STUDY THEME: CREATION SPEAKS: WHAT CREATION SAYS ABOUT THE CREATOR. “BE THANKFUL.” PSALM 65: 1-13 11-21-04
PSALM 65: 1-4, 5-8, 9-11, 12-13.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO PSALM 65.
Psalm 65 is a song written by King David for his chief musician. This is a praise song, full of hopeful, confident, even enthusiastic feelings in response to God’s goodness with no complaints or curses. The setting is a celebration at the tabernacle, perhaps the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the spring, or the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall.
This is a great song of worship. The people are assembled for praises and thanksgivings.
In 1620, 102 courageous Pilgrims left England and set sail for the new world. They were blown off course and landed at Cape Cod instead of Virginia. The first winter was disastrous, and by fall of the next year only half of their number had survived.
However, the Pilgrims decided to stay where they were and to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. That public service was to focus on God’s goodness rather than life’s badness. Their actions gave them strength for challenges ahead and set a pattern for future generations.
The celebration of Thanksgiving as a national holiday is unique to America. Unlike Easter and Christmas, Thanksgiving does not commemorate some event from the life of Jesus. It began in America by the pilgrims who wanted to thank God for His goodness. They had had a very difficult winter and many of them had died. But still in the midst of their difficulties they realized they had much for which to be thankful. Their Thanksgiving had its roots in the kind of gratitude given to the Lord in Bible passages such as Psalm 65.They took their clue from God’s character and not from human circumstances! This is important for us today! We need to take our attitude in life from God’s character and not from human circumstances.
When President Lincoln proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving, he clearly set forth that the purpose was to express thanksgiving to God. Lincoln declared, “The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies.”
“To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensitive to the even watchful providence of Almighty God….I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea, and those who are sojourning in foreign lands to set apart and observe the Last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father.”
WE BEGIN WITH THANKS FOR GOD’S FORGIVENESS.
PLEASE READ PSALM 65: 1-4.
In this psalm 65, the psalmist takes us to a thanksgiving worship service. He gives us words to express what God has done in and through our lives. As we join these words to heartfelt attitudes, the moment becomes a God-filled moment of thankful worship. Expressing gratitude draws us close to God and enlarges our capacity to experience His presence. Come and join the service as we move through the Psalm.
David acknowledged at the outset that all good things come from God and that praise therefore is rightfully Yours. The location of the Lord in Zion draws attention to the tabernacle that David had erected in Jerusalem before Solomon built the temple after David’s death. It was at the central sanctuary of the tabernacle that the nation must render its collective praise.
This is a fine description of worship in its expression, it’s method, and its experience. The greatness of the Power of God is the subject of the worshipper’s song, and the power is at the disposal of those who worship.
Thanksgiving is a time to remember. We recall those situations when God provided a way where there had been no way. It is also an attitude of gratitude that surfaces when we look at what we have and realize that God has given us far more than we deserve.
Psalm 65 is suitable for just such an occasion. Some psalms inspire a moment and ignite feelings that have grown cold. Other psalms express a moment and provide words that voice inner feelings. Psalm 65 does both. In this way this psalm meets the demands of both personal, and private worship. No doubt, the intended setting was one of public thanksgiving. This psalm provides reasons for being thankful. God is thanked as the source of forgiveness, the establisher of hope, and the provider of the harvest.
Before the turkey is eaten or after the congregation is seated, Psalm 65 fits the occasion. The psalm begins in praise and ends in triumphant shouting. Praise must find expression.
The first verse of Psalm 65 reminds us that God is always the rightful recipient of praise. Praise is rightfully His. Praise is an attitude of worship that flows out of grateful hearts. Always and forever, praise characterizes the people of God just as lack of praise characterizes the people distant from God.
The psalmist said that the place of God’s praise is Zion. When David captured the city of the Jebusites and made Jerusalem his capital, he took “the strong hold of Zion.” Later the temple was built on Zion. The word Zion was thus often used to refer to the central place of worship. In the place of worship one would make and perform a vow.
The hill in Jerusalem where the temple stood was Mount Zion. There was the place where the Israelite worshiper went to meet God. Everybody ought to have a meeting place with God and to bring a passion for God to that place. Mount Zion was for Israel what our church should be for us.
Vows are promises of action in response to God’s deliverance. Hannah prayed in 1 Sam. 1: 9-28 for a child and made a vow of his dedication. When God answered her prayer, she not only offered praise, but, faithfully carried out her vow by bringing Samuel to Eli.
Praise and obedience are always right responses to God’s act of deliverance. A fulfilled vow comes from a thankful heart.
In vs. 2, God will be praised and vows will be fulfilled because God is the true God who hears and answers prayer. God hears prayer. Elijah won the contest with the Baal worshipers on the basis of which God answered prayer---the one true God or Baal. God proved Himself then, and He has proved Himself through the ages as not only the hearer of prayer, but the only One who brings heavenly answers to earthly situations.
Answered prayer is available to all humanity, not for Israel only. This is something God does as part of His nature. God does not obey our prayers or us, but He responds in accordance with our needs and His will. God does not ignore our prayers. Praise is a form of prayer, but prayer also includes petition, confession, thanksgiving, confession and intercession.
In Jonah 3:6-10 the people of Ninevah asked God to stay their destruction, and God answered their prayer. The gospel has spread to the whole world. People everywhere have learned the promise of Rom. 10:13 that “whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will experience salvation.” Jews and Gentiles may come to the Lord.
David knew that though God is the One who hears prayer, anyone who wants his prayer answered must come to God. To go elsewhere will be a waste of time. Although one day all people everywhere will bow before the one true God and confess Him as Lord, either willingly or unwillingly, this is not the teaching of the present passage.
In vs. 3 David knew that though God is the One who hears prayer, He does not do so for those whose sins are not covered. David confessed that iniquities overwhelm me and that he was powerless to do anything about it. If his sins could be dealt with, only God could do it. Notice that David, the king and spiritual leader of Israel, did not view himself as separate from the people. He spoke of his iniquities and our rebellions.
The remedy for sins of all kinds is atonement. People could offer up sacrifices to make atonement, but only God can atone. The blood of the sacrifices covered the altar and thus human sin. God, seeing the faith expressed by the sacrificial offering, considered the sin null and void, as though it had never been committed. In the O.T. economy the blood of animals, though efficient and mandatory for that era, only typified and pointed forward to the blood of Christ which was sufficient and unrepeatable. Such an atonement could never be achieved by human effort but only by Jesus voluntary offering of Himself.
Atone is God’s solution to our sin. The word means “to cover over” and so translated in the N.T. as “propitiation.” The action is drawn from the sacrificial system of the temple when lamb’s blood was sprinkled on the ark of the covenant to cover the sins of the people. What should have been a place of judgment became the place of mercy because of the lamb’s sacrificial blood. The psalm speaks of atonement as an action of God. The Israelites did not make atonement or even the high priest. God did! This covering anticipated Christ’s complete and final work of atonement at the cross. Praise God, where sin abounds, grace super abounds. God’s ability to restore is greater than sin’s ability to destroy.
Once sin has been atoned for, fellowship between God and human beings becomes possible. Only then can we have unimpaired access to His presence, which is represented, in the O.T. by God’s courts…house, and temple. These are all synonymous terms for the place where God was to be worshiped., In a broad sense, all who know God could be said to be the ones You choose, for God does indeed take the initiative in salvation and forgiveness.
The forgiveness of vs. 3 makes possible the fellowship with God of vs. 4. This verse is stated like a beatitude with the word blessed. This person is blessed to be able to worship God individually and along with God’s people: “How happy is the one You choose and bring near to live in Your courts! We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, the holiness of Your temple.”
In the Psalm
122:1 we read: “I was glad when
they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
And again in Ps. 100: 4-5: “Enter
into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be
thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good: His
mercy is everlasting: and His truth endureth to all generations.”
One of the marks of true thanksgiving is expressing gratitude along
with others. We do this in church, and we do it in families.
William Bradford, one of the Pilgrims, wrote of the Pilgrims’
gratitude when they arrived in the new world: “Being thus
arrived in a good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon
their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over
the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils
and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on firm and stable
earth, their proper element.”
The Pilgrims practiced religious freedom. This is one of the rights under our form of government. The First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees this right, which the Pilgrims’ experience foreshadowed. This freedom reflects the freedom God gives to humanity. God made us free. We can use this freedom to ignore God or to worship Him.
The phrase in vs. 4, “Satisfied with the goodness of Your house” is more than a reference to covered dish suppers but the feeding of an inner, spiritual hunger. Only when worship is placed in the priority it deserves does one find spiritual satisfaction. The psalmist looked with expectation to the spiritual refreshment he would find in God’s house.
A RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IS A PREREQUISITE FOR FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM. “THANKS FOR GOD’S HOPE.”
PLEASE READ PSALM 65: 5-8.
In vs. 2 David said that God answers prayer, and in vs. 5 he said that God does so in righteousness. The proof that God hears prayer is in the answers to prayer. Those answers are always right and best, for God can do no wrong nor will He ever do what is not in the best interest of His people. Moreover, lest we should assume that He does not answer prayer and that the blessings that come our way are just the normal course of life, God displays on occasion “awe-inspiring works” or “awesome deeds,” so there can be no question as to their source.
Many of these works involve God’s salvation, that is, His deliverance from peril and difficulty. Such salvation is open not only to God’s own people Israel but potentially to all the ends of the earth and even to the distance seas. This refers to lands and nations unknown to the psalmist and was therefore universal in scope.
The logical and theological point is that if there is only one God and that God is omnipotent and omnipresent, then He must be the God of all peoples whether they recognize Him as such or not. Any universalism that may seem to exist here is predicted on the clear biblical teaching, that all people everywhere can know Him as their God if they will, and if they choose to do so they can enter into the same hope that Israel experienced. As Creator, He is the God of all: as Redeemer, He is the God of the faithful.
All people need hope, for life is wracked with despair and disappointment. But hope alone, like faith, is to no avail if it is misplaced. The psalmist insisted that only his God offers genuine hope---in fact the psalmist described Him as the embodiment of hope. People can find hope if they come to know the God of the Bible. This is the thrust of the missionary imperative in the Great Commission.
David knew that God could be known through creation, an idea expressed in theological terms as natural (or general) revelation. Paul made the same case when he said in Rom. 1: 18-20 that those who come to know about God through creation but reject Him are without excuse. David said that God established the mountains by His power. He displayed His omnipotence by appearing robed with strength. The Lord is thus a mighty architect or builder who uses His tools and raw materials to effortlessly construct the towering mountains.
The seas are another matter. God did, of course, create these as well, but the point here is not their creation but their control. Genesis supports this understanding: Gen. 1: 6 says: “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” Subsequent events also attest to God’s domination over the chaotic seas. God’s mastery of the seas and the roar of their waves continue on, however, and it is a witness to all who have eyes to see that He is sovereign over them.
Beyond this, God silences the tumult of the nations. The Bible frequently compares the nations to the seas. David made a transition from God’s dominion over the watery seas to His lordship over the rebellious nations. All nations must at some time or other have witnessed the subjugation of powerful enemies in inexplicable ways, failing for the most part to attribute such unexpected results to the God who is above all and controls all.
Even people who
do not know God in a personal way find it impossible to ignore the
wonder and beauty of His creative genius. They stand in awe at the
signs of His power and glory even if they fail to
acknowledge that He is their source and explanation.
The peoples of the whole world (east and west) spontaneously
burst out in praise and shout for joy as they contemplate the wonder
of it all. Whether it be by spoken word or music or art, there is
something in the human heart that must find expression in the
presence of God’s handiwork.
The Hebrew term for “signs” occurs first in Genesis 1:14 to speak of the sun, moon, and stars which were to “serve as signs for festivals and for days and years.” This serves a practical function, but signs also were designed to elicit awe toward the creator and to induce faith in Him. These signs testify to Him and should produce a response of profound joy.
Vs. 5 build on what God has done, and expresses confidence in what He is doing and points toward what He will do. God will respond and help in times to come. And the works God does for His people give assurance for the future. Like vs. 2, vs. 5 includes all people within the circle of God’s help. He is “the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the distant seas.”
The psalmist pinned his hope not only on God’s awesome acts in human history but also on His power and reign based on His works as creator. God established the mountains. The mountains seem to be ageless, but as we read in Ps. 90:2, “before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
The Israelites were not sea-faring people. Many saw the sea as a dangerous place. Its storms could be deadly. Thus it was reassuring to remember who created and controls the seas. “God stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.”
Vs. 8 has a present and future orientation. It looks toward the time when all people will acknowledge the sovereignty of God. “One day, all people—from east to west---will rejoice in the Lord.”
LET’S NOW GIVE THANKS FOR GOD’S BOUNTY.
PLEASE READ PSALM 65: 9-11.
In vs. 9 David turned his attention last of all to the observation that the Creator, having made all things and having exercised dominion over them, is not slack to provide them in abundance to the peoples of the earth.
You visit the earth, David said, and water it abundantly. To visit does not mean to come down to earth in some form; nor does it mean to pay it some cursory attention. The term refers to special concern and intense scrutiny that will result in some kind of divine action. Sometimes the verb has negative, even destructive overtones, but here God’s visitation is designed to bring a blessing.
God’s stream refers to any supply of water that contributes to the growth of crops. The name emphasizes that it comes from God and not merely from a natural cause. The heavy rain of the spring enables the seeds to germinate and the tender shoots to spring forth. The rains in the fall provide water at harvest time to bring the produce to fruition.
The baking sun of the eastern Mediterranean turns the soils of Palestine into a nearly impregnable hardened clay. Only with the falling of the refreshing rain is the soil broken up and made permeable again. Then it can be plowed, harrowed, and sown with seed. David attributed this softening with showers to the Lord Himself, not nature. The naturalist or materialist might reason in this manner, but a person of faith inevitably confesses that there is no nature in that sense but only the God of nature. Only God can bless its crops, that is, the plant life that issues from it.
After the seed has been sown into the softened earth, the furrows into which it has been planted continue to receive the rain without which it would dry up and die. Another result of the heavy rain is the leveling of the ridges of the soil, a reference no doubt to the breaking up of the clods of earth left from the plowing.
The overall picture is one of complete preparation of the soil for planting, nurturing, and harvesting crops. David knew that nothing was left to chance. God was busy with all the details, and without Him there would be nothing but failure. Such a God is truly worthy of praise and thanksgiving.
Crown the year is a figure of speech describing that important time when crops wee harvested and gathered into the storehouses. This occurred in late spring for barley, early summer for wheat, and most important, early fall for grapes, olives, and other orchard crops.
So important were these times that religious festivals celebrated their arrival. The barley harvest called forth the Festival of Firstfruits, the wheat harvest the Festival of Weeks (or Pentecost), and the fall harvest the Festival of Tabernacles. The last of these is probably the one referred to by David as the one crown the year, since it fell in the same month as Rosh Hashanah, the civic calendar’s new year’s day.
The harvests are seen as “God’s bounty” or “bountiful harvest”, an abstract noun that captures in one word all that God has done for His people. Goodness is an attribute of God, one that shows His love and beneficent care. ]
In vs. 11, synonymous with goodness is another rather imprecise term--- plenty or abundance. David declared that Your ways overflow with plenty. Not only did Israel experience blessing at harvest time, but then God blessed throughout the year as His people adhered to His ways. God not only pours out his blessing climatically at certain times----or even periodically---but all of life becomes an experience of blessing to His obedient children.
The story of the Pilgrim’s first Thanksgiving has some parallels to biblical passages such as Psalm 65: 9-13. The Pilgrim’s first feast eventually became the beginning of an annual Thanksgiving Day in our country. The Pilgrims thanked God for His goodness, although their first year in the new world had some dark days.
Sickness had thinned their ranks. Some of their crops failed. Some Native Americans were hostile to them. However on the other side of the coin, the colony had survived the sickness, and many Native Americans helped them.
The two Hebrew words for corn in the King James Version of Psalm 65: 9 and 13 refer to “grain” in general. What we call corn is maize, unknown to Europeans but a staple crop for Native Americans. Friendly natives taught the Pilgrims how to plant and fertilize it. Although some of the Pilgrims’ crops were disappointing, the corn was plentiful! The woods had game, including wild turkeys. Streams were filled with fish.
A pessimist might have felt a day of fasting would have more appropriately honored those who died that first year and would have preserved the provisions to help them get through the coming long winter. The Pilgrims, however, felt that a feast was a better way to celebrate God’s provisions for them and to express their trust that He would continue to meet their needs. So they celebrated and invited their friends, the Native Americans. When 90 Indians showed up, the fainthearted could foresee them devouring essential stores for the winter. However, the guests brought five deer, which became part of the meal.
PLEASE READ PSALM 65: 12-13.
These two verses paint a scene of gladness. In order to emphasize that the bounties of the land are attributable to God and not to human effort. David observed in vs. 12 that the wilderness pastures overflow. These pastures were not planted, cultivated, or otherwise tended by men but were solely the results of God’s providential hand. The hills likewise are robed with joy, a figure of speech suggesting the joy that people experience when they witness the beauty of such super natural growth. Formal gardens can be striking, but nothing is as breathtaking as acres of wild flowers neither planted nor tended by human gardeners.
The psalmist went on to point out that God’s bounties are not only floral but faunal as well. The fields are rich with plant life of all kinds, thanks to the gracious rains, and the pastures likewise are clothed with flocks. Pastures in ancient Israel were normally on the hillsides (as they are today), because the rich and fertile bottom lands were reserved for field crops.
This is the point in vs. 13---the valleys were covered with grain. There is nothing stingy or skimpy about God’s generous blessings. When He provides, He does so with superabundance.
In the final personification, David “heard” the hills and fields shout in triumph and sing. Their song without doubt was a song of praise to the Creator for His bounteous provision and care. This was what David would have the people do as well. The tragedy is that mute plants and dumb beasts can render their thanks to God, poetically speaking at least, but men and women created in His image are loath to do so. The purpose of the psalm is to rectify this indifference and to urge believers of every age to recognize that the Lord is the Source and Sustainer of all life and to thank and praise Him accordingly.
God deserves our praise. He is the God of our salvation and the hope of the world. Rejoice in the strength of the Creator. Praise Him for the bounty of His provisions for us. Join with all creation in praising Him.
Deut. 8: 17-18 was an ancient warning against taking credit for what we ought to be praising God. “You may say to yourself,” “My power and the strength of my hands has produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” This presumptuous sin was not committed by either the writer of Psalm 65 or the Pilgrims. How about us?
NEXT WEEK FROM PSALM 145 LETS LEARN “WHY WE SHOULD TELL OTHERS ABOUT JESUS.” A.V. DAUGHERY <altav@swbell.net>