The Scope and Focus of Revival (5)

Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
Then the earth shall yield her increase;
God, our own God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us,
And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him. Psalm 67.5-7

The essence of God’s covenant
Psalm 67 begins in supplication and ends in confident hope, and the focus of each is the blessing of the Lord. In verse 1 the psalmist calls on the Lord to bless His people; in verse 7 he confidently declares that God will do just that.

But why? Why would the psalmist ask for blessing? And why should he so confidently expect that God will bless His people? What is the end and purpose of all this blessing, anyway?

This powerful little psalm has revival laced throughout its seven verses. The focus of revival is God; the means of revival is God; and the outcome of revival is God. Revival begins and ends with God, and this short hymn shows us how to focus clearly on and pray boldly and expectantly for God to bring revival to His people.

Blessing is the heart and soul of God’s covenant. When God called Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees, He promised to bless Him (Gen. 12.1-3). A cognate of that Hebrew word, bless, is knees. Blessing and knees are related in the Hebrew mind. When God comes to bless someone, He sets them on their knees. He puts them in the position of one who is about to be knighted, or of a beggar who is about to receive some boon from one much higher in the social scale. One who is being blessed of God is set squarely before His face, to see Him in His glory, hear and receive His words, and devote Himself to obedience. To be blessed by God is the very essence of God’s covenant, that spiritual arrangement whereby God calls, redeems, saves, and deploys a people who will know, love, enjoy, and serve Him forever.

When the psalmist prayed for God to bless His people, and to shine His face upon them, it was because He sensed some lack of that blessing in his day. The people were not rightly positioned before God. They were not hearing Him, delighting in Him, and living according to His Law. Only if God would shine His face on them would they have the Spirit of God to turn them to His Word, so that they could enter His blessings once again (cf. Ezek. 37.39; Ps. 119.135).

And the psalmist knew that getting back into that posture of blessing was the key to seeing revival, renewal, and awakening come to all the nations of the earth.

Blessed to be a blessing
The blessing God has prepared for His people is not to be indulged on themselves alone. God promised to bless His people, and He commissioned them to be a blessing to all nations and families of the earth. That is, through His chosen, redeemed, saved, and blessed people, God intends to extend His blessing to the peoples and families of the whole earth.

The way this is done is by declaring the way of God’s salvation to the people of the world, beginning with those who are right around us all day long (Ps. 67.2). We want the people with whom we have contact to know the way of the Lord, to hear the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ, to know the joy and gladness that comes with that great gift (v. 4), and to join us in praising the Lord Who thus blesses us, and in becoming a blessing to others.

The end game of all this is that the righteousness of God, as seen in our Lord Jesus Christ, might be taken up by all the peoples of the earth; that the rule of God – His Kingdom – would fill the earth; that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord would abound; and that the reality of the living Christ would fill every place and everyone (vv. 4, 5; cf. Eph. 2.8-10).

Then the whole earth will bear the fruit of righteousness, an holy increase that causes the blessings of God to abound in every place and to all peoples (v. 6). As God blesses His people, and they respond faithfully to that blessing by making His way and salvation known in their own part of the world, blessing flows, grace and truth reach to more and more people, many are converted and join the ranks of the blessed, and the ends of the earth learn the fear of the Lord (v. 7).

And all this begins in prayer – seeking the Lord to restore His blessing to His people, so that we can be the means whereby His blessings flow freely and abundantly to the rest of the world. When the people of God earnestly and eagerly seek His blessings, according to the promises of His covenant, a movement of God’s Spirit can begin to spread the salvation of Christ and the fear of the Lord to people everywhere.

Isn’t that worth praying about?

Praying Psalm 67 for revival
Praying Psalm 67 is pretty straightforward. You can even pray it verbatim, just as it is written. But you might want to pause at the end of each line and elaborate. For example, when you ask for God’s mercy (v. 1), wait in silence for the Spirit to convict you of any sin, and to lead you to repentance. Pray for the people you will see today, that you might encourage them in the way of salvation, and that the Lord will give you an opportunity to tell someone about His saving mercy in Jesus (v. 2).

For verses 3 and 4, plead with the Lord to touch His people for more praise and worship, and more thanksgiving, more consistently throughout the day. Pray for the Church in those places where persecution is not uncommon – China, India, Afghanistan, parts of sub-Saharan Africa, Cuba, and elsewhere – that God’s people will be glad and rejoice, and that the Lord will stay the hands of their oppressors.

Pray for the nations and peoples of the world (v. 5), that the Spirit might prepare the hearts of multitudes to hear the Good News of Jesus.

And pray that, as Christ’s Kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven, that the blessings of His goodness will increase and abound throughout the world, to the praise of His glorious grace (vv. 6, 7).

This psalm is sufficiently short, concise, and comprehensive for what we seek for revival, that you could pray it at least once a day, or even memorize it, and share it with Christian friends. This psalm, like a tightly coiled mainspring, wants to strike the bells for revival; the more we pray it, the closer will come the great day of increased blessing this psalm envisions.

For Reflection
1. What does it mean to say that God blesses us to make us a blessing to the world?

2. What is your approach to conveying the blessings of God to the people in your Personal Mission Field?

3. How can this psalm help you to develop a vision for what revival will look like, when God begins to bring it to the world?

Next Steps – Transformation: Try praying Psalm 67 verbatim. Then go back and pray it, allowing each line to lead you to some more specific requests for revival.

T. M. Moore

We are pleased to offer Worship Guides for use in your family or small group. Each guide includes a complete service of worship, and they are free to download and share by clicking here.

For a fuller discussion of why we need revival, and how to seek it, order a copy of our book, Restore Us! by clicking here. If you would like a 28-day, morning and evening challenge to seek the Lord for revival, write to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and I’ll send you a free PDF of our reader, Give Him No Rest.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.