Blessed to be a Blessing (Psalm 67)

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song. 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!

One of the times that I’m most proud of my kids – Share/Think about others. And that sounds like a very simple thing – but every parent knows that kids – they’re sinners. Out of the womb. No one has to teach them to be selfish, self-absorbed, and self-centered. Esp when they are younger – They don’t care that you’re tired. They don’t care how you’re feeling. They only care about themselves. – Teens? And our job as parents is to disciple them to think about and consider other people and their needs first. 

Micah – I let my friend go first in line. So proud. Desserts/Candy/Treat – Siblings – Come here and have some of this. They’re thinking not just for themselves but others.

The reason it makes me so happy is because my desire for my kids is that they know my delight in them as their father – Why I love giving them good things – and they would enjoy the gift themselves and also that they share it and their joy with others. Because that is a reflection of the heart and desire of not just their earthly father, but more importantly, their heavenly father…

1. God loves to bless and give good gifts to his children.

We know this from the very beginning when God created us. Think – Why did God create us? It’s not because he was bored. We weren’t an experiment that went poorly. It’s because God desired out of the overflow of his love – Father, Son, Spirit – to show us and share with us, his creation, his love and glory. In other words – He created us to bless us with himself, with his love. 

Father’s Day – Last weekend. Honestly, I forgot. Couple days ago I asked – What did we do for Father’s Day again? Wife – You gave up Father’s Day to take us all to the pool and dinner with the teams that are here. My response – Oh, I gave up my day to give something good to my family. Sounds about right. But honestly, that’s what I delight in doing as a father. And that’s how God our Father but infinitely more…

Mt. 7:11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…

God loves to bless and give good gifts to his children. – He delights in us – It’s the context, the backdrop, for Ps. 67…

¹ May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah V.1 is a prayer for God’s blessing and favor…

2. The people of God should desire and pray for the gracious blessings of God.

The first part of v.1 – prayer – Gracious – Give undeserved favor. It’s completely based upon God’s person and character as the giver. And it has nothing to do with the recipient. – If it were – due/wage. May God be gracious – Starts with the understanding that even though we are undeserving of his blessings – God owes us nothing – may he bless us according to his willingness to freely give…

Now – We all want to be blessed by God. Don’t we? Anyone here crazy enough to not want to be blessed by God? No, of course not.

But what do we mean by blessing? Last weekend, Ps. 1 Blessing – Happy. Different word in Ps. 67…

Blessing – Good gift from God. Many different forms… 

–Favor – Networks, Connections – Right people at right time

–Giftings – Skills, Intellect, Hands, Athleticism, Speaking/Comms

–Resources – Money

Well, what if I don’t have any of those? I just feel like a “below-average” or “normal” person – I don’t have much that makes me stand out or makes me exceptional –  Has God not blessed me? Does he not love me? – NO. – We’ve all also been blessed with, gifted with…

–Life – Itself is a gift/blessing from God

–Personalities/Wirings – Fearfully and wonderfully made

–Spiritual Gifts (Believers) – Service, Prophecy, Speaking/Interpretation of Tongues, Administration, Discernment, Mercy, EV, Hospitality, Faith – At least 1.

–Holy Spirit (Believers) – Boring? There’s literally nothing better that he could give us. The greatest blessing is God himself. 

Well – I wish I was “blessed” with the first list of blessings – I wish I was the one God blessed with lots of money. Encouragement – People that God often uses to do big things for him are not the most talented or gifted or well-resourced, but those who are simply fully surrendered to him. – That’s way more exciting – to see God do what only he can do through you. I would trade material blessings any day for more of God’s presence – Because his presence brings healing, restoration, joy, peace, power, etc.

And Face Shining – God’s pleasure, approval, love, presence. My kids when they were younger – Allie – Run into your arms. – See me with my arms open and smiling with love and pleasure – Completely wrapped up in my approval/assurance/safety/security – Everything is good. – What an incredible blessing/gift – Fully known and loved by God in Jesus.

V. 1 – Psalmist’s Prayer – We have to ASK! Keep asking. Without stopping. Not taking no for an answer. – May seem irreverent. But this is the kind of faith God desires. Asking God for his blessings shouldn’t be something we should be ashamed of. Why wouldn’t we ask God to bless us if that’s who he is and what he desires to do? Foolish.

And when it comes to asking from God – We shouldn’t have a poverty mindset. – God’s going to run out OR less is better. Child-like faith. Ex: When my kids were younger, they’d come and ask me for stuff – They never asked for anything small. They thought mommy and daddy could give them whatever they wanted. Why – They were secure in our love. They knew how much we loved them. How much we were willing to do anything to give them what is good. So why would they hold back? 

And so we should be with God. I’m not afraid to ask him for big things for my life, for my family, and for this church. – I want God to richly bless this church so that we have so many people and resources we don’t know what to do with. Why should I be ashamed of that? Why would I ask for anything less? Because I’m leaning into who God is and what he desires to do. 

I remember a couple years ago at one of our first member meetings – maybe a church of 500-400/100. I felt crazy saying it. I think people thought I was crazy. But here we are today not too far off around 350 with multiple services. And there’s a part of me that’s like – I should have gone with a much bigger number. My ask/faith was too small.

He desires to do more than we could ever ask or imagine. We need to ask according to the grace and love he’s shown us in Jesus. – Eph. 3. Ask boldly for God to bless us.

Question – Heart – Why do you want God to bless you? Psalm 67…

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! 

3. We are blessed to be a blessing. – We should desire for God to greatly bless us – not so we can live comfortable lives and not only so we can enjoy them – which God desires for us to do – but so that we can leverage those blessings for the nations hearing the gospel. That’s the purpose, the WHY – That God’s salvation would be known. – For other people! For their salvation. God’s blessings are never supposed to stop with us. Conduit – We are the way, God’s blessings get to the nations…

Abraham – Gen. 12, 15 – God – I’m going to bless you and through you all the nations of the earth. Not something that Abraham initiated with God. God is the one who initiated blessing. To bless not just Abraham but all the nations – with the saving knowledge of the true God. 

Israel – I chose you – not because you were the best, the biggest, but because of my grace – through you, my nearness to you, my Law – you are to be a blessing the the light for the nations so all would come to know me.

Are you a blessing? To the people in this church? Are you a blessing to the nonbelievers in your life? Do you leverage your life and what God has blessed you with to share the gospel with those around you who haven’t heard? – Make no mistake – You are blessed.

WY1 – Who’s Your One? Who’s the one person you are praying God saves this year? Who’s the one person you are going to faithfully pray for and share the gospel with this year?

Well – If God would bless me, I would. If I had what others had, then I could. Yes – Some “more” than others. But whatever has been entrusted to you – The expectation is that you leverage it for him. Yes, we need to ask God to bless us. But it is also true that right now, he has already richly blessed us. – What has he already blessed you with? Not – When I have more. When he blesses me next time. No. Now. Faithful with little so to be faithful with much.

We bless as we have been blessed, because we have been blessed to be a blessing. – Imitate/Become like God. – Joy for us and the nations…

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! 

4. The blessing and the joy of all the nations depends on us.

There is only one joy for the nations. Only one true and just ruler. Only one true King. Only one name that saves – Jesus. ALL – Every single nation, people group, culture – For all peoples in all places regardless of ethnicity, culture, race, age, gender, socio-economic status, education level, or anything else. – Doesn’t matter if you were “ born into a different religion” or your ethnic people follow the same religion or your family all believes in something different. There are no exceptions. All means all. Because there is only one Creator, one true God, against whom all of mankind has sinned against – and only one Savior – Jesus.

Ro. 10 ¹² … for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. ¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

¹⁴ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?^[a] And how are they to hear without someone preaching? ¹⁵ And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Rev. 7 9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Rev. 21 ²² And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. ²³ And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴ By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, ²⁵ and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. ²⁶ They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.

Everything is moving towards this. God is going to save all the nations. One of the things I love about Garden City – 45 countries represented here. (MAP) Members/Attenders – Not guests. But we have a long ways to go… 

Who/What are you living your life for? If Rev. is where we’re headed? Is your life in alignment with where all of history is headed? If not, you will have lived your life on the wrong side of God’s story. 

It’s not an optional activity for us – Mt. 28:18-20 – ¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Great Commission – I know. I’ve heard it a million times – But it’s not a question of have you heard it. It’s – Are you living it out? Our salvation – saved to God and a life that is for him. For believers, our lives aren’t our own anymore. Our life’s mission as believers is now Christ’s mission. There is no greater purpose or joy we could have in this life. 

God is the one who does the saving, not us, but God has chosen us as his instruments to spread his glory and blessing – the gospel – to the nations. And he’s not sent us or left us on our own. – HS – presence and power – and his blessings – while we do his work.

How will the nations hear? How will the gospel get out? Through us – You and me…Unacceptable – Millions even just in our city who have little to no access to the gospel.

Out of our comfort zones – It’s going to cost us something. It’s going to cost us to take Jesus to the nations. – Dread or joy? Why do I have to give up my life, my money, my time, my resources for other people? Because that’s what other people did to reach you. Because you were blessed to be a blessing and the blessing and joy of the nations will come through our faithfulness in sharing with them. Because Jesus is worthy – of your life and the worship of all nations.

Generosity – Everyone wants to be part of a generous church – gives to the poor, needy, mission. Which means YOU, we all, have to be generous. The more the people here at Garden City give, the more we can give. Minimum 10% of our budget comes in and it goes straight back out to bless our city – missions efforts, church planting, meeting needs in the city. Of course the pastor wants me to give – If you gave RM1m or RM1 – It doesn’t go in my pocket. I don’t benefit personally. Ministries and mission efforts of the church.

Resources – Not just money, people too. – First church plant – Monarch Church. Less than 3yrs in. Sent out 30 people from Garden City last month. Amazing. This year – We hope to be part of supporting Afghan and Persian church plants.

We want to raise up missionaries and church planters, who say send me out to the places with the greatest need, where people have no access to the gospel. I’m willing to go to start churches like Garden City in cities/countries where healthy churches don’t exist.

We’re all called. Every member is a missionary. Where/How. How do you discern? Not always – Job. Family. Good life. Not how we discern God’s willing/calling. Bible makes clear – when Jesus calls you – you need to be willing to leave all those things behind. – Need. Affinity/Interest. Gifting/Calling. 

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!

5. God’s blessings come to those with confident expectation.

God is always faithful to provide. God will provide everything we need. And our faith in God should match his faithfulness to us. Pastor Friend – We should be faith-filled because God is faithful.

Well, what about me? If I live this way … Mt. 6 – Seek first the kingdom of God…Jesus – Don’t worry about anything. Your heavenly Father loves you and will take care of you. So seek his kingdom first. You do this and everything else falls into place. 

God desires to be gracious to us. God desires to bless us. He desires to make his face shine upon us. Notice the shift in language – May God bless us TO God shall bless us. From asking to confident expectation of God’s blessing. – I know he’s going to bless us and say YES to what we’re asking for because he desires the glory of Jesus to cover the earth more than we do. And if he’s called us to this mission, he’s going to provide all the blessing and provision we need in abundance, so we are lacking nothing.

Ps. 67 mirrors Aaron’s priestly blessing – Numbers 6 ²² 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. ²⁷ “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

God commands this blessing to be spoken over his people. That’s who he is and what he does. God loves to be gracious, to bless, to make his face shine on his people for the purpose of his glory among the nations. So we shouldn’t be apologetic about asking for it. I want God to richly bless us. I want him to say yes to everything we pray for in this church. I want him to grow this church. I want him to allow us to raise up people and plant more churches. And we should be expectant and confident that he will. X Shy.

How can I be so confident? Because of Jesus. God’s grace and blessing to us is most clearly seen in the person and work on his son, Jesus. God didn’t have to send us Jesus. He could have condemned us to die the death we deserved. He didn’t have to send Jesus to die for us. But he did. 

Jesus had everything. He didn’t need to leave his throne in heaven. The only thing he was missing was us. So he came on a mission trip to earth. He took on flesh and became one of us. He laid down his life, he sacrificed himself for us.

And he didn’t do it unwillingly – Man, I had it so good! And I’ve got to give it all up for these people. He did it with joy. It was a joy for him to give up his life for others. To use his riches and blessings to bless others and make a way for them to have eternal life.

God’s greatest blessing – Presence – Doesn’t happen without Jesus. There is no blessing, there is no grace, there is no favor, there is no salvation for me, you, or the nations apart from him. So if God did not withhold his only Son, will he not with him give us all things? 

There are many nations and many people who have yet to hear – So I believe God desires to bless us richly so all the nations would come to know him – because that’s why Jesus came – the save the nations – and I know he won’t fail.

Because Jesus has saved us by holding nothing back. We also should be willing to lay our lives down. You have the greatest blessing you could ever be given and so we can give ourselves away so others can know him too. We can leverage our lives – everything we have. The gospel demands it. Jesus commands it. Jesus’ glory in the nations is worth it and it should be our greatest joy.

Believing in Jesus is not just a way to get blessings out of him. Blessings are supposed to point you back to the one doing the blessing. Not the gift, but the giver. Greatest cost to save you. He desires to bless you – Not just make your life easy – but he desires to save you to himself – See – There is no greater blessing. Gift – Grace.