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.
Psalms 65:2. To thee shall all flesh come. The gentile nations, in the uttermost parts of the earth, as in Psalms 65:5; Psalms 65:8; Psalms 22:27; Psalms 66:1.
Psalms 65:3. Iniquities prevail against me. Hebrews the words [and devices] of iniquity are strong against me; that is, the lies and slanders of wicked men. As for our transgressions, the sins we have really committed, thou shalt purge them away by the blood of atonement. Hebrews 9:14.
Psalms 65:9. Thou visitest the earth and waterest it. In this climate, we have western gales and frequent rains; but in Syria they had little more than the former and the latter rain, which suggested the idea of a welcome and refreshing visit from God. The river of God. The river of thy pleasure: Psalms 36:8. The river that makes glad the city of God: Psalms 46:4. The Gihon which watered Jerusalem, or the brook Kidron which washed the east of the city, or Jordan in the midst of the land. These, abounding with water from numerous springs, irrigated the country, and made it abundantly fruitful.
Psalms 65:11. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness. In luxuriant and golden harvests, and with the rich clusters of the mantling vine; yea, with all the plenteous stores of food for man and beast. Thy paths. Hebrews thy orbits, all the circling seasons of the year, as ruled by the courses of the heavenly bodies.
REFLECTIONS.
Leaving the troubles which afflicted the prophet in the three preseding psalms, we now enter into a region of smiling aspect and grateful piety. God is here addressed as the father and king of the whole humankind, who though filling the highest circles of the heavens, yet fixes the special tokens of his presence with man in his sanctuary. Hence all flesh, the whole gentile world, shall come to him, and be converted by the power of the gospel. Psalms 22:27. The church, full of gratitude for the past, and confidence for the future, waited upon God with anthems of praise, and the payment of every vow.
This confidence David farther expressed by admitting the wicked situation of the country, when he came to the throne: but he was assured that God would purge the iniquity of the land, and reform the people. So it was; and so the Lord also wrought among the believing gentiles.
We have the blessedness of the man whom the Lord calls and chooses to approach him, whether he be a prince, a prophet, a priest, or a humble cottager. His soul shall be satisfied with goodness, with the fatness of God's house. His mind shall delight itself in contemplating the divine perfections, and his heart shall burn like the altar with all the fragrance of love. Pleasures ineffable, pleasures of paradise shall open on his soul. He is blessed above all that the earth can boast, for God alone is the object of all his praise, and of all his love. He is blessed, for the God he adores will come and dwell with him, will defend him by his power, and sustain him by his grace. He is blessed; for approaching God in the beauty of his holiness, he is made to resemble him in holiness and in purity. Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image: approaching him constitutes the highest happiness of angels, and they are not able to utter all the blessedness of his presence.
David was farther confident that God would answer prayer, because he poured all the temporal blessings of the covenant upon the country. He fixed the mountains, limited the tides, calmed the seas, and silenced the noisy tumults of the nations against his church. He sent them fruitful seasons. The Jordan enriched the valleys by annual inundations. The clouds kissed the hills, and made them verdant; the latter rain watered the ridges of the corn. Now, our Saviour says, if God so clothe the grass, how much more will he clothe you! Truly then, praise waiteth on Israel's God: as the husbandman shouteth home his copious harvest, so the church exults in expectation of seeing accomplished all the glory of which the holy prophets spake since the world began.