Context No. 3272 of 4322 · Psalms

Psalms 65:1-13: in context

1Praise waits for you, God, in Zion. Vows shall be performed to you. 2You who hear prayer, all men will come to you. 3Sins overwhelmed me, but you atoned for our transgressions. 4Blessed is the one whom you choose and cause to come near, that he may live in your courts. We will be filled with the goodness of your house, your holy temple. 5By awesome deeds of righteousness, you answer us, God of our salvation. You who are the hope of all the ends of the earth, of those who are far away on the sea. 6By your power, you form the mountains, having armed yourself with strength. 7You still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations. 8They also who dwell in faraway places are afraid at your wonders. You call the morning’s dawn and the evening with songs of joy. 9You visit the earth, and water it. You greatly enrich it. The river of God is full of water. You provide them grain, for so you have ordained it. 10You drench its furrows. You level its ridges. You soften it with showers. You bless it with a crop. 11You crown the year with your bounty. Your carts overflow with abundance. 12The wilderness grasslands overflow. The hills are clothed with gladness. 13The pastures are covered with flocks. The valleys also are clothed with grain. They shout for joy! They also sing.

This psalm moves outward in widening circles of praise. It begins with forgiveness, you atoned for our transgressions, then turns to the God who hears prayer and is the hope of all the ends of the earth, then to the Creator who stills the roaring seas and the turmoil of the nations, and finally to the God who visits the earth and drenches its furrows, crowning the year with bounty until the hills and valleys shout for joy.

From personal forgiveness to the calming of seas to the rain on the fields, it is all one God, and it all calls forth joy. The same God who atones for our sin also waters the earth and crowns the year with his goodness. His care runs through everything, the pardon of a guilty heart and the grain in the valleys alike, and the fitting response to a world so tended is gladness. The psalm will not let us separate the God of our salvation from the God of the harvest; his generosity is one, and it reaches from our forgiven sins to the soaking of the furrows.

Do I see God's goodness running through everything, from the forgiveness of my sins to the rain on the fields, and does it move me to joy and praise?

Sources

Psalm 65:3: "Sins overwhelmed me, but you atoned for our transgressions."
Psalm 65:9: "You visit the earth, and water it. You greatly enrich it."
Psalm 65:11: "You crown the year with your bounty. Your carts overflow with abundance."