We take as our text today, Psalm 65.
In the Bible God has given us a healthy spiritual balance of truth.
Some portions of Scripture warn and correct. In Psalm 19:7-11 David celebrated this. He wrote, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; 8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward.”i God does not warn us just to put us down. He warns to protect us from harm, like the parent who warns children not to play in the street. The boundaries He sets in His word are to keep us out of danger. This aspect of Scripture is not appreciated by everyone in our society. Some pastors avoid preaching about hell because they don’t want to upset anyone. Some minimize the warnings against sin because they know some in the audience won’t like it. But David celebrated the warnings God gave him. He says God’s commandments/judgments are “More to be desired are they than gold. 11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward.” The pathway to happiness in this life and the life to come is to take heed to God’s warnings and stay within the boundaries of His commandments.
Other passages are filled with comfort and encouragement. When the journey gets difficult and we are weary in well doing, we need encouragement. When life takes an unexpected turn into trials and disappointment, we need comfort. And in those times, we find God to be our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble (Ps. 46:1). He is the “God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3).
Like a wise dietician, a pastor must feed his congregation a healthy balance from the word of God. Error is usually truth out of balance. If I continually steer my car to right, I will end up in a ditch. If I continually steer to the left, I will end up in a different ditch. I must keep my eyes on the road and stay on the straight and narrow path God reveals in Scripture.
Our passage in Psalm 65 is a celebration of God’s goodness. It is a call to count our blessings. It is a reminder to cultivate thanksgiving and give praise to God for all that He has done for us and all that He is doing for us. “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to [the Lord] . . .” (Ps. 92:1). Psalm 65 instructs us in how to do that. It leads us in a celebration of God’s providential care and provision.
This Psalm was probably sung during the fall feasts in celebration of the harvest. It references the atonement and rejoices in God’s care and provision. It was particularly appropriate for the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. Psalm 65 was designed for corporate worship, although any of us can find it useful in our private devotion. The two Hebrew words in the title “calls it a Shur and Mizmor, a combination of psalm and song. . . [it] may be said or sung. . . .”ii Keep in mind, the titles of these Psalms were inspired along with the body.
We will read the whole Psalm to get a sense of the overall flow. Then we will make a few observations and applications. READ Psalm 65:
“Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion; And to You the vow shall be performed. 2 O You who hear prayer, To You all flesh will come. 3 Iniquities prevail against me; As for our transgressions, You will provide atonement for them. 4 Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple. 5 By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation, You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, And of the far-off seas; 6 Who established the mountains by His strength, Being clothed with power; 7 You who still the noise of the seas, The noise of their waves, And the tumult of the peoples. 8 They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs; You make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice. 9 You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepared it. 10 You water its ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth. 11 You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance. 12 They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, And the little hills rejoice on every side. 13 The pastures are clothed with flocks; The valleys also are covered with grain; They shout for joy, they also sing.”
This Psalm opens with a RESPONSE of praise: “Praise is awaiting you, O God, in Zion.”
Zion is representative of the gathering of God’s people. Hebrews 12 describes the terror and judgment associated with Mount Sinai and the Law. Then verse 22 says, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven. . . .” When we gather for worship, we are gathering unto God and we are joined by angels of God. We are a part of “the general assembly and church.” It is an awesome event, even for two or three to gather in the name of Jesus (Matt. 18:20).
We must begin with an understanding of the significance of corporate worship. The world is impressed with huge crowds and lots of confetti. But it is the invisible presence of God that makes our gathering awesome. The angels want to participate in the event. If we do not know the significance of gathering and worshipping in the name of Jesus, we will not show the respect it warrants. We may not appreciate the privilege being enjoyed. Israel’s communion with Yahweh was limited. It was genuine and ordained by God. But the level of intimacy we enjoy is far superior. Demons tremble when God’s people gather in true worship. But more importantly, the Father’s heart rejoices (John 4:23). God inhabits the praises of His people (Ps. 22:3). God
delights in His thankful children. We should begin our corporate worship with an appreciation of the privilege afforded us by God.
Praise that pleases God flows from the heart. A parrot can mimic words, but it is infinitely inferior to praising God with a heart of understanding. How do we prepare ourselves to praise God from the heart? We begin by pondering His goodness. We consider His works done in our behalf. We meditate on His love and care for us. When these subjects have filled our hearts, then praise flows with passion. Jesus condemned empty, superficial worship in Matthew 15:8. Quoting Isaiah He said, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me. . . .” God forbid that He would ever say that about our worship. I have been in song services that felt like people were just mouthing the words. Their hearts were somewhere else. They were going through the external mechanics of worship, but their hearts weren’t in it.
David would not allow himself to worship God that way. Listen to the command he made to his own soul in Psalm 103:1: “Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!” ALL that is within me, bless His holy name.” Our God is worthy of more than mere lip service. We will bless Him with all our hearts!
It's impossible to do that when our thoughts are not aligned with our words. In this Psalm David gives good rationale for praising God. He fills the Psalm with specific works of God that promote gratitude in our hearts and minds. This Psalm is a reminder of God’s goodness to our lives. And that is good preparation for praising Him with our lips.
The first verse of our text says, “Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion. We have addressed the phrase “in Zion.” It sets the context of the praise: “in Zion.” We gather in corporate worship to praise the Lord our Maker. But there is a revelation here that is easily missed in the English translation.
The Hebrew word translated “awaiting” is duwmiyah. It carries the connotation of silence or stillness.iii The imagery I get from that is a crowd of people awaiting the entrance of a dignitary. That entrance is so important to them that it has captured their attention. They are not visiting with one another. They are not on their iphones. Each and everyone is sitting at attention waiting for the dignitary to enter. The moment he or she steps into the room, they all stand and clap in celebration of his presence. “Praise is awaiting You, O God.”iv
During times of revival, I have seen people arrive early to the meeting just to prepare their hearts for the worship. Most of the time spent in worship services today is consumed just getting our minds on the Lord, setting aside all the preoccupation with other things. By the end of the worship service, we are prepared to praise God aright. Think of the difference if we all came with our minds fully occupied with the goodness of God. Imagine a worship service that begins with every heart overflowing with gratitude toward God. I understand why we often come short of that. I too come short in this regard. But we should at least understand the ideal. We should at least know the difference between what is common in our churches and what could be. A key principle for effective worship is the fear of the Lord. By that I mean such a respect for who God is that we are in awe of His majesty and goodness.
Another key to effective worship is stated in the second half of verse 1: “And to You the vow shall be performed.” We will live up to our commitments to the Lord. In the context of Psalm 65 people often vowed to give a freewill offering to God—a grain offering or a lamb or something like that. The point of the text is that they followed through with the commitment. It was a part of their worship of God. The praise was accompanied by faithfulness to the vows made.
When you got saved you made a vow to the Lord. You dedicated your life to Christ and vowed to follow Him. Your water baptism was a public affirmation of that vow. It is impossible to separate our worship from our lifestyle. When worship flows out of a lifestyle of obedience, God receives it as sweet incense pleasing to Him.
We see the contrast of that in Isaiah 1:12-17. In that passage God is declaring His rejection of Israel’s worship services. They had so backslidden that God referred to them as Sodom. Their lives were utterly selfish and contrary to the commandments of God. Yet they kept “a form of godliness.”v They continued to gather in worship services. God tells them what He thinks of their worship service and what they need to do about it.
“When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, To trample My courts? 13 Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies — I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. 14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. 16 "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, 17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.”
They had so compartmentalized their lives that they did not realize the degree of God’s disfavor toward their church services. Like the church of Laodicea, they thought they were doing pretty good (Rev. 3). After all they were gathering in the name of the true God; they were bringing offerings to Him. But their daily lives were such an affront to God that their church services disgusted Him. His remedy was, “Cease to do evil, 17 Learn to do good.” In the language of Psalm 65:1: perform your vow; live the kind of life you said you would.vi
We typically make a vow to God in one of two scenarios. When we get into trouble, we say something like this to the Lord: “If you will get me out of this mess, I will serve You or I will never mess with that evil again.” Out a state of desperation we make a fresh commitment to serve the Lord. It can be appropriate to make a vow like that, but we must do it with sincerity and dependence on the Lord. Ecclesiastes 5:5 says it’s better to not make a vow than to make it and not fulfill it. Don’t make it flippantly.
Hannah made a vow to God that she kept. She lived in deep sorrow because of her infertility. In that culture it was a severe reproach to be childless. In her desperation she cried out to God for a son and made a vow to the Lord. 1 Sam 1:10-11 records her vowt: “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. 11 Then she made a vow and said, ‘O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not
forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.’” God answered that prayer and gave her a son: Samuel. She kept her vow and dedicated him to the Lord. And Samuel became a mighty prophet of God.
The other occasion when we are prone to make a vow is during a time of great gratitude toward God—times when our hearts are filled with love for God. In my early experience with God, I had times when I was so filled with His love and mercy that I consecrated myself deeply—I committed to go where He told me to go and do what He told me to do. Sensing His call on my life, I vowed obedience to that call. I was a teenager when I did that; later thought I could just walk away from it and do something else. Thankfully God was more faithful to the vow than I was. He corrected me and brought me back into agreement with the words of Psalm 65:1, “And to You the vow shall be performed.”
Jacob made a financial vow to God during an encounter with God. The experience began with a desperate situation. Jacob had cheated Esau out of the their father’s blessing. And Esau had determined to kill Jacob for doing that. Jacob was fleeing for his life when he came to Bethel. That night he had an awesome experience with God. In response, Jacob vowed to serve God and give him a tenth of all his increase. In Genesis 28:20-22 we read:
“Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. 22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.’”
Have you kept all your financial vows to the Lord? The commitment to tithe made by Abraham and Jacob was before the giving of the Law. It was a personal commitment to trust God to take care of them financially and a commitment to honor God by consistently by giving a tenth.
So the theme of praise is established in the first sentence of this Psalm. It is praise that flows out of a heart that is grateful for God’s goodness. It is a praise that is accompanies with faithfulness to vows made. First we have this response of praise set forth.
Then we find in Psalm 65 many REASONS for the praise.
(1) God answers prayer. Verse 2 addresses God this way: “O You who hear prayer, To You all flesh will come.” David essentially ascribes this title to God: “You who hear prayer.” Psalm 34:17 lets us know that it is the kind of hearting that is followed up with an answer. “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.” When you need help, He will help you. When you pray, He hears you. And when He hears you He acts in your behalf.
That stands in contrast to the idols of the pagan. Psalm 135:15-17 declares: “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of men's hands. 16 They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; 17 They have ears, but they do not hear; Nor is there any breath in their mouths.” Our God hears and answers prayer. That is good cause for praising Him.
(2) Another reason to praise God is that He forgives our sins. Where would we be if that were not the case? A leopard cannot change his spots, and we cannot cleanse ourselves from sin (Isa. 13:23). In Psalm 65:3 David confessed, “Iniquities prevail against me; As for our transgressions, You will provide atonement for them.” Those Old Testament saints exercised faith in the cross by offering the blood sacrifices commanded by the Law. We exercise faith by looking back at the cross and receiving the forgiveness of sin Jesus provided for us. For all of us, the atonement is found only in the cross of Jesus Christ.
We must all confess that our “Iniquities prevail against [us].” We cannot defeat them on our own. We need a Savior just as surely as David did. And Jesus is the perfect Savior. Is this not a reason for praising God today? “As for our transgressions, You will provide atonement for them.” David could only say, “You WILL provide atonement for them.” But with even more confidence we can say, “You HAVE provided “atonement for them.”
If God never did another thing for us, we could praise Him forever for that atonement. Those who value the cross of Christ are people of praise. Praise is a natural fruit of that revelation. Consider where you would be without it! You would be without hope. You would have no chance of deliverance from sin. You would have no destiny but hell.vii But in the cross and in the person of Christ our destiny in heaven is secure. No wonder Paul wrote, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . .”viii May all our boasting be found in what Christ did on the cross. He and He alone deserves the glory.
(3) Furthermore, the Psalmist rejoices in God’s call on his life. Psalm 65:4: “Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts.” Are you such a person? If you know Christ, you are! For Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him . . . (John 6:44). You didn’t find the Lord; He found you. He sought you out because He loves you. He caused you to approach Him. Ephesians 1:3-6 declares that work of God in your life. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” A realization of all that should cause praise to well up in our hearts. Is your name written in heaven? If so, rejoice in that today (Luke 10:20). You could have never made that happen. But your God loved you before you ever knew Him. He made it happen for you. Rejoice and again I say rejoice.ix
But God does not just let us approach Him. He invites us to dwell in His courts. He welcomes us into His family as His own dear children. Look at our text again in verse 4. “Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts.” To dwell in the courts of God is the highest of privilege. To be numbered with the redeemed of the Lord is favor beyond imagination.x “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1).xi If God only allowed us into heaven as the lowest of servants, we would forever praise Him for His mercy. But He has made you His own
child. He has clothed you with the righteousness of Christ. He has crowned you with His goodness and made you joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). How could we not praise Him? We will not allow the rocks to declare His glory in our place (Luke 19:40). We will not hold our peace when God has done so much for us.
(4) David makes this additional statement in Psalm 65:4: “We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple.” While declaring the works of God toward people, Psalm 107 pauses to make this reflection in verses 8-9: “Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! 9 For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness.” If God does that for humanity in general, how much more for His own children who dwell in His house. He has provided for us “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). “No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly” (Ps. 84:11). There are many good things (both natural and spiritual) to our Father’s house. The heavenly refrigerator is full. The cupboards are overflowing. There are fruit bowls full of tasty fruit. There is abundance of good things in our Father’s house. For all these we give thanks. We praise Him because He satisfies us with the goodness.
(5) The remaining verses are filed with additional reasons for praising God. We only have time to mention these additional blessings. David talks about the way God waters the earth and crowns the year with harvest. It is a beautiful reminder of all the natural blessings we enjoy—blessings so plenteous that we can easily take them for granted. And there are spiritual applications we can make to these natural provisions. God refreshes and waters the earth with the former and latter rains. In like manner Peter talks about times of spiritual refreshing. Ps 65:9 says, “The river of God is full of water.” But John saw “a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. 22:1). There are times of refreshing in nature when the rains water the earth. But God also gives “times of refreshing” when the Holy Spirit renews our strength with His presence (Acts 3:19).
At your own leisure meditate on the providential care in this Psalm. Meditate on some of these reasons for praise. The specifics in this Psalm will fill your mouth with songs of praise and thanksgiving. It will produce worship from the heart. “Oh, bless our God, you peoples! And make the voice of His praise to be heard.”xii
ENDNOTES:
i All Scripture quotes are from the New King James Version unless indicated otherwise.
ii Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: An Expository and Devotional Commentary on the Psalms,” Vol. III Psalms 53-78 (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978) 162.
iii See O.T. 1747 in Strong’s Concordance.
iv Some commentaries draw other imagery from the wording. For example, Matthew Henry writes, “Praise is silent unto thee (so the word is), as wanting words to express the great goodness of God, and being struck with a silent admiration at it.” (from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, PC Study Bible Formatted Electronic Database Copyright © 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All Rights reserved.)
v Cf. 2 Tim. 3:5.
vi Cf. Ps. 119:7.
vii Cf. Eph. 2:11-13.
viii Gal. 6:14. Cf. 2 Cor. 10:17.
ix Cf. Phil. 4:4.
x Ps 107:2: “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. . . .”
xi Cf. Richard W. Tow, Authentic Christianity: Studies in 1 John (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2019) 146-155.
xii Ps. 66:8.
