The Influence of Christianity on the Temporal Future of Mankind
R. W. Dale, D. D. Psalm 67:6 Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. The universal knowledge and service of God are connected with more abundant material prosperity. The earth is to yield her increase; the grapes are to hang in heavier clusters; the oil is to flow tit richer streams; the corn is to yield a more golden harvest; the pastures are to be covered with more numerous flocks; man's temporal life is to be happier, nobler, more beautiful, when the whole race is brought back to the love and worship of the Creator. For this psalm, apt as the Jews were to forget it, and think only of themselves, foretells God's bounty to the whole race, and not to any one part of it. There is a golden age for men in this world, in which the dreams of reformers, philanthropists and fools shall be more than fulfilled. Christianity, conversant as it is with the realities of the unseen, the spiritual and eternal, is not, as some say, without interest for the wealth, the learning, the refinement, the beauty, belonging to this transitory life. Human life, though brief, is worth our care and culture. Christ eared for this life and blessed it. He healed the sick and fed the hungry, and looked at the lilies of the field, and observed that their beauty was richer and fairer than the robe of a king. They are perverted conceptions of the Christian life which have led many good men to shrink from the touch of every secular interest and to devote themselves to a life of solitude and meditation. They forget that we are put in this world to prepare for eternity, not to be always thinking about it. True, great saints have been indifferent to the common occupations of life, but in them — the few elect souls — the Divine fire burned with such intensity as to consume their interest in all inferior things. But Christianity is not, therefore, to be censured as hostile to man's temporal welfare. Though John Howard cared for nothing but the sorrows and injuries of the outcasts of society, philanthropy is not, therefore, charged with indifference to commerce, art and the various occupations and pursuits of men. We believe, then, that the triumph of the Christian faith will be marked by a vast uplifting of the material, intellectual, and social condition of our race. (R. W. Dale, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. WEB: The earth has yielded its increase. God, even our own God, will bless us.