USB ~ Psalms 65

Thanksgiving for God’s Blessings

1 For the leader. A psalm of David. A song.

2 To you we owe our hymn of praise, O God on Zion; To you our vows† must be fulfilled,

3 †you who hear our prayers. To you all flesh must comea

4 with its burden of wicked deeds. We are overcome by our sins; only you can pardon them. b

5 Blessed the one whom you will choose and bring to dwell in your courts. May we be filled with the good things of your house, your holy temple!

6 You answer us with awesome deeds† of justice, O God our savior, The hope of all the ends of the earth and of those far off across the sea. c

7 You are robed in power, you set up the mountains by your might.

8 You still the roaring of the seas, d the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples. e

9 Distant peoples stand in awe of your marvels; the places of morning and evening you make resound with joy.

10 †You visit the earth and water it, make it abundantly fertile. f God’s stream† is filled with water; you supply their grain. Thus do you prepare it:

11 you drench its plowed furrows, and level its ridges. With showers you keep it soft, blessing its young sprouts.

12 You adorn the year with your bounty; your paths† drip with fruitful rain.

13 The meadows of the wilderness also drip; the hills are robed with joy.

14 The pastures are clothed with flocks, the valleys blanketed with grain; they cheer and sing for joy. g

Footnotes

†. Psalm 65 The community, aware of its unworthiness (Ps 65:3-4), gives thanks for divine bounty (Ps 65:5), a bounty resulting from God’s creation victory (Ps 65:6-9). At God’s touch the earth comes alive with vegetation and flocks (Ps 65:10-13).

†. 65:2 Vows: the Israelites were accustomed to promising sacrifices in the Temple if their prayers were heard.

†. 65:3 To you all flesh must come: all must have recourse to God’s mercy.

†. 65:6 Awesome deeds: the acts of creating—installing mountains, taming seas, restraining nations (Ps 65:7-8)—that are visible worldwide (Ps 65:6, 9).

†. 65:10-14 Apparently a description of the agricultural year, beginning with the first fall rains that soften the hard sun-baked soil (Ps 65:9-10).

†. 65:10 God’s stream: the fertile waters of the earth derive from God’s fertile waters in the heavenly world.

†. 65:12 Paths: probably the tracks of God’s storm chariot dropping rain upon earth.

65:3 Is 66:23.
65:4 Ps 32:1-2; 78:38; Is 1:18.
65:6 Is 66:19.
65:8 Ps 89:10; 107:29; Jb 38:11; Mt 8:26.
65:8 Is 17:12.
65:10 Lv 26:4; Is 30:23, 25; Jl 2:22-23.
65:14 Is 44:23.