the reading

Psalm 67
Deus misereatur

the sermon

I had a time in my life when I wrestled with God over the ministry work He’d send me to do. I was young and zealous, and I wanted to go do something big for Him. And to make a long story short, I realized that the mission field He was sending me into was… my workplace. 

Of course I whined and complained, because it wasn’t glamorous. I was hoping He’d send me to Africa or South America or just anywhere filled with wild adventure. 

But it didn’t take me long to realize that my workplace was exactly where I needed to be a light for Him.

So I dedicated myself to being the best Christian I could be at work. And it wasn’t by inserting, “the Bible says,” into conversations or name dropping Jesus any chance I got. 

It was by being everything that God calls us to be… being a light to the people around us, being an ambassador of love and healing and redemption, and simply using the gifts that He’s given me to do the best work I could do.

And when it comes to our work, our daily labor, everything we do… parenting, building, teaching, caregiving… can become an opportunity to serve and bring glory to God.

psalm 67 textual overview: the menorah psalm

Our Psalm today, 67, is one that speaks to our work. It’s one that’s designed to be sung when the people come together after the harvest, reaping the blessing of a season of work.

It’s often referred to as “the Menorah Psalm,” because of its structure. Like the temple menorah with seven candles, it has seven verses. And those verses are connected, like the menorah, with verses one and seven looping across on the outside, two and six inside that, and three and five further inside. Then verse four is in the center by itself.

Historically, the seven-candle menorah was kept burning in the Temple, representing God’s faithfulness and presence.

The six candles on the sides represented wisdom and branches of knowledge. And the fourth one in the middle represented the guiding light of God.

It’s also worth noting that the word Selah appears twice in this psalm. Traditionally, many believe that the Selah is inserted to prompt a pause… an opportunity to stop and reflect for a moment on what was just said.

One of those is after verse four, that central focus point.

v1 & v7: the blessing that bookends

The other selah occurs after verse one. 

And because of the menorah structure, let’s look at verses one and seven together for a moment.

Verse one reads,

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us,

And this isn’t the first time we see this blessing! It’s often referred to as “the Priestly Blessing,” and it goes back to the time of Moses (in Numbers 6), when God had him instruct Aaron, the first High Priest, to bless the people by saying,

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

This has been a blessing used by the Jewish people for about 3,500 years, and continues in Christian tradition as well. In fact, the Episcopal/Anglican tradition commonly uses it as part of a benediction at the end of services.

It’s a prayer that’s used to express God’s favor and blessing upon His people.

One important difference between them (Numbers 6 and our Psalm) is that the priestly prayer is phrased with “you,” as something being given to us by someone. And in the psalm, it’s phrased with “we,” as something we’re asking for and receiving. 

As we look at this across the menorah, we see that verse seven finishes with a focus on the blessing again, saying, “May God continue to bless us,” creating a sort of bookend of requests for God’s blessing.

v2 & v6: the harvest and our daily work

Now, let’s take a look at verses two and six, then next branch in on the menorah. This is where we start seeing the connection to our work.

Let me start by looking at verse six, which reads,

The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us.

The earth yielding its increase is referring to the harvest. It’s the fruit of a whole season of work… preparing the soil, planting the seeds, watering and nurturing its growth, and harvesting the crops. And the way this verse is worded, it’s been a good harvest!

By saying that God has blessed us, it’s recognizing that He is the source of making our efforts fruitful.

And that takes us back to verse two, which says,

That your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.

And this does two things for my understanding of what’s happening here:

1. That God has a way. He has set the path for us to walk if we want to be fruitful in whatever we do.
2. That this is what makes Him known to everyone on the earth. God blesses your harvest not just to fill your barns, but to show the world who He is.

All of this together is painting a picture that our work matters… all of our work. It’s not just the work of ministry that matters. And this doesn’t only apply to agricultural work. 

All forms of work matter… spreadsheets, blueprints, diaper changes, caregiving, all of it… 

Our labor becomes worship when we recognize that God is the source of everything we do.

v3 & v5: the praise of the people

In verses three and five, we see the same exact statement…

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

So what we’re seeing here is cycles of praise. 

Even in our personal relationships, praise is something we do with people when we’re impressed or thankful for them. “Great job, Rev Kev! I’m so proud of you for the amazing work you’ve done with running New Beginnings for the youth!” That’s praise, right?!

In the same way, the people of Israel would see their harvest, recognize God as the source of it all, and offer their praise because they’re impressed by what He’s done and are thankful for it.

v4: the center candle, God for the nations

And that brings us to the center candle. Just like in the menorah, this verse is the central focus of this psalm. It’s the guiding light of God in this whole thing.

This is what it says,

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the people with equity and guide the nations upon the earth. Selah.

So here we are… we work, God blesses our work, we praise Him… and what is all of this for? It’s so that the rest of the world would see what’s going on and that they would take notice and rejoice in it too.

It’s all about pointing back to God and bringing him glory. Our work, all of it, plays a crucial role in that.

So it’s not about how masterfully you can spin an apologetics argument to convince someone about the validity of the Scriptures. It’s about how you allow God to work through you in whatever your daily work is.

This passage also speaks about how God judges the people. He’s a God of justice. 

And justice… that’s an interesting concept. I feel like our culture today doesn’t really define it very well. Too often we think of justice in terms of punishment for those who have wronged us. “They’ll get what they deserve! They’ll get justice!”

But when you dig a little deeper into what it really means, it’s not as much about punishment as it is about making right the wrongs. And that starts looking very different. 

From there you can start asking questions about what justice looks like for the widow and the orphan… just a couple types of people that Jesus clearly showed concern for. 

And when we view God as a God of justice in that sense, we start to see that His rule is fair, joyful, and redemptive… the kind of leadership the world longs for.

The work we do, and the blessing of God’s presence in it, reflects His character… justice, generosity, and grace.

This is why we can’t keep it to ourselves. This is the outward turn.

And it’s this turn that is the center candle of the menorah. It’s the central focus of it all. It’s God’s guiding light for us, leading us to where we should go.

psalm 67 as an offering

So, now I’d like to read this Psalm to you again. But this time I want you to reflect on the work you do, no matter what it is. Think about where God is (or can be) present in it. Put yourself into this Psalm as your act of worship and an offering for the harvest that comes through what you do.

(Mention instructions… “To the leader: with stringed instruments.” Also mention hand signals for verse/candle numbers and selah pauses.)

1. May God be gracious to us and bless us
   and make his face shine upon us,   Selah.
2. that your way may be know upon the earth,
   your saving power among all nations.
3. Let the peoples praise you, O God;
   let all the peoples praise you.
4. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
   For you judge the peoples with equity
   And guide the nations upon the earth.   Selah
5. Let the peoples praise you, O God;
   Let all the peoples praise you.
6. The earth has yielded it increase;
   God, our God, has blessed us.
7. May God continue to bless us;
   Let all the ends of the earth revere him.

closing invitation

Let me ask you… What is the “work of your hands” right now?

What field are you tending?

In a few minutes, we’re going to celebrate the Eucharist. And in the broken bread and poured-out wine we receive the love and presence of Christ.

Then when we finish the service, we’ll do one of my favorite things to do as a deacon in the dismissal, saying something like, “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!” In that, it’s like saying… “You just got filled up with the Word of God, and you received his presence in Holy Communion. Now, follow me and let’s take this out there and do this thing!”

And out there includes all of the work you do.

Whatever your work is, I encourage you to offer it, not for applause or recognition, but as an act of praise to the one who is present in the midst of it and blesses your harvest

May God be gracious to us and bless us… so that the whole earth would know His name. Amen.