Taking the Gospel across the Street and around the World! February 5th – March 5th Taking the Gospel across the Street and around the World!

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“BLESSED!”

Psalm 67:1 May God be gracious to us and bless us     and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

Numbers 6:22-26 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, 24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Psalm 67:1 May God be gracious to us and bless us     and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

Psalm 67:1 May God be gracious to us and bless us     and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

Is it ever wrong to ask God to bless us Is it ever wrong to ask God to bless us? Should you and I take this prayer written down some 3000 years ago and pray it back to God today? Psalm 67:1 May God be gracious to us and bless us     and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

YES, do ask for God’s blessing! “Give us this day our daily bread” (God’s provision)   “Forgive us our trespasses” (God’s pardon) “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the Evil One” (God’s protection)

But, NO, do not ask for God’s blessing if asking with wrong motives! James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

So what should be our motive when we ask God for HIS blessing? The rest of Psalm 67 gives us the answer!

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us     and make his face to shine upon us, Selah 2 that  Psalm 67

May God be gracious to us and bless us     and make his face to shine upon us, Selah 2 that your way may be known on earth,     your saving power among all nations. 3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;     let all the peoples praise you! 4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,     for you judge the peoples with equity     and guide the nations upon earth. Selah 5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;     let all the peoples praise you! 6 The earth has yielded its increase;     God, our God, shall bless us. 7 God shall bless us;  let all the ends of the earth fear him! Psalm 67

Psalm 67 God blesses us to bless others for HIS glory and their gladness!

Genesis 12:1-3 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Exodus 19:3-6 Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be TO ME a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’

God blessed Abraham and his descendants (the people of Israel) so that they in turn would bless others for the glory of God and the gladness of the nations! God’s plan was for Israel to be a river of his blessings…not a reservoir!

“No Short-stopping!” Charles and Betty Booda

Psalm 67 God blesses us to bless others for HIS glory and their gladness!

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us     and make his face to shine upon us, Selah 2 that  Psalm 67 your way may be known on earth,     your saving power among all nations. 3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;     let all the peoples praise you! 4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,     for you judge the peoples with equity     and guide the nations upon earth. Selah 5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;     let all the peoples praise you! 6 The earth has yielded its increase;     God, our God, shall bless us. 7 God shall bless us;     let all the ends of the earth fear him!

Psalm 67 God chooses to work through us and so he blesses us so that we in turn can bless others so they will . . . KNOW HIM! Psalm 67:2 . . . that your way may be known on earth,     your saving power among all nations.

Psalm 67 And what happens as we (and others) get to know God … his ways and saving power? Psalm 67:3, 5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;     let all the peoples praise you! We (and others) will PRAISE HIM!

Psalm 67 And as we (and others) continue to grow in our knowledge of God … We (and others) will FEAR HIM! Psalm 27:7 God shall bless us;  let all the ends of the earth fear him.

To fear God is to esteem him in the ultimate. It is to respect him as one who has NO equal! (it’s not even close) It is to be in AWE of him and his absolute majesty (vs. a casual and almost flippant attitude toward God displayed by many today!)

Psalm 67 God blesses us to bless others for HIS glory and their gladness! So that the NATIONS of the earth will…   KNOW God PRAISE God FEAR God And therefore at the end of the day be GLAD in HIM!

The prayer expressed in this psalm must be continually on our lips! Today’s Takeaways The prayer expressed in this psalm must be continually on our lips! “God, graciously bless me so that you can use me to help the nations and the peoples of this world know you, and praise you, and fear you!” “O God, bless me so that thru me you will bless others for YOUR glory and THEIR gladness!”

The purpose expressed in this psalm must captivate our lives! Today’s Takeaways The purpose expressed in this psalm must captivate our lives! “We don’t have time to play games with God’s grace!” (David Platt) We must pray for the advance of the gospel! We must give for the advance of the gospel! We must ourselves go to advance the gospel (even if it is just across the street)!