Praise and Blessing

 January 27, 2022

“God be merciful to us and bless us, 

And cause His face to shine upon us, Selah 

That Your way may be known on earth, 

Your salvation among all nations. 

Let the peoples praise You, O God; 

Let all the peoples praise You. 

Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy! 

For You shall judge the people righteously, 

And govern the nations on earth. Selah 

Let the peoples praise You, O God; 

Let all the peoples praise You. 

Then the earth shall yield her increase; 

God, our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, 

And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.”

Psalm 67:1-7 

For too many years I’ve been reading the Bible incorrectly. I would read a text like the above psalm somewhat detachedly, as if the statements were merely that—generalized declarations that in practice amounted to little more than suggestions. In recent months, God has been raising my awareness to the fact that the words I had read and understood in that detached way were in fact, direct commands from God himself.

In this 67th psalm, we are commanded three times to praise God, and holds the promise that from that praise, “the earth shall yield her increase” (v.5), and God’s “salvation among all nations” (v.1). The train of thought begins with the request for God’s blessing, but the blessing itself is a result of our praise being offered (“Then the earth shall yield her increase [and] God…shall bless us” (v.6). In other words, the requested blessing comes as a result of our praise.

If we neglect praise, even our prayers become self-serving—what we want, rather than what God wants. Praise, and praise alone, focuses my prayers and attention towards God instead of myself. God alone is worth of praise. His majesty and mercy, his love and judgment, his power and forgiveness are reasons to praise.

So let us praise him. Praise alone fosters our sanctification by turning our hearts from their petty, selfish, and sinful desires, and gives us the mind of Christ. When we, as St. Paul commands, think on what is “true, what is noble, what is just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8), such praise and thanksgiving helps us bring every thought captive to Christ. And that is where God’s blessing is found.