The title of this Psalm is not original. James Montgomery Boice employed this title for the 67th Psalm in his excellent treatment of this passage. realistically it can’t be bettered. God’s shining face is described in three Psalms; 31, 67, 80, 104, & 119. In the 67th the Psalmist cries out from the beginning:

God be merciful unto us, and bless us;
and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.

THE PRAYER

This Psalm is a prayer for God’s face to shine upon His own people.

When someone’s face shines there is a smile which denotes favour. A frowning face indicates anger and rejection while the smiling face is one of approval. A frowning countenance promises nothing but punishment. On the contrary a face that shines promises gifts and happiness. The frowning face wants nothing to do with us but the smiling face desires fellowship and friendship.

Wherever the Psalmists wrote about the shining face of God their thoughts were turning to the Aaronic blessing:

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
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.
And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.

Numbers 6:22-27

So the writer was claiming a very ancient promise invoking the peace of God.

Fundamental to David ‘s understanding of God’s shining face was mercy. As a sinful people we are in constant need of mercy and forgiveness. Only a people who have received the mercy of God can enjoy His fellowship.

THE PEOPLE

As David prayed his heart was for all the peoples of the world. Through the Psalm he relates to the earth and the nations. The final verse extends to “the ends of the earth”.

It is significant though, when we link verses 1 and 2, that the Lord’s face must primarily shine upon the people of God. Through them reflecting the glory of God the world in the words of Wesley “will taste and see the riches of His grace”.

God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.
That thy way may be known upon earth,thy saving health among all nations.

God has given His blessing to His Church so that we spread that blessing to others.

The question is; how do we do this.

We must appreciate that the glory of God is reflective. He shines His face toward us and we mirror that light to the world. The closer we are to the Lord the greater will be the light that we shed abroad. Moses in coming out of the presence of God had a shining face which induced fear in the hearts of the people. The glory of God reminded them of their sinfulness; so much so that a veil had to cover the face of the prophet. In this New Testament age, however, the reflective nature of God’s glory is the love and mercy of Christ in the Gospel as Paul articulated.

Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord….

For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’
sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

2nd Corinthians. 3:12-18; 4:5-6

Paul indicates how this light is reflected; “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord”. Therefore, God’s way is made known among the nations through the continued ministry of the Church in spreading the Gospel.

“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

Romans 10:14-15

Such a ministry is worthless, however, if it does not come from hearts that have been truly changed and transformed by God.

Therefore, we need to reflect the character of Christ by our regular daily living as a people who respect the commandments of God and while exemplify the love of Christ to a dying world.

God’s will is revealed in His word and His word is His way wherein we must walk, turning neither to the right hand or to the left.

John Boys, Treasury of David by CH Spurgeon

We often pray for revival but such a change in society does not happen without a work in the heart of the Church. Then we become channels of blessing to thirsty hearts around.

The need in the foreign fields are great and extensive. The fields are white unto harvest as our Lord said. He also spoke of the need for prayer that labourers will be sent out to work in this harvest field. Labourers will not be sent out, however, when the home front is weak. Where the Church is secular, materialistic, lukewarm, careless, without a thirst for prayer and the Scriptures, and without a desire for holy living the seed bed for the next generation of missionaries will be unproductive. But when revival stirs the Church a new generation will arise to take the Word of God to the ends of the earth.

When the early Irish Church was growing and flourishing after Patrick, the Gospel was taken to Scotland and England and into continental Europe through the likes of Columba, Aidan and Columbanus. But when fire waned and medieval darkness was established no more missionaries went forth. During the revivals of the 19th & 20th Centuries, however, missionary work was revived with missionaries going from Ulster right across the world in unprecedented numbers.

Ultimately the shining face of God revealed through the person of Christ is gospel light. Christ Himself is the light of the world. Therefore, this Psalm is Messianic revealing Christ as the hope of the world and the gospel as the only solutions for the problems that is facing today.

The Israelitish Church is introduced partly praying for, and partly foretelling, the advent of Christ and the conversion of the the nations that took place consequent thereupon.

William de Burgh, Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 67

Quite literally, the world needs the Church to experience the shining face of God. The future of humanity depends upon it!

THE PURPOSE

The purpose is the favour of God being extended across the world is three fold

• PRAISE – “Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. O let the nations be glad and sing for joy:”. Where there is true praise there is joy. Where the Gospel is not heard or where the Gospel is rejected man is in the doldrums of despair. The shining face of God gives humanity preface and happiness because the fundamental cause of all sorrow is addressed.
• PURITY – “thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.” Where the blessing of God is not, wickedness will increase. A lack of Christianity produces cruelty and barbarity. The development of the Christian gospel in the world has nurtured the spread of Christianity. Moral values historically have been based upon the Word of God. In the western world a departure from these standards which were fundamental to our understanding of society has only resulted in a return to depravity. When God’s face, shines, however, the government of nations will once again be influenced by Scripture; there will be a return to righteousness.
• PRODUCTIVITY – “Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.” While we reject the prosperity gospel which teaches that Christian people will always be rich; we must accept that the gospel gives a society a better work ethic which in turn produces prosperity. Not everyone can be equally rich but everyone will succeed when they realise their God given potential. Communism was a failure because it was atheistic in its approach. Within that system the State became god and the worker had little incentive to develop hips potential and the result was inefficiency. The Protestant Reformation on the other hand was accompanied by a growth in learning and in industry. It is no accident that the British Isles became the workshop of the world and the origin of the Industrial Revolution. The gospel really does make the world a better place. God blesses hard work and graft; “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

THE PROMISE

The Psalm ends with a note of hope and optimism grounded upon a belief in the God of the covenant. There is a promise here for the Church and the entire world:

God shall bless us;
and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.

The question arises, ‘Have we witnessed the fulfillment of this promise’. The simple response is – ‘No”. There has been a partial fulfilment with the inclusion of the Gentiles within the ranks of God’s people but that has happened at the expense of Israel, as the natural branches of the olive tree have been broken off (Romans 11). Today, in both the Jewish and the Gentile world large tracts of humanity are lying in darkness deceived by the god of this world.

This is a Psalm, which in common with other passages ( for example – Psalm 22:27-28 & Psalm 117) preempts a day when the power of the gospel will be experienced universally by every nation and people group under the sun.

Men now live as without God in the world, full though it be of proofs of his wisdom and love…What a change when every social circle shall be a fellowship of saints, and all bent to one great purpose , the divine glory and the blessedness of each other…Then the thorns and briars of a crooked and perverse generation will cease…The fruits of righteousness will abound from the human race to the glory of God.

Edward Bickerstaff, Treasury of David by CH Spurgeon

This is an incentive for us not to give up on the world, to pray for earnestly, to believe in the power of the gospel more vigorously believing earnestly that the great commission was given for this very reason.

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
as the waters cover the sea.

Habakkuk 2:14