Text -- Psalms 67:1-4 (NET)

Psalm 67

67:1 For the music director; to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm, a song. May God show us his favor and bless us! May he smile on us! (Selah) 67:2 Then those living on earth will know what you are like; all nations will know how you deliver your people. 67:3 Let the nations thank you, O God! Let all the nations thank you! 67:4 Let foreigners rejoice and celebrate! For you execute justice among the nations, and govern the people living on earth. (Selah)

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 67:1

¹ sn Psalm 67. The psalmist prays for God’s blessing upon his people and urges the nations to praise him for he is the just ruler of the world.

² tn Or “have mercy on us.”

³ tn The prefixed verbal forms are understood as jussives expressing the psalmist’s prayer. Note the jussive form יָאֵר (ya’er) in the next line.

⁴ tn Heb “may he cause his face to shine with us.”

NET Notes: Psa 67:2

¹ tn Heb “to know in the earth your way, among all nations your deliverance.” The infinitive with -לְ (lamed) expresses purpose/result. When God demonstrates his favor to his people, all nations will recognize his character as a God who delivers. The Hebrew term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) refers here to God’s characteristic behavior, more specifically, to the way he typically saves his people.

NET Notes: Psa 67:3

¹ tn Heb “let the nations, all of them, thank you.” The prefixed verbal forms in vv. 3-4a are understood as jussives in this call to praise.

NET Notes: Psa 67:4

¹ tn Or “peoples.”

² tn Heb “for you judge nations fairly, and [as for the] peoples in the earth, you lead them.” The imperfects are translated with the present tense because the statement is understood as a generalization about God’s providential control of the world. Another option is to understand the statement as anticipating God’s future rule (“for you will rule…and govern”).