WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.980 Today we are studying Psalm 67, so if you guys can flip there. 00:00:10.939 --> 00:00:15.300 Alright, I will read Psalm 67 and then we can get into the passage. 00:00:16.339 --> 00:00:20.580 To the choir master, with stringed instruments, a psalm, a song. 00:00:21.699 --> 00:00:26.519 May God be gracious to us and bless us, and make his face to shine upon us, 00:00:26.519 --> 00:00:31.800 that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:35.960 Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you. 00:00:36.480 --> 00:00:41.299 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity, 00:00:41.820 --> 00:00:43.359 and guide the nations upon earth. 00:00:44.579 --> 00:00:48.280 Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you. 00:00:48.980 --> 00:00:50.840 The earth has yielded its increase. 00:00:51.539 --> 00:00:53.820 God, our God, shall bless us. 00:00:53.820 --> 00:00:57.960 God, shall bless us. Let all the ends of the earth fear him. 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:03.299 So as Christians, prayer is an important part of our lives. 00:01:04.420 --> 00:01:09.319 Prayer is the breath of faith that speaks out to God from our hearts. 00:01:09.540 --> 00:01:11.980 And tonight we've gathered together to pray, right? 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:12.579 We pray a lot. 00:01:13.240 --> 00:01:21.079 And oftentimes the biggest part of our prayers, at least for me, is our requests, right? 00:01:21.079 --> 00:01:25.900 But I also know for me my requests can be pretty thoughtless. 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:31.280 They can be just what I need in that moment or what I want in that day. 00:01:31.980 --> 00:01:37.599 But if I give more thought to my prayers, I might ask, what should I pray for? 00:01:38.579 --> 00:01:43.140 And importantly, what reason do I give to God for granting me my prayers, right? 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:45.140 So just putting a little bit more thought into it. 00:01:45.459 --> 00:01:47.439 And this psalm addresses those questions head on. 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:50.599 So it says, namely, we should pray for a lot. 00:01:51.219 --> 00:01:52.319 We should pray big prayers. 00:01:53.019 --> 00:01:56.519 And the reason is so that God will be praised among the nations. 00:01:56.840 --> 00:02:03.680 And that's the main point of this passage, that God would bless us so that the nations will praise him. 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:07.219 So let's look at this psalm in three parts. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:10.159 A prayer for God's blessing in verses 1 through 3. 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:14.419 And then the joy of God's rule in verses 4 through 5. 00:02:14.859 --> 00:02:18.500 And the first fruits of God's grace in verses 6 through 7. 00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:22.840 So verses 1 through 3, a prayer for God's blessing. 00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:27.479 The psalmist here echoes the benediction of Aaron from Numbers chapter 6. 00:02:28.139 --> 00:02:31.960 And he asked for God's blessing using three words or ideas. 00:02:32.219 --> 00:02:38.099 That God would be gracious, that he would bless, and that he would make his face shine upon us. 00:02:38.099 --> 00:02:52.180 So looking at these three ideas, being gracious refers to the kindly action of a superior party to an inferior one in which the inferior has no claim on the superior. 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:56.340 So superior, inferior, and the inferior has nothing to offer. 00:02:56.439 --> 00:03:01.620 So it's like a beggar with nothing to offer yet needs all of his needs met. 00:03:01.620 --> 00:03:08.560 And I think it's wonderful that grace is a fundamental aspect of God's character. 00:03:09.500 --> 00:03:13.140 In Exodus 34, verse 6, we learn of God, 00:03:13.620 --> 00:03:21.659 The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. 00:03:22.200 --> 00:03:25.240 So we have no claim upon God. 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:29.180 We can't say, give me this because of something that I did. 00:03:29.180 --> 00:03:34.120 And he's good to us simply because he chooses to be, because that's who he is. 00:03:35.020 --> 00:03:40.200 And this is such a comforting thing that we can appeal to God based on his character. 00:03:40.840 --> 00:03:49.580 It's not, you know, God, please be good to me because I deserve it, or because you're in a good mood today, but because that's who you are. 00:03:50.600 --> 00:03:52.580 So that's God being gracious. 00:03:52.580 --> 00:03:56.420 The psalmist also talks about blessing. 00:03:56.820 --> 00:04:03.180 So I think these are ideas that we're all familiar with, but just to give some more concreteness to it, 00:04:03.620 --> 00:04:08.100 blessing is the idea of abundance and fertility in all areas of life. 00:04:08.540 --> 00:04:11.740 So it's about having success, having increase, having fruitfulness. 00:04:11.740 --> 00:04:19.579 And lastly, God's face shining upon us refers to God's presence shining forth in kindness to his people. 00:04:20.220 --> 00:04:23.400 It's about God being with us and God being for us. 00:04:24.379 --> 00:04:27.280 Contrast this with God hiding his face from us. 00:04:27.639 --> 00:04:30.280 So being distant from us, being disconnected. 00:04:30.279 --> 00:04:33.739 That's a scary thought, right? 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:36.019 If God's away from us and not for us. 00:04:36.619 --> 00:04:37.699 So we want his presence. 00:04:37.799 --> 00:04:39.599 We want his face to shine on us. 00:04:40.579 --> 00:04:43.239 And these all sound great, right? 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:45.799 Like who doesn't want kindness, increase, success? 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:48.139 No one objects to these things, right? 00:04:48.739 --> 00:04:53.579 But the problem is when we make our requests about ourselves, right? 00:04:53.579 --> 00:04:59.559 I think of a tree's branches should be stretching out towards the sun, but it's like twisting inwardly on ourselves, right? 00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:00.319 It's not natural. 00:05:00.819 --> 00:05:01.780 But that's what we do. 00:05:02.819 --> 00:05:12.019 You know, we might ask God, please grant me this career, but not for him, but for prestige or wealth or personal security. 00:05:12.980 --> 00:05:19.139 We might ask God, please grant me a spouse, not for him, but for our own comfort and enjoyments. 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:23.740 So not that these are bad things, but the question is what is our motivation? 00:05:23.740 --> 00:05:31.000 And the psalmist writes that he desires God's blessing so that God would be known and God would be praised. 00:05:32.300 --> 00:05:35.500 So a couple of things to ask ourselves. 00:05:35.699 --> 00:05:39.960 One, what are we asking God for in our lives right now? 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:44.460 What do you tend to bring to him in the mornings or evenings when you pray? 00:05:44.459 --> 00:05:49.639 Are they small prayers because you think God is small or you don't deserve it? 00:05:50.479 --> 00:05:53.219 Are they big prayers because you know that he's big? 00:05:54.339 --> 00:05:55.680 What are your heart motivations? 00:05:56.379 --> 00:06:01.719 Are you pursuing your own things or are you pursuing God's things? 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:08.860 The second part of the psalm in verses 4 through 5 talks about the joy of God's rule. 00:06:09.340 --> 00:06:10.420 And this is for the nations. 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:16.040 So it says God judges with equity, which means fairness or uprightness. 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:17.860 So God is God. 00:06:18.120 --> 00:06:18.980 He's not a man. 00:06:19.560 --> 00:06:25.200 He doesn't succumb to corruption or flattery or fallibility. 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:31.360 You don't have to worry that he'll make decisions based on someone being richer than you are. 00:06:32.620 --> 00:06:39.319 You don't have to worry that he'll prefer someone who's more eloquent than you and can persuade him with better arguments. 00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:48.079 You don't have to worry that someone with better social or family connections is going to come out ahead before God. 00:06:48.180 --> 00:06:50.879 Because no, God judges fairly. 00:06:51.099 --> 00:06:53.959 What he does is right and good and just. 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:59.240 And so this makes us yearn for God. 00:06:59.699 --> 00:07:06.599 The one who is in power and makes things right instead of oppressing others or taking advantage of others. 00:07:06.839 --> 00:07:10.019 Which we so often see in our world. 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:12.839 And it's such a delight to be ruled by him. 00:07:12.899 --> 00:07:14.680 And this is what the nations can look forward to. 00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:22.819 And third, in verses 6 through 7, we read of the first fruits of God's grace. 00:07:23.319 --> 00:07:31.560 So the psalmist speaks specifically here of seeing the earth's harvest, which is proof, existing proof, that God does bless them. 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:36.319 But there's more to this, more to God's grace than just the earth's harvest. 00:07:36.939 --> 00:07:41.240 In our world, in our lives today, in a spiritual sense, we also see God's harvest. 00:07:41.860 --> 00:07:45.819 But we live in a time where we have already, but not yet fully. 00:07:45.819 --> 00:07:50.680 We've experienced God's grace to us when he answers our prayers. 00:07:51.259 --> 00:07:57.199 We experience his face shining upon us when we experience his tenderness and his love and his faithfulness. 00:07:57.199 --> 00:08:02.339 But also, on a daily basis, we're fighting over sins. 00:08:02.379 --> 00:08:07.000 And sometimes the same sins over and over again, which can be really frustrating. 00:08:07.819 --> 00:08:15.620 We still experience grief and sorrow over loss, over death, over the injustices of society. 00:08:16.099 --> 00:08:19.339 And so we have, and yet we don't have. 00:08:19.599 --> 00:08:21.419 We've received, but we're waiting for more. 00:08:21.420 --> 00:08:37.700 So this points us to Christ not to despair, not to be impatient, not to give up, but to hope in Christ, to persevere, to pursue him and pour out our hearts to him in deep yearning and prayer, 00:08:38.460 --> 00:08:49.740 to imitate Christ, who lived not in a self-centered way, not to preserve himself, but he lived in obedience to God and laid down his life to save us. 00:08:49.740 --> 00:08:52.360 So a few questions. 00:08:52.919 --> 00:08:55.120 What does your heart yearn for tonight? 00:08:56.860 --> 00:09:02.700 And how can we pray so that God would be known and praised by the nations? 00:09:02.980 --> 00:09:06.340 Because we know that that is aligned with what God is doing in the world. 00:09:07.399 --> 00:09:10.060 So with that, let's sing another song, honey. 00:09:11.019 --> 00:09:12.840 And we'll go into our time of prayer. 00:09:12.840 --> 00:09:12.919 Thank you.