Psalm 67
All Will Praise God
For the choir director: with stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us;
may he make his face shine upon us a Selah
2 so that your way may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations. b
3 Let the peoples praise you, God;
let all the peoples praise you. c
4 Let the nations rejoice and shout for joy,
for you judge the peoples with fairness
and lead the nations on earth. d Selah
5 Let the peoples praise you, God,
let all the peoples praise you. e
6 The earth has produced its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us. f
7 God will bless us,
and all the ends of the earth will fear him. g
Psalm 67. The psalmist utilizes a chiastic structure to emphasize that all people should praise God, who rules with uprightness. He begins (A, 67:1–2) and ends (Aʹ, 67:6–7) by focusing on God’s blessing his people and the nations (i.e., those needing to be saved and to fear God). He builds the second stages of the structure with two identical declarations (B, 67:3; Bʹ, 67:5): “Let the peoples praise you, God; let all the peoples praise you.” Then, in the central point of the psalm (C, 67:4), the psalmist focuses on the reason why the world should praise God—he is the righteous judge who directs all nations.