as in purpose with the two preceding Psalms. Like them it is not merely a thanksgiving for a plentiful harvest, but is evidently inspired by the recollection of some great deliverance calculated to make a deep impression upon the nations, which might be regarded as the pledge if not the commencement of the visible divine rule of righteousness upon the earth. Now the destruction of Sennacherib’s army, with which we have seen reason to connect the two last Psalms, was just such an event: and we know that the prophets of the time expected the establishment of the Messianic kingdom to follow immediately upon the removal of the Assyrian tyranny. See e.g. Isaiah 10:33 to Isaiah 11:9; Micah 5:2 ff.

As in Psalms 66 God’s providential care for Israel in some great national crisis, so here His goodness towards His people exemplified in the recent bountiful harvest, is urged as an argument to win the nations to His service. Disaster and defeat, drought and scarcity, put Israel to shame before the nations (Joel 2:17; Joel 2:19); deliverance from danger and domestic prosperity were an evidence to the nations of the true character of Israel’s God. The Psalm is inspired by the consciousness of Israel’s mission to the world as the ‘Messianic nation,’ the instrument for the establishment of God’s universal kingdom: it is a prayer for the accomplishment of that mission.

The O.T. prayer for the extension of God’s salvation to all the nations is very appropriately appointed for use as an alternative Canticle to the Nunc Dimittis,—the thanksgiving for the Saviour through Whom that hope is to be realised. It is moreover commonly used at Afternoon Service in the ritual of the Sephardic Jews.

The title may be rendered, For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm, a Song. See Introd. pp. xxiv, xix.

1. The Psalm begins with words taken from the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24 ff:

“Jehovah bless thee and keep thee:

Jehovah cause his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee:

Jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace:” as the following Ps. begins with the invocation used when the Ark started on a journey, Numbers 10:35. Other echoes of the priestly blessing may be found in Psalm 4:6; Psalm 29:11; Psalm 31:16; Psalm 80:3; Psalm 80:7; Psalm 80:19.

God be merciful] Rather, as in Numbers 6:25, be gracious unto us. God is substituted for the original Jehovah according to the usual practice of the editor of the ‘Elohistic’ collection of Psalms.

upon us] Lit. with us. For the simple preposition of the original (unto or upon) the Psalmist substitutes one which suggests the thought of God’s gracious favour abiding with His people. Cp. “The blessing of God Almighty … be amongst you and remain with you always.”

Selah (if it is in its right place) marks a musical interlude following upon and emphasising this echo of the priestly benediction. But it may have been accidentally transferred from the close of Psalm 67:2.

1, 2. The final object of the blessing for which Israel prays is that the whole world may know God.

2. Lit. that men may know thy way in the earth. The blessings which God bestows upon Israel will shew the nations what a God He is, and make them desire to serve Him. Cp. Jeremiah 33:9; Zechariah 8:20 ff; Isaiah 11:9. God’s way is His gracious method of dealing with men, explained in the next line as His saving health, i.e. salvation, as the word is generally translated. Health in old English meant healing power, deliverance, salvation. Cp. Psalm 42:11.

3. Let the peoples give thanks unto thee, O God;

Let all the peoples give thanks unto thee.

The A.V. people is misleading. It is not Israel that is meant, but all the peoples of the earth. Cp. Psalm 117:1 f.

3, 4. May all nations soon acknowledge the God of Israel as their God!

4. The reason for the universal rejoicing of the nations is given in the words, for thou shalt Judge the peoples with equity; i.e. rule them with just and equitable government. Cp. the attributes of the true king as God’s representative, Isaiah 11:3 f; Psalm 72:12 ff. Judge does not here mean punish, but govern.

govern] Or, lead, a word often applied to God’s leading of Israel through the wilderness (Psalm 78:14). All nations are under His providential guidance, not Israel only, His specially chosen flock. Cp. Amos 9:7.

5. the people] As before, the peoples. This refrain is generally treated as before as a wish or prayer; but it is worth considering whether the tone of the last stanza does not change throughout from prayer to confident hope, so that we should render, The peoples shall give thanks unto thee, O God. The form of a refrain is often slightly varied, why not its tone? The ambiguity arises from the fact that Heb. (with some exceptions) does not possess separate forms for the future and the optative.

5–7. The special occasion of the Psalm in the present bountiful harvest.

6. Then shall the earth &c.] Render, The land hath yielded her increase, according to the promise of Leviticus 26:4; cp. Psalm 85:12; Psalm 65:9 ff. God, our God, is the Elohistic editor’s substitution for Jehovah our God.

shall bless us] Here and in the following verse the verbs might be taken as a prayer: may God bless us. But it is better to render doth or shall bless us. Pointing to the abundant harvest (Psalm 67:6 a), the thankful people declare that God is blessing them, and express their faith that He will continue to bless them, with the result that the remotest nations of the world will become ‘fearers of God,’ worshippers of the only true God, the God of Israel (Psalm 66:16).