Psalms
Psalms 67
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4 commentators · 14 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry1
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
The composition of this psalm is such as denotes the penman's affections to have been very warm and lively, by which spirit of devotion he was elevated to receive the spirit of prophecy concerning the enlargement of God's kingdom. I. He begins with a prayer…
John Gill7
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
God be merciful unto us, and bless us,.... That is, God, of his unmerited mercy, of his rich grace and free favour, bless us with the coming of his Son, the promised seed, in whom all nations are to be blessed; and with the blessings of peace, pardon, and…
That thy way may be known upon earth,.... God's way and method of grace, in the salvation of sinners; the contrivance of it in Christ, the impetration of it by him, and the application of it by his Spirit; and the way of sinners to him through Christ, the…
Let the people praise thee, O God,.... Let them have occasion to praise God, the people of the Jews, for the mission of Christ, and for the blessings of grace and peace with him; let all the people praise thee; all the nations of the world, for making known…
Keil & Delitzsch3
The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.
Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.
The Psalm begins (Psa 67:1) with words of the priest's benediction in Num 6:24-26. By אתּנוּ the church desires for itself the unveiled presence of the light-diffusing loving countenance of its God. Here, after the echo of the holiest and most glorious…
Now follows the prospect of the entrance of all peoples into the kingdom of God, who will then praise Him in common with Israel as their God also. His judging (שׁפט) in this instance is not meant as a judicial punishment, but as a righteous and mild…
The joyous prospect of the conversion of heathen, expressed in the same words as in Psa 67:5, here receives as its foundation a joyous event of the present time: the earth has just yielded its fruit (cf. Psa 85:13), the fruit that had been sown and hoped for…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown3
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
thy way--of gracious dealing (Isa 55:8), as explained by-- saving health--or literally, "salvation."
Thanks will be rendered for the blessings of His wise and holy government (compare Isa 2:3-4; Isa 11:4).
The blessings of a fruitful harvest are mentioned as types of greater and spiritual blessings, under which all nations shall fear and love God. Next: Psalms Chapter 68
World English Bible — Public domain