Psalms 65:1-11

1 For the leader. A psalm of David. A song: To you, God, in Tziyon, silence is praise; and vows to you are to be fulfilled.

2 You who listen to prayer, to you all living creatures come.

3 When deeds of wickedness overwhelm me, you will atone for our crimes.

4 How blessed are those you choose and bring near, so that they can remain in your courtyards! We will be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the Holy Place of your temple.

5 It is just that you answer us with awesome deeds, God of our salvation, you in whom all put their trust, to the ends of the earth and on distant seas.

6 By your strength you set up the mountains. You are clothed with power.

7 You still the roaring of the seas, their crashing waves, and the peoples' turmoil.

8 This is why those living at the ends of the earth stand in awe of your signs. The places where the sun rises and sets you cause to sing for joy.

9 You care for the earth and water it, you enrich it greatly; with the river of God, full of water, you provide them grain and prepare the ground.

10 Soaking its furrows and settling its soil, you soften it with showers and bless its growth.

11 You crown the year with your goodness, your tracks overflow with richness.

Psalms 65:1-11 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.