Psalm 67 (NRSV)
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Verse 1May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
Verse 2that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.
Verse 3Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
Verse 4Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
Verse 5Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
Verse 6The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us.
Verse 7May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him.
Devotion
In the Garden of Eden that sneaky slithery snake introduces the big lie: we know better than God; or perhaps that we don't really need God at all; or even that we can be our own God. Adam and Eve, and subsequently the rest of us, bite.
The act of praise is the antidote to the poison of that lie which infects every aspect of life. Praise, at least for a few moments, is the act of putting our true relationship with God back in place. It is rejecting the big lie. We put ourselves aside and stand before the great unknowable mystery of existence and acknowledge that God is God and we're not. It’s not an easy thing to do because our ego still so easily gets in the way again as we congratulate ourselves on our lovely praising. True praise is an act of pure humility—of letting go of our self-centered narcissism and turning wholeheartedly to God. Perhaps in those rare moments of true praise we also discover "God's saving power among all nations"—when we turn from the big lie that we ourselves are God and instead acknowledge and revel in the good news that God is God and the source of our life with its grace and blessings.
Prayer
Enable us God to turn from the big lie and praise you, even if only for a few brief moments right now. Amen.