God be gracious to us and bless us,
And cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
That Your way may be known on the earth,
Your salvation among all nations.
Let the people praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy;
For you will judge the peoples with uprightness
And guide the nations on the earth. Selah.
Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
The earth has yielded its produce;
God, our God, blesses us.
God blesses us,
That all the ends of the earth may fear Him.
{Psalm 67}
After all, we are at His mercy and we are entirely sinful - God does not owe us anything. Come to think of it, He does owe us something: wrath, judgement, and eternal punishment. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God," for God is holy and can do nothing but condemn sinners.
And yet, God does not judge or condemn us. Why? Because Christ stood in our place. He lived the life we could not live. He died the death we ought to have died. So, if we are united with Christ, then we have every reason to praise God endlessly for the good gifts that He blesses us with, not the least of which is our salvation.
But there's more.
Psalm 67:7 indicates that God's blessing has a purpose. In fact the whole chapter points to the purposeful blessing of God, poured out so lavishly upon us.
"God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him."
In my own words, it would say something like this: "God blesses me so that the testimony of my life, in word and deed, would cause the rest of the world to know, love, follow, serve and fear Him." In other words, God's blessing is not only for you. It's for the world. It's for the fulfillment of the Great Commission through His people. God's blessing should drive us to the mission field - whether international or our own backyard - in bold testimony of all that He has done.
Yes, it is good to praise God for the great things He has done and is doing in your life. Yes, it is good to revel in the blessing that He has richly bestowed upon you. But if your walk with God does not lead to action, then you have missed the point. God wants the world to know Him. And we are His "Plan A" for accomplishing that.
Just don't forget that there is no Plan B.
That you might know Christ,
