Psalms 65:2-13

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.

Psalms 65:2-13 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.