John Gill Commentary Psalms 67

God be merciful unto us, and bless us
That is, God, of his unmerited mercy, of his rich grace and free favour, bless us with the coming of his Son, the promised seed, in whom all nations are to be blessed; and with the blessings of peace, pardon, and righteousness in him; all which with him spring from the tender mercy of God, the riches of his grace, and his great love; than which nothing could be more desirable to the Old Testament saints, who were shut up under the law, until faith came; and though children, they differed nothing from servants, being in a state and under a spirit of bondage: for the psalmist seems to represent the whole church under that dispensation: some understand the words as a prophecy, expressing the certainty of what would be; and, as the words may be rendered, "God will be merciful", or "gracious to us ^F11 , and he will bless us"; as he has promised to do;

[and] cause his face to shine upon us ;
that is, grant his gracious presence, and the discoveries of his love; that he would favour with communion with himself through Christ, and a greater knowledge of him in him; or that he would cause him, who is his face, his image, the brightness of his glory, to appear and shine forth; the great light, the sun of righteousness, and dayspring from on high, that was to arise and shine upon the people of God. The Targum is,

Selah; on this word, (See Gill on Psalms 3:2).

FOOTNOTES:

• F11: (wnnxy) "miserebitur", Gejerus, Schmidt.

That your way may be known upon earth
God's way and method of grace, in the salvation of sinners; the contrivance of it in Christ, the impetration of it by him, and the application of it by his Spirit; and the way of sinners to him through Christ, the way, the truth, and the life, the new and living way to the Father; and the way of life and salvation, which is grace, and by Christ alone; and the Gospel which points out this way, and is itself called the way of God, (Acts 18:25); together with the ordinances of it, which are ways of pleasantness, and paths of peace; all this was made known by the apostles and first preachers of the Gospel; not only in the land of Judea, but throughout the whole earth;

your saving health among all nations ;
or "your salvation"; or "your Jesus"^F12; whose name signifies a Saviour; and who is the only one, and an able and willing one, and is God's salvation, of his appointing, promising, and sending; salvation is by him, and by him only; he came to obtain it, and he is the author of it; health is also by him, he is the physician of souls, and his blood the balm that cures every disease; so that he is the Saviour, salvation, and saving health, to his people; this was unknown to the nations of the world until the Gospel came among them, until the grace of God bringing this salvation appeared unto them, and shone upon them, (Titus 2:11).

FOOTNOTES:

• F12: Ktewsy ) "salutem tuam", Pagninus, Montanus "i.e. salvatorem cujus nomen erit Jesus", Gejerus.

Let the people praise thee, O God
Let them have occasion to praise God, the people of the Jews, for the mission of Christ, and for the blessings of grace and peace with him;

let all the people praise thee ;
all the nations of the world, for making known the way of life and grace, and the saving health or salvation of God unto them:

The word used signifies to "confess" ^F13 ; and so the Targum,

``the people shall confess before thee, O God; all the people shall confess before thee;'' that is, shall confess their sins, being made sensible of them; and confess the true and living God, turning from their idols to serve him; and Christ to be the only Saviour and Redeemer, being now made known unto them, through the preaching of the Gospel.

FOOTNOTES:

• F13: (Kwdwy) "confiteantur", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus

O let the nations be glad and sing for joy
As they were glad, and did sing for joy, and glorified God, when Christ was made known, and the Gospel was preached unto them, (Acts 8:5Acts 8:8) (Acts 13:47Acts 13:48) .

for you shall judge the people righteously ;
meaning not the people of the world at the last day, at the general judgment, which will be a righteous one; when God will judge the world in righteousness, according to the strict rules of justice and equity, by him whom he has ordained, (Psalms 96:1–3) (Acts 17:31) ; but either the righteous judgment which will be executed on the enemies of Christ's church and people; particularly on antichrist, which will be matter of great joy, (Revelation 19:1Revelation 19:2) ; and Kimchi interprets it of the judgment of the nations which shall come with Gog and Magog; or else the judging and vindicating the Lord's own people, defending their cause, righting their wrongs, and suffering no weapon to prosper against them;

and govern the nations upon earth ;
or "lead [them]" ^F14 ; not to punishment, as Kimchi, who interprets this clause as the other; but by his grace and Spirit, into the knowledge of his way, and saving health; or as a shepherd leads his flock into green pastures, and beside the still waters; or as a king leads and governs his people, as David guided the people of Israel, with the skilfulness of his hands; so Christ leads and governs his people, protects and defends them, holds them by his right hand, guides them with his counsel, and then receives them to glory; see (Psalms 23:2) (78:72) (73:24) .

Selah; on this word, (See Gill on Psalms 3:2).

FOOTNOTES:

• F14: (Mxnt) "duces eas", Montanus; "deduces", Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius; "deducis", Piscator.

Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.] (See Gill on Psalms 67:3). This is repeated from that preceding verse to show the earnest desire of the church that it might be so; or that there might be an occasion for it.

The ardour of her mind, and fervency of her petitions, and how much she was solicitous for the praise and glory of God;

or to declare the certainty of it, she most strongly believing that so it would be; as the Targum, "the people shall confess" because of a new favour to be enjoyed, mentioned in (Psalms 67:6) .