Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 65:6
Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; [being] girded with power:
6. setteth fast the mountains ] The mountains poetically represent the strongest and most solid parts of the earth (Psa 18:7; Psa 46:2 f). These He has created and sustains. Comp. the appeals of Amos to the phenomena of nature as the evidence of God’s power, Amo 4:13; Amo 5:8; Amo 9:5-6.
being girded with power ] Girding himself with might. Cp. Psa 93:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains – Fixing them firm on their foundations. This is an exhibition of vast strength or power on the part of God, as if he fixed them so firm that they could not be moved – as if he handled with ease those vast masses of matter, with all their rocks and forests – and caused them to repose steadily and calmly on their foundations. We have few more exalted conceptions of the power of God than to suppose him lifting with ease a vast mountain; letting it down where he pleases, and settling it so firmly that it cannot be moved.
Being girded with power – That is, they seemed to be surrounded or encompassed with power, as a man girds himself up when he wishes to put forth a great effort of strength.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 65:6-13
Which by His strength setteth fast the mountains: being girded with power.
God as He appears in material nature
I. God in material nature working.
1. Settling (Psa 65:6). He keeps all things in their place. There is a principle of dissolution in every part of nature. All things that are settled in nature are settled being girded by His power.
2. Tranquillizing (Psa 65:7).
(1) How tumultuous is the sea at times! When the stormy winds lash it into fury; then its billows rise high as the hills, roar like thunder. Who can quiet them? God, and He only.
(2) The excited passions of men, of mobs or nations, are oven more furious and terrible than the ocean in a tempest. He stilleth them also. This is a slow work, but a work possible to God, a work which He alone accomplishes.
3. Cheering (Psa 65:8). He sets the whole day to music. At dawn the strains are jubilant with hope, and at eve they swell into the rich deep notes of thankful memories.
4. Fructifying (Psa 65:9). The rich harvest is the coronation of heavenly goodness, and all the antecedent and preparatory mornings and evenings are so many sparkling jewels in the diadem.
II. God in material nature worshipped.
1. His presence is discoverable in nature. God is in nature in a higher sense than the engineer is in his machine, or the author in his book. The personalities of men are not in their works; but God is personally in nature. He is here–not merely His influence, His works, but Himself. It is because we are spiritually blind that we do not see Him.
2. His adorable character is discoverable in nature. You cannot worship the mere presence. Worship implies character, and the worshipful character must be benevolent. You cannot worship stolid indifference. Still less can you worship malice. In nature you see Divine goodness everywhere. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 6. Setteth fast the mountains] It is by thy strength they have been raised, and by thy power they are girded about or preserved. He represents the mountains as being formed and pitched into their proper places by the mighty hand of God; and shows that they are preserved from splitting, falling down, or mouldering away, as it were, by a girdle by which they are surrounded. The image is very fine. They were hooped about by the Divine power.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Settest fast the mountains; that they are not overthrown by floods, or winds, or earthquakes, or other natural or violent causes; which stability they have only from Gods providence, which sustains all persons and all things.
Being girded with power; this our God being able to do it, and that with one single word.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6-13. God’s great power andgoodness are the grounds of this confidence. These are illustrated inHis control of the mightiest agencies of nature and nations affectingmen with awe and dread (Psa 26:7;Psa 98:1, &c.), and in Hisfertilizing showers, causing the earth to produce abundantly for manand beast.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains,…. In the first creation and formation of them, when they were settled on their basis so firmly that they are rarely removed, and when they are it is something extraordinary. Some understand this of the Lord’s preparing the mountains with the rain of his strength, for the bringing forth of herbs and grass for the service of man and beast, and of his adorning them with trees; and the Targum is,
“who preparest food for the wild goats of the mountains;”
others interpret them of kingdoms and communities, comparable to mountains, Jer 51:25; but these are not set fast, they are not firm and stable, but in a course of time are removed, and give way to others; rather the church of God is meant; see Isa 2:2; where the same phrase is used as here; and “mountains” may signify particular churches, or indeed particular believers; for all that trust in the Lord are like to mountains, Ps 125:1; and these are set fast in the everlasting love of God, by which their mountain is made to stand strong; in eternal election, which is the foundation of God that stands sure; in the covenant of grace, which is more immovable than hills and mountains; and on Christ the Rock, against whom the gates of hell can never prevail; and who are so established, settled, and kept by the power of God, that they cannot be removed by the most boisterous storms and winds of the world’s persecutions, Satan’s temptations, or their own sins and corruptions;
[being] girded with power: not the mountains, but God himself; whose power, like himself, is infinite, and appears in the works of his hands, of nature, providence, and grace: the allusion is to a mighty man girded for battle; or for the performance of great undertakings.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| The Almighty Power of God; Indications of Divine Power and Goodness. | |
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.
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, Ps. cxix. 90. By his own strength he setteth fast the mountains (v. 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. iii. 6. Yet God’s covenant with his people is said to stand more firmly than they, Isa. liv. 10.
II. He stills the sea, and it is quiet, v. 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, Ps. cvii. 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, Ps. ii. 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, v. 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. i. 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 (Deut. iv. 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. i. 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, v. 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, Ps. lxxii. 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 (v. 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 (v. 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 (v. 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 (Ps. cxiv. 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, v. 9. As for the earth, out of it comes bread (Job xxviii. 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, John xii. 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, v. 13. To this it is owing that the pastures are clothed with flocks, v. 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, Exod. xxiii. 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.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
6. By his strength setting fast the mountains For the sake of illustration, he instances the power of God seen in the general fabric of the world. In these times it sounded as a new and strange truth to say that the Gentiles should be called to the same hope with the Jews. To prove that it was not so incredible as they were apt to conceive, the Psalmist very properly adverts to the Divine power apparent in all parts of the world. He instances the mountains rather than the plains, because the immense masses of earth, and the lofty rocks which they present, convey a more impressive idea of the Godhead. Interpreters are not agreed as to the exact meaning of the verse which follows. Some think that the mark of similitude must be supplied before the first word of the sentence, and that it is meant to be said that God stills the tumults of men when raging in their insolent attempts, as he stills the agitations of the sea. Others understand the first part of the verse to be a metaphorical declaration of what is plainly stated in the close. I would take the words simply as they stand, and consider that in the first member of the verse, David adverts to the illustration of the divine power which we have in the sea, and in the second to that which we have in his operations amongst men. His strength is shown in calming the waves and tempestuous swellings of the ocean. It is put forth also in quelling tumults which may have been raised by the people.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) Girded.We see the Divine Architect of the world, girt for his labours in the Oriental fashion (see Note, Psa. 18:32), setting the mountains firm on their bases (comp. Psa. 75:3), the poet evidently thinking at the same time how empires, as well as mountains, owe their stability to God.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6, 7. Mountains seas people In these verses we are taught that the same God who “setteth fast the mountains,” and “stilleth the seas,” also hushes “the tumult” of nations. The God of nature is the God of history. “Waves” are a symbol of a people in a state of agitation, tumult, or war.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
While we accept these scriptures as continuations of God’s sovereign power in the kingdom of nature, let us read them also, as the Holy Ghost hath graciously given them, in this and other passages of his blessed word, as confirmations of the same in the kingdom of grace. How sweet to this purpose (to mention no other) is that precious passage of the prophet, wherein the Lord saith the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but neither Jehovah’s kindness, nor his covenant of peace, shall be removed from Jesus, and his people in him. Isa 54:10 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 65:6 Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; [being] girded with power:
Ver. 6. Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains ] Why, then, should it seem incredible that he will do all manner of good to his elect, for whose sake he made all at first, and still upholdeth all by the word of his power? so he doth also states and kingdoms (oft compared to mountains in Scripture; see Jer 51:25 Isa 13:2 Zec 4:7 ), that the Lord God might dwell among men, viz. in his Church and chosen people.
Being girded with power
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Which = Who.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 65:6-9
Psa 65:6-9
GOD’S PREPARATION OF THE EARTH AS MAN’S DWELLING
“Who by his strength settest forth the mountains,
Being girded about with might;
Who stilleth the roaring of the seas,
The roaring of their waves,
And the tumult of the peoples.
They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid of thy tokens:
Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.
Thou visitest the earth and waterest it,
Thou greatly enrichest it;
The river of God is full of water:
Thou providest them grain, when thou hast so prepared the earth.”
The theme of these verses is God’s marvelous preparation of the earth to be a suitable dwelling place for his human creation. Some writers include Psa 65:9 with the following verses, which are usually understood to speak of an abundant harvest; but the statements that God enriches the earth, and that he has prepared it fit more properly into the far greater picture of God’s special creation of the planet Earth as man’s residence.
“His strength settest forth the mountains” (Psa 65:6). Nothing provides any more evidence of the intelligence and love of God than his arrangement of the great mountain systems upon the five continents. These mountains actually are God’s instruments for controlling the rainfall of all lands and the drainage system of the earth in its rivers.
“Stilling of the seas and the roaring of the waves” (Psa 65:7). God’s control of the seas is the sole factor that makes life on the earth possible. For example, if the moon were a hundred thousand miles closer to the earth, the tides would roar over all lands hundreds of feet deep twice a day!
Furthermore, if it were not for the great polar ice-caps, it is altogether possible that all habitable lands would be submerged.
God indeed controls the seas. Jesus rebuked the winds and the waves, and they heeded his voice.
Although only the mountains and oceans are mentioned here, they are merely metaphors standing for “all things” whatsoever.
If the percentage of oxygen in earth’s atmosphere, for example, were significantly increased, a single match could produce devastating fires; and if it were significantly decreased, man would have to have a set of lungs the size of a bale of cotton! God prepared the earth for men to live upon it.
“And the tumult of the peoples” (Psa 65:7). It is not a mistake that “the peoples” are here mentioned along with the seas and the mountains which God controls. God also controls all the peoples of the world. There is a sense in which the human population is a part of nature. He appoints the boundaries of their dwelling place, determines their seasons, giving ascendancy now to one group then to another. Paul mentions this in Act 17:26. Moreover, this is no haphazard control; God has a purpose in his control of nations; and what is it? “That they should seek God” (Act 17:27).
“Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice” (Psa 65:8). The word “thou” stands at the head of this verse, as it does in ten other lines of this psalm. The great theme throughout is God’s power, glory and all-sufficiency.
The exact meaning of this statement is not certainly known, but we agree with Rawlinson’s comment that, “The splendor of sunrise and sunset seem to be in the poet’s mind. This writer walked seven miles to school each day, which necessitated being on the way before sunrise; and truly, there is nothing on earth that speaks any more eloquently of the majesty and glory of the Creator than the magnificent wonders of the sunrise, the great pity being that so few see it every day.
Alexander Maclaren tells the story of an atheist who traveled in the desert with an Arab. One morning, the atheist said, “Arab, a camel circled our tent last night”! The Arab asked, “How do you know?” The atheist said, “Why, I can see its tracks, of course.”
Then the Arab, who devoutly believed in God, pointed to the flaming glory of the sunrise in the eastern skies and said, “What a shame that you cannot also see the tracks of the Almighty God”! This shows how sinful men can find tracks of animals in the dirt but cannot see the footprints of the Eternal in his marvelous natural creation.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 65:6. It is the power of God that controls the parts of the earth. He caused the mountains to be formed as they are and to be maintained through the centuries.
Psa 65:7. The Lord’s power over the sea was demonstrated in the case of Jonah (Jonah 1), and in the time of Christ (Mat 8:23-27).
Psa 65:8. Afraid at thy tokens denotes that the people were impressed by the tokens of God’s power. Outgoings refers to the sources of the daily appearances of daylight and darkness. God so regulates them that the people of the earth rejoice.
Psa 65:9. Visitest means to bestow something on the earth. River of God is a figurative reference to the moisture needed for the production of the earth’s crops. That is provided by the Lord and hence the figure of speech used here.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Which: Psa 24:2, Psa 119:90, Mic 6:2, Hab 3:6
girded: Psa 93:1, 1Sa 2:4, Isa 51:9
Reciprocal: Job 37:23 – excellent Job 38:11 – Hitherto Psa 65:12 – rejoice Psa 95:4 – the strength of the hills is his also Isa 17:12 – make a noise Isa 26:8 – in Isa 64:3 – thou didst Amo 4:13 – he that Jon 2:6 – mountains Joh 5:17 – My
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 65:6-7. Which setteth fast the mountains That they are not overthrown by floods, or earthquakes, or other natural causes; which stability they have only from Gods preserving providence, which alone sustains all persons and things; being girded with power Being able to do it, and that with infinite ease, having only to speak and it is done. Which stillest the noise of the sea When it is very tempestuous, and threatens to swallow up ships and men that are in it, or to overflow the earth. And the tumults of the people As he stills the natural, so he also quiets the metaphorical seas, tumultuous and unruly mobs and insurrections of people, often represented under this emblem in the prophetical writings.