Sermon Psalm 67 God Has Blessed Us

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

New Covenant Presbyterian Church

Sermon Psalm 67 God Has Blessed Us

August 6, 2017

Today I am preaching my final sermon in the series entitled Psalms of Summer.  I hope you have enjoyed listening to these as much as I have enjoyed writing them.   The psalms are such a beautiful way to spend the summer, meditating on all that God does for us.   And what better way to spend a Sunday morning in the summer than by praising God with the original songbook.    Today we will turn to Psalm 67 which is unique.   This psalm is a blessing, probably said by a priest asking God to bless his people.   That’s why we are here.  We hope to receive a blessings from God.  We will get to this, but first let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Psalm 67:1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
   and make his face to shine upon us,Selah
2 that your way may be known upon earth,
   your saving power among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
   let all the peoples praise you.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
   for you judge the peoples with equity
   and guide the nations upon earth.Selah
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
   let all the peoples praise you.
6 The earth has yielded its increase;
   God, our God, has blessed us.
7 May God continue to bless us;
   let all the ends of the earth revere him.

There are two gifts we receive from God.   One is salvation.  The other is blessing.   Salvation is an  historical event.  It occurred on the day Jesus died.   With his death on the cross all who believe in him were saved.  Our sin is forgiven.   Our relationship with God is restored.   We begin a new life.   We are assured of eternal life.   And this salvation is received by all who make Jesus their lord and believe in their hearts that Jesus was raised from the dead.  Earlier today we sang this verse from It Is Well with My Soul:

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul

This is salvation.   And I can tell you that if you believe in Jesus you are saved.

Salvation is a gift believers receive from God.   But there is another gift from God.  And this one is called blessing.   Unlike salvation, blessing is not limited to a particular place and time.  Rather blessing is an ongoing continuous act of God’s grace.  And unlike salvation,  blessing is not limited to only believers.  Blessing is available to all of creation.   We see this in the very first chapter of the Bible.

Genesis1:28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply ...”.

Everything in creation needs God’s blessings.   The book of Job is about a faithful believer, who was saved, but had God’s blessings taken away.   Job’s friends all thought that this had something to do with salvation.   They thought that Job was being punished for sin.   But this was not the case.  Job was faithful, forgiven and had a right relationship with God.  He was saved.   His loss of blessing had nothing to do with sin and salvation.   God chooses who to bless and who to curse.   And thankfully, our God is loving and chooses to bless his creation.

In ancient times blessings were passed down from father to son.  God blessed families with land.   Ownership of land was passed from father to son.   Sometimes God would give a particular blessing to a whole group of people.   We see this in Genesis 12 when God blessed Abram, Sarai and their family and descendants.

Genesis 12:1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

This blessings to Abram and Sarai was part of a covenant.  God promised to bless them.  They promised to bless others.   This covenant is open to us too.   God will bless us abundantly.   We need to be be blessings to others.  But God’s offer to bless Abram and Sarai’s descendants was not exclusive.   Remember God wants all of creation to be blessed.  And so he told Abram and Sarai this.

Genesis 1:3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

We have been adopted into Abram and Sarai’s family.   God has blessed us richly.    So, we are to be a blessing to others.

Nothing can prevent God from blessing those he chooses to bless.   In the Book of Numbers there is a story of the Israelites passing through the nation of Moab.   King Balak of Moab wanted the gods of Moab to curse the Israelites.   So he asked his priest/prophet Balaam to issue a curse.  But God wouldn’t allow it.   If God wants someone blessed God will not permit a curse.   Here is what happened when Balaam tried to curse Israel.

Numbers 23:7 “Balak has brought me from Aram,
   the king of Moab from the eastern mountains:
‘Come, curse Jacob for me;
   Come, denounce Israel!’
8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
   How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?

One of the greatest blessings we receive from God is the blessings of the law.   The law God gave to Moses helps us to live blessed lives.   Moses put it this way.

Deuteronomy 7:12 If you heed these ordinances, by diligently observing them, the Lord your God will maintain with you the covenant loyalty that he swore to your ancestors; 13 he will love you, bless you, and multiply you; he will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock, in the land that he swore to your ancestors to give you. 14 You shall be the most blessed of peoples, with neither sterility nor barrenness among you or your livestock.

As the people of God settle in cities and farms they began to receive a new kind of blessing from God.   They were blessed with worship.   In worship they could come closer to God and know more about him.    Worship consisted of festivals and sacrifices.   Priests would bless the people with these words:

Numbers 6:24 The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

By New Testament times people were acknowledging the blessing they received for God with blessings said a mealtimes.    When Jesus hosted a meal for four thousand he did this:

Mark 8:6 Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them to the crowd. 7 They had also a few small fish; and after blessing them, he ordered that these too should be distributed.

Also when Jesus hosted a dinner for disciples in Jerusalem he said this:

Mark 14:22 While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.”

It is a good thing to follow Jesus’ example.   We too should pray for blessing before each meal.  Grace and I do this each meal thanking God for all the blessings we have received.

Early Christians realized that God had blessed them with the Holy Spirit.  And with this blessing from God they felt the need to bless others.   They did this by caring for the poor and needy.  The Apostle Paul talked about these spiritual blessings.  Here is what he said:

Romans 15:26 … Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to share their resources with the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do this, and indeed they owe it to them; for if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material things. 28 So, when I have completed this, and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will set out by way of you to Spain; 29 and I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

It would be good to listen to Paul about this.  We have been blessed richly in both material and spiritual matter.   And as response we should give to the church and to the needy in our community and around the world.

Paul also believed that the prayers he received from the churches were blessings.  He told the church at Corinth this.

2 Corinthians 1:11 as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

Following the example of the Corinthian church we should bless others by praying for them.  This is why we pray for the sick, and those looking for work, and those with relationship problems.  We pray because we want them to be blessed by God.

But we must always remember from where our blessings come.   Blessing come from the grace of God who freely chooses us to receive a blessings.  Paul put it this way.

2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.

I think we can echo that.   We have been blessed with abundance by God.   And we are called to share our blessings.

So what have we learned about blessings today?   God freely chooses to bless all of creation.   And God blesses us to be instruments of blessing for others.  No one can curse someone who God has chosen to bless.   God has blessed us abundantly with the good earth and the food that come from it.   God has given us the law, which if obeyed, will bless us richly.    God has bless all who believe in Jesus Christ with salvation.   We need to remember our blessings when we pray at mealtimes and in service to one another.   Let’s pray.

Psalm 67:1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
   and make his face to shine upon us,Selah
2 that your way may be known upon earth,
   your saving power among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
   let all the peoples praise you.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
   and guide the nations upon earth.Selah
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
   let all the peoples praise you.
6 The earth has yielded its increase;
   God, our God, has blessed us.
7 May God continue to bless us;
   let all the ends of the earth revere him.  Amen.