God's grace

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine upon us – Selah – that Your ways may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.” Psalm 67:1-2
Ps. 67:1 is reminiscent of the priestly blessing that Aaron was instructed to pronounce upon the children of Israel in Num. 6:24-26 – “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.” This is a three-fold blessing, reminding us of the tri-unity of the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). It reminds us of God’s blessings and protection, His favour and grace, His watchful eye over our lives and His peace. All of these are wonderful attributes of God to meditate on. God has indeed blessed us greatly, and shown us immense grace – blessings we don’t deserve – especially in sending His own Son to earth to die in our place for our sins.
Then we see the word ‘Selah’, which occurs frequently in the Psalms and indicates a connection between two thoughts. The connection is that God’s blessings upon our lives would lead to His way of salvation being known among all nations.
God doesn’t just bless us for our own sakes, but so we might be a blessing and a witness to others. When people can see the grace and peace that we have in our lives because of our relationship with God, an inner strength that can withstand any storm that life throws at us, they will take notice and want to know how we are able to keep going. That’s our opportunity to share with them what God has done in our lives, and how we are now living for Him.