Psalm Devotional
Fields White for Harvest
The spirit of this psalm can be traced back to the Abrahamic promise that the people of God would be both blessed and made a blessing to all the world (Gen. 12:1-3). The psalm begins with a petition for “us” but is thereafter focused on the peoples of the world. It relates what is in store for them when the blessing that has reached “us” reaches them as well. Although the setting of harvesttime may be the historical context, verses 5-7 describe the worshiping world as the harvest yielded by the earth—a metaphor that was undoubtedly in Christ’s mind when He pictured the work of the gospel as a great harvest of people (Matt. 9:36-38; John 4:35-37).
Verse 1 clearly echoes the Aaronic blessing (Num. 6:24-26), while verse 2 gives that classic blessing new force of purpose in the plan of salvation. We see the Aaronic blessing going global as the good news of salvation spreads. God’s blessing upon His people is a means by which many others will be blessed with the knowledge of truth and salvation, just as it was promised to Abraham. Here is the Great Commission in the Old Testament.
