God Blesses Us So Others Can Know Him: Lessons from Psalm 67
Psalm 67 is only seven verses long, and we don't even know who wrote it. But what this short psalm teaches about why God blesses His people is something every believer needs to hear. The message is simple but convicting: God's blessings are not meant to stop with us.
Is It Okay to Ask God to Bless You?
Many believers feel guilty asking God for blessings. It can feel selfish to ask a God who has already given us more than we deserve for even more. So we redirect all of our prayers outward, toward our spouse, our kids, our friends, and we quietly leave ourselves out of the equation.
But that is not how the Bible talks. Scripture is full of examples of God's people asking Him for favor, provision, protection, and wisdom. In Psalm 67, God's people simply pray, "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us." (Psalm 67:1, ESV)
That language comes directly from a blessing God Himself instructed the priests to speak over His people in Numbers 6:24-26: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace." (Numbers 6:24-26, ESV)
Asking God to bless you is not automatically selfish. God Himself taught His people how to receive His blessings. The real question is not whether it is okay to ask. The real question is what you want the blessing for.
What Is the Purpose of God's Blessing?
The psalmist does not stop at "bless us." He immediately tells us why he is asking. Verse two says, "that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations." (Psalm 67:2, ESV)
There is the reason. God, bless us so that somebody else can know You. Bless us so that others can see Your saving power through what You have done in our lives.
That small word "that" carries enormous weight. The writer knows what he is asking for, and he knows why he is asking for it. The blessing has a destination beyond the person receiving it.
This should challenge the way we pray. Many of our prayers sound a lot like verse one. Lord, help my family. Provide what we need. Bless our church. And none of those are bad prayers. But Psalm 67 asks a follow-up question: what happens after God answers those prayers?
God's blessings are not meant to make us look impressive. They are meant to point people toward God. If He carried you through a season you did not think you would survive, maybe someone else needs to hear where your hope came from. If He answered a prayer, maybe someone needs to know who you were praying to.
Why Do the Nations Have a Reason to Rejoice?
Verses three and five repeat the same phrase like bookends around verse four: "Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you." (Psalm 67:3, 5, ESV)
That repetition is intentional. The writer is putting a spotlight on what sits in the middle, which is verse four: "Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth." (Psalm 67:4, ESV)
At first glance, rejoicing because God judges might seem strange. But the word "judge" here is not limited to punishment. It refers to God's rule and governance. And the writer says God judges with equity. He gets it right every time. There is no corruption in Him, no favoritism, no missing information.
We all know what it feels like when someone in authority gets it wrong. A decision gets made and you think, that is not fair. That should not have happened. But God never does that. When God rules, that is genuinely good news.
What Does It Mean That God Both Judges and Guides?
Verse four gives us two sides of God's rule. He judges and He guides. He establishes what is right, and then He leads His people in what is right.
Sometimes we want one without the other. We love asking God to guide us, to open doors, to direct our steps. But guidance assumes He also gets to determine the direction. You cannot ask God to guide you while reserving the right to reject every direction you do not like. At that point, He is not guiding you. You are asking Him to approve the route you already planned.
His direction is never crooked. He will never lead you into sin or contrary to His character. His rule is perfectly just, which means His guidance can be trusted completely. Obedience to God is not surrendering to someone who wants to make your life miserable. It is trusting the One who actually knows what is right.
Do We Actually Want Others to Know God?
After repeating the call for all peoples to praise God, the writer turns to what God has already provided. "The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us." (Psalm 67:6, ESV)
Notice what he calls Him. Not "a God" or "one of the gods." He says, "our God." The God he wants the whole world to know is the God He knows personally. He has seen His faithfulness. He has experienced His provision. And he cannot separate receiving that blessing from wanting others to know the same God.
Verse seven closes the psalm: "God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear Him." (Psalm 67:7, ESV)
The prayer has gone as far as it can go. He wants everyone, everywhere, to know the God that He knows. And this is where we need to sit and ask ourselves honestly: do we actually want that? Do we genuinely care that the people around us do not know Jesus?
A church can become so inwardly focused without even realizing it. Every question becomes, what is the church doing for me? But Psalm 67 keeps pulling our eyes outward. The writer is thinking about worship happening where worship is not happening yet. That is called mission.
How Do We Share the Gospel Without Pushing People Away?
Mission is not reserved for Christians who board a plane and cross an ocean. God absolutely calls people to do that. But there are also people right here in your community who do not know God. They work with you. They live beside you. They sit across the table from you.
Sharing the gospel requires wisdom. Planting a seed is good. Watering it is good. But overwatering kills growth before it ever starts. It is not your job to convict anyone. That belongs to the Holy Spirit. Your responsibility is to share the grace of God and then trust the Spirit to do His work.
If your spouse does not believe, if your children do not believe, flooding them with pressure is not going to produce faith. You share, you water, and then you trust God with the outcome.
We Live on the Other Side of What the Psalmist Was Praying For
The saving power of God that the psalmist prayed would be made known has already been revealed most clearly in Jesus Christ. He came into this world, lived without sin, went to the cross and took the judgment our sin deserved, died, and rose again.
Before Jesus ascended, He gave His followers a mission that echoes Psalm 67 directly. "And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'" (Matthew 28:18-20, ESV)
Somebody before us made sure the gospel did not stop with them, and eventually it reached us. Now Jesus has entrusted that message to us. You do not need a passport to know someone who needs Jesus. You do not need a platform or a microphone. God has placed His people all over this community, and everywhere you turn, there is someone who needs to hear about Christ.
Nothing you have gone through in your life was only meant for you. One day you will cross paths with someone walking through the exact same season you survived, and you will be able to say, I know how God brought me through this. I can be here for you right now.
The question is not only has God blessed us. The question is who is seeing God through the way I use what He has given me.
Life Application
This week, identify one person in your life who does not know Jesus. It might be a coworker, a neighbor, a family member, or a friend. Pray for them by name every day this week. Then look for one natural opportunity to share something about what God has done in your life, not a rehearsed speech, just an honest moment of pointing to Him. Plant the seed, water it gently, and trust the Holy Spirit to do what only He can do.
Ask yourself these questions as you go into the week:
When I receive a blessing from God, do I ever stop to ask why He gave it to me and how it might point someone else toward Him?
Is there someone God has placed in my life who needs to hear the gospel, and have I been avoiding that conversation?
Am I praying boldly for my own needs while also praying boldly for the people around me who do not yet know Christ?
Do I genuinely want others to know the God I know, or have I become comfortable keeping my faith mostly to myself?
Psalm 67 begins with a prayer for blessing and ends with a vision for the whole earth knowing God. Once you have received His grace, the next question is always the same: who is next?