Are you turning your Bibles to Psalm 67? Psalm 67 God, be merciful unto us and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us. Say, La, that thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. Let the people praise thee, O God, and let all the people praise thee. O let the nations be glad and sing for joy, For thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah. Let the people praise thee, O God. Let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase, and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. Seeking the Lord's help, I'd like for us to consider the words that we have in this psalm. Now, if you were to go to the doctor, it's quite possible that the doctor will take your pulse. And when the doctor feels your pulse, and when the doctor counts the rate or the beats of your pulse, the doctor is able to tell whether you're healthy or you're not healthy. But that only helps the doctor because the doctor knows what a healthy pulse ought to be. If you had no idea what a healthy pulse was, then it wouldn't matter whether it was rapid or whether it was slow. There's nothing to compare it to. We need to know what is healthy that we might be able to compare ourselves to see whether we are well or whether we are not. And we have here in Psalm 67 the beat of a healthy spiritual pulse. And it's good for us to look at this psalm tonight, that it would help us to understand what ought to be normal and how we ought to be. As we come on this night at the end of the communion season, we come to thank God for his goodness to us. And we come to seek God. And as we thank God for His goodness to us, and as we do seek God, we're asking that God would continue to be good for us, and that God would continue to provide for us. But there's a danger, and there's a danger that we become so concerned with what is about us, that we become self-centred and self-focused. It's important. That we have a concern, yes for ourselves, but that we have a concern also for the church of Jesus Christ. That we have a concern for those who are outside of the church of Jesus Christ and heading to a lost eternity. And that we have a concern for the glory of God. It's not for us to be me-centered. but for us to be Christ-centred. And as we look through this psalm, I believe we are given help in this. It's interesting to note also that this, we're told, is to the chief musician on Neganoth, a psalm or a song. In fact, in the Greek Septuagint version, this is referred to as a psalm and a song and a hymn. So here we have an example of what Paul is referring to when he says to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. The book of Psalms is a book of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. And this particular one happens to be referred to under the title of all three. Well, as we look at this psalm, this hymn, this spiritual song, I want us to see three great emphases. And the first one is in verse 1, that we are to be seeking Christ. Here is the healthy beat of a spiritual pulse. It is seeking Christ. God be merciful unto us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us. God be merciful unto us. And in beginning by seeking for mercy, there is an acknowledgement here that we deserve nothing. We're not asking for what we deserve. We're not asking for what we've earned. But we're asking that according to the free mercy of God, so He would deal with us. This isn't particularly a psalm of confession. But yet here, there is an acknowledgement of sin. There is an acknowledgement of how far short we fall of God. We're asking God to regard us in the misery, and in our poverty, and in our need. Friends, if we dare to come before God without thinking that we require mercy, then we're coming in a presumptuous manner, we're coming in a defiant manner. But here, we are shown how it is that we are to approach God. God, be merciful unto us and bless us. Give us not what we deserve, but do us good. Now, it's true that man is to bless God. We sang in Psalm 103, O thou my soul, bless God the Lord, and all that in me is, be stirred up his holy name to magnify and praise. Yes, we are called to bless God, and we bless God as far as we declare who God is. We don't bring anything and add to God something that He doesn't have. We can't increase His glory, but we can declare His glory to declare His majesty. But God blesses man by giving man what he does not have. Not by revealing who we are, but by bestowing what we need and what we cannot otherwise get. God be merciful unto us and bless us. Bless us with life. Bless us with hope. Bless us with peace of conscience. with all our daily needs, seeking Christ. But perhaps the greatest blessing, or without doubt the greatest blessing, is that we would have His very presence. God, be merciful unto us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us. And there we have this, seeking the very presence of God, the nearness of God, that God would draw near, not as judge, but would draw near as the one who's revealed himself to be our friend. And when we think how cold we are and how dark our experience so often is, don't we need his face to shine upon us? to warm and to illuminate, to instruct and to preserve. Of course, we have this promise, don't we? Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. And yet, while we have this promise, is it true that we come again and again and we plead this promise? Lord, cause your face to shine upon us. And why do we plead this? Because we don't feel this. And we're conscious that this is our great need. A Christian is someone who has a satisfaction with Christ, but yet who is not satisfied in that we want more. We need more. We must have. that we would know His face shining. How do we know the face of God shining upon us? Well, isn't it when we have His Word blessed to us? When the Holy Spirit of God takes the things of Christ and makes them known. So that when we read the Word, we see Christ. So that when we sit at the table and we receive the elements, we see Christ. So that when we gather together, we know something of Christ. And we're conscious that this is not from man. But this is God blessing His people. So many gifts. Don't we have so much? We are rich. We've been provided for. And yet, it is not these things, it is not these gifts, but it is He Himself that we desire. I remember finding a letter, an old letter that my grandfather had sent to his brother from his honeymoon. It says, My dear brother, it began, We're well. Please send us some money. Kind regards. He wanted the gift. He didn't want his brother there. He wanted what his brother could give him. But that's not how we are as we call upon God. We want our God to shine upon us. We want to know his near presence. Yes, we receive gift after gift, daily. His blessings are upon us. But without Him, what satisfaction do you find? In this first verse, we have essentially an echo of the Aaronic blessing, the blessing of Aaron. We find in Numbers chapter 6. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. So what we find here is this promise turned into prayer. What we're doing is we're coming and asking God for what God wants to bestow. This is the blessing he gave to the priest to bestow upon the people. And so we come and we say, Lord, give us what you have for us. For we are poor and needy. It's so hard to pray, isn't it? We're all intimidated by the prospect of praying in public. But it's hard to pray in private too. How to pray? What to say to God? Well, let us take His Word. And let us take His promises. And let us bring them before Him and plead them before Him. Lord, do as you have said you will do. Show yourself to be faithful. This is the beat of a healthy pulse. A seeking of mercy and of blessing, but ultimately of Christ himself. And notice this, that it is in the plural, God be merciful unto us. Yes, it means, God, be merciful to me. But it's not me in isolation. It's like the Lord's Prayer. Our Lord said, when you pray, go away quietly by yourself and pray in this way. Our Father. You're not praying in a group. You're praying by yourself. But as you pray by yourself, be conscious that you're part of a body. And here, as we sing this psalm, we're conscious that we're part of a body. And I desire mercy. And I desire blessing. And I desire His presence. But I desire it not only for me, but for us. And that's how we're to be. Lord, be merciful to me. Lord, be merciful to us. That His blessing would be shared and known. Not the selfishness of me, me, me. but a concern for his people. Here's an expression of unity in the church. So first of all we have then this seeking Christ. But secondly from verses 2 through to 5 would have a seeking of converts. God, be merciful unto me, be merciful unto us, that thy way may be known upon the earth. Do you see? We're asking that the Lord would pour out His blessing upon us, that His blessing would overflow upon the whole earth, that God would be known upon the earth, Not just simply that we would do well, not just simply that we would thrive, but that He would be glorified. Not just here amongst us now, but He would be glorified throughout this earth. See the order, me, us, them. Spurgeon said, just as the rain falls upon the mountains and then waters the whole land, So we desire that God's blessing would be upon His Church, that good would be done to all. The Church, the Lord Jesus Christ is God's strategy in this world to do good to all men. We might say that the poverty of our nation, particularly the spiritual poverty of our nation, it reflects upon us. For if we seek Him, and if we seek Him together, and if His blessing is upon us, surely it will be seen and that will be felt. Isn't that one of the effects of true revival? That the whole of society is changed as a consequence of God's presence amongst His people. You, like me, you feel your weakness. What can I do? But it's not about what you can do or what I can do, but it's about what the Lord can do. And so we pray that the Lord would show his mercy to us and show his mercy to them. that thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. That God would be seen. How is God to be seen in Knightswood? How is God to be seen in Glasgow? How is God to be seen in Scotland? How is God to be seen in the United Kingdom and beyond? Has it anything to do with you? It has, hasn't it? Thy way. What is His way? The Lord Jesus Christ. He is the way. Thy saving health. His salvation. That He might be seen unknown. You see that verse 3 and verse 5, there's a repetition. Let the people praise Thee, O God. Let all the people praise Thee. And this repetition, they are on either side of verse 4, and it emphasizes for us verse 4, O let the nations be glad and sing for joy. For thou shalt judge the people righteously and govern the nations upon earth. A healthy pulse. There is a concern for those who are in bondage. Do you listen to news reports? And you hear of those nations in bondage to false religion. You see our own nation in bondage to vain empty dreams, to vain concepts and philosophies, to madness and to foolishness. Is your heart not torn as you think of those people with never dying souls, going to a lost eternity, blinded Not knowing. Not having heard. With no liberty in this life. And no hope for the life to come. See people living in terror. No security in their homes. No joy in their families. And no hope for eternity. Here there's a cry to God. Oh Lord, let the nations be glad and sing for joy. Those nations that today weep and wail and howl. It's a plea to God. It's a plea to God that surely must be followed by action. But in the first place, it's a plea to God. That God would deliver the nations. That God would cause His word to be heard. Here we have a psalm which the Old Testament believer is singing in anticipation of the Gospel age. They're saying, Lord, extend your mercy. These blind Gentiles, those who are in complete darkness, Oh, that the light of your glorious gospel would shine forth. Here's a seeking for Pentecost. Here's a desire for mission work. We read in 1 Kings 10 of the Queen of Sheba, there's a glimpse of the Gentiles coming. The glory of Solomon's kingdom. And the Queen of Sheba comes. And the blessing of Solomon's kingdom is overflowing, isn't it? And there's joy in the earth, there's prosperity in the earth. Friends, is this not your great concern? You're not crying, Oh Lord, how long will it be that darkness will dominate? How long will it be that the people will not see or will not hear? And if we have this beating pulse of concern for others to hear, will we not then speak? Will we not then act? Prayer which is not followed through with a consistent action is not prayer, is it? To pray that there would be gospel blessing and then to remain silent. and to hide away, and to refuse to acknowledge that we know Christ. A healthy pulse recognizes that He is able, that He has power. So we come and we seek His blessing. Seeking of Christ. A seeking of converts. And then finally in verses 6 and 7, we have this showing of confidence. Then shall the earth yield her increase, and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. It's a confidence. that the earth shall yield an increase. Remember, the earth was cursed because of sin. And there were thorns, and there were briars, and harvests would fail, and there were times of starvation and of poverty. It says in Psalm 107, He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the water springs into a dry ground, a fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. But here in the singing of Psalm 67 there is an acknowledgement that God in His gracious mercy will turn the curse and will bless and prosper so that this barren earth will yield its increase. and will yield a fruitful harvest. And this isn't about corn and barley, is it? This is about souls. Creation was made subject to vanity, but yet God will be glorified, and men will praise Him. So, seeking here for the covenantal blessing, Leviticus chapter 26, If you walk in my statutes and keep my commandments and do them, then will I give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time, and you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land safely. Lord, Bless me, Lord, bless us. Lord, bless us that good will be done to them. And as good is done to them, blessing returns to the church. Don't we see that as the Queen of Sheba comes to Solomon and she gives him these great gifts? This blessing that flows out and this blessing that flows in. The earth shall yield her increase, and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him. Seeking Christ, seeking converts, And that seems so hopeless, doesn't it? But we know that God is able and so we are confident. Friends, we see here what a healthy pulse looks like. A healthy spiritual pulse. It's a concern for ourselves, but it's a concern for the church. It's a concern for the lost. It's a concern for the glory of God. It's not about me, and me, and me. You know, in a moment we will sing this psalm. We can sing this psalm and you can do nothing. Just sing these words. Isn't that just a contradiction which will eat at your soul? Isn't that just a mockery of God? Isn't that just as like Israel was at the time when our Saviour walked upon his earth? And with all the outward form, all the correct things were done, and yet they denied Him and refused Him and rejected Him. And it's true too that we can seek the blessing of God with the wrong motive. We want ease and we want comfort. We want to be mainstream. We want to be popular. We want to be vindicated. But let us today, let us to seek the glory of God upon earth. This is a healthy spiritual pulse. It's true that our pulse doesn't beat as it should. It doesn't keep the rhythm that it ought to have. But what do you do when your pulse is poor? You go to the doctor. You follow the doctor's order. You do what the doctor says. It might not be what you would have thought of. But you know that the doctor knows, and so you listen to the doctor. And what do we do when we find that our pulse is not beating in a healthy way? Well, we come. We confess our sin. And we seek His mercy. And we sing this psalm. And we learn what is right. And we remind ourselves where we should be. And we seek for grace to walk in His ways. I've little children and if they fall over and as they do and as they cry, as they do, what you do is you pick them up, you sit them on your lap and you comfort them. And you also speak to them. They're crying because they're sore. You say, oh my little boy, you're crying and you're sore because you've hurt your knee. Or if he's crying because he's tired, you speak to him and say you're crying because you're tired. And what you're doing is you're explaining to the child. You're teaching the child. You're connecting their feelings with what has happened. I say that one of the things about children who are neglected is they don't connect that all together. No one's ever sat them on the knee and just helped them connect their feelings with their experiences. God gives us his word, particularly these Psalms, to nurture us and to instruct us, that we might connect our feelings with our experiences. He's telling us what's going on, that we might learn And here we have this healthy beating spiritual pulse with a seeking after Christ and a seeking of converse and a showing of confidence in Him. How do we show our thankfulness to God? So not by faithfulness to God. It's not by living this out. This is how we ought to be. Let us remind ourselves daily how we ought to be. Let us strive to then live for His glory. Amen. Let's pray.