Psalms 65:5-13

5 By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation, thou confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of the distant regions of the sea. ...

6 Who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with power;

7 Who stilleth the raging of the seas, the raging of their waves, and the tumult of the peoples.

8 And they that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens; thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.

9 Thou hast visited the earth, thou hast watered it; thou greatly enrichest it: the river of God is full of water; thou providest their corn, when thou hast so prepared it:

10 Thou dost satiate its furrows, thou smoothest its clods, thou makest it soft with showers; thou blessest the springing thereof.

11 Thou crownest the year with thy goodness, and thy paths drop fatness:

12 They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness, and the hills are girded with gladness.

13 The meadows are clothed with flocks, and the valleys are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, yea, they sing.

Psalms 65:5-13 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Leummim: see Ps. 2.1.
• [b]. Or 'signs,' as Ps. 135.9.
• [c]. As Ps. 58.2.
• [d]. Or 'made it overflow.'
• [e]. i.e. of men.
• [f]. i.e. the earth.