Psalm 65:1-13

... in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.  Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.  Glory to You, our God, Glory to You.

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the beginning, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

Psalm 65:1-13[1]

To the chief Musician, A Psalm-Song of David.

Praise waits for You, O God, in Zion.  To You the vow shall be performed.  O You Who hear prayer, to You shall all flesh come.  Iniquities prevail against me, our transgressions.  You shall purge them away.

Blessed [is the man] You choose, and cause to approach [You], [so that] he may dwell in Your courts.  We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, of Your holy temple.

[By] terrifying things in righteousness, You will answer us, O God of our salvation, the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of those who are distant [on] the sea; Who by His strength sets fast the mountains, girded with power; Who stills the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.

Those who also dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at Your tokens.  You make the arrivals[2] of the morning and the evening rejoice.  You visit the earth, and water it.  You greatly enrich it with the river of God, [which] is full of water.  You prepare corn for them, when You have so provided for it.  You water its ridges abundantly.  You settle its furrows.  You make it soft with showers.  You bless the springing of it.  You crown the year with Your goodness.  Your paths drop fatness.

They drop [on] the pastures of the wilderness.  The little hills rejoice on every side.  The pastures are clothed with flocks.  The valleys also are covered over with corn.  They shout for joy, They also sing.[3]

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[1] When I was a small boy, my dad sang in the church choir.  It was a little church in a tiny town, with a small choir, having a limited repertoire, which was repeated frequently out of necessity.  The choir director was absent, because he was the choir director for several small churches: hence, he had duties elsewhere on Sunday morning.  They called the hymn, inspired by the concluding verses of this Psalm, “The Corn Song.”  They sang, “The valleys stand so rich with corn that they laugh and sing.”  This is a Psalm of intense and joyous gratitude for the many blessings from the hand of our good and gracious God.  We worry so much about getting our theology and other details just so.  Perhaps we just need to get our simple joyous gratitude right: for of all the things of youth this has stuck down through the years.  A thankful heart is worshipping.  An unthankful heart is not worshipping.

David pictures himself as being so eager for worship that he is in the tabernacle waiting for God to arrive.  This is not a flight of fancy, out of touch with reality, as it first appears: for David may be anticipating the arrival of the Arc of the Covenant, God’s sedan chair with the Glory, the Sh^ekinah regally enthroned upon it.  We recall that the Sh^ekinah had been vacationing among the Philistines because of Israel’s sin.  The vows referred to are the morning and evening prayers and sacrifices; more than anything else God expects our prayers.  Giving is part of these prayers for even the crumbs given by the beggar and pauper are received into the sacrifice, the oblation that was immolated on the altar of burnt offering; thus, being purified by fire, their ashes and coals were brought to the altar of incense as a sweet smell to God.  Even so, today our offerings, usually of money, purified by the spiritual fire of confession, are received into the one eternal sacrifice of Christ on the cross, and served up for the life of The Church, and the life of the World in the Eucharist.  Here, even two mites have eternal value.  God is the only One Who hears prayer, gathers the sinful world of flesh, and purges away our prevailing iniquities and transgressions.  God is the only One Who is able….

This is an inestimable blessing, and David anticipates the construction of a temple by Solomon, with all of that temple’s attendant worship.  In anticipating Solomon, Davis also anticipates Jesus, Who will destroy and rebuild the Temple of His Flesh in three days; which Temple is alone, truly good, and truly satisfying.

God’s works are in reality terrifying and earth shattering, shaking the Universe to the farthest star.  It is only our blindness that prohibits our observation of the quaking stars.  The arrival of God’s Presence silences all creation, that “the whole world may become guilty before God (Romans 3:19).”

David now recites a litany of God’s good “tokens” for which we should all be eternally grateful.  These “tokens” reach the “uttermost parts” of the earth with the goodness of God.

The whole earth breaks forth in joyous peals of gratitude, “The valleys stand so rich with corn that they laugh and sing.”  Are we that thankful a people?  This is the third part of the hymn medley in four parts, “Praise The Lord, O Jerusalem,” by Henry John Maunder.  Thanks for the precious memory, Dad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG27fzdVa0A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7sa9xCh2Js
http://imslp.org/wiki/Praise_the_Lord,_O_Jerusalem_(Maunder,_John_Henry)

[2] As David awaits the arrival of the Ark, so dawn and dusk arrive with song at the Presence of the Glory of God, the Sh^ekinah.

[3] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations in Psalms, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.

These meditations are not controlled by Creative Commons or other licenses, such as: copyright, CC, BY, SA, NC, or ND.  They are designed and intended for your free participation.  They were freely received, and are freely given.  No other permission is required for their use.