The Bible – Old Testament
Psalms
Index
Int. 1. 2. 3. … 64. 65. 66. … 149. 150.
Chapter 65
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1 For the leader. A psalm of David. A song.
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2 To you we owe our hymn of praise, O God on Zion; To you our vows must be fulfilled,
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3 you who hear our prayers. To you all flesh must come
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with its burden of wicked deeds. We are overcome by our sins; only you can pardon them.
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Happy the chosen ones you bring to dwell in your courts. May we be filled with the good things of your house, the blessings of your holy temple!
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4 You answer us with awesome deeds of justice, O God our savior, The hope of all the ends of the earth and of far distant islands.
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You are robed in power, you set up the mountains by your might.
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You still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples.
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Distant peoples stand in awe of your marvels; east and west you make resound with joy.
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5 6 You visit the earth and water it, make it abundantly fertile. God’s stream is filled with water; with it you supply the world with grain. Thus do you prepare the earth:
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you drench plowed furrows, and level their ridges. With showers you keep the ground soft, blessing its young sprouts.
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7 You adorn the year with your bounty; your paths drip with fruitful rain.
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The untilled meadows also drip; the hills are robed with joy.
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The pastures are clothed with flocks, the valleys blanketed with grain; they cheer and sing for joy.
1 [Psalm 65] The community, aware of its unworthiness (⇒ Psalm 65:3-4), gives thanks for divine bounty (⇒ Psalm 65:5), a bounty resulting from God’s creation victory (⇒ Psalm 65:6-9). At God’s touch the earth comes alive with vegetation and flocks (⇒ Psalm 65:10-13).
2 [2] Vows: the Israelites were accustomed to promising sacrifices in the temple if their prayers were heard.
3 [3] To you all flesh must come: all must have recourse to God’s mercy.
4 [6] Awesome deeds: the acts of creating – installing mountains, taming seas, restraining nations (⇒ Psalm 65:7-8) – that are visible worldwide (⇒ Psalm 65:6, 9).
5 [9-13] Apparently a description of the agricultural year, beginning with the first fall rains that soften the hard sun-baked soil (⇒ Psalm 65:9-10).
6 [9] God’s stream: the fertile waters of the earth derive from God’s fertile waters in the heavenly world.
7 [12] Paths: probably the tracks of God’s storm chariot dropping rain upon earth.
The Bible – Old Testament
Psalms
Index
Int. 1. 2. 3. … 64. 65. 66. … 149. 150.