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Commentary on Psalms 65 verses 6–13
That we may be the more affected with the wonderful condescensions of the God of grace, it is of use to observe his power and sovereignty as the God of nature, the riches and bounty of his providential kingdom.
I. He establishes the earth and it abides, Psa 119:90. By his own strength he setteth fast the mountains (Psa 65:6), did set them fast at first and still keeps them firm, though they are sometimes shaken by earthquakes.
- Feriuntque summos. Fulmina montes.
The lightning blasts and loftiest hills.
Hence they are called everlasting mountains, Hab 3:6. yet God's covenant with his people is said to stand more firmly than they, Isa 54:10.
II. He stills the sea, and it is quiet, Psa 65:7. The sea in a storm makes a great noise, which adds to its threatening terror; but, when God pleases, he commands silence among the waves and billows, and lays them to sleep, turns the storm into a calm quickly, Psa 107:29. And by this change in the sea, as well as by the former instance of the unchangeableness of the earth, it appears that he whose the sea and the dry land are is girded with power. And by this our Lord Jesus gave a proof of his divine power, that he commanded the winds and waves, and they obeyed him. To this instance of the quieting of the sea he adds, as a thing much of the same nature, that he stills the tumult of the people, the common people. Nothing is more unruly and disagreeable than the insurrections of the mob, the insults of the rabble; yet even these God can pacify, in secret ways, which they themselves are not aware of. Or it may be meant of the outrage of the people that were enemies to Israel, Psa 2:1. God has many ways to still them and will for ever silence their tumults.
III. He renews the morning and evening, and their revolution is constant, Psa 65:8. This regular succession of day and night may be considered, 1. As an instance of God's great power, and so it strikes an awe upon all: Those that dwell in the uttermost parts of the earth are afraid at thy signs or tokens; they are by them convinced that there is a supreme deity, a sovereign monarch, before whom they ought to fear and tremble; for in these things the invisible things of God are clearly seen; and therefore they are said to be set for signs, Gen 1:14. Many of those that dwell in the remote and dark corners of the earth were so afraid at these tokens that they were driven to worship them (Deu 4:19), not considering that they were God's tokens, undeniable proofs of his power and godhead, and therefore they should have been led by them to worship him. 2. As an instance of God's great goodness, and so it brings comfort to all: Thou makest the outgoings of the morning, before the sun rises, and of the evening, before the sun sets, to rejoice. As it is God that scatters the light of the morning and draws the curtains of the evening, so he does both in favour to man, and makes both to rejoice, gives occasion to us to rejoice in both; so that how contrary soever light and darkness are to each other, and how inviolable soever the partition between them (Gen 1:4), both are equally welcome to the world in their season. It is hard to say which is more welcome to us, the light of the morning, which befriends the business of the day, or the shadows of the evening, which befriend the repose of the night. Does the watchman wait for the morning? So does the hireling earnestly desire the shadow. Some understand it of the morning and evening sacrifice, which good people greatly rejoiced in and in which God was constantly honoured. Thou makest them to sing (so the word is); for every morning and every evening songs of praise were sung by the Levites; it was that which the duty of every day required. We are to look upon our daily worship, alone and with our families, to be both the most needful of our daily occupations and the most delightful of our daily comforts; and, if therein we keep up our communion with God, the outgoings both of the morning and of the evening are thereby made truly to rejoice.
IV. He waters the earth and makes it fruitful. On this instance of God's power and goodness he enlarges very much, the psalm being probably penned upon occasion either of a more than ordinarily plentiful harvest or of a seasonable rain after long drought. How much the fruitfulness of this lower part of the creation depends upon the influence of the upper is easy to observe; if the heavens be as brass, the earth is as iron, which is a sensible intimation to a stupid world that every good and perfect gift is from above, omnia desuper - all from above; we must lift up our eyes above the hills, lift them up to the heavens, where the original springs of all blessings are, out of sight, and thither must our praises return, as the first-fruits of the earth were in the heave-offerings lifted up towards heaven by way of acknowledgment that thence they were derived. All God's blessings, even spiritual ones, are expressed by his raining righteousness upon us. Now observe how the common blessing of rain from heaven and fruitful seasons is here described.
1.How much there is in it of the power and goodness of God, which is here set forth by a great variety of lively expressions. (1.) God that made the earth hereby visits it, sends to it, gives proof of his care of it, Psa 65:9. It is a visit in mercy, which the inhabitants of the earth ought to return in praises. (2.) God, that made it dry land, hereby waters it, in order to its fruitfulness. Though the productions of the earth flourished before God had caused it to rain, yet even then there was a mist which answered the intention, and watered the whole face of the ground, Gen 2:5, Gen 2:6. Our hearts are dry and barren unless God himself be as the dew to us and water us; and the plants of his own planting he will water and make them to increase. (3.) Rain is the river of God, which is full of water; the clouds are the springs of this river, which do not flow at random, but in the channel which God cuts out for it. The showers of rain, as the rivers of water, he turns which way soever he pleases. (4.) This river of God enriches the earth, which without it would quickly be a poor thing. The riches of the earth, which are produced out of its surface, are abundantly more useful and serviceable to man than those which are hidden in its bowels; we might live well enough without silver and gold, but not without corn and grass.
2.How much benefit is derived from it to the earth and to man upon it. (1.) To the earth itself. The rain in season gives it a new face; nothing is more reviving, more refreshing, than the rain upon the new-mown grass, Psa 72:6. Even the ridges of the earth, off which the rain seems to slide, are watered abundantly, for they drink in the rain which comes often upon them; the furrows of it, which are turned up by the plough, in order to the seedness, are settled by the rain and made fit to receive the seed (Psa 65:10); they are settled by being made soft. That which makes the soil of the heart tender settles it; for the heart is established with that grace. Thus the springing of the year is blessed; and if the spring, that first quarter of the year, be blessed, that is an earnest of a blessing upon the whole year, which God is therefore said to crown with his goodness (Psa 65:11), to compass it on every side as the head is compassed with a crown, and to complete the comforts of it as the end of a thing is said to crown it. And his paths are said to drop fatness; for whatever fatness there is in the earth, which impregnates its productions, it comes from the out-goings of the divine goodness. Wherever God goes he leaves the tokens of his mercy behind him (Joe 2:13, Joe 2:14) and makes his path thus to shine after him. These communications of God's goodness to this lower world are very extensive and diffusive (Psa 65:12): They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness, and not merely upon the pastures of the inhabited land. The deserts, which man takes no care of and receives no profit from, are under the care of the divine Providence, and the profits of them redound to the glory of God, as the great benefactor of the whole creation, though not immediately to the benefit of man; and we ought to be thankful not only for that which serves us, but for that which serves any part of the creation, because thereby it turns to the honour of the Creator. The wilderness, which makes not such returns as the cultivated grounds do, receives as much of the rain of heaven as the most fruitful soil; for God does good to the evil and unthankful. So extensive are the gifts of God's bounty that in them the hills, the little hills, rejoice on every side, even the north side, that lies most from the sun. Hills are not above the need of God's providence; little hills are not below the cognizance of it. But as, when he pleases, he can make them tremble (Psa 114:6), so when he pleases he can make them rejoice. (2.) To man upon the earth. God, by providing rain for the earth, prepares corn for man, Psa 65:9. As for the earth, out of it comes bread (Job 28:5), for out of it comes corn; but every grain of corn that comes out of it God himself prepared; and therefore he provides rain for the earth, that thereby he may prepare corn for man, under whose feet he has put the rest of the creatures and for whose use he has fitted them. When we consider that the yearly produce of the corn is not only an operation of the same power that raises the dead, but an instance of that power not much unlike it (as appears by that of our Saviour, Joh 12:24), and that the constant benefit we have from it is an instance of that goodness which endures for ever, we shall have reason to think that it is no less than a God that prepares corn for us. Corn and cattle are the two staple commodities with which the husbandman, who deals immediately in the fruits of the earth, is enriched; and both are owing to the divine goodness in watering the earth, Psa 65:13. To this it is owing that the pastures are clothed with flocks, Psa 65:13. So well stocked are the pastures that they seem to be covered over with the cattle that are laid in them, and yet the pasture not overcharged; so well fed are the cattle that they are the ornament and the glory of the pastures in which they are fed. The valleys are so fruitful that they seem to be covered over with corn, in the time of harvest. The lowest parts of the earth are commonly the most fruitful, and one acre of the humble valleys is worth five of the lofty mountains. But both corn-ground and pasture-ground, answering the end of their creation, are said to shout for joy and sin, because they are serviceable to the honour of God and the comfort of man, and because they furnish us with matter for joy and praise: as there is no earthly joy above the joy of harvest, so there was none of the feasts of the Lord, among the Jews, solemnized with greater expressions of thankfulness than the feast of in-gathering at the end of the year, Exo 23:16. Let all these common gifts of the divine bounty, which we yearly and daily partake of, increase our love to God as the best of beings, and engage us to glorify him with our bodies, which he thus provides so well for.
"Clothed have been the rams of the sheep" [Psalm 65:13]: "with exultation" must be understood. For with what exultation the hills are encircled, with the same are clothed the rams of the sheep. Rams are the very same as hills. For hills they are because of more eminent grace; rams, because they are leaders of the flocks...."They shall shout:" thence they shall abound with wheat, because they shall shout. What shall they shout? "For a hymn they shall say." For one thing it is to shout against God, another thing to say a hymn; one thing to shout iniquities, another thing to shout the praises of God. If you shout in blasphemy, thorns you have brought forth: if you shout in a hymn, you abound in wheat.
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SUMMARY
Psalms 65:13 serves as the triumphant crescendo of a psalm of thanksgiving, painting a vibrant picture of God's abundant provision and the resulting joy throughout creation. It depicts fertile pastures so teeming with livestock that they appear "clothed," and valleys so laden with ripe grain that they are "covered," culminating in the personified land itself erupting in shouts of joy and song. This verse stands as a powerful testament to the Creator's meticulous, benevolent, and sustaining care for His creation, showcasing the tangible and exuberant results of divine blessing.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Psalms 65:13 masterfully employs several potent literary devices to convey its message of divine abundance and creation's joyful response. The most prominent is Personification, where inanimate objects—the pastures and valleys—are endowed with human qualities of emotion and expression: they "shout for joy" and "sing." This device elevates the natural world from mere scenery to active participants in praise, suggesting that God's provision is so overwhelming that creation itself cannot help but respond with exuberant adoration. This also enhances the sense of cosmic harmony and the interconnectedness of all things under God's benevolent rule. Furthermore, Imagery is richly used, painting a vivid and sensory picture for the reader. Phrases like "clothed with flocks" and "covered over with corn" create strong visual impressions of overwhelming density and widespread bounty, appealing directly to the senses and making the abstract concept of divine blessing tangible and immediate. Lastly, the verse utilizes Parallelism, specifically synonymous parallelism, where the two initial clauses ("The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn") express similar ideas of abundance using different but related imagery, reinforcing the central theme of God's comprehensive provision. The subsequent parallel verbs "shout for joy" and "sing" similarly intensify the expression of creation's joyful response.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Psalms 65:13 stands as a profound theological statement about God's intimate and benevolent involvement in His creation. It affirms His role as the ultimate Sustainer and Provider, whose faithfulness ensures the cycles of nature and the flourishing of all life. The abundance depicted is not merely a natural occurrence but a direct manifestation of divine blessing, inviting humanity to recognize God's hand in every aspect of their sustenance. This verse also highlights the responsive nature of creation, suggesting that the very act of God's provision elicits a spontaneous, joyful chorus from the earth itself, a powerful reminder that all of creation bears witness to His glory and goodness. It challenges believers to cultivate a similar spirit of gratitude and praise, acknowledging God as the ultimate source of all good things and fostering a deep sense of trust in His ongoing care.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Psalms 65:13 calls believers to a deeper appreciation for God's ongoing provision in their lives, extending far beyond the agricultural context. While the imagery is rooted in ancient agrarian life, the principle of God's abundant care and the appropriate response of joy and praise remains timeless and universally applicable. This verse encourages us to cultivate a posture of profound gratitude, recognizing God's active hand not just in grand miracles but in the daily, consistent blessings of sustenance, health, natural beauty, and the reliable rhythms of life. Every meal, every thriving plant, every animal, and indeed, every breath we take, is a testament to His meticulous and generous care. Just as the valleys "shout for joy" and "sing," we are called to respond to God's goodness with heartfelt praise and thanksgiving, acknowledging Him as the ultimate source of all good things. This perspective fosters a spirit of contentment, hope, and deep trust, reminding us that the God who faithfully provides for the earth will also faithfully provide for our spiritual and physical needs, often in ways that exceed our expectations.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does "corn" mean in this verse, and is it relevant today?
Answer: In the King James Version, "corn" (Hebrew: bâr, H1250) is a general term for grain, such as wheat or barley, not specifically maize (which was unknown in the ancient Near East). It represents the staple food source derived from a successful harvest, essential for human and animal sustenance. While the specific crop may differ across cultures and eras, the principle remains highly relevant today. It signifies God's consistent provision of essential sustenance for humanity, whether through modern agriculture, global supply chains, or the daily food we consume. The verse assures us that God continues to bless the earth to yield its produce for our well-being, inviting us to recognize His hand in our daily bread and to live with gratitude for His sustaining care.
How can inanimate pastures and valleys "shout for joy" and "sing"?
Answer: This is a powerful example of personification, a literary device where human qualities or actions are attributed to inanimate objects or abstract concepts. The psalmist uses this imagery to convey the overwhelming and undeniable joy that God's abundant provision brings to the entire created order. It's not meant to be taken literally, but rather to express the profound and exuberant praise that creation implicitly offers to its Creator simply by flourishing under His care. It suggests that the beauty, order, and fruitfulness of the natural world are themselves a silent, yet powerful, testament to God's glory, inviting humanity to join in this cosmic chorus of praise, as seen in Psalm 96:11-12 and Psalm 148:7-10.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
While Psalms 65:13 celebrates God's physical provision through a bountiful harvest, its imagery finds profound Christ-centered fulfillment in the spiritual abundance and new creation brought forth by Jesus Christ. Just as the pastures are "clothed with flocks" and valleys "covered over with corn," Christ is the ultimate source of spiritual sustenance, the Bread of Life and the Living Water, who provides an overflowing abundance for all who believe. His sacrifice on the cross, like the fertile ground, yields an immeasurable harvest of forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life, transforming barren hearts into spiritual gardens that "shout for joy" and "sing" with new life. Through Christ, we are not merely sustained but are made new creations, filled with the Holy Spirit, enabling us to bear the fruit of righteousness (e.g., Galatians 5:22-23). The cosmic joy of creation in Psalms 65:13 foreshadows the ultimate redemption of all creation through Christ, when every knee will bow and every tongue confess His Lordship, and the entire universe will resound with praise to the Lamb who was slain, ushering in a new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells and all creation fully participates in unending worship.