Psalm 67

Psalm 67
"God be merciful unto us, and bless us"
Psalm 67 written in the shape of the menorah, a form called Shiviti
Other name
  • Psalm 66
  • "Deus misereatur"
LanguageHebrew (original)

Psalm 67 is the 67th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us". In Latin, it is known as "Deus misereatur".[1] In the slightly different numbering system of the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible, and in the Latin Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 66. Its theme is a prayer for God's mercy, blessing and light.

The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. It has been paraphrased in hymns and set to music.

Biblical commentator Cyril Rodd divides it into three sections: two "broadly parallel" sections in verses 1-3 and 4–5, which seek God's favour and blessing, and verses 6–7, which express universal joy as "all the nations" [2] experience God's blessing.[3] Verses 3 and 5 are a repeated refrain:

May the nations praise you, O God.
Yes, may all the nations praise you.[4]
  1. ^ Parallel Latin/English Psalter / Psalmus 66 (67) Archived 2017-05-07 at the Wayback Machine medievalist.net
  2. ^ Psalm 67:5: New Living Translation
  3. ^ Rodd, C. S., 18. Psalms in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary Archived 2017-11-22 at the Wayback Machine, p. 385
  4. ^ Psalm 67:3–5: New Living Translation