Psalms 67:1-4

Psalm 67 ¹ 

For the music director; to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm, a song.

67:1 May God show us his favor ²  and bless us! ³ 

May he smile on us! ⁴  (Selah)

67:2 Then those living on earth will know what you are like;

all nations will know how you deliver your people. ⁵ 

67:3 Let the nations thank you, O God!

Let all the nations thank you! ⁶ 

67:4 Let foreigners ⁷  rejoice and celebrate!

For you execute justice among the nations,

and govern the people living on earth. ⁸  (Selah)

[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.

[67:1]  ² tn Or “have mercy on us.”

[67:1]  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.

[67:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “may he cause his face to shine with us.”

[67:2]  ⁵ 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.

[67:3]  ⁶ 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.

[67:4]  ⁷ tn Or “peoples.”

[67:4]  ⁸ 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”).