Psalms 67

God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us (Psalms 67:1);

Three things: be merciful unto us, bless us, cause His face to shine upon us. Now there are some people that would find fault with this prayer. "I never like to ask God for anything personal." That's so idealistic it stinks. I want God to bless me. I want God to be merciful unto me. And I want God's face to shine upon my life. But, the motive behind it,

That thy way may be known upon the earth, thy saving health among all nations. Let the people praise thee O God, let all the people praise thee (Psalms 67:2-3).

Oh God, be merciful; cause Your face to shine upon me. God, bless me in order that Your way may be known upon the earth, Your saving health, that I might be the blessing then, actually, to all nations. That all people may praise Thee.

O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for you shall judge the people righteously, and govern the nations of the eaRuth (Psalms 67:4).

Jesus is coming to judge the nations righteously. In the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew we are told of the coming again of Jesus Christ to judge the earth. This was declared by Enoch in the (apocryphal) book of Enoch, the prophecy of Enoch, "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment upon the earth. And also to reign righteously as He governs over the nations upon the earth" (Jude 1:14-15).

Now there are many people that are concerned with the judgment of God. What about a little child that dies before it is old enough to know Jesus Christ? What about people that have never heard of Jesus Christ? What about... ? Now the Bible doesn't give us the specifics of His judgment, what He is going to do in specific cases. But it does tell us that He is going to judge the world righteously, so whatever God does will be righteous. It will be fair. It will be just. I don't know what God is going to do. There are a lot of unknowables, a lot of questions, a lot of imponderables.
Now, I do know some things. I do know that if I am walking with God, my children under the age of accountability are safe. I know that. What about the children of the parents who are sinners? I don't know that. That I am going to have to wait to find out. But I don't like to live in a question mark, and thus, I like to be sure. Now, I know for certainty how God is going to judge in certain areas, those that believe on Jesus Christ I know what is going to happen to them. But what about those that don't? Well, I don't know for sure, but I don't want to live in that kind of a question mark. I want to live on the safe side, that which I know. I want to be found in Christ, not having my own righteousness but the righteousness which is of Christ through faith.

Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase (Psalms 67:5-6);

Now this is interesting, "Let all the people praise thee, then shall the earth yield her increase." More and more we are discovering the effect of man's attitudes upon plants. They are now connecting some of these lie detector things to plants to watch the reaction. For plants react much like human beings in that they have measurable responses upon these lie detector machines. And even as if you are holding the electrodes of a lie detector, as you start to tell a lie, your pulse begins to pick up and moisture begins to exude, and these little electrodes pick it up and you get this movement on the graph from this sensitive needle that is moving back and forth. And so a man who is skilled can ask you a series of questions and tell you which ones that you were telling the lie and which ones you were telling the truth. And by the galvanic responses and so forth. Now they are finding that plants have similar kinds of responses, and they respond to words of praise. It is interesting.
Now I didn't know this, but, and of course, it is very early in the experimental stage. I have watched some experiments. I have watched the plants respond, and it is interesting to watch the plant responses on these machines. But when we were living in Newport Beach, we had a hibiscus that I planted out in the front yard, and every time I would come out the door I would say, "Praise the Lord, hibiscus." And when I would enter the house I would turn over to it and I would say, "Praise the Lord, hibiscus." And you know, that was the most blossoming hibiscus you've ever seen in your life. Beautiful double orange blossoms covered constantly year round. That thing grew and prospered. It was the most healthy plant, the most beautiful blossoming plant, and I'd just come out and say, "Praise the Lord, hibiscus."
"Let the people praise Thee, O God. Let all the people praise Thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase." Isn't that wild? The earth responding, plants responding to praise unto the Lord. Now if I come into your house and I see all of your plants withered and wilted, you're going to be suspect.

God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall reverence him (Psalms 67:7).

The psalm begins with a prayer for blessing and ends with an assurance of that blessing. "