Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament
Psalms 65
Psalm 65: praise waiting in Sion and a year crowned with goodness
General context
The psalm says praise waits for God in Sion, where the vow will be performed to him; he hears prayer and all flesh will come to him. Iniquities prevail against the speaker, but God will purge away our transgressions. Blessed is the man God chooses and brings near to dwell in his courts; the speakers will be satisfied with the goodness of his house and holy temple. God will answer them by terrible things in righteousness, the God of their salvation, the confidence of all the ends of the earth and of those far off on the sea, who sets the mountains fast by his strength, girded with power, and stills the noise of the seas, their waves and the tumult of the people. Those in the uttermost parts are afraid at his tokens, and he makes the outgoings of morning and evening rejoice. He visits and waters the earth, enriches it with the river of God full of water, prepares corn, waters the ridges, settles the furrows, softens it with showers and blesses its springing. He crowns the year with his goodness and his paths drop fatness on the pastures of the wilderness; the little hills rejoice, the pastures are clothed with flocks, the valleys are covered with corn, and they shout for joy and sing.
Cited passages: Psalms 65:1, Psalms 65:2, Psalms 65:3, Psalms 65:4, Psalms 65:5, Psalms 65:6, Psalms 65:7, Psalms 65:8, Psalms 65:9, Psalms 65:10, Psalms 65:11, Psalms 65:12, Psalms 65:13
Psalms 65 (KJV)
1Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed.
2O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.
3Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.
4Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.
5By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea:
6Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; being girded with power:
7Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.
8They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens: thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.
9Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it.
10Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof.
11Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness.
12They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side.
13The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.
This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.
Historical context
The text as printed here carries no heading; verse 1 opens with "Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion", so this source names no author, occasion or musical direction. The voice is mixed: a single "me" in verse 3, "Iniquities prevail against me", beside "our transgressions", "us" and "we" elsewhere; God is addressed throughout, with verses 6 and 7 describing him in the third person as "Which by his strength" and "Which stilleth". "Sion", "thy courts", "thy house" and "thy holy temple" are the only places named. "The vow" to be performed is not specified. The "terrible things in righteousness" by which God will answer are not described, and no event is narrated; the second half of the psalm describes rain, corn, flocks and harvest as God's doing in the present tense without naming a year or a season. "Thy tokens" that frighten those in "the uttermost parts" are left unexplained. There is no Selah.
Cited passages: Psalms 65:1, Psalms 65:3, Psalms 65:6, Psalms 65:4, Psalms 65:5, Psalms 65:8, Psalms 65:9
Literary context
The psalm moves outward in three rings. The first is Sion, the courts and the temple, where praise waits and a vow is to be paid and where a chosen man dwells. The second is the whole earth and sea: mountains set fast, seas stilled, the ends of the earth and those far off on the sea, morning and evening made to rejoice. The third is the farmed land, and here the verbs pile up in the second person: visitest, waterest, enrichest, preparest, waterest, settlest, makest soft, blessest, crownest. Water runs through the whole: the noise of the seas that God stills, then the river of God "full of water", showers, and paths that "drop fatness". The stilling of "the tumult of the people" is set in the same line as the stilling of the waves. The close hands the singing over to the landscape itself: hills rejoice, pastures are clothed, valleys are covered, "they shout for joy, they also sing", so that the praise which "waiteth" in verse 1 is performed by fields at the end.
Cited passages: Psalms 65:1, Psalms 65:4, Psalms 65:5, Psalms 65:10, Psalms 65:9, Psalms 65:11, Psalms 65:7, Psalms 65:13
Key moments
- Praise waits in Sion (Psalms 65:1). Praise waits for God in Sion and the vow will be performed to him.
- All flesh shall come (Psalms 65:2). God hears prayer and all flesh will come to him.
- Thou shalt purge them away (Psalms 65:3). Iniquities prevail against the speaker, but God will purge away transgressions.
- Terrible things in righteousness (Psalms 65:5). God will answer by terrible things, being the confidence of the ends of the earth.
- Seas and peoples stilled (Psalms 65:7). God stills the noise of the waves and the tumult of the people.
- The river of God (Psalms 65:9). God visits and waters the earth and prepares corn.
- The year crowned (Psalms 65:11). God crowns the year with goodness and his paths drop fatness.
For reflection
The psalm says God will answer by terrible things in righteousness and then spends its second half on showers, furrows and flocks; what does it mean for a harvest to be counted among the terrible things?
