What Does God Want for you? He Wants What Is Right in Front of You
Psalm 67 and the surprising, ordinary way God invites us into His purposes and plans
One of the most common questions I hear is this: What does God want for me?
We often ask it when we’re standing at a crossroads. When life feels uncertain. When we’re longing for clarity, direction, or confirmation that we’re not missing God’s will.
But Psalm 67 gently reframes this question. It suggests that God’s will for your life may not be hidden somewhere far off in the distance. But rather it may be right in front of you.
A Psalm Built to Slow Us Down
Psalm 67 has a beautiful and intentional structure. It’s shaped like a sandwich—top and bottom mirroring one another—drawing our attention to the very center.
The opening and closing verses speak of blessing. A prayer for God’s favor to rest on His people. A confidence that God will bless His people. And wrapped around the middle is a worshipful refrain: “Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.”
But right in the middle—verse 4—we find the heart of the psalm.
“Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.”
Psalm 67:4
Everything else exists to support this truth. God blesses His people so that the nations might know Him. So that joy might spread. So that praise might fill the earth.
Blessing That Was Never Meant to Stop With Us
The psalm opens with words that echo a familiar blessing—the benediction God instructed Moses to give Aaron to speak over the people of Israel:
“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us.” (v.1)
But the psalm doesn’t stop there. Almost immediately, the focus moves outward.
“That your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.” (v.2)
God’s design was always global. Israel was meant to be a living testimony of God’s goodness to the surrounding nations. And yet, as Scripture reminds us again and again, even God’s people struggled to remember His faithfulness.
The nations didn’t know they needed to look to the Lord. They didn’t know their Creator. They didn’t know salvation was available to them.
And still—God’s heart remained the same.
The Joy of the Nations Is Christ
At the center of Psalm 67 is a longing: that the nations would be glad.
Why should they rejoice?
Because God will one day rule the nations with justice and equity. Because suffering and sorrow are not the end of the story. Because salvation is real, and it is found in Christ alone.
The psalmist looks out at a world where praise is lacking and joy is incomplete—and he aches for that to be made right. He knows something we are prone to forget: the joy of the nations is Christ.
This raises a searching question for us:
Does the purpose of my life lead others toward joy in Christ?
How do we spend our time and money? What do we pray for most often? What do we desire most deeply?
As we grow closer to God, our desires begin to align with His. And God’s heart has always been for the nations.
That doesn’t always mean crossing oceans. Sometimes it means paying attention to the people right in front of us—our neighbors, coworkers, roommates, the women we run into at the coffee shop or walking through downtown Atlanta.
God Wants You to Use Your Blessings to Make Him Known
Psalm 67 makes something unmistakably clear: God’s blessings are purposeful.
The psalmist asks for blessing so that God’s ways might be known. He ends with confidence that God will bless His people—and that all the ends of the earth will fear Him.
God’s way to the nations is Christ. Jesus Himself said, “I am the way.”
And somehow, in His wisdom and kindness, God has chosen to use His people as instruments in the salvation of others. That makes our blessings a serious stewardship.
We have been entrusted with the gospel—not to hoard it, but to share it.
Ephesians 1 reminds us that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. That truth frees us to live boldly. To take risks. To trust that if we are in Christ, we can never be utterly destroyed.
You have a story that no one else has. You have gifts, resources, freedoms, and opportunities uniquely given to you. God intends to use them.
Faithfulness Often Looks Ordinary
We hear story after story of God’s faithfulness through women who simply followed Him—often in the mundane.
Women who:
Commit to meaningful membership in their local church, believing it is God’s plan for His people.
Delight in the Word of God, knowing they were created to love Him with their minds and that Scripture is essential for life and ministry.
Practice faithful, persistent evangelism—making intentional plans, praying by name, and following through.
Open their homes in simple, ordinary hospitality, serving countless cups of coffee and tea as an act of obedience and love.
What sets these women apart is not exceptional talent or influence. It is the Spirit of Christ living in them. They are doers of the Word, not hearers only.
And through their faithfulness—often quiet, often unseen—the nations are hearing the gospel.
God Will Accomplish What He Has Promised
Psalm 67 ends with confidence:
“The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!” (vv.6–7)
God is redeeming a people for Himself. He is rescuing fallen sinners. In the person and work of Christ, God brings restoration and life.
And He has chosen to use His church to proclaim this good news—so that the nations might be glad.
One day, as Revelation tells us, people from every tribe and tongue and nation will worship before the throne.
Until then, we go boldly. We live faithfully. We steward what is right in front of us.
Because the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.
