¹ May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, Selah
² that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.
³ May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.
⁴ May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. Selah
⁵ May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.
⁶ Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us.
⁷ God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him.

As I started studying this Psalm I really did not know where to begin. This is a

simple Psalm with a simple message “may God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us”. Yet it was this simple prayer that Moses (Numbers 6:22-27) instructed Aaron and his sons to use to bless Israel. This benediction recognizes that God is the source of all good blessings in a person’s life.

Verse two presents two requests of knowledge from the writer of this Psalm to God. First that His ways may be known on the earth. The second was that his salvation might be known among all nations. The interesting issue in this verse is the focus on the whole earth, not just the nation of Israel. We have the tendency just to focus on the issues around us, but in this verse the author of this Psalm makes us realized that the knowledge of God and his salvation is for the whole world.

The last two verses are the realization of the results that can come from following God’s ways. The land will yield it harvest, we will be blessed of God, and all the ends of the earth will fear him.  Job’s life was an example of both of these results.  Job’s life was blessed until Satan challenge God to test Job.  After the challenge Job’s life was not only blessed, but Job was now a witness to his neighbors of the fear of God. 

I know the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, but what is the fear of God?  I have wondered and searched all my life for the true meaning of the fear of God, One thing I have realized is that I need and desire his presence in my life daily.  Just the thought of having to live in a world without God would bring fear to me.  If one does not have the fear of God in their live when they would be like those that Paul describes in Romans 1:21,22 “Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful:  but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”  A life that does not have God is a godless life.  Therefore, I would fear a life without Him