Psalms 65:1-13
1 Praise waitetha for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed.
2 O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.
3 Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.
4 Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.
5 By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea:
6 Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; being girded with power:
7 Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.
8 They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens: thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.b
9 Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it.
10 Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlestc the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof.
11 Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness.
12 They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoiced on every side.
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.
Israel's Coming Day
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
The Book of the Psalms must remain for a great part a closed Book unless we remember that David was a Prophet, and that being a Prophet he wrote much of the things to come.
It is well also for us to consider that a Prophet did not write dreams of his own brain. He wrote as he was moved by the Holy Ghost. David did not know the future any more than any of us know it. David could not, of himself, possibly foretell what was going to happen to his own people Israel, in the far distant centuries. He was a man, even as we are.
The sixty-fifth Psalm has a far-flung vision. The Spirit of God is carrying us into the days when Christ shall reign on earth.
To those of us living in the closing days of Grace, and to those of us upon whom the "age to come" is about to break; the prophecies of Millennial glory should be exceedingly interesting.
We remember how Christ began with the Prophets; and how, in the Psalms, He opened up the things concerning Himself. We remember how Peter, preceding Pentecost, spoke of the Scripture which the Holy Ghost had spoken by David. We remember how frequently the Psalms are quoted in the Book of Hebrews, as the Spirit revealed the glories of our Christ. With these things before us, let us enter into our study today with enlarged vision.
To David God revealed much of Israel's coming glory. David was plainly told that God would settle His Kingdom forever, under David's greater Son. David knew assuredly that this promise included the Lord Jesus, for with Christ's reign upon His throne in view, David spoke of the resurrection of Christ. David knew that Christ dead, and detained by the grave, could not sit on an earthly throne.
Oh, that the Spirit may anoint our eyes with eyesalve that we may grasp what He, through David, so freely wrote concerning the things to come!
The more we study the Psalms, the more will its Messianic message illumine our minds: the more will its story of Christ born, crucified, buried, risen, exalted and coming again, grip our hearts.
May God bless us in the study of the Psalm set before us today.
I. CHRIST'S COMING PRAISE (Psalms 65:1)
The "songs of Zion" as sung, under the leadership of Asaph, by the great Israelitish chorus, reached unto great renown. The nations heard of the praises which echoed throughout the courts of the chosen people.
Many of the Psalms were sung accompanied by stringed instruments. When Israel was finally carried into Babylon, their captors said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." The people, however, hung their harps on the willow trees and said, "How shall we sing the Lord's songs in a strange land?"
In the Psalm now before us, the Spirit of God is giving prophecy of Israel's restoration and final glory. These are the words that first grip our attention: "Praise waiteth for Thee, O God, in Sion."
The praise of the ten thousand times ten thousand which will reverberate throughout the Heavens when the thrones are set in Heaven, will hardly surpass the praise that awaits the Lord Jesus Christ, when, enthroned as Israel's King He sits on David's throne.
The whole earth will be filled in those days with the glory of the Lord. It is in Israel, however, that His praise will center.
If, when the Temple of Solomon was dedicated, the people broke forth with praise; and if, as the singers were as one in praising the Lord, the whole building was filled with His glory, what will it be when Christ Returns! The Man, whose name is "The Branch," will yet arise and build the Temple. Then the Lord will dwell in the midst of His people, as He rejoices over them in love.
Who can measure the volume of praise that will be heard as the people rejoice in their deliverance and restitution?
Then His people will come into His presence with rejoicing; then they will make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms, for He will be their God, and they will be the people of His pasture.
Can you visualize the hour when the Lord reigneth; when the Lord is great in Zion? Can you anticipate the day when the set time of Zion has come; when the Lord shall appear in His glory; when He shall build up Zion; when the nations of the earth shall come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord on the throne of His Kingdom?
In that day, the people will sing a new song unto the Lord; they will sing with the harp, with trumpets, and with the sound of the cornet. All the earth shall praise the Lord. Here is the way the Psalmist puts it: "Let the sea roar * *. Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together before the Lord; for He cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall He judge the world, and the people with equity."
II. CHRIST'S WORLD-WIDE WORSHIP (Psalms 65:2)
When Christ came the first time, made of a woman, made under the Law; He came into "the world, and the * * world knew Him not."
When Christ comes the second time the whole earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
He who came to be despised and rejected of men, will come again to be admired in all who believe.
It will be a marvelous vision to behold the nations sending up their representatives unto Jerusalem to worship the Lord. From afar shall they come, bringing their gifts of fealty. The few wise men who came from the East to worship the Lord in the days of yore, will be augmented by great multitudes.
Zechariah, in Spirit, said, "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, even upon them shall be no rain" (Zechariah 14:16).
Jesus Christ will be King of the whole earth, and the earth will acknowledge His Kingship.
III. ISRAEL'S FUTURE PURGING (Psalms 65:3)
God's chosen people have grievously sinned against their Lord. They have scattered their ways under every green tree; they have dealt treacherously against their God. They defiled their land with their doings. Their tongues have run throughout the whole land whither they have defamed the Lord their God.
For this very cause God hath scattered them among all nations, even as corn is scattered in a sieve, God's wrath has been heavy upon them. They have become a prey to every beast of the field. Their city, which once was the pride of the whole earth, has been despoiled; their land has been trodden down by strangers.
Today Israel weepeth sore; her friends have become her enemies. She has been carried captive, and "hath dwelt among the nations," where she has found no rest. Her ways mourn; her gates are desolate; her priests sigh; her enemies prosper; her adversaries are her chiefs; and she is in bitterness, With what joy, therefore, do we read the words of our key verse, "As for our transgressions. Thou shalt purge them away!"
Blessed be the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob; He shall arise and take away the reproach of His people.
God hath spoken, and He will perform. He hath said: "I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you."
Thank God! Israel shall yet be saved from all of her uncleannesses. She shall yet stand before the Lord clothed in filthy garments, and the Lord will cause her iniquity to pass away from her; then He will clothe her with a change of raiment; and place a fair miter upon her head. A nation shall be born in a day.
IV. ISRAEL'S FUTURE SATISFACTION (Psalms 65:4)
When Israel was obedient God blessed her with peace and prosperity. She dwelt in security and safety. She ate the finest of the wheat, and the honey out of the rock. Her ways were ways of pleasantness, and all her paths were peace.
When Israel forsook the Lord, Jehovah delivered her to sorrow and sighing. Misery were in her paths, and bitterness was her drink.
During all of the years and centuries of her anguish, God has never forgotten His people. He has kept them in the hollow of His hand. In all of their afflictions, He has been afflicted. Great has been His faithfulness. What Israel could never have obtained, God's election hath obtained for her.
The one fact that the chosen people are still a people, is sufficient proof that God has not cast her off forever, She has, like Jonah, been swallowed by the nations, but never digested; burned like Moses' bush, but never consumed; in the furnace, like the three Hebrew Children, but never destroyed.
The miracle of miracles is the "preserved people" a people without a king, without a prince, without a sacrifice, without an image, without an ephod, without a teraphim; and yet, a people kept through the centuries without being amalgamated by the nations.
What meaneth all of this? It means that Israel shall yet be blessed of God. She shall yet be restored to her land, forgiven and renewed, under one King.
Then shall Israel say, "We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy House, even of Thy holy Temple."
That wonderful Millennial Psalm, the one hundred and third, says, "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things." God has said through Jeremiah, "My people shall be satisfied with My goodness."
V. THE NATIONS SHALL REJOICE IN GOD (Psalms 65:5)
When Israel is restored and God has become her salvation, then will all the ends of the earth, and them that are afar off upon the sea, have confidence in God.
Verse seven says that the Lord will still the noise of the sea, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.
We are reminded of the time when the winds and the waves beat against the ship in which Christ lay fast asleep. The disciples were afraid, but the Master arose, saying, "Peace, be still," and suddenly there was a great calm.
We are reminded of Christ walking upon the water as the disciples, in the fourth watch of the night, faced the storm, pulling at the oars. We read that when Christ came into the boat the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship came and worshiped Him, saying, "Of a truth Thou art the Son of God."
When Christ comes to the Mount of Olives the earth will be in the throes of the greatest battle it has ever known. The Lord Jesus will speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure. Then will He speak peace, and there will be a great calm.
This is the way it is put in Psalms 46:1 : "The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: He uttered His voice, the earth melted."
Again the Psalmist wrote, "He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariot in the fire."
What is it that follows? "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
Thus we have seen that the ends of the earth will turn to the Lord, and that Christ will reign as Prince of Peace.
VI. THE PHYSICAL EARTH WILL BE MADE FRUITFUL (Psalms 65:9)
We come now to words which are frequently used in our annual Thanksgiving services. Verse eleven is a favorite text on such occasions; "Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness; and Thy paths drop fatness."
The Spirit, in truth, is telling us of that day when God will once more visit the earth and water it. The River of God will enrich the land. Even the ridges will be watered abundantly, and the furrows thereof shall be made soft with showers. The very wilderness will be turned into pastures, and the little hills will rejoice. Flocks of sheep will fill the pastures; and corn will cover the valleys. In fact, the earth will shout for joy and singing.
The day is coming when the hills will melt with new wine. The wilderness will bloom and blossom as a rose. Instead of the thorn will come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar will come up the myrtle tree.
In those days the plowman will overtake the reaper, and the sower of seed will follow hard upon him who reapeth the grain. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of dragons, the reeds and the rushes and the grass will grow.
In that day, and at that time, "the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them."
In that day, and at that time, "the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on a cockatrice' den."
The whole physical creation has been made subject to vanity for man's sake. This same creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
AN ILLUSTRATION
PALESTINE JEWS NOW EXPECTING A MESSIAH
"He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others."
"According to Samuel J. Williams of Columbus, Ohio, who has been pursuing special studies in Palestine in preparation for a master's degree, a new Messiah who will become King of the Jews and whose appearance will put an end to the next world war is predicted by the orthodox Jews in the Holy Land. They declare that He will be "a superman," and that His Kingdom will be a great center from which will radiate peace and brotherhood extending throughout the entire world. 'Of the 150,000 Jews in Palestine,' says Mr. Williams, 'most of whom have returned from the four corners of the earth since the war, at least 50,000 are expecting developments to transpire rapidly until, at an unexpected moment, the Messiah will be revealed.