Psalm 67 is a psalm of benediction, that is, a blessing psalm. It moves from the blessing of God’s people to the blessing of the whole earth which is a deliberate reflection of the structure of the original simple form of the covenant in Genesis 12:1-3. In this sense it is, like all blessings must be, firmly based upon the promises of scripture. In Gen. 12:1-3 God reveals his plan to bless a chosen people (those who have the faith of Abraham) and through them to bless the whole world. People are the channels of God’s blessing and therefore we are blessed always in order to be a blessing. This is why the psalm moves from ‘God bless us’ to ‘God bless the world.’ If we are not experiencing the fullness of the spiritual blessings that we have in Christ (i.e. Ephesians 1) then we have no capacity to bless the world.
This psalm is one of those psalms which contains a repeated chorus section and in this case the chorus contains the ultimate covenant vision of a world in which all peoples praise and fear God. In this sense the psalm has a strong eschatological (i.e. pertaining to the end times) outlook. This psalm would have been used as a means of declaring the blessing of God over the people of God. It is a certain and covenant focused call for God to fulfil his promise. It expresses that fact that God has given us the right, and indeed the responsibility, to declare blessing upon one another, an action that has more effect than we could ever imagine. In the mind of the psalmist speech is an efficacious action and we are responsible for what we say whether we mean it or not. When we curse, someone is injured whether we meant it or not. But on the positive side, a blessing declared in faith is the ultimate positive use of the authority that is restored to us through Jesus Christ.
