"May God Be Gracious To Us"

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah”

As we take a look at this first verse today, let’s consider what it means for God to be “gracious to us.”

This is a prayer that God would both show his general, benevolent grace and that He would save people. God shows His general grace to us in our every day lives and we often take this for granted. He shows general grace to us with the air that we breathe. He shows general grace to us with the food that we eat. He shows general grace to us with the ability we have to work and provide for our family. This is God’s general, benevolent grace.

Grace means a gift that is undeserved. And we, as a sinful people against a Holy God, do not deserve God’s general grace. And yet, He continues to pour it out to those who are at enmity with Him.

The petition for God to “be gracious to us” here in verse 1 is also a direct request for God to show Saving Grace to those who do not know Him. This is a prayer that people might be saved. As we pray this, our prayer should be that God would show His grace to all of those that we come into contact with as believers.

There are so many American people who believe that because they “walked an aisle,” they are saved. There are so many people who think that because they “prayed a prayer,” they are in right standing with God. There are so many people who think that since they do more good than bad, then they are Justified before a Holy God. But please understand that none of these things can save you. You cannot do anything to save yourself.

Our prayer as a ministry should be that God would reveal His grace to those who do not know Him! Our prayers should look like this:
“Lord, please reveal Yourself to the people who do not know You.”
“Lord, please draw this group of people to Yourself.”
“Lord, please make Yourself known to the unbelievers that we come in contact with.”

And if you are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, then your prayer should also be a prayer of thanksgiving:
“Lord, thank you for being gracious to me!”
“Lord, thank you for showing me Your undeserved grace!”
“Lord, I realize that without You, I am a sinner damned for hell.. thank you for choosing to save me!”

Please understand that everything begins with God’s amazing grace! Not just this prayer in Psalm 67, but all of life begins with God’s grace! If you have never experienced the grace of God, then you are still dead in your trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1-3). And if you have been Justified by the power of God unto salvation, then know that this was not of yourself. It was only because God chose to be merciful unto a sinner (Ephesians 2:4-9).

“May God be gracious to us…”

Christian parent, you should be praying this for your family. You should be praying this for your kids every day. “God, please save my son, that he might grow up to serve you all of the days of his life.” “God, please show your grace to my daughter, that she might love you with all of her heart, soul, mind and strength.”

Ambassadors, this should be our prayer as we take the field each week. “God, if there is but one person on the other team that does not know You, please use me to lead that lost soul to You. Please show Your grace to them!”

“May God be gracious” to our ministry. And “may God be gracious” to you and your family today.