The Meaning of Psalms 67:4 Explained

Psalms 67:4

KJV: O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.

YLT: Rejoice and sing do nations, For Thou judgest peoples uprightly, And peoples on earth comfortest. Selah.

Darby: Let the nations rejoice and sing for joy: for thou wilt judge the peoples equitably; and the nations upon earth, thou wilt guide them. Selah.

ASV: Oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy; For thou wilt judge the peoples with equity, And govern the nations upon earth. Selah

KJV Reverse Interlinear

O let the nations  be glad  and sing for joy:  for thou shalt judge  the people  righteously,  and govern  the nations  upon earth.  Selah. 

What does Psalms 67:4 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 67:1-7 - "let All The Peoples Praise Thee"
Come and hear, Psalms 66:16-20
The psalm began with Come and see, Psalms 66:5. Compare Mark 5:19-20; John 4:29. It will be one of the employments of heaven to go from group to group to tell what God has done for us. But each hearer will have a tale as wonderful as ours. We must praise without stint, and pray with pure and unselfish motives. From such prayers God will not turn away.
Psalms 67:1-7, like Psalms 65:1-13, was composed for use at an annual festival. "Bless us," say the saints in yearning prayer. "God shall bless us," is the certain answer of faith, Psalms 67:1; Psalms 67:7. We desire blessing, not to hoard for ourselves, but that all mankind may share with us. Ask for God's smile on yourself alone, and you will miss it; ask for it that you may reflect and pass it on, and the Lord will become your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be ended.
Four times the psalmist cries, Let the peoples praise thee, R.V. In answer to his appeal, it seemed as if the whole world had broken out into fresh fertility. Our own God, Psalms 67:6. He has given Himself to us, and each may have the whole of the fullness as an estate of boundless extent and wealth, Numbers 18:20; Psalms 16:5. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 67

1  A prayer for the enlargement of God's kingdom
3  to the joy of the people
6  and the increase of God's blessings

What do the individual words in Psalms 67:4 mean?

Oh let be glad and sing for joy the nations for You shall judge the people righteously and the nations on earth govern Selah
יִֽשְׂמְח֥וּ וִֽירַנְּנ֗וּ לְאֻ֫מִּ֥ים כִּֽי־ תִשְׁפֹּ֣ט עַמִּ֣ים מִישׁ֑וֹר וּלְאֻמִּ֓ים ׀ בָּאָ֖רֶץ תַּנְחֵ֣ם סֶֽלָה

יִֽשְׂמְח֥וּ  Oh  let  be  glad 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: שָׂמַח  
Sense: to rejoice, be glad.
וִֽירַנְּנ֗וּ  and  sing  for  joy 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: רוּן 
Sense: to overcome.
לְאֻ֫מִּ֥ים  the  nations 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: לְאֹם  
Sense: a people, nation.
תִשְׁפֹּ֣ט  You  shall  judge 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: שָׁפַט  
Sense: to judge, govern, vindicate, punish.
עַמִּ֣ים  the  people 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
מִישׁ֑וֹר  righteously 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִישֹׁור  
Sense: level place, uprightness.
וּלְאֻמִּ֓ים ׀  and  the  nations 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural
Root: לְאֹם  
Sense: a people, nation.
בָּאָ֖רֶץ  on  earth 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
תַּנְחֵ֣ם  govern 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, second person masculine singular, third person masculine plural
Root: נָחָה  
Sense: to lead, guide.
סֶֽלָה  Selah 
Parse: Interjection
Root: סֶלָה  
Sense: to lift up, exalt.