Psalms 65 - Introduction

A hymn of praise, intended probably to be sung at the presentation of the firstfruits at the Passover (Leviticus 23:10-14) in a year of exceptional promise. It is clear from the allusions to the gathering of the people to the Temple (Psalms 65:2; Psalms 65:4) that it was composed for use at one of the great festivals, and as the corn was still in the fields (Psalms 65:13) the later festivals of Pentecost or Harvest and Tabernacles or Ingathering are excluded.

Was the Psalm written for any special occasion? Not only does the poet see before him the promise of a more than ordinarily bountiful harvest, but the recollection of a great national deliverance seems to be fresh in his mind (Psalms 65:5 ff). Accordingly Delitzsch thinks that the spring of the third year foretold by Isaiah (Isaiah 37:30), when the retreat of the Assyrians had left the Israelites once more free to till their fields in peace, offers the most appropriate historical basis for the Psalm. This view gains support from the coincidences of thought and language with Psalms 46, which belongs to that time, and with Isaiah, as well as from the general similarity of the Ps. to Psalms 66, which there are good reasons for connecting with the deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrians.

The Psalm consists of three nearly equal stanzas.

i. It is meet that a grateful people should gather in the Temple to offer their praises to the Hearer of prayer to whom all mankind may have access. Sin indeed unfits them to approach God, but He Himself will make atonement for them. In the blessings of His house they will find their highest happiness (Psalms 65:1-4).

ii. Israel's God is the one true trust of all mankind. He created and sustains the world; and He controls the nations in it as He controls its natural forces. The signs of His power inspire universal awe and joy (Psalms 65:5-8).

iii. And now in particular Israel has to acknowledge God's loving bounty in the rich abundance with which He has blessed the year (Psalms 65:9-13).

Some MSS. of the LXX and the Vulg. contain the curious addition to the title; -a song of Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the people of the captivity (lit. sojourning) when they were about to set forth," but it does not appear to have been part of the original LXX.

This and the three following Psalms bear the double title Songand Psalm. Cp. 48, 75, 76, &c. Songis the older term for a hymn intended to be sung in public worship. Cp. Isaiah 30:29; Amos 8:3.