“May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. Selah”
~ Psalm 67:4
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you like to practice? Do you like to repeat doing something over and over? Why do you think that it is so important to practice to do something? Why do you think that it is so import to repeat something over and over? How do you learn to spell words? How do you learn to catch a ball? How do you learn to make pirouettes? How do you learn to recite verses? Would you be able to pass a spelling exam if you are unable to spell the words that are on the spelling exam? Would you be able to play shortstop on a baseball team if you did not know how to catch a baseball? Would you be able to participate in a ballet recital if you did know how to do a pirouette? Would you be able to quote Bible verses if you do know what is in the Bible? Not practicing or repeating over and over spelling words, catching balls, doing pirouettes and memorizing Bible verses will invariably result in having embarrassing and humiliating personal debacles while practicing and repeating over and over spelling words, catching balls, doing pirouettes and memorizing Bible verses will invariably result in rewarding and fulfilling personal accomplishments. Are your dad and ma happier with you when you are a fiasco because you did not know any of the spelling words that were on a spelling exam, when you booted every baseball that was hit to you during a baseball game, when you tripped all over yourself during a ballet recital and/or when you did not know where to find a Bible verse in the Bible or are your dad and ma happier with you when you are given a reward because you knew all the spelling words correctly that were on a spelling exam, because you caught all the baseballs that were hit to you during a baseball game, because you executed really well all the pirouettes during a ballet recital and/or because you recited perfectly the verses that your Sunday School teacher wanted you to memorize?
God expects that the living words that are found in the Bible Book are practiced and repeated over and over. God – as God the Spirit, breathed words on psalm song writers that God – as God the Father, expected His specially chosen guys and gals to repeat over and over. Psalm 67 is a psalm song that God – as God the Father, expected His specially chosen guys and gals to repeat over and over. This psalm song is a short liturgical communal prayer that God’s specially chosen guys and gals may have recited at the end of a worship service in His temple that was located in the city of Jerusalem or it may have been recited by God’s specially chosen guys and gals prior to or immediately after the priestly benediction in the temple of God that was located in the city of Jerusalem. The first two verses of this psalm song is a specific prayer to God from God’s specially chosen guys and gals to ask Him for His blessings on their lives and for his salvation to spread to all the nations and people groups of guys and gals who are living on planet Earth. The last two verses of this psalm song are the expectations of God’s specially chosen guys and gals for God’s answer to their prayer for blessings – that their land would again yield a harvest and that a fear of God would spread to the ends of planet Earth. The three verses that are found between the first two and the last two verses are specifically focused on all the nations and people groups of guys and gals – other than God’s specially chosen guys and gals, who God has created to live on planet Earth. God wanted all these nations and people groups of guys and gals to experience the same blessings that He was blessing His specially chosen guys and gals. God really wanted His specially chosen guys and gals to know this – that He really did want to pour out on all their neighboring nations and people groups of guys and gals the same blessings that He was pouring out on them. The words that are found in the middle verse of this psalm song – which is verse 4, is a summation of what God expected His specially chosen guys and gals to internalize about Him and to repeat over and over again, “May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. Selah”
God wants to be known as being a benevolent Father Who loves every guy, gal and kid who He has created to live on planet Earth and Who wants to bless every guy, gal and kid with riches and hope who He has created to live on planet Earth. When God – as God the Spirit, was breathing the words of this psalm song on the author of this psalm song to scribe, God – as God the Father, did not just want to be praised by His specially chosen guys and gals; God – as God the Father, wanted to be praised by every guy, gal and kid who He has created to live on planet Earth. Your grandpaa wonders at times why God – as God the Father, did not or does not apply His completely unbounded omnipotence to bring about universal praise for Himself but . . . what your grandpaa knows is that he has been uniquely created by God – as God the Father, to have an exclusive relationship with Him which your grandpaa is to develop by constantly practicing and continually repeating over and over again His living words – which will reflect His glory back to Him and to other guys and gals. When your grandpaa ended up with torn muscles and a bone chip in his left elbow after a Bolivian taxi driver tried to earn points by running your grandpaa over while he was going around Santa Cruz’s first circle on his 125 Yamaha street bike, your grandpaa’s left arm had very limited movement and his left hand’s fingers had no ability at all initially to move after the surgery to reattach the torn muscles and removal of the bone chip. If your grandpaa had not gone to rehab five days a week for five weeks for his left arm, your grandpaa probably would not be able to use his left arm as well as he can now use the arm. What do you think will happen if God’s mandated directives are not practiced and His living words are not repeated over and over?
Psalm 67 (618)