William Temple, noted English cleric and Archbishop of Canterbury defined worship by saying,

"To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God."

It also has been said that "worship is the active response to God whereby we declare His worth."

At its most essential form, worship is a response. It is a response to the Lord God who made us and who has sent His one and only Son to save us. It is a response to a God who has initiated a relationship through creation and redemption. That response is not optional, but is the reason why we are here. Yet if worship is a response, does that response transcend this hour? How should worship affect us throughout the week?

Our passage this morning describes the change which happens when we worship. Psalm 67 is a song of praise which moves us from the worship of God to the mission of God. It transports us from what takes place here to what happens out there. Scripture sees a direct correlation between worship and outreach.

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, Selah

2 that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

3 May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.

4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. Selah

5 May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.

6 Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us.

7 God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him.

The opening verse of this Psalm should sound vaguely familiar. This is an adaptation of the Aaronic blessing found in Numbers 6. It may be familiar because this is often the benediction I use at the conclusion of our worship.

The word "benediction" is used of the words spoken at the conclusion of worship and comes from Latin, meaning "to say something good." It is not a concluding prayer, but a statement of divine approval, pronounced on behalf of God by His servant to the people of God. It is not just a mere expression of pious hope; it is not a magical incantation to procure God's support. It is a pronouncement, a statement of fact based on what God has already promised.

The blessing found in Numbers 6 has been part of church liturgy since before Acts. It began during the time of the Exodus, it continued on through the period of the Temple, during the synagogue worship. A number of years ago, archaeologists discovered two silver amulets in Jerusalem from the seventh century BC which are inscribed with these words of the Priestly Blessing. Similarly, for hundreds of years Jewish fathers have blessed their children with these words when they return home from the synagogue on Friday night.

The psalmist opens his Psalm with the words used to conclude their worship. It is as though we are walking in late to the proceedings in the temple, catching only the end of the corporate activity. But having heard this end, we now can see what effect this worship will have on our psalmist. But first let’s review what this benediction says about the God we worship.

We encounter God’s grace

The first part of the benediction is a reminder of God’s grace. Often people make the mistake to imagine that the Old Testament is all about Israel and the Law. But Psalm 67 destroys those stereotypes. This psalm begins with grace and moves to the nations. That has been a part of God’s program since the Garden. This pronouncement of grace summarizes the whole Gospel in one word. Grace, (hen), comes from a physical concept of stooping down. It pictures the stronger coming to the weaker to give help. When we pray, "God be gracious to me," we are taking that important step of acknowledging our sinfulness, our need, our inability to do anything.

That is what should happen each and every Lord’s Day. Through the service, the confession of sin, the hymns sung, the preaching of the Word, you should experience God stooping down and giving you the strength you need. But as Philip Yancey points out, we often miss this gift of God’s grace.

Where there is God’s grace there is also God’s blessing. Grace sees one in need and bends down to give aid and the help that is given is a blessing.

The word "bless" is derived from the Hebrew word for "kneel," thus signifying the gesture involved, the bent knee, showing submission to receive from another what one does not deserve. Perhaps for that reason, to bless is a concept a bit removed from us. We do not live in a culture where we bend the knee. But in that simple admission that we are under God’s authority, we then receive what we need.

The blessing takes us a step beyond the forgiveness of sins into the realm of God’s affection. To bless is to give, so that in worship as we hear that the demands of the are met in Christ and that we have been adopted as his children, then the riches we have, the position of privilege is now ours. Worship should always remind us of the wealth that is ours as sons and daughters of God.

It is one thing to say that God stoops to aid us. He bends the knee as an adult to a child to get face to face with the little one. It is one thing to say that we in turn bend our knee in humble adoration of the Almighty God. But it is the third element of this blessing which should thrill us. This stooping God could be powerful enough to help us, but He may not be especially kind or gentle. But the final phrase reminds us of what this grace and blessing looks like: His smile is upon us!

Though lip service is paid to the Gospel of grace, many Christians live as if it is only personal discipline and self-denial that will mold the perfect "me." The emphasis is on what I do rather than on what God is doing. In this curious process God is a benign old spectator in the bleachers who cheers when I show up for morning quiet time. We transfer the Horatio Alger legend of the self-made man into our relationship with God. If I say to you, "God is watching you" and you feel a vague sense of guilt, you are a practicing Pelagian.

Having heard that pronouncement, the psalmist stops and reflects.

A short word, "selah" is a point to reflect. Scholars are not sure what it really means or how it was used in the song, but it appears related to the idea of lifting up. It may be call for a crescendo or a break before the next line to allow the worshipper to consider what has been said.

But a pause is very important at this point as we consider the importance of the blessing just prayed over the worshippers gathered. God’s grace has just been intoned upon God’s people, what change will that bring. Think about it. God’s grace has a purpose, a significance. For the psalmist, if Israel has the light of God’s face, the rest of the world cannot remain in darkness. Worship does not stop here, it moves out to those outside the four walls of the church. The effects of worship don’t just affect those around him, not just his family and friends, not even his own people or nation. Worship motivates him out to see the whole world.

We see this as he describes the affects of worship on the earth, all nations, and peoples. God’s grace forces him to grapple with those who do not know God. Those include people who are quite different. In verse 2b he speaks of the nations.

This term became a curse in Judaism. The goyim were the great unwashed, the pagans, those animals who walked upright, had the appearance of humanity, but were on a par with dogs and pigs. Yet here, seeing God’s grace allows him to see those in need of grace in a different light. He does not whitewash their sin; he does not ignore their need of a Savior.

In verse 3 he calls for all peoples to praise. This term in Hebrew refers not to separate nations, but people as a whole, all of humanity. In verse 4b the NIV has "peoples" which comes from the Hebrew "l^eom." This term focuses on the variety of races, the different walks of life.

By bringing all these various terms together, the psalmist leaves no part of humanity outside the realm of God’s sovereign power. Having understood what happens in worship he now describes what happens because of worship.

God will be made known - verse 2

Flowing out from our worship, God’s ways will be known. Mercy leads to knowledge, to an understanding of what God has done. The Puritan John Boys said of this verse: 'His mercy breeds knowledge; his knowledge, praise.'

What will be made known? His salvation. This takes us back up to the description of the benefits of the Gospel mentioned in verse 1. This raises the question:  Does your face shine with God’s mercy to those around you? Do others see reflected in your life the difference Christ has made? If a change has occurred, that change should be seen.

Every church is the product of someone's missionary activity. Every church is a monument to the missionary impulse. Every church should be reminded that it has been set down in the midst of a mission field, whether in the heart of Africa or in the heart of Washington, D.C. Every church should be reminded that it has fallen heir to the Great Commission which Christ gave to His disciples in the long ago.

Where there is knowledge of the grace of God there will be praise. Out of theology comes doxology. If there is no praise on your lips is there truth in your heart?

This is a prayer of great vision and daring, in which the second line, adding its all, clinches its emphasis on God as the Lord whom every tongue must confess. The psalmist sees the connection between our worship of God and contagious nature of grace. We should not shrink back from proclaiming the Gospel so that others join in our praise.

Nothing creates gladness so completely than knowing the salvation of God. Nations never will be glad till they follow the leadership of the great Shepherd. They may shift their modes of government, elect new leaders and go in new directions, but they will retain their wretchedness till they bow before the Lord of all. It is only then will their be joy. As the proverb says: "Joy is the byproduct of obedience."

But this joy is not a gush; joy is not jolliness. Joy is perfect acquiescence in God's will because the soul delights itself in God Himself.

Here we come full circle. God’s blessing continues and peoples of every tongue, tribe and nation will fear God.

The idea of fear being the outcome of God’s graciousness, blessing and smiling face may seem a bit odd. The trouble is not so much with the Word but our understanding of it. When fear is used of God is certainly implies a reverence and awe which is owed to Him. But in the Old Testament to fear God was often synonymous with worship.

The song begins at home, and returns to pause there a moment before the end; but its thought always flies to the distant people and to what awaits them when the blessing that has reached "us" reaches all.

There is another point implied in this main one: if God blesses His people for the sake of the nations; then God is most likely to bless us when we are planning and longing and praying to bless the nations. If God wants His goods to get to the nations, then He will fill the truck that's driving toward the nations. He will bless the Church that's pouring itself out for unreached peoples of the world. And this blessing is not payment for a service rendered; it's power and joy for a mission to accomplish. When we move toward the unreached peoples we are not earning God's blessings, we are leaping into the river of blessings that is already flowing to the nations.

For those of us going down to Mexico it is my hope that we go not out of duty, out of a need to make God pleased with us, but rather out of the joy that God has placed in our lives because of what He has done for us in Christ. It is my desire that Cornerstone continue to be a missionary church, that flowing out of our worship we will see others impacted by our lives, people here in Wisconsin as well in distant lands. If this is not a part of God’s work in our lives, then I must wonder if really understand the faith we profess to be true.

How often do we find God’s grace that which warms our hearts, but never motivates our feet? Do we pray that God would bless us so that others would be blessed, or do we pray that God would bless us so that we could consume his grace on our own selfish desires. God’s blessings are never to end with us. What God gives us is to be given to others. We are not pools, but streams. The pool takes all it can get and gives nothing; receives everything, parts with nothing and reaps the penalty of its own selfishness in putridity and stagnation. The stream is always giving itself away. It runs down the hills and as it runs down it gives greenness to the fields, cleansing and refreshing to the dweller sin the towns.

I will close with this historic antidote of how God works through His people.

The first missionary endeavor of the Protestants in England burst forth from the soil of Puritan hope. The Puritans, you remember, were those pastors and teachers in England (and then New England), roughly between the years 1560 and 1660, who wanted to purify the Church of England and bring it into theological and practical alignment with the teachings of the Reformation.

They had a view of Biblical authority and divine sovereignty that produced an undaunted hope in the victory of God over all the world. They were deeply stirred by a passion for the coming of God's kingdom over all the nations. Their hearts really believed the truth of Psalm 86:8-9.

There is none like thee among the gods, O Lord,

nor are there any works like thine.

All the nations thou hast made shall come and bow down

before thee, O Lord,

and shall glorify thy name.

Between 1627 and 1640 15,000 people emigrated from England to America, most of them Puritans, carrying this great confidence in the worldwide reign of Christ. In fact, the seal of the colonists of Massachusetts Bay had on it a North American Indian with these words coming out of his mouth: "Come over into Macedonia and help us" taken from Acts 16:9. In general the Puritans saw their emigration to America as part of God's missionary strategy to extend His kingdom among the nations.

One of those hope-filled Puritans who crossed the Atlantic in 1631 was John Eliot. He was 27 years old and a year later became the pastor of a new church in Roxbury, Massachusetts about a mile from Boston. But something happened that made him much more than a pastor.

According to Cotton Mather, there were twenty tribes of Indians in that vicinity. John Eliot could not avoid the practical implications of his theology: if the infallible Scriptures promise that all nations will one day bow down to Christ, and if Christ is sovereign and able by His Spirit to subdue all opposition to His promised reign, then there is good hope that a person who goes as an ambassador of Christ to one of these nations will be the chosen instrument of God to open the eyes of the blind and set up an outpost of the kingdom of Christ.

And so when he was slightly over 40 years old Eliot set himself to study Algonquin. He deciphered the vocabulary and grammar and syntax and eventually translated the entire Bible as well as books that he valued, like Richard Baxter's Call to the Unconverted. By the time Eliot was 84 years old, there were numerous Indian churches, some with their own Indian pastors. It is an amazing story of a man who once said,

"Prayers and pains through faith in Christ Jesus will do any thing!"