PM July 25th Psalm 65

July 25^th Psalm 65

A Psalm a song of David

Thanksgiving for nature

1: Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed. 2: O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. 3: Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away. 4: Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. 5: By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea: 6: Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; being girded with power: 7: Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people. 8: They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens: thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice. 9: Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it. 10: Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof. 11: Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. 12: They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side. 13: The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.

To the chief musician

Psalm 66

A song or Psalm

More Thanksgiving

1: Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: 2: Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious. 3: Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee. 4: All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah. 5: Come and see the works of God: he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men. 6: He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him. 7: He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah. 8: O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard: 9: Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved. 10: For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. 11: Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. 12: Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place. 13: I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows, 14: Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble. 15: I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah. 16: Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. 17: I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. 18: If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: 19: But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. 20: Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.

To the chief musician on Neginoth

Today we are reading Psalm 65 & 66. In Psalm 65 David brings a hymn of praise to the Lord from the creation all around him. He says, the whole of creation will attend on the Lord Jesus in Zion and they come to worship him there. This Psalm is prophetic and Messianic because it describes a future day when all the world will gather themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ, who will sit on his Messianic Throne ad rule the nations. And all men, of all the earth, will come to fall at his feet and worship him. All sin will be wiped away in that day and the ‘blessed man’ will be the one who constantly attends to the Lord in the temple. He will live there and feed on the abundance that Christ will make for all his people. All the nations will come to him, even those far off across the seas. The Lord who sits on his throne will be the God who will bring salvation to all men. In those days the Lord will change the geography of the earth and David says, he will establish the mountains on their base and he brings calm to the tempests of the seas - the noise of the waves and the riot of all the people. (We see from this, that the calming of the storm in the life of Christ, was a Messianic sign) Those who live far away from Jerusalem on distant Islands will fear the Lord because of the things that they witness. The mornings and the evenings will be times of great joy and the Lord will bring rain by divine power and the Lord will bring an end to famine. The Lord will bring spring rains and fruitfulness to the earth. The goodness of the Lord will make the year amazingly bountiful. There will be such an abundance that the grass of the wilderness will be covered with the surplus of milking herds. All the little hills will rejoice on every side and the pastures will be full of flocks and the valleys will be covered with corn, they will shout for joy and be full of songs to the Lord. Psalm 66 continues the theme of the previous psalm. David says, I want all the nations of the earth to make a joyful noise to the Lord – Christ. He calls on them to sing forth to the honour of his name. Tell the Lord Jesus how terrifying are his works. Because through the greatness of his power he will subdue all those who rebel against him. Can there be any doubt that this Psalm is describing a future day when Christ will rule the earth. He says in those days All the earth will worship the Lord. They will all sing his praises and sing to his name. Think about that !! David calls for all men to come and witness the mighty acts of the Lord. What he does to the children of men is truly terrifying. Then David says, The Lord turns the sea into dry land and so that men pass through the sea on dry land. Now David might be remembering the deliverance from Egypt or he might be describing a future great event. But then he says, The LORD rules by his power for ever and his eyes will see all the nations of the earth and they must not rebel against him. Think seriously about that !! Then David calls on Israel to bless the Lord and to lift up their voices in praise to the Him. The Lord preserves the life of his people and will never let them be disturbed. The Lord has tried Israel like silver in a furnace. Israel was brought into a trap yet the Lord loved them. The Lord caused men to overcome them completely and they went through fire and water but the Lord brought them out into a place of great wealth. David says, therefore I will go into the temple with offerings of devotion and I will pay my vows to the Lord. I promised that I would - in my days of trouble and so I will offer to the Lord burnt offerings of the fatted animals and incense of rams and bullocks and goats. Think about this !! David invites all those who fear the Lord to draw near to the Lord and David says I will testify to what the Lord has done for me. David’s testimony is this – I cried to the Lord with my mouth and he was praised with my tongue. Then he says, if I allow iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me. But the Lord has heard me and listened to my prayer. Then David finishes with – Blessed be God who has not refused to hear my prayer nor has he turned away his mercy from me.

• How does David describe the glory of the Lord?
• How should men praise the Lord?
• How does David describe Gods dealings with men?