Psalm 65

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

1 Praise is due to you, [Or Praise waits for you in silence] O God, in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed.

2 O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come.

This is a festival song that celebrates the goodness of God evidenced by his forgiveness, his presence, and his provision of good things from the earth. It begins with a striking statement, with a personification of praise. “Praise waits in silence.” This is the same word that is used in Psalm 62 when David declared that his “soul waits in silence.” It is as if praise were a person (that’s personification) waiting for the worshipers to show up and bring him to life. This verse is exploding with anticipation. When the worshipers show up in Zion to sing, and pray, perform their vows, and offer their sacrifices, praise will be awakened and she will go from silence to a roar. What is true of Israel is also true of all people, hinting at the missionary purpose of God -- “to you all flesh will come”. Indeed, there is evidence throughout the Old Testament that gentiles were grafted in with the people of Israel as they came to faith in God. Often called “God-fearers” in the Psalms, they heard the heavens declaring his glory and they learned of his amazing deeds for his people and they wanted to be a part of it. So this festival song was also for them as they made the pilgrimage to Zion to worship with the people of God. God is identified as the one “who hears prayer”. The previous psalm began with that same word -- shema, “hear”. God is listening to the prayers of all people in all places at all times. There is nothing that escapes his attention. Remember this psalm when you gather with believers to worship and pray together. The room is silent with anticipation for what is to come in just a few moments, when the singing and praying begin and the worship that is anticipated is actualized. Do you anticipate worship in this way? Do you look forward to gathering with fellow believers to sing, pray, and fulfill your vows? Jesus said if we don’t praise God, the stones will cry out. Even something as dumb as a rock knows that there is a God worthy of praise. The very buildings in which we meet, if they could talk, would express their eagerness for our gatherings. There’s something good and right about worship that sets all of creation in the right place. 

3 When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions.

The first gift of God’s grace is forgiveness, the covering of our transgressions. The first line is in the first person singular voice, the second in first person plural. David speaks from personal experience of the tremendous strength of iniquity in his life. The Hebrew is literally translated “words/matters of iniquities are mighty/strong against me,” and we can identify with the struggle. Sin is always at the door crouching, desiring to have us, and we must master it. And when we fail to do so, the second line of this verse is also true, “you cover our transgressions”. Switching to the first personal plural, David speaks on behalf of the community, our common experience of God’s forgiving grace. The covering that takes place is known theologically as atonement or propitiation. This was visibly and literally acted out on the Day of Atonement once a year when the priest entered the most holy place and sprinkled the blood of an innocent animal on the atonement cover, the mercy seat, of the ark of the covenant, the box that contained the the stone tablets of the law and on which God “sat” and judged us, according to the law. But our failures in keeping the law were covered from view by the sprinkled blood of the lamb. All of this of course is a metaphor for the ultimate covering, the final atonement that took place on the cross when the blood of the innocent lamb of God was spilled on sprinkled on the law, that God might see the righteousness of Christ and impute that righteousness to us. “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, but not for ours only, but the sins of the whole world” (I John 2:2). David believed that God covered the sins of his people, but he had no idea how it actually worked, how the just demands of the law could be satisfied without breaking them. Jesus, a descendant of David through his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, would prove to be David’s own atonement. The blessing of forgiveness not only enables us to enjoy a relationship with God, but it also empowers us to forgive others and live gracious lives toward those around us. Sin always has a communal aspect to it, but so does forgiveness. When we sin as individuals, others in the community are always affected. When we are forgiven as individuals, the grace we experience should make us more gracious toward others, positively affecting the community. The curse is reversed. Praise God for his grace today and prove the genuineness of that praise by extending grace toward others. 

4 Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!

In addition to atoning for our sins, God also offers the gift of his presence. In the context of the psalmist, this gift is especially reserved for priests who were chosen by God by virtue of their birth to enter into the innermost parts of the temple and “dwell” in his courts. David is not one of those men, but presumably he got as close as the law would allow, famously dancing before the ark of the covenant when it was brought up to Jerusalem. This verse is similar to Psalm 84:4 -- “Blessed are those who dwell in your house, they are ever praising you.”  This verse then is spoken with a touch of envy by David and the pilgrims who have sung it through the centuries. How marvelous it must be to be a priest and have access to the very throne room of God on earth! Being a priest also meant that you trusted in God for everything. You didn’t inherit land and you didn’t live off the fruit of your labors. You lived off a portion of the offerings that were brought by the people. Depending on the spiritual condition of the nation, that could mean abundance or starvation. David speaks for all the people when he says, “we will be satisfied with the goodness of your house.” Like the priests, David finds ultimate happiness in God himself, in visiting his house in worship, in gazing at his beauty in the temple (Psalm 27:4). Although not allowed to enter the temple proper, they are satisfied simply being near to God’s presence there. This verse highlights the importance of the gathering congregation for worship. Yes, we can worship God privately and individually, but there is also a place to gather with believers and share a common experience. We do this in so many other aspects of modern lives (sports, civic events, ceremonies), and it has long been the practice of God’s people to gather for worship. Even though we now have the technological capacity to gather virtually, it’s not quite the same. Here’s the best news of all, in Christ we are all priests. Every believer has access to the presence of God through Jesus, our great high priest who has led the way for us. David could only imagine such an opportunity, and yet we live in it every day. Reflect today on what it means to be a priest, to come face to face with God in Jesus Christ, to find your satisfaction primarily and ultimately in Him. 

5 By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas;

The language of the temple, corporate worship and prayer give way to a statement about how God answers those prayers and responds to our worship. He does so with awesome deeds in righteousness. The word “awesome” is overused these days and has lost its core meaning of “awe inspiring”. The root of the word is “fear,” so these are things that God does that evoke fear or respect in all who see them. Furthermore, God is identified as the “God of our salvation” a term which also harkens back to the awesome deeds of God in saving the nation from slavery in Egypt -- the plagues, the crossing of the Red Sea and the Jordan, his provision in the wilderness, and the surprise victory in Jericho. The statement that “God is our salvation” is not rooted in wishful thinking but in his very real interventions in human history. Because news of these actions of God has spread far and wide, (and even where it hasn’t yet), the psalmist can say that God is God of all peoples, that this same salvation is offered to all people in every far corner or the earth and every island and distant land. This psalm presents a spectacular missionary vision long before Jesus gave us the great commission. Even in David’s day, it was understood that YHWH was the one ultimate God, willing to save anyone and everyone who called on him, regardless of race. His justice is perfect and his power is for the weak. Why would you not hope in him? The peoples of the nations are still anxiously awaiting the deliverance of that hope, and it should be our prime task, even as we enjoy the blessings of God -- forgiveness and his presence. There are many who don’t know these things, and they need someone to go and tell them.  

6 the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might;

7 who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples,

8 so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

God is not only the God of salvation, the hope of all the peoples of the earth, he is also the creator of that earth. The three realms of creation -- earth, water, and sky -- are all referenced in regard to their most stunning features. First, the mountains of the earth get the attention. God put on strength as clothing and established them. Can you make a mountain? Can you move a mountain? The mountains were evidence of God’s power and stability. People admired them then as much as now, building high places of worship so that they could be closer to the gods. The high places that are difficult for men to tread were made by God, formed in beauty and power by his hand. Second, God stilled the seas, the roaring of the waves. This occurred on the same day of creation, day three, when God separated land and water. The chaos of the sea was reigned in by the rising of the land and the establishment of the boundaries of the water. They could roar all they wanted, yelling at the shore, “Let me in!” but God kept the waters in their place. At this point, the chaos of the water is likened to the tumult of the peoples, the jostling for position and power that takes place between and within the nations. God is sovereign over the affairs of nations as well, putting them in their place, their boundaries, dictating world history even as mankind acts with freedom. And those people who live at the ends of the earth (Alaska, Fiji, South Africa, Chile), those most isolated from the tumult of humanity, can see the hand of God in all of this, and they are awestruck at God’s signs. The signs of God are the bits of evidence that point to his existence and his intervention in this world. The final example of God’s creation is that of the sky, and the sunrise and sunset in particular when God’s beauty is on display -- “You make the going out of the morning and the evening to sing for joy.” In a world that must have been otherwise pretty gray and drab, a daily struggle of survival, God gave beautiful mornings and evenings, causing us to look upward at least twice a day. There’s nothing particularly functional about a sunrise or sunset -- the sun has to do what the sun has to do. The beauty of it all seems superfluous, unnecessary, non-essential to function. God does it, just because. And it serves as another sign of God’s nature. He is strong to establish the mountains; sovereign to rule the sea and the nations, and gloriously beautiful to inspire worship and awe. Take note of the created world and never lose your awe at these signs. They are for you. Reminds me of Andrew Peterson’s song, The Magic Hour, which asks, “could all this beauty be for us?” Yes, yes it is. 

9 You visit the earth and water it; [Or and make it overflow] you greatly enrich it;

the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.

10 You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth.

In these two verses David describes the miracle of agriculture, how God has designed a system that generates food and water for life to flourish on earth. The word translated “visit” in verse 9 is a common Hebrew that has a broad meaning -- appoint, attend, show concern -- all to suggest that God is deeply involved in the process of creation care. The focus is on water in the form of rain, filling the rivers and furrows between the rows of plants, softening the dry ground for planting and over weeks and months enabling plants to flourish. The water cycle is an amazing simple and powerful tool for maintaining life on the planet. The oceans contain 97% of the world’s water and it is entirely unusable for agriculture on land because of its salinity. The heat from the sun evaporates the seawater, chemically separating it from the deadly minerals, and elevates it to the clouds. Variants in temperature and pressure move the clouds over the land where the water condenses and falls as rain, pure water to sustain life. The rain makes it way to the ground and up the roots and stems of the plants to the photosynthesis factories of the leaves. The unused water flows to the oceans, eroding the land and working to create soil along the way as the cycle is repeated. It is elegant in its simplicity and yet it is not something that humans can create or even manipulate substantially (apart from cloud seeding and more recent attempts to slow the warming of the planet). Everytime it rains, recall how God designed this system to run effortlessly, following the law of chemistry and physics, the laws of nature that he established. Having labored to water my lawn and garden, spending hundreds of dollars and hours of my life moving hoses and sprinklers, I’m grateful when an afternoon shower can do in 5 minutes what it would have taken me hours to do. Rain is a gift from God and a sign that he is good. Clean, fresh water from the sky -- what a cool idea! Our bodies are 70% water, so getting good water to us is a top priority. The rain is evidence to us of God’s provision for this very basic need. Every green thing that you see is a result of God’s visiting the earth in the form of rain and snow. By the way, snow in the northern latitudes and higher elevations is an ingenious way of storing fresh water for later use in the summer when we need it. The weather patterns of Israel are similar to those of the west coast of the US where there are rainy and dry seasons (this is also true in many parts of the world). People depend on the seasonal rains to sustain them the entire year. This psalm was probably a song of thanksgiving for the return of the autumnal rains and the subsequent harvest. There is so much for us to be thankful for today -- rain, food, clean water, beauty -- all of this the result of God visiting the planet in the form of weather. 

11 You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.

12 The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy,

13 the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.

This is a painting of agricultural abundance. The season comes to an end with the bounty of the harvest, a cornucopia of goodness. The word “crown” here is the same as in Psalm 8:5 -- “You crowned him [mankind] with glory and honor and made him a little lower than the angels”. God completes the year with a harvest of good. Verse 11 is literally, “the paths drip with abundance”, so there are a couple of ways to interpret. It could be that there is a lot of traffic, wagon loads of produce making their way from farm to market to table. Or it could be that the ruts in the roads made by the wagon wheels are deep because they are well-traveled. Perhaps the wagons are overflowing and produce is dropping on the ground filling the wagon wheel ruts. In any case, there is abundance. Verse 12 tells us that even the desert has greened up and animals can pasture there. As a result, the meadows are covered with flocks of sheep and goats and the valleys are all decked out in grain. The hills put on the clothing of joy and together with the meadows and valleys they shout and sing together joyously. There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction and security that comes from abundance, from a good harvest. Most of us don’t live close enough to the land anymore to truly appreciate the magnitude of this miracle. Of course the grocery stores are filled with items to eat. Our whole agricultural system is amazing, rich in complexity, and it feeds a larger number of people than ever before. There is less starvation per capita than any other time in history. While this is made possible by innovation and human creativity, it is ultimately at the mercy of God. This psalm recognizes this. It was really obvious 3,000 years ago when the entire harvest rested on the weather. We can’t control the weather these days, but we have developed drought and disease-resistant crops, and we have developed systems for transporting and storing food so that it lasts well beyond its normal life. Working with the laws of nature and nature’s God, our planet can flourish and sustain life in stunning abundance. Working against nature and nature’s God, and we are going to have problems that we can’t even foresee. The earth itself is happy when human life flourishes. There are some today that seriously argue that the world would be a better place if there were fewer human beings (Wait, that sounds like the plot of a Marvel movie. Can anyone say “Thanos”?). The truth is that God made the world in such a way that it can sustain vast amounts of life if the creature that is crowned with glory and honor uses its God-given creativity to promote life in all of its forms. The goodness of agriculture is an example of God’s common grace, a kindness that is experienced by all people everywhere, regardless of whether they acknowledge God or not. In every culture food is grown, prepared, consumed and celebrated. This psalm reminds us to give thanks for every meal as it is ultimately a result of the gracious goodness of God.