God blesses us in many ways. His blessings in what we call the secular world and his blessings in the spiritual world coalesce and bring his grace to us in a variety of ways. What is our response? Psalm 65 reminds us that our response to God’s blessings are praise and thanksgiving. So of course, this becomes a great passage for us to share with our loved and our LORD around Thanksgiving.
This is usually considered a psalm of thanks for rain, perhaps relating to a petition for rain to break a time of drought. The psalm centers in God, whose grace and power is celebrated in three spheres.
He is the sin forgiver (vs. 1-4, & perhaps 5).
He is the Creator (vs. 5-8).
He blesses the land with abundant rain and remarkable fertility (vs. 9-13).
The psalm seems to presume an occasion which involves all three of these in some kind of relationship. One theory is that it reflects a temple ceremony petitioning for rain while in a dry season. The people, crying out to be heard by God, confess their sins — perhaps assuming it was these that were responsible for the drought. On the basis of this interpretation the description of fertility may be a future hope, or the psalm may have been written after the prayer and God’s answer, thanking him for hearing.
It is the grace of God that provides for the needs of his people.
Another view is that this was composed for a harvest festival (Feast of Tabernacles?), praising God for a remarkable crop. This would seem to be suggested by "thou crownest" in verse 11, indicating the harvest had been gathered in. Some see this as a prayer at the turning of the year, calling upon God to re-create the people and the earth in the year to come, as he had re-created them in the past. God has conquered the "enemies" of the people (sin and the threat of a bad harvest) and has created a "paradise", as described in verses 5 and 9-13.
On either interpretation, the psalm recognizes that God supplies both spiritual and material needs, and that the two are actually interwoven. In both cases it is the grace of God that provides for the needs of his people.
It is obvious from the beginning that God is the center of this psalm, and the rest of the verses will speak of what he has done. The reference to Zion, as well as the reference in verse 4, indicate that whatever the occasion of this psalm, it involved a temple ceremony. Payment of vows could either be part of a petition for rain, or part of thanks for the rain that had been given.
Verse 2 expresses confidence that God hears prayers, even when they are uttered by sinful people (who else could pray?). The poet is confident of God’s grace, as he begs for a forgiveness which only God can accomplish. No indication is given of the specific nature of the sins here confessed, but the reference to "our transgressions" suggests the psalm reflects a communal occasion. Does "all flesh" refer to all Israel or to all mankind? Most commentators prefer the latter interpretation. In a temple ceremony this would recognize that no human, Israelite or non-Israelite, could be forgiven save by the Lord. The universal praise of Yahweh is a concept found often in the Old Testament (cf. Isa. 2:1-4).
The forgiveness of this text finds its complementary answer in the "deliverance" and "salvation" of verse 5.
Sinners come to God, pray for forgiveness, are blessed with this grace, and are invited into the temple. To come into God’s presence without a desire for forgiveness would make that audience either false or fearful.
Those coming into the temple precincts are both blessed and satisfied. The goodness of God’s house is not further defined, but one can well imagine it would involve the entire complex of blessings which God alone provides. Here is a splendid statement of the true source of security in life. One outward expression is in a rich harvest (9-13), but the delight in God is even deeper than the joy of abundance from the earth.
Dual references to God’s fearsome might here ("dread deeds") and in verse 8 (afraid at thy signs) encompass this paragraph, and are one way to reflect on God’s creative power described in verses 6 and 7. With this is combined a sense of God’s love, reflected in "deliverance" and "salvation". Some see the deeds of deliverance as referring to the exodus, some to all God’s actions rescuing his people, and some to the bounty of the harvest.
The "ends of the earth" and "farthest seas" corresponds to the "all flesh" of verse 2. God’s act of creation and of an abundant harvest are points that stand for all God does. This universal aspect of "hope" may say the only hope any one can have is in God. It has also been suggested that the reference here is to Israelites who have been scattered throughout the Mediterranean world.
God’s creative might is described in terms of mountains, seas, and "the tumult of the peoples." Imaginative reading which can picture these features of nature brings these lines to life. The seas often have mythological associations, symbolizing chaos (cf. Job 38:5-11; Ps. 89:9f.; 93:2f.; 104:4-8). As God brings order from chaos (cf. Gen. 1:2) so he stills human chaos (tumult).
This is the result of God’s creative power—affecting even those at earth’s "farthest bounds." The outgoings of morning and evening refer to dawn and sunset, thus extreme east to extreme west. It is a parallel statement to "farthest bounds."
The shout for joy is a result of God’s deliverance, and of his creative power and power among the peoples. Further, it anticipates the description to follow in verses 9-13. As this last section is here prefaced by reference to joy, it will conclude with nature, personified, uttering a like shout in the last line of the psalm.
This wonderfully descriptive section should warm the heart of any farmer. It is one of the loveliest word pictures in the Old Testament. E. A. Leslie has said "the passage is athrill with creative life." God had promised Noah he would never again destroy the earth by a flood. As a marvelous counterpoint to that here are the abundant rains, providing in every way for an amazing harvest. The provision of God is emphasized by calling the rains <I>"the river of God"</I> (vs. 9). It is a divine irrigation system.
Verses 9-11 speak of what God does through the weather. The tracks of the chariot (vs. 11) may employ the image of God riding upon the rain-giving clouds.
In the last two verses nature is personified, as if God has enlivened it to burst forth with crops and forage for the flocks. The imagery is truly striking. The pastures of the wilderness, the meadows, and the valleys are so thrilled to be energized by God that a mighty song of joy arises from them.
Few Old Testament texts are as exuberant as these verses. They provide us with a splendid thanksgiving text. As we enjoy the bounty of the land, perhaps these words can be used as our gratitude to the great Provider.
Title: "God Blesses with Abundance"
Author: Dr. Tony Ash
Publication Date: November 25, 2001
God Blesses with Abundance
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