Psalms 65

Psalms 65:4

4. Blessed is the man &c.] How happy is the man whom Thou hast chosen, and called to the privilege of being continually employed in thy service! they, who enjoy this privilege, have abundant satisfaction in those blessings which are dispensed to them from thy holy habitation. Travell.

Psalms 65:5

5. By terrible things] “O God of our salvation, Thou in thy righteousness answerest us by doing awful things: Thou art the confidence of the remotest parts of the earth and the sea.” By “terrible” or “awful things” are meant the works of God’s providence, mentioned in the following verses. Green.

Psalms 65:6

6. They also that dwell] The meaning is, that the most distant and barbarous people behold the signs of God’s power and goodness with wonder and amazement. Travell. — the outgoings &c.] The successive courses of the morning and evening; or of the sun and moon, which go forth at those times, thereby making the morning and evening; both of which are said to rejoice poetically, because they give men occasion of rejoicing. Poole.

Psalms 65:8

8. So they shall make &c.] They shall cause the mischief of their tongues to fall upon themselves. Green.

Psalms 65:9

9. — shall fear, and shall declare the work of God:] Shall dread the righteous judgments of God, acknowledging it to be his peculiar work of vengeance that befalls them. Dr. Hammond. Diligently to mark, and carefully to treasure up in our minds the special providences of the Almighty, is the way to preserve and nourish our faith and hope in Him: it furnishes the grounds of our thankfulness and praise; it stirs up our finest feelings and very best affections towards Him, holy joy, humble reverence, and hearty love; it supports us under all our sufferings, and affords us comfort in all our sorrows. Bp. Horne. Psalm LXV. This Psalm is a thankful commemoration of God’s mercies and deliverances; written probably on the occasion of his restoring plenty, after the three years’ famine, 2 Sam. xxi. Dr. Hammond. How graceful and animated is that rich and flourishing picture of nature which is exhibited in this Psalm: when the Prophet, with a fertility of expression correspondent to the subject, praises the beneficence of the Deity in watering the earth and making it fruitful! Bp. Lowth. Ver. 1. Praise waiteth &c.] It becomes us, O God, to praise Thee in thy sanctuary, and to pay the vows which we made unto Thee in the time of our distress. Bp. Patrick.

10. — the river of God.] The clouds, those reservoirs of water which are opened and shut at God’s pleasure, are here called “the river of God;” by showers from which He refresheth the earth. Green.

Psalms 65:10

10. — thou settlest the furrows thereof:] See the margin.

Psalms 65:11

11. — and thy paths] God is here represented as going the circuit of the heavens, as making the clouds his chance. See Job xxi. 14, and Psalm civ. 3. Dr. Kennicott. The happy effects of God’s visiting the earth with rain, are valleys covered with corn, verdant meads, and thriving flocks. All these ideas, in the prophetic Scriptures, are frequently transferred to the times of refreshment and consolation, of peace and fruitfulness,