Psalm 65

1 Praise becomes thee, O God, in Sion; and to thee shall the vow be performed.

2 Hear my prayer; to thee all flesh shall come.

3 The words of transgressors have overpowered us; but do thou pardon our sins.

4 Blessed is he whom thou hast chosen and adopted; he shall dwell in thy courts; we shall be filled with the good things of thy house; thy temple is holy.

5 Thou art wonderful in righteousness. Hearken to us, O God our Saviour; the hope of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are on the sea afar off:

6 who dost establish the mountains in thy strength, being girded about with power;

7 who troublest the depth of the sea, the sounds of its waves.

8 The nations shall be troubled, and they that inhabit the ends of the earth shall be afraid of thy signs; thou wilt cause the outgoings of morning and evening to rejoice.

9 Thou hast visited the earth, and saturated it; thou hast abundantly enriched it. The river of God is filled with water; thou hast prepared their food, for thus is the preparation of it.

10 Saturate her furrows, multiply her fruits; the crop springing up shall rejoice in its drops.

11 Thou wilt bless the crown of the year because of thy goodness; and thy plains shall be filled with fatness.

12 The mountains of the wilderness shall be enriched; and the hills shall gird themselves with joy.

13 The rams of the flock are clothed with wool, and the valleys shall abound in corn; they shall cry aloud, yea they shall sing hymns.

Psalm 65 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician, A Psalm [and] Song of David. Some copies of the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions read "a song of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, "sung" by the people of the captivity, when they were about to come out;" and some copies have "Haggai": but though it is possible it might be sung upon that occasion, it is certain it was not then composed, but was written by David, as the genuine title shows: as for Jeremiah; he was not carried captive to Babylon, and Ezekiel died before the return of the people from it; nor is there anything in the psalm relating to that captivity. The title of it, indeed, in the Arabic version, is concerning the captivity of the people; which it seems to have taken from some Greek copy; and Kimchi and Arama interpret it of the captivity of the people of the Jews; but then they mean their present captivity, and their deliverance from it. According to the title of it in the Syriac version, the occasion of it was the bringing up of the ark of God to Sion; and Aben Ezra is of opinion that David composed the psalm at that time; or that one of the singers composed it at the building of the temple, and which he thinks is right, and perhaps is concluded from Psalm 65:1; and who also says it was composed in a year of drought; but it rather seems to have been written in a year of great plenty, as the latter part of it shows; and the whole seems to respect the fruitful, flourishing, and happy state of the church in Gospel times, for which it is a song of praise.