To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah.
That your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!
Psalms 67:1-7
The day after the Pesach rest day begins the counting of the Omer. As we have noted in previous studies, the Omer was a measure used in agriculture which we see appearing in various scriptures throughout the Tanakh.
During this time as the Omer becomes part of our daily remembrance of the journey to Sinai, the Omer count becomes an essential part of the journeying memory. This was the measure that was commanded to the nation of Israel for them to collect each day of the manna to sustain them during the journey from Egypt to the Land of Promise via Sinai.
During this time we recite Psalm 67 each verse, reflecting the full extent of the significance of the events of the Exodus and the journey to Sinai.
We should take a moment to break down the psalm to bring us a deeper understanding.
v.1
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah.
The first line is an instruction to use stringed instruments. Anyone who plays a stringed instrument knows that the key to the beauty of the sound is that all the individual strings are tuned to their own pitch/note so that they will act harmoniously with the other strings. This not only produces a beautiful sound but also resonates with the wood or frame of the instrument.
As each string is played, its tone harmonises with the voice of the singer and the other strings. If it is not tuned correctly, then it will sound offkey.
The request for graciousness from Adonai, is the Hebrew word “chanan” which can also be interpreted in the English as merciful. Its real meaning is a request for Adonai to “stoop or bend” down to us in the same way that a father would bend down to hear the request of a small child. That acknowledgment alone is a blessing to us, but the face of our father as He stoops down also reflects the joy that He has as He comes closer to us.
As we consider this in the context of our passage in Beshalach ((בשלח which conveys the idea of being sent out from the house, we find ourselves now in the presence of a new father. Not Pharaoh the father of Egypt who turned on us, but our true Heavenly Father who does not take us straight into a battlefield but via a route that will not cause us more distress than we are already experiencing. And even in that, even though we may hold weapons of defence in our hands, we will not be expected to fight – well not yet – as He will lead us by cloud in the day to shelter us and by fire at night to keep us warm, both of them indicating His benevolence. Even after death, Joseph is remembered also. Symbolically, Joseph is alive with the people after they are leaving Egypt, all through the wilderness and Sinai, for forty years until they come to Shechem, where he will be reunited with his father Jacob once again.
v.2-3
That your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
The Pesach message and the message of the Counting of the Omer is summed up in verse 2; that the way of Adonai would be known throughout the earth. Pesach sets the tone of the redemption. All of the contention with Pharoah came about because Pharoah was unwilling to acknowledge the sovereignty of the One True GOD, because he believed he was god. In that false insecure belief, he also believed that the Jewish people were also responsible for all the ills of the nation (whether that was true or not) and that they were potentially desiring to overthrow the Egyptian people and become the rulers of Egypt. None of this was true, but that paranoia brought about the oppression that the Israelites experienced.
The release that comes at Pesach has one key purpose “that your way (the One True GOD) would be known on earth” This was true at the first Pesach, it is true for the Pesach of Messiah and it is true today as we carry forward the essence not just of the Pesach, but of the journey toward Sinai.
This is the significance of these days of the Omer count because they also correspond with the time of the disciples of Yeshua as they wait, are sustained and ultimately are sent out of the house on the day of Shavuot (Pentecost) so that they also can inform the world of the saving power of the Messiah of GOD amongst the nations so that all the peoples will praise Adonai as He stooped down for His children to show them His blessing.
v.4
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah.
The word “equity” toward has been misused in so many ways that we have lost sight of its application.
The Hebrew word is מישור mishor – used in Psalm 27:11 – straight path and Psalm 143:10 – upright
In both instances they denote that there is no prejudice but only correct and righteous outcomes.
What is so important about this is that if we expect Adonai to deal with us in this way, then we as followers of Master Yeshua and his sent ones are meant to, as were the Israelites, reflect the nature of Adonai in our dealings. Equity is also related to the principle of measure for measure – or do unto others as you would have done to you. The outcome of equity is meant to be Praise of Adonai. We have been brought into the covenants because of the equity of Adonai through Messiah Yeshua at Pesach so that there is equity. Now we are also on the journey to Sinai, to learn Torah and to be light in the nation that we reside in.
v.5-6
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.
The feast of weeks is a culmination of the preceding seven weeks x seven weeks; 49 days in total. It is on the 50th day that there is an offering made of two loaves presented as a wave offering before Adonai. The wave offering is waved to all four directions of the compass and to the heavens and the earth symbolically agreeing to the verse above.
“The earth has yielded its increase” and the acknowledgment is made on the 50th day. 50 is always associated with the Year of Jubilee – see Leviticus 25, the point at which all slaves go free, and all land is returned to its original owner.
Therefore, what conclusion should we reach? “Let’s go on sinning, because we’re not under legalism but under grace”? Heaven forbid!
Don’t you know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, then, of the one whom you are obeying, you are slaves — whether of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to being made righteous?
By God’s grace, you, who were once slaves to sin, obeyed from your heart the pattern of teaching to which you were exposed; and after you had been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. (I am using popular language because your human nature is so weak.) For just as you used to offer your various parts as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led to more lawlessness; so now offer your various parts as slaves to righteousness, which leads to being made holy, set apart for God.
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in relationship to righteousness; but what benefit did you derive from the things of which you are now ashamed?
The end result of those things was death. However, now, freed from sin and enslaved to God, you do get the benefit — it consists in being made holy, set apart for God, and its end result is eternal life.
Romans 6:15-22
Conclusion
v.7
God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!
Our salvation at Pesach through Messiah Yeshua requires that walk in Him and according to the ways of the Father, as He did. This is our journey so that we can also say “let all the peoples praise you Adonai” – Amein!!
MBM UK Family 