Psalm 65: Praise God! For He Hs Provided for the Earth
“...they shout for joy, they also sing”
The psalm that comes before us this time is a poem with at least two
great things for us. First, it is a statement of praise to God that
covers three major areas. Second, it is arranged in such a way as
to teach a lesson on how God wants us to think. As you read it in
a moment, please think on both of these things:
- The three major areas: Praise and spiritual things (65:1-4); praise and the earth (65:5-8); praise and the year (65:9-13).
- The lesson on thinking: this poem is arranged in the logical form of reasoning from the greater to the lesser (the spiritual, the earth, the year). The point is that God cares for all, and the proof that the spiritual is important to Him is learned by reasoning to the truth that even the events of the year are important to Him (water, crops, and animals; for example).
Let us now read the entire psalm with these things in mind.
Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion; And to You the vow shall
be performed. O You who hear prayer, To You all flesh will come. Iniquities
prevail against me; As for our transgressions, You will provide atonement
for them.
1Blessed 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.
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; Who established the mountains by His strength, Being
clothed with power; You who still the noise of the seas, The noise of their
waves, And the tumult of the peoples. They also who dwell in the farthest
parts are afraid of Your signs; You make the outgoings of the morning and
evening rejoice.
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. You water its ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows; You make it
soft with showers, You bless its growth.
You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with
abundance. They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, And the little
hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; The
valleys also are covered with grain; They shout for joy, they also sing.
Now that we have read Psalm 65, let us think about some of the things it teaches.
The first section teaches us about praise and spiritual things (65:1-4). As David addresses God, he makes a commitment that he will keep his commitments. What a lesson for us! As we sing in our worship today, we make many statements about the things we are going to do in our daily obedience before God. Let us understand that God has the right to see us actually doing the things we have sung that we would do! David then makes a comment about “all flesh”—all flesh will come to God. Actually, since God does hear prayer, all flesh should come to Him. Next, David speaks of the power of sin. Our sins prevail against us. Apart from the help of God, our sins cannot lose the fight against us. But God can purge, forgive, and send our sins away through the atoning blood of His Son (Romans 5). Then, David appeals to the individual reader to understand that each one who is chosen by God is important. The result of this choosing (which involves the obedience of the chosen; Ephesians 1,2) is “satisfaction with the goodness” of God’s house. Indeed, how great God’s spiritual offer to us really is!
The second section teaches us about praise and the earth (65:5-8). In these verses, David causes the careful reader to view the things that God does over the whole earth. These things are so awesome that they confirm to us that God hears and answers us, that He is our salvation, and that He is our confidence. The things on the earth that are supposed to help us to believe this truth are listed in verses 6,7. They are called God’s “tokens” in verse 8. Thus, in light of Biblical truth, God’s actions in this world (including miraculous things in the days of miracles, and “providential” things in all ages) are to remind us of His concerns toward us.
The third section teaches us about praise and the year (65:9-13). Finally, David brings before his careful readers the things that are close by. These are the things that relate to the produce from earth year by year. He mentions that God’s yearly activities in nature include water, grain, moisture for the furrows in our gardens, showers, vegetation, goodness, fatness, pastures, hills, flocks, and valleys. All of this ought to cause the truly observant person to either praise God for His goodness, or to begin looking for God (if he has yet to be taught about Him; Romans 1:18-23; Acts 14:15-17).
One of the applications that we can make is that since we have learned
about God’s concern and care about “lesser” things, so He wants us to be
concerned about them. Jesus taught this in Matthew 5:19,20.
Let us demonstrate to God that we mean to keep our vows—even the ones that
involve the “little things.” This surely is the best way for us to
show Him that we have learned that which Psalm 65 is teaching us.
— Skip Andrews
Psalm 66:
God is so good.
SICK LIST: The Williams
family, Scot McAfee, and Peter DeGraff were not well last week. Elijah
Crawford fell from his bunk bed and sprained his wrist. Nancy Komisak
was in a car accident and has whiplash. Tim Weekley’s aunt,
Katherine Williams, is in ICC. Electa Wilson is in Gwinnett Extended
Care. Steve Fishel continues his cancer treatments. Let’s remember
those who are ill and their families in our prayers.
GROUP 1: Group 1 is in charge of the services at Plantation South
at 1:30. Also, please meet up front following evening services for
visitation assignments.
CHILDREN’S CLASS: 5:30 today.
YOUTH FRIEND DAY: Our third annual “Invite a Friend Day” is September
10. The youth will have a covered dish dinner immediately following
morning services. There will also be recreation.
LADIES’ CLASS: Our regular weekly class will begin Tuesday, September
12—ladies, please review “What We Know.”
FOR THE RECORD:
AM Class 113
AM Worship 144
PM Worship 116
Wednesday Class 120
Contribution $6416
Budget $6500
SIGN-UP SHEET FOR HOUSING: There is a sign-up sheet on the bulletin
board in the foyer for those who are willing to keep our guests for the
Mission Forum in November. Please consider this great oportunity and sign
up as soon as possible to help us make our plans.
Verse of the Week:
“My tongue shall speak of thy word:
for all thy commandments are righteousness”
(Psalm 119:172).
VOLUME 2:25 September 3, 2000