PSALM 65
This Psalm is specifically designated as a song. It is a song of praise to God for bringing rain that resulted in a bountiful harvest.
Praise For God’s Presence
65:1-4
The first thing the David says is that praise belongs to God. In fact, it is owed to him. David takes no credit. He gives no credit to Israel. He says praise belongs to God.
This is a good word for us. We should give God praise because he has provided so well for us. It is human nature to take credit for the good we have and blame God for the bad that happens. But, as believers, we should acknowledge that God gives us our blessings and we should praise him.
It may seem like an odd thing to say in the middle of a pandemic. But most of us in America are doing fine. We are restricted in activities, but we still have food, a place to live, and plenty of entertainment. While there are things that worry us, we can, if we will, look to our blessings and the gracious God who gives them to us.
When David writes “to you shall vows be performed”, he likely refers to sacrifices. People often vowed to offer sacrifices if God granted their requests. So, the proper response to God’s answering prayers was to praise him and offer any sacrifices promised.
We do not sacrifice animals as part of our worship any more. But I’m sure some of us have made promises to God that we would fulfill if he answered a prayer. That would be a similar thing.
One of my favorite movie scenes is in a movie called “The End” where Burt Reynolds is thrown overboard and swims to shore. He promises to give God 90% of what he has if he will save him. Then he reduces it to 50% as he gets closer. When he finally arrives, he says never mind God, he did it himself. It is a good example of how we think sometimes. You can see this scene on YouTube at https://youtu.be/IkOT64-1OOw.
The praises were offered to God in Zion, according to verse 1. That is a reference to the temple in Jerusalem where God’s presence dwelled. David would have considered the best way to praise God would be to go the temple and offer his praise.
David referred to God as “you who hear prayer” and to whom all flesh come”. “Flesh” here means people. We take our requests to God and he hears us. He is the only one who answers prayer. Despite the fact that you hear people today saying they asked the Universe or put it out on the Universe, the Universe does not answer prayers. The Creator of the universe answers prayer.
In addition to answering prayers, God forgives sin. Even when our sins seem to overtake us, God forgives and provides atonement for sin. (3) In the Old Covenant, atonement was accomplished by the sacrifice of animals. In the New Covenant, Jesus accomplished atonement for us once and for all.
When we come to Christ, we receive atonement for our sins because of the life and death of Christ. Hebrews 10 explains this to us.
Those whose sins are atoned are those whom God has chosen and bought near, as verse 4 says. In David’s time, the children of Israel were chosen by God to be his people and were brought near to him. Deuteronomy 7:6 says “The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”
We, now as believers, are chosen ones. Ephesians 1:4 says “…he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him”.
God’s chosen ones are brought near to him to dwell in his courts, to be in his presence. God did this physically with the Israelites. He brought them from Egypt to himself at the mountain. He said to them “I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself”. (Exodus 19:4)
The Jews were brought near to God. Everyone else, the Gentiles, were far off. All of here today are likely Gentiles. Before Christ, we were far off from God, but no longer. Ephesians 2:13 says “But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ”. We are the blessed ones whom God had chosen and brought near to dwell in his presence.
And his presence is enough. It is sufficient for life. David said “we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple”. (4) There is no real satisfaction outside of Christ. Only Christ satisfies. Every thing else leads to disappointment.
65:5-8
Praise for God’s Awesome Deeds
In this stanza, David praises God for his deeds. He says the God who did all of these mighty deeds answers our prayers. He is the hope of all people.
The first mighty deed David recounts is that God established the mountains (6) The mountains were the largest and strongest physical objects David knew and God made them. In other words, God is the creator of the earth. It is the first thing we learn about God in the Bible: he created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) That is a mighty deed. David praised God for it and so should we.
David also said God was sovereign over the seas. He could still them. Since the Jews saw the sea as a place of chaos and danger, this is a testimony to the power of God. Jesus demonstrated this to the disciples when they got caught in their boat in a storm. Jesus slept through most of it. I’m guessing that is because he had no need to worry about something he could control. When the disciples woke him up, he even asked them why they were afraid. Then he said “Peace! Be Still!” He stilled the sea. (Mark 4:35-41)
God also stills the people of the earth. He is sovereign over humanity and well as nature. For example, he made King Nebuchadnezzar live like an animal until he recognized God’s sovereignty over him. (Daniel 4) Those are mighty deeds. They put us in awe of him.
God’s mighty deeds also make us shout for joy, David said. (8) Why would God’s mighty deeds make us joyful? Because we know that since God is powerful enough to create the earth and govern its natural forces and its people, he is powerful enough to take care of us. And he is powerful enough to accomplish his will.
65:9-13
God’s Provision
Specifically, this stanza is David’s praise for the gift of rain. The prayer of verse 2 was a prayer for rain. Since Israel has a desert climate, rain is precious and vital. If it rains at the right time and in the right amount, crops will be bountiful. If there is no rain, or insufficient rain, there are no crops. And there is not enough grass for the livestock to eat.
David gave God the credit for the rain. He said God visited the earth and watered it. (9) With that water, God provided grain for his people. God provided abundant water, resulting in a harvest of grain in abundance. This all resulted in shouts and songs of joy.
We had a drought here for about three years. In that last year, people prayed desperately for rain. Cities and towns were running out of water. The lakes were drying up. It was scary. Churches met and prayed for rain.
For the last few years, and especially lately, we have had an abundance of rain. The lake closest to me overflows its banks. The engineers at the dam release water into designated creeks. We have waterfalls. It has rained enough that some people are tired of it. I vowed never to complain about rain after the drought. We should thank God and praise him for giving us enough water. We take it for granted, but should not.
God has given us many blessings, especially here in the United States. We have an abundance of natural resources. Things have been so good here for generations that many people do not even know where food and fuel come from. They just assume they can find it and buy it at any time.
But God can take away blessings. Some think the current pandemic is a sign of that. I do not know. But, today is a great day to recognize the greatness of God, to joyfully praise him for it, and to repent of times we have ignored it or taken it for granted.
My God bless you this week and may you thank and praise him for it.
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