Psalms 65:1-13

Psalms 42:72

Gordon Churchyard

Words in boxes are from the Bible.

Words marked with a *star are described in the word list at the end.

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A *Harvest Song

Psalms 65

Jesus took bread and he thanked (God). He broke it and gave it to (his friends). He said, "This is my body that I am giving for you. Do this to remember me". In the same way, he also gave them the (wine) cup after supper. He said, "This cup is the new agreement in my blood. (Men) will pour out my blood for you". (Luke 22:19-20) (Other words for agreement are "covenant" and "testament".)

Psalms 65

(This is) for the music leader.
(It is) a psalm of David, a song.

v1 *Silence is *praise to you, God, in Zion.
And we will keep our promises to you.

v2 You are the One that Hears *Prayer.
To you every man and woman should come.

v3 My *sins are too heavy for me.
You (only) can take away (the bad results of) our *disobedience.

v4 The man that you choose will be very happy.
You will bring him near and he will go into your *courts.
We will have plenty of good things in your house, in your *holy *temple.

v5 You answer us by doing things that are *righteous,
(but) they make us afraid.
You are the God that saves us.
You are the hope of people from the ends of the earth and far away seas.

v6 You are so strong that you made the mountains.
Everything that you do shows how powerful you are.

v7 You stop the seas from being angry, so that the waters make no noise.
You do the same with people.

v8 Those that live far away see the great things that you have done.
It makes them afraid.
Where morning starts and evening finishes (they) shout for *joy (to you).

v9 You care for the land.
You send rain on it and you make the ground grow good plants.
The rivers of God are full of water.
They give people *grain because that is how you prepared (the land).

v10 Pour water on the land where the plough was. This will make it flat.
Let the rain make the ground soft. (Then) it will grow good (plants).

v11 The best part of the year is when you give us good things.
Everywhere you go there is plenty.

v12 The fields in wild places pour out good things.
All over the hills there is plenty.

v13 The fields are full of sheep. The valleys are full of *grain.
(They seem) to shout and sing for *joy!

The Story of Psalms 65

Many Bible students think that this is a *harvest psalm. *Harvest is when people pick the fruits and vegetables that they need for food. The Jews had three *harvests:

1. Passover (March-April). This was the first *harvest, when they brought in *grain called barley. They made bread from barley.

2. Pentecost (May-June). This was the second *harvest, when they brought in *grain called wheat. They also made bread from it.

3. Tabernacles (September-October). This was the last *harvest, when they picked the grapes. They made wine from the grapes.

Wine is a drink with alcohol in it.

These *harvests remind us of the bread and wine that Jesus said were his body and blood. Paul also reminds us that because Jesus died at Passover he was the first *harvest of the new people of God! ("The first fruits of them that slept", 1 Corinthians 15:20.)

If Psalms 65 is a *harvest psalm, then it is for use at Passover. There would be no *grain still in the fields at the second and third *harvests.

But we can look at the psalm in a different way. We can say that:

• verses 1 - 4 tell us that God saves us

• verses 5 - 8 tell us that God is powerful

• verses 9 - 13 tell us that God gives us plenty of good things.

When kings and their soldiers went through a country, they often took everything away with them. When God as king goes through a country, he leaves more than he takes!

When David wrote this psalm, he had not built the *temple. His son Solomon did that. So, verse 4 is about the *tent that David used as a *temple, or someone else changed the psalm after Solomon built the *temple.

What Psalms 65 means

Verse 1 is difficult to understand. Maybe it means that it is good to be silent before God. This is how we have translated it. Or maybe it means that there is *silence where there should be *praise. Some translations say that this is what it means. Also, some Greek Bibles have "in Jerusalem" at the end of the verse. Zion is the hill in Jerusalem where Solomon built the *temple.

Verse 3 Many people feel that their *sins are *like a weight on them. It makes them very sad. Here, David felt *like that. But he also knew that God could take the weight away. "Take away" in Hebrew is "blot out". It is *like hiding a mark by putting a bigger mark on it. You cannot see the first mark! You have "blotted it out". If you want to know more about *sin, *disobedience and blotting out *sin, read the notes in Psalms 32 and 51 in this set of psalms.

Verse 4 The *courts are the parts of the *temple outside the main building. There were lots of little rooms for God’s servants to live in.

Verse 5 Everything that God does is righteous. This means that there is nothing wrong or bad in it. But some of the things that he does make people afraid. We call what they feel "fear". It makes some people frightened of God. It makes others see how great he is, and they want to love and *worship him. We call this sort of good fear "*awe".

In verses 6 - 8 we have the second sort of "fear of God". God gives these people hope, and they want to shout for *joy to him. In other words, they are so happy that it makes them sing to God!

Verse 6 "Made the mountains" is really "put the mountains in their places" in Hebrew. Jesus said that our *prayers could move mountains as well! That is because when we pray God shows people how strong he is.

Verse 7 Jesus did this when he was in a boat with his friends. They thought that they were going to drown because the storm was so bad! But Jesus stopped the storm so that the waters made no noise.

Verse 8 One very important thing about this psalm is that it says everyone can come to God. Look in verse 2. "Every man and woman should come". And in this verse "those that live far away see how great you are". How far? From the east ("where morning starts") to the west ("where evening finishes")! Psalms 65 tells us that we do not have to be Israelites. We can all come to God, wherever we live!

Verse 9 "Prepared" means that God did things to the land so that it gave lots of fruit and vegetables. Rain was important to the Jews. Without it, there were no fruit and vegetables. They would die of hunger. But God sent plenty of water. "Grain" is a word that means the fruit of plants *like wheat, corn, barley, and others. We use them to make bread.

Verse 10 When we plough the earth, the plough does not leave it flat. But the rain makes it flat again. It also makes it soft so people can plant seeds.

Verse 11 Then comes the *harvest. That is the best time of the year, says David in the psalm! God gives plenty of good things.

Verses 12 – 13 Here are 4 places where God gives plenty of good things:

• the wild places where not many people live

• the hills where it is hard to grow things

• the places where farmers keep lots of sheep

• the valleys near the rivers where the *grain grows.

In all these places... in fact, everywhere … God gives plenty. We often say that he "blesses" us. That word "blesses" really means that when we plant seeds we will get lots of fruit and vegetables; when we keep sheep there will be many baby sheep (lambs); and men and women will have children. "Bless" means good *harvests of all sorts!

Something to do

Many people are not "*blessed". *Pray to God that he will *bless them, that is, send them plenty of food and other things that they need. Never stop praying for this. Jesus told us to pray "Give us today bread for today" (Matthew 6:11).

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words)

July 2001

harvest ~ time when they pick fruits and vegetables.
silence ~ very quiet, with no noise.
praise ~ (noun, or being something) words that say that someone or something is very good.
praise ~ (verb, or doing something) say that someone or something is very good.
prayer ~ words that you say when you *pray.'sins, disobedience ~ not obeying God’s rules (look after Psalm 32 in this set).
disobedience ~ not obeying.

sins, disobedience ~ not obeying God’s rules (look after Psalm 32 in this set).
courts ~ parts of a temple outside the building.
temple ~ a special building where people worship God.
worship ~ say that someone is very wonderful.
holy ~ very very good; only God is really holy (because he always obeys his rules); Jerusalem was holy because people worshipped God there.
worship ~ say that someone is very wonderful.
temple ~ a special building where people worship God.
worship ~ say that someone is very wonderful.
righteous ~ very very good; only God is very righteous (or has righteousness); doing what is right.
joy ~ feeling happy deep inside.
grain ~ seed of a tall grass-like plant, that we use to make bread.
like ~ another word for ‘as’.
harvest ~ time when they pick fruits and vegetables.
tent ~ a small house made of animals’ skins.
silence ~ very quiet, with no noise.
like ~ another word for ‘as’.
sin ~ (noun, or being something) a not obeying of God’s rules.
sin ~ (verb, or doing something) not obey God’s rule
worship ~ say that someone is very wonderful.
prayer ~ words that you say when you *pray.
bless ~ say good things about, or do good things to.'