（诗67）诗篇67注释 Psalm 67: A Devotional Commentary

(Applied ChatGPT for English translation. 中文在后面）

The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) is approaching—it begins this year at sunset on June 1, 2025. Psalm 67 is traditionally read by Jews every night during the seven weeks between the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Weeks (“Counting of the Omer”), because in Hebrew it contains seven verses and forty-nine phrases, corresponding to the seven sevens.
See:

Below I attempt to explain this psalm with reference to the New Testament.

Psalm 67:1
“To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song. G-d be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.”

Commentary: The keywords “bless” and “shine” also appear in this week’s Torah portion (Naso, Numbers 4:21–7:89) in the priestly blessing:

Numbers 6:24–26
“Y-H-W-H bless thee, and keep thee: Y-H-W-H make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: Y-H-W-H lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”

I believe this is why some Jewish prayer books associate Psalm 67 with this week’s Torah portion—see:

The difference is, in Psalm 67, the divine name used is “G-d” (E-l-o-h-i-m), the term used in the creation account of Genesis, not the Hebrew proper name (Y-H-W-H) used in Numbers.

Psalm 67:2
“That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.”

Commentary: The use of “G-d” here may be because this psalm concerns the whole world He created, not just the Hebrew speaking people of Israel. The “way” and “salvation” of G-d are to be made known among all nations. The Hebrew word translated “salvation” shares a root with the name “Jesus” (Yeshua).
See: https://blog.judahgabriel.com/2019/05/the-messianic-realities-of-psalm-67.html

Traditionally, this psalm is read during the season when Jesus’ disciples were waiting for the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended, and they began to proclaim the gospel to the nations. Thus, both the content and the liturgical timing of this psalm prophetically point to the universal spread of the gospel.

Psalm 67:3
“Let the people praise thee, O G-d; let all the people praise thee.”

Commentary: This foreshadows the prayer Jesus taught:
“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” (From Matthew 6:9)

Psalm 67:4
“O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.”

Commentary: This foreshadows Jesus’ prayer:
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (From Matthew 6:10)

“Selah” is understood by some to mean “forever” or to have an eternal connotation. See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selah
This may hint at the ending of the Jesus’s Prayer:
“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” (From Matthew 6:13)

Psalm 67:5
“Let the people praise thee, O G-d; let all the people praise thee.”

Commentary: This is not merely a repetition of verse 3. I believe that saying the same sentence two times expresses that in both this present life and in the world to come, we shall praise the Creator—forever and ever.

Psalm 67:6
“Then shall the earth yield her increase; and G-d, even our own G-d, shall bless us.”

Commentary: “The earth yield her increase” is in past tense in Hebrew, which may foreshadow that Christ has already risen from the dead. More broadly, the world to come begins when Christ returns and the dead are raised—just as what is buried in the earth grows up. The useful will be gathered; the useless burned. This echoes the parable of Jesus:
“…gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” (From Matthew 13:30)

Psalm 67:7
“G-d shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.”

Commentary: “bless us” appeared both here and in verse 1, but I don’t think this is redundant. It is possible to understand the blessing in verse 1 as our prayer; and this the blessing here as the promised result. In the world to come, G-d will bless His people:

(Isaiah 65:23–25)
“They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the L-rd, and their offspring with them.
And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the L-rd.”

“All the ends of the earth shall fear Him”: The world to come, when Christ returns, is when the Creator reigns over the whole earth. As it is written:
(Zechariah 14:9)
“And the L-rd shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one L-rd, and his name one.”

（诗67）诗篇67注释

五旬节快到了，今年是在2025六月一日日落时开始。诗篇67是犹太人在无酵饼节和五旬节之间“数俄珻耳”的七个七天每晚阅读的诗篇，因为它的希伯来语有七句，共四十九个词汇短语。参见https://mtorah.com/2013/04/23/omer-psalm-67-and-lag-beomer/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counting_of_the_Omer

我以下尝试按结合新约解释这个诗篇。

诗篇67:1。（一篇诗歌，交与伶长。用丝弦的乐器。）愿神怜悯我们，赐福与我们，用脸光照我们。（细拉）

注释：“赐福”，“光照” 这些关键词，也出现在本周读经进度（naso“数点” 民数记numbers4:21-7:89）中的祭司祝福里：

（民数记6:24-27） “愿耶和华赐福给你，保护你。愿耶和华使他的脸光照你，赐恩给你。愿耶和华向你仰脸，赐你平安。”

我觉得可能是因为这个原因，有的犹太祷告书把诗篇67与本周的读经进度（naso“数点” 民数记numbers4:21-7:89）两者联系在一起阅读，参见https://torah.org/torah-portion/hamaayan-5779-naso/， https://www.jpost.com/judaism/torah-portion/article-744070

不同的地方是，在诗篇67这里称呼所用的是“神”，是圣经开头描写七日创世时所用的称呼，而没用使用民数记里所使用的神与以色列先祖立约时所用的希伯来语名字。

2。好叫世界得知你的道路，万国得知你的救恩。

注释：使用“神”这个称呼，可能是因为本诗篇与祂所造的全世界有关，不只关乎以色列一个民族。神的救恩之道要传遍万国。本句的“救恩”与“耶稣”有相同的希伯来语词根，参见https://blog.judahgabriel.com/2019/05/the-messianic-realities-of-psalm-67.html

本诗篇的传统阅读时间，也正好是在耶稣的门徒们等待圣灵降临的季节，在复活节和五旬节之间。五旬节圣灵降临，门徒开始将福音广传。所以本诗篇的内容与阅读时间都一致地预表福音超越民族和国家的广传。

3。神阿，愿列邦称赞你，愿万民都称赞你。

注释：这预表耶稣教导的祷告：我们在天上的父，愿人都遵祢的名为圣。（马太福音6:9）

4。愿万国都快乐欢呼。因为你必按公正审判万民，引导世上的万国。（细拉）

注释：这预表耶稣教导的祷告：愿祢的国降临，愿祢的旨意行在地上，如同行在天上。（马太福音6:10）

“细拉”，有永远的意思，参见https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selah

这里使用“细拉”可能预表耶稣教导的祷告结束：因为国度权柄荣耀全是祢的，直到永远，阿们。（马太福音6:13）

5。神阿，愿列邦称赞你。愿万民都称赞你。

注释：这应该不只是对第3节的简单重复。我觉得相同诗句说两次，表示我们在今生、在来世都称颂造物主，直到永远永远。

6。地已经出了土产。神，就是我们的神，要赐福与我们。

注释：“地已经出了土产”，我觉得这预表基督已经从死里复活。更广泛来说，来世是基督再临时死人复活的时候，埋葬在地里的死人都要复活出来受审判，就像地里所出的植物，没用的要烧掉，有用的要收藏，如马太福音13:30耶稣的比喻所说，“…先将稗子薅出来，捆成捆，留着烧。惟有麦子，要收在仓里。”

7。神要赐福与我们。地的四极都要敬畏他。

注释：这里的“赐福与我们”, 与本诗篇起首的“赐福与我们” 看似重复，其实我觉得更像有意的首尾呼应。或许可以把开始的一句理解为我们的祷告，后来的一句理解为主必将成就。在来世神要赐福祂的子民，以赛亚书65:23-25 说 “他们必不徒然劳碌，所生产的，也不遭灾害。因为都是蒙耶和华赐福的后裔，他们的子孙也是如此。他们尚未求告，我就应允。正说话的时候，我就垂听。豺狼必与羊羔同食，狮子必吃草与牛一样。尘土必作蛇的食物。在我圣山的遍处，这一切都不伤人不害物，这是耶和华说的。”

“地的四极都要”敬畏祂：基督再临的来世，是造物主在全地为王的时候，撒迦利亚书14:9说，“耶和华必作全地的王，那日耶和华必为独一无二的。他的名也是独一无二的。”