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Psalm 67
Psalm 67 from South Woods Baptist Church on Vimeo.
In suburbia, memberships matter. In certain circles, the question is what country club you are a member of. If you’ve got small kids in the city, you might need a place for them to burn off some energy. So maybe you’re a member at the Zoo or at My Big Backyard or the Children’s Museum. You’ve got that membership card and you waltz right in.
People are members of all kinds of groups. That’s to say nothing of being a member at a gym or in a professional organization. But I want to begin today talking about being a member at Costco. Belonging there, as with most other memberships, comes with certain benefits. I know a guy who went back three times once for the sample of piping hot spinach ravioli. But, in listing benefits, the samples merely scratch the surface. It’s access to bulk, access to lower prices, etc. All you need to do is wave your card at the door. This is quasi–exclusive. The folks without a card have to stand outside. You get the benefit of belonging.
The Old Testament Israelite experienced something of this, though they paid no fees. Though there were thousands of different places he or she could be born, belonging to the nation of Israel meant they received the blessings of being God’s people. This began with Abraham, to whom God said, And I will make of you a great nation. A number of years later, in Exodus 19, God told those people, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples. Though the whole world was his, these people were brought into a particular relationship with the Lord. In mercy, God chose them. The promises to Abraham came true. I read this week in Deuteronomy 10:22, Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.
Those Israelites didn’t have to purchase a membership; he or she just had to be born to particular parents in a particular place. If they were an Israelite, they belonged to an exclusive people. But this exclusivity was not just like the memberships we mentioned above; their belonging was for more than their own benefit.
Note first,
1. God blesses His people
Verse one ought to sound familiar, May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us. This is nearly identical to the blessing we find in Numbers 6 that Aaron’s sons would speak over Israel, The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
The Aaronic blessing was a central aspect of Israelite liturgy. It’s the kind of thing we’d frame and rope off in DC. In fact, the earliest archaeological discovery from Jerusalem that we have including the name Yahweh is a silver amulet with this priestly blessing.[1] They date it to the seventh or sixth century B. C.
As we read the Old Testament, we note the blessing’s fulfillment. We already mentioned how they increased in number. As they increased, we see time and time again the other nations subjugated for Israel’s benefit. Food grew overnight. God blessed and kept them. His face shone upon them.
But you probably see a couple differences between the Psalmist’s rendering and the priestly blessing from Numbers. For example, rather than the Lord bless you, in Psalm 67 it’s May God bless us. Nonetheless, when you read verse 1, you think of Numbers. That would’ve been even more so with the Israelites.
The Psalmist, and those who sang with him, asked the Lord to be gracious to them, to bless them, and to make His face to shine upon them. While they’d experienced God’s graciousness; this Psalm asks for more. In that era, to ask the Lord to bless you would be mainly in regard to good harvests, peace, children, flocks, etc. While they’d experienced a measure of this; the Psalmist wrote a song asking for more. The other phrase, one we might not use regularly, is make his face to shine upon us. The Lord’s shining face would be something of God’s good favor on his people. Again, while they’d woken[...]
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By South Woods Baptist ChurchPsalm 67 from South Woods Baptist Church on Vimeo.
In suburbia, memberships matter. In certain circles, the question is what country club you are a member of. If you’ve got small kids in the city, you might need a place for them to burn off some energy. So maybe you’re a member at the Zoo or at My Big Backyard or the Children’s Museum. You’ve got that membership card and you waltz right in.
People are members of all kinds of groups. That’s to say nothing of being a member at a gym or in a professional organization. But I want to begin today talking about being a member at Costco. Belonging there, as with most other memberships, comes with certain benefits. I know a guy who went back three times once for the sample of piping hot spinach ravioli. But, in listing benefits, the samples merely scratch the surface. It’s access to bulk, access to lower prices, etc. All you need to do is wave your card at the door. This is quasi–exclusive. The folks without a card have to stand outside. You get the benefit of belonging.
The Old Testament Israelite experienced something of this, though they paid no fees. Though there were thousands of different places he or she could be born, belonging to the nation of Israel meant they received the blessings of being God’s people. This began with Abraham, to whom God said, And I will make of you a great nation. A number of years later, in Exodus 19, God told those people, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples. Though the whole world was his, these people were brought into a particular relationship with the Lord. In mercy, God chose them. The promises to Abraham came true. I read this week in Deuteronomy 10:22, Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.
Those Israelites didn’t have to purchase a membership; he or she just had to be born to particular parents in a particular place. If they were an Israelite, they belonged to an exclusive people. But this exclusivity was not just like the memberships we mentioned above; their belonging was for more than their own benefit.
Note first,
1. God blesses His people
Verse one ought to sound familiar, May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us. This is nearly identical to the blessing we find in Numbers 6 that Aaron’s sons would speak over Israel, The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
The Aaronic blessing was a central aspect of Israelite liturgy. It’s the kind of thing we’d frame and rope off in DC. In fact, the earliest archaeological discovery from Jerusalem that we have including the name Yahweh is a silver amulet with this priestly blessing.[1] They date it to the seventh or sixth century B. C.
As we read the Old Testament, we note the blessing’s fulfillment. We already mentioned how they increased in number. As they increased, we see time and time again the other nations subjugated for Israel’s benefit. Food grew overnight. God blessed and kept them. His face shone upon them.
But you probably see a couple differences between the Psalmist’s rendering and the priestly blessing from Numbers. For example, rather than the Lord bless you, in Psalm 67 it’s May God bless us. Nonetheless, when you read verse 1, you think of Numbers. That would’ve been even more so with the Israelites.
The Psalmist, and those who sang with him, asked the Lord to be gracious to them, to bless them, and to make His face to shine upon them. While they’d experienced God’s graciousness; this Psalm asks for more. In that era, to ask the Lord to bless you would be mainly in regard to good harvests, peace, children, flocks, etc. While they’d experienced a measure of this; the Psalmist wrote a song asking for more. The other phrase, one we might not use regularly, is make his face to shine upon us. The Lord’s shining face would be something of God’s good favor on his people. Again, while they’d woken[...]