From the Organ Bench

Psalm 67
May God be gracious to us and bless us And make his face to shine upon us, That Your way may be known upon earth, Your saving power among all nations. Psalm 67 is a psalm of blessing. Worship began with a pilgrimage to the Temple precincts and concluded with the benediction in the closing ceremony. Verse 1 is based on the Aaronic blessing found in the Book of Numbers. This blessing concludes two chapters of instructions to Moses. The section is filled with details about what is expected from the community. It is filled with sanctions, statues, and policies which affect family life, civil order, community health, and religious life. What is striking is the LORD discloses how the faith community is to be blest, using Gods name. Permission is given to use The Name for extending the LORDS benevolence. The LORD said to Moses: Say to Aaron and his sons, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: You shall say to them: The LORD bless you and keep you: The LORD make his face to shine upon you, And be gracious to you: The LORD lift up his countenance upon you, And give you peace. So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, And I will bless them. (Num. :22-27) A global communication follows the blessing of verse one. Verse two lifts up a universal proclamation: That Your way be known upon the earth, Your saving power among all people. Throughout the Psalter, Jerusalem is described as the joy of all the earth. It was considered by the Hebrews to be the center of the universe, so to speak. Jerusalem was/is the place where all kings and all nations gather to worship and adore the LORD. Psalms 46, 48, 63:29, and 72:10-11 contain this theme.

Jerusalem is the LORDS reigning town, the foot stole of Gods kingdom. Gods rule is extensive and comprehensive. God comes to all the nations through Israel. Psalms are not the songs of a church triumphant in pontifical glory tucked away in the liturgical security of religious ceremony. Neither are they songs relegated to purely spiritual interests devoid of any political implications. Verse three so strongly demonstrates the scope of a liturgy gone global, that the idea is repeated in verse five like a refrain: Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Verse four, tucked between the motif of verse three and five, demonstrates the liturgical and political aspects of living, as a Gentile, under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of God. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, For You judge the peoples with equity, The nations on the earth You guide. Psalm 67 is about the Blessing of God reaching out to all. Aarons blessing rings true today as it did thousands of years ago. The Lord has named us and claimed us. In the Kingdom, that reality is the political big deal for all eternity.
Delma Rouleau 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time 14 August 2011