Psalm 65sn Psalm 65. The psalmist praises God because he forgives sin and blesses his people with an abundant harvest.
For the music director; a psalm of David, a song.
1 Praise awaits you,tn Heb “for you, silence, praise.” Many prefer to emend the noun דֻּמִיָּה (dumiyyah, “silence”) to a participle דּוֹמִיָּה (domiyyah), from the root דָּמָה (damah, “be silent”), understood here in the sense of “wait.” O God, in Zion.
Vows made to you are fulfilled.
2 You hear prayers;tn Heb “O one who hears prayer.”
all people approach you.tn Heb “to you all flesh comes.”
3 Our record of sins overwhelms me,tn Heb “the records of sins are too strong for me.”
but you forgivetn Or “make atonement for.” our acts of rebellion.
4 How blessedtn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15). is the one whom you choose,
and allow to live in your palace courts.tn Heb “[whom] you bring near [so that] he might live [in] your courts.”
May we be satisfied with the good things of your house –
your holy palace.tn Or “temple.”
5 You answer our prayers by performing awesome acts of deliverance,
O God, our savior.tn Heb “[with] awesome acts in deliverance you answer us, O God of our salvation.”
All the ends of the earth trust in you,tn Heb “a source of confidence [for] all the ends of the earth.”sn All the ends of the earth trust in you. This idealistic portrayal of universal worship is typical hymnic hyperbole, though it does anticipate eschatological reality.
as well as those living across the wide seas.tc Heb “and [the] distant sea.” The plural adjective is problematic after the singular form “sea.” One could emend יָם (yam, “sea”) to יָמִים (yamim, “seas”), or emend the plural form רְחֹקִים (rÿkhoqim, “far”) to the singular רָחֹק (rakhoq). In this case the final mem (ם) could be treated as dittographic; note the mem on the beginning of the first word in v. 6.
6 You created the mountains by your power,tn Heb “[the] one who establishes [the] mountains by his power.”
and demonstrated your strength.tn Heb “one [who] is girded with strength”; or “one [who] girds himself with strength.”
7 You calm the raging seastn Heb “the roar of the seas.”
and their roaring waves,
as well as the commotion made by the nations.sn The raging seas…the commotion made by the nations. The raging seas symbolize the turbulent nations of the earth (see Ps 46:2-3, 6; Isa 17:12).
8 Even those living in the most remote areas are awestruck by your acts;tn Heb “and the inhabitants of the ends fear because of your signs.” God’s “signs” are the “awesome acts” (see v. 5) he performs in the earth.
you cause those living in the east and west to praise you.tn Heb “the goings out of the morning and the evening you cause to shout for joy.” The phrase “goings out of the morning and evening” refers to the sunrise and sunset, that is, the east and the west.
9 You visit the earth and give it rain;tn The verb form is a Polel from שׁוּק (shuq, “be abundant”), a verb which appears only here and in Joel 2:24 and 3:13, where it is used in the Hiphil stem and means “overflow.”
you make it rich and fertiletn Heb “you greatly enrich it.”
with overflowing streams full of water.tn Heb “[with] a channel of God full of water.” The divine name is probably used here in a superlative sense to depict a very deep stream (“a stream fit for God,” as it were).
You provide grain for them,tn The pronoun apparently refers to the people of the earth, mentioned in v. 8.
for you prepare the earth to yield its crops.tn Heb “for thus [referring to the provision of rain described in the first half of the verse] you prepare it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix attached to the verb “prepare” refers back to the “earth,” which is a feminine noun with regard to grammatical form.
10 You saturatetn Heb “saturating” [the form is an infinitive absolute]. its furrows,
and soaktn Heb “flatten, cause to sink.” its plowed ground.tn Heb “trenches,” or “furrows.”
With rain showers you soften its soil,tn Heb “soften it,” that is, the earth.
and make its crops grow.tn Heb “its vegetation you bless.” Divine “blessing” often involves endowing an object with special power or capacity.
11 You crown the year with your good blessings,tn Heb “your good,” which refers here to agricultural blessings.
and you leave abundance in your wake.tn Heb “and your paths drip with abundance.”
12 The pastures in the wilderness glisten with moisture,tn Heb “drip.”
and the hills are clothed with joy.tn That is, with rich vegetation that brings joy to those who see it.
13 The meadows are clothed with sheep,
and the valleys are covered with grain.
They shout joyfully, yes, they sing.
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