Psalm 67- NIV
The Nations Exhorted to Praise God
671[1]May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us-[2]2 so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. 3 May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. 4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth. 5 May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. 6 The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us. 7 May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Takeaway:
Our world would certainly be a different place if we all were living out the commandment to “Love our neighbor as ourselves”. By our actions and loving others, many will be brought to see God by what he is doing in our own lives. Living out our testimony will help draw other people closer to us and to God. We want all the people to praise God, but how can they do it if they do not truly know Him?
Thinking about my “neighbors”, I feel that I should start with not only my actual neighbors on my street but also the colleagues and students that I work with each day. These are my neighbors, and I should be modeling what God wants us to strive to become. That may mean acknowledging my faults along the way, but that is part of being human and genuine. Your students will see this and over time, may they find God through their own testimony to share with others.
Prayer:
Father of All Nations,
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the many blessings you have brought to my life. I praise you, Lord, for all the works You have done already, and what You are doing that I do not even know about yet. Let me be a light for You, God. Help me to model and share my testimony through how I live my life. Give me the words this week to share my appreciation of Your creation and all the blessings that we get to share. Let my students be overcome with gratitude towards You, Lord, for even the most basic needs. May we all learn to love our neighbors in every place we are this week. Everyone is made in your image. Let me live out Your calling each and every day. In Your name, I pray.
-Amen
Weekly Discussion Questions for Students:
- What things in life are you the most grateful for?
- Do you know your neighbors well? Have you ever done a nice thing for your neighbor, or have they done something nice for you? How did that feel?
- What if we thought of our classmates and teachers as our neighbors? How could we help our “neighbors”?
- What is a way we could support and help our local community?
- How do you suppose others will think of you if you are helping others without asking for anything in return?
Praise
- Add in any praises that you have this week from your own personal life or that of your student’s or colleague’s lives
Requests
- What do you need this week to thrive? Ask for those things to help you have the energy and capacity to do God’s will
Want to Read More About Praying the Psalms Over Your Students?
If you missed the other posts on praying the Psalms over your students, you can find the links below or look on the right side of the page and click on this category to find them there as well. Please share with other teachers who might be interested as well! Note, that these Psalms are not in numerical order, rather I have picked them out in this order based on my own experiences and that of the students and staff that I am working with.