Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 65:9
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.
9. Thou hast visited the land, and made it plentiful, greatly enriching it:
The stream of God is full of water;
Thou preparest their corn, for so thou preparest it.
The A.V. visitest turns the special thanksgiving into a general statement. The rendering waterest follows the Ancient Versions, which may however have read the word differently. The use of the verb in Joe 2:24; Joe 3:13, points to the meaning made it overflow, made it plentiful. God’s ‘stream’ (Psa 1:3) is the rain, with which He irrigates the land as out of a brimming aqueduct (Deu 11:11; Job 38:25), providing corn for men by preparing the earth, as the next verse goes on to describe:
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
9 13. The special object of the Psalm thanksgiving for the plenty of the year. First, grateful acknowledgment that the rains which have fertilised the soil were God’s gift; then a charming picture of a joyous landscape rich with promise.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thou visitest the earth – God seems to come down that he may attend to the needs of the earth; survey the condition of things; arrange for the welfare of the world which he has made; and supply the needs of those whom he has created to dwell upon it. See the notes at Psa 8:4.
And waterest it – Margin, After thou hadst made it to desire rain. This difference between the translations in the text and in the margin can be accounted for by the various meanings of the original word. The Hebrew term – shuq – means properly:
(a) to run;
(b) to run after anything, to desire, to look for;
(c) to run over, to overflow; and then,
(d) to cause to overflow.
The meaning here evidently is, he drenched the earth, or caused the water to run abundantly. The reference is to a copious rain after a drought.
Thou greatly enrichest it – That is, Thou givest to it abundance; thou pourest water upon it in such quantities, and in such a manner, as to make it rich in its productions.
With the river of God – A river so abundant and full that it seems to come from God; it is such as we should expect to flow from a Being infinite in resources and in benevolence. Anything great is in the Scriptures often described as belonging to God, or his name is added to it to denote its greatness. Thus, hills of God mean lofty hills; cedars of God, lofty cedars, etc.
Which is full of water – The waters are so abundant that it seems as if they must come from God.
Thou preparest them corn – Grain. Thou givest to those who cultivate the earth an abundant harvest.
When thou hast so provided for it – Or rather, When thou hast thus prepared the earth, to wit, by sending down abundant rains upon it. God prepares the earth to bear an abundant harvest, and then he gives that harvest. The preparation of the earth for the harvest, and then the givinq of the harvest, are alike from him. The harvest could not be without the previous rain, and neither the rain nor the harvest could be without God. He does not create a harvest by miracle, but follows the order which he has himself ordained, and has respect to his own laws.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 65:9
Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it.
The Divine visitations
I. Gods visit to the earth in his providence. It is to this visit that our text immediately refers: Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it. It was not to cast fire upon it that the Lord came. It would not have been strange had He done that; but there is enough of fire in the composition of the globe to burn it to a coal, only the Lord waters it from His chambers, and keeps down the flames by casting showers of water upon them.
1. He visits the earth to soften its heart towards man.
2. He visits the earth to bring down the blessings upon it. 3 He visits the earth to assist it to serve man. The Lord blesseth the increase of the earth, so that one man can raise enough of corn to support scores of others, who in their turn serve him in some other way. The earth is full of His riches.
II. Gods visit to the earth in His salvation. This is the great visit to us. But for this visit it would have scarcely been worthy of the God of love to visit us in His providence.
1. He comes on this visit without being invited.
2. The earth was armed against God when He came on this visit.
3. The earth is the only place that He visits in the character of a Saviour.
4. Of all Gods visits, this is the one that cost Him most.
5. Of all the visits God has ever made, this is the one that will redound most to His glory.
III. Gods visit to the earth in judgment.
1. Although there are many things concerning this visit which have not been revealed to us, we know that He will come with terrible majesty. He will not humble Himself, neither will He be humbled by any one else at that day. He will be accompanied by a glorious throng. Ten thousands of His saints. All the holy angels with Him.
2. His object in coming will be to reckon with His servants. We know not whether He will reckon with the sun when giving it liberty; but I know that He will reckon with me, and that He will reckon with you.
3. The chief thing in view to be done then, will be to gather His subjects together, to glorify them openly, and to take them home with Him. He, too, will be for ever glorified in His saints. (D. Roberts, D. D.)
Thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God.
The river of God
A stream whose sources are hidden in the bosom of the eternal hills, which is fed with the pure snows of heaven, a simple mountain rill first, then an impetuous torrent gathering volume as it descends foaming and eddying, and sweeping trees and rocks down in its course; then a broad river, rolling, now through wooded meadow land or sandy desert, now forced into a narrow and deep channel by jutting rocks, and leaping down in cataracts; holding its course now straight towards its goal, and now meandering and returning upon itself, seeming even to retrograde to the unobservant eye, receiving ever and again on the right hand and on the left fresh tributaries which drain the far-off hills on either side; fertilizing the pastures and corn lands, purifying and watering towns and villages, bearing on its bosom the precious merchandise of many peoples, giving life and vigour and joy to men; but with all this, whether flowing by crowded cities or desolate wastes, whether spreading into shallow marshes or imprisoned between barriers of rock, whether winding its flooded way over level plains, or rushing impetuously onward and forming a straight channel through all interposing obstacles, still pressing forward, ever forward with its growing volume of waters, with its increasing freight of treasures and of men, to the far-off distant, boundless ocean, there to lose itself and be absorbed into its kindred element. In this description I have not used a single word which might not apply to one of the great rivers of the earth, flowing from the Alps, or the Andes, or the Himalayas; yet throughout I have had before my mind, and perhaps I may have suggested to your minds, a heaven-descended river far mightier than this, rising from beneath the throne of God, flowing down, not without many vicissitudes, but still in triumphant progress and with ever-increasing volume, through the ages, till at length it shall lose itself in the ocean of eternity, when the knowledge of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Such a stream is the Church of God, the Church of the Patriarchs, the Church in Egypt, the Church of the Wilderness, the Church of the Promised Land, the Church in Babylon, the Church of the Restoration, the Church of the Dispersion, and last of all, when the fulness of time has come, the Church of Christ.
I. The continuity of the stream. The missionary spirit, like everything God-like in man, presses forward, acts for the future, hopes for the future, lives in the future, but it draws strength and refreshment from the experience, the examples, the accumulated power and wisdom of the past. Nay, just in proportion as we are animated by this reverence for the past, as we acknowledge our obligations to it, as we feel our connection with it; in short, as we realize this idea of continuity in the Church of Christ, in the same degree will the true missionary spirit–wise, zealous, humble, self-denying, enlightened, enterprising, innovating, in the best sense–because conservative in the best sense–prevail. The Church of Christ is a tree souring upward to heaven, spreading its branches far and wide, but its roots are buried far below the surface in a dark antiquity. Christian men, above all, Christian missionaries, are the heirs of all the ages.
II. The course of the river in its vicissitudes. The present time is confessedly a crisis fraught with manifold anxieties. If there are many bright gleams–and are there not many?–it is no less true that dark clouds overhang the horizon, threatening at any moment to deluge the Church of Christ. At such a crisis, what lessons does the image of the river, interpreted by the history of the past, suggest? Do they tend to dismay or to encouragement, to despair or to hope? To this question there is one clear and decisive answer. The river has its eddies and its back currents; it has its retrograde movements and its meandering channels, when it seems to recede even from its goal; it buries itself perhaps underground, or it loses itself in marshy swamps; it is hemmed in amid rocky heights, intrusive boundaries, which threaten to close in upon it and obstruct its course for ever. If we saw only one reach of the river, we should prophesy its failure in reaching its ultimate destination; but we know that despite all obstruction, despite all treacherous appearances, it must flow onward and downward and empty itself into the ocean. Whatever partial aberrations there may be, its general course is the same. This is the law of its being, and so also with the Church of God. We ought to know, and we ought to feel, independent of history, that the truth cannot perish; that the Church of God cannot fail. This is a spiritual law as the other was a physical law. It must survive, it must flow ever onward and onward till it reaches the ocean of the eternal truth.
III. How is this stream fed? What accessions does it receive? What are its tributaries? From all quarters of the heavens the streams fall into the main channels, fall direct from lofty mountain heights, draining here broad tablelands, there flowing amid barren rocks and rolling meadows and extensive plains; from the right hand and from the left they issue to swell the bulk of the rolling tide. But, as they joint the main stream, they betray their separate sources; they have their own colour, their own swiftness, and they seem almost to keep their own channel. At length the fusion is complete, they have mingled their waters in the main stream, they are lost in it; but meanwhile, and this is what I ask you specially to mark, they have communicated to it their own characteristics, their purifying or fertilizing qualities, and thus, strengthening and strengthened, giving something and receiving more, they roll down in one broad, irresistible, ever-flowing stream, bearing on their breast the natives of divers climes and the products of many soils, sweeping their rich argosies of men and treasure onwards towards the one far-off ocean which is their common goal. The tributaries of the mighty river–are we not reminded by these words of another image Under which the same truth is prefigured by psalmist and prophet, when the nations of the earth gather together from the four winds of heaven to the Holy City and pour in, each its special products, its choicest gifts as a tribute to the treasury of the God of Israel? One offers its finely woven fabrics, another its elaborately chased vessels and its rich carvings, another its costly perfume, another its ivory, its rare woods, its precious metals. Do we ask what is the counterpart to all this in the history of the Christian Church? Has not each Christian nation on its accession, as it was gathered into the fold of Christ, given some fresh cause of strength to the Church, emphasized some doctrinal truth, or developed some practical capacity, or fostered some religious sentiment, and thus contributed to the more complete understanding, or effective working, of the faith once delivered to the saints? And can we suppose that this mighty stream, this river of God, has no more great tributaries to receive, that all the literary streams which might swell and purify and fertilize its waters, have been dried up? Has the Hindoo, with his calm resignation and quiet endurance, with his quick, subtle intellect; has the Chinese, with his stubborn pertinacity and utter fearlessness of death–have these no rich offering, think you, to present at the altar, no new contribution to the fulness of the Gospel of Christ? (Bp. Lightfoot.)
Thou preparest them corn, when Thou hut so provided for it.–
Corn
The harvest-time is the most delightful of all the seasons of the year. It is the time of fulfilled hopes and realized expectations. Of all the many beautiful sights of this season, the most beautiful and interesting are the cornfields rippling in light and shade, like the waves of a sunset sea, away over valley and upland to the purple shores of the distant hills. They are the characteristic features of the season–the illuminated initials on Natures autumnal page, whose golden splendour is variegated here and there with wreaths of scarlet poppies, corn blue-bottles, and purple vetches. The landscape seems to exist solely for them, so prominent and important are they in it. Wherever they appear they are the pictures for which the rest of the scenery, however grand or beautiful, is but the mere frame. No one can gaze upon these golden cornfields without being influenced more or less by the pleasing associations with which they are connected. They strike their roots deep down into the soil of time; they are as old as the human race. They waved upon the earth long before the flood, under the husbandry of the worlds grey fathers. The sun in heaven has ripened more than six thousand of them. Progress is the law of nature, and everything else obeys it, but the harvest-field exhibits little or no change. It presents nearly the same picture in this Western clime and in these modern days as it did under the glowing skies of the East in the time of the patriarchs. We see the same old familiar scene now enacted under our eyes in every walk we take, which Ruth saw when she gleaned after her kinsmans reapers in one of the quiet valleys of Bethlehem, or which our blessed Saviour so frequently gazed upon when wandering with His disciples in the mellow afternoon around the verdant shores of Gennesaret. The harvest-fields are the golden links that connect the ages and the zones, and associate together the most distant times and the remotest nations in one common bond of sympathy and dependence. They make of the earth one great home. But the most delightful association which the harvest recalls is that of the great world-covenant which God made with Noah and symbolized by the bow in the cloud. And now, whenever we see that gorgeous blossom of light expanding its seven-coloured petals from the dark bosom of the cloud, we know that the storm, however long-continued and violent, will not always last; that the waters of Noah will no more go over the earth; that seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, day and night, summer and winter, will never cease. Our cornfields grow and ripen securely under that covenant-arch, whose key-stone is in the heavens, and whose foundations are upon the earth. They afford to us the most striking evidence, season after season, of the integrity and stability of the covenant-promise. There may have been no harvest in Canaan, but there was corn in Egypt, though the application of this compensation was sometimes rendered difficult by natural or moral obstructions. But whether the harvest be local or general, whether we be dependent upon the produce of our own fields or upon the surplus supplies of commerce, in either case it is to the covenant faithfulness of God that we are indebted for the blessing. Corn is the special gift of God to man. All the other plants we use as food are unfit for this purpose in their natural condition, and require to have their nutritious qualities developed, and their nature and forms to a certain extent changed by a gradual process of cultivation. But it is not so with corn. It has from the very beginning been an abnormal production. God gave it to Adam, we have every reason to believe, in the same perfect state of preparation for food in which we find it at the present day. We cannot regard it as an accidental, but, on the contrary, as a striking providential circumstance, that the corn-plants were utterly unknown throughout all the geological periods. Not the slightest trace of vestige of them occurs in any of the strata of the earth, until we come to the most recent formations, contemporaneous with man. They are exclusively and characteristically plants of the human epoch; their remains are found only in deposits near the surface, which belong to the age of man. There is another proof that corn was created expressly for mans use in the fact that it has never been found in a wild state. The primitive types from which all our other esculent plants were derived are still to be found in a state of nature in this or in other countries. The wild beet and cabbage still grow on our sea-shores; the crab-apple and the sloe, the savage parents of our luscious pippins and plums, are still found among the trees Of the wood; but where are the original types of our corn-plants? Corn has never been known as anything else than a cultivated plant. The oldest records speak of it exclusively as such. Wheat grains have been found wrapped up in the cerements of Egyptian mummies, which were old before history began, identical in every respect with the same variety which the farmer sows at the present day. Moreover, it is a universal plant. It is found everywhere. By striking adaptations of different varieties of grain, containing the same essential ingredients, to different soils and climates, Providence has furnished the indispensable food for the sustenance of the human race throughout the whole habitable globe; and all nations, and tribes, and tongues can rejoice together as one great family with the joy of harvest. Corn is the food most convenient and most suitable for man in a social state. It is only by the careful cultivation of it that a country becomes capable of permanently supporting a dense population. All other kinds of food are precarious, and cannot be stored up for any length of time; roots and fruits are soon exhausted, the produce of the chase is uncertain, and, if hard pressed, ceases to yield a supply. It is an annual plant. It cannot be propagated in any other way than by seed, and when it has yielded its harvest it dies down and rots in the ground; self-sown, it will gradually dwindle away, and at last disappear altogether. It can only be reared permanently by being sown by mans own hand, and in ground which mans own hand has tilled. (H. Macmillan, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. Thou visitest the earth] God is represented as going through the whole globe, and examining the wants of every part, and directing the clouds how and where to deposit their fertilizing showers, and the rivers where to direct their beneficial courses.
The river of God] Some think the Jordan is meant; and the visiting and watering refer to rain after a long drought. But the clouds may be thus denominated, which properly are the origin of rivers.
Thou preparest them corn] Or, Thou wilt prepare them corn, because “thou hast provided for it.” Thou hast made all necessary provision for the fertilization of the earth. Thou hast endued the ground with a vegetative power. Rains, dews, and the genial heat of the sun enable it to put forth that power in providing grass for cattle, and corn for the service of man.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Visitest, to wit, in mercy, or with thy favour, as this word is oft used.
The earth; the whole earth, which is full of thy bounty. So he continues to declare the general providence of God to all men and people. Or rather the land, or this land, for here is an emphatical article. And so he comes from Gods general providence over all places and nations, to his particular and special providence over his people in the land of Canaan, whereof he gives one eminent and considerable instance, to wit. his giving them rain and fruitful seasons, and that after a time of drought and scarcity, to which it is not improbably supposed that this Psalm relates. And this may be the particular occasion for which the psalmist said that praise waited for God in Zion, Psa 65:1. Waterest it: this is added to determine and explain the former general word, or to show how or wherein God visited it.
With the river of God; either,
1. With the rivers which God hath made in the several parts of the earth, to make it moist and fruitful; although the fertility of the greatest part of the earth doth not depend so much upon the rivers below, as upon the rains from above. Or,
2. With the river Jordan, which sometimes overflowed its banks. But that overflow reached only to a small part of the land. Or rather,
3. With showers of rain, which he very significantly calls a river for their plenty, and the river of God, i.e. of Gods immediate making and providing when he sees fit; which is opposed both to those little rivulets or channels which husbandmen or gardeners cut for the watering of their grounds; and to those greater rivers which run with a constant course, and by their little channels derived from them, or by their overflows, do water and enrich the earth, as Nilus did Egypt; to which these words may seem to have a special reference, especially if they be compared with Deu 11:10-12, &c.
Thou preparest; by this means thou preparest the earth for bringing forth corn, and ripenest the corn in the earth. Preparest them; for them, to wit, the inhabitants of the earth or land here mentioned, for their use and benefit.
Provided for it; or, disposed, or ordered, or prepared it, to wit, the earth, which without this would be hard and barren.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. visitestin mercy (comparePs 8:4).
river of GodHisexhaustless resources.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it,…. So the Lord looked upon the earth, quickly after its formation, before rain came upon it, and he watered the whole face of the ground, Ge 2:5; so he cared for the land of Judea in particular, and watered it with the rain of heaven, De 11:11; see 2Sa 21:1; to which some think reference is had here; and so he visits and waters the whole earth in general, at certain times and seasons, Ac 14:16; this may be applied to the church and people of God in Gospel times, who are his husbandry, and the good ground on which the seed falls and is received, and brings forth fruit; and are comparable to the earth that drinks in the rain that comes oft upon it, and brings forth herbs meet for those that dress it, and receives a blessing from God, Heb 6:7; thus the Lord visited his people, by the mission of his Son to redeem them, whose coming was as the rain, the former and latter, to the earth, Lu 1:68; so he visited the Gentile world, by the preaching of the Gospel by his apostles, whose doctrines dropped as the rain, and distilled as the dew and small rain on the tender herb, and as showers on the grass; and so made a wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water, Ac 15:14; and in like manner he visits particular persons in conversion, and waters them with the graces of his Spirit, by which he regenerates, quickens, and sanctifies them, and makes them fruitful, Isa 44:3;
thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, [which] is full of water; not Shiloah nor Jordan; but the clouds which are full of rain, which falling upon the earth, impregnate it with rich particles, which make it very fertile and fruitful; so the Targum,
“with a multitude of fruits thou enrichest it out of the river of God, which is in heaven, which is full of rain:”
this may mystically denote the river of God’s everlasting love, which is full of the blessings of grace, and which flowing upon his people, makes them fruitful, and enriches them with the riches of grace and glory; see Ps 46:4;
thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it; or because thou hast so prepared it o; that is, the earth being disposed and prepared by the Lord, watered and enriched with the rain of heaven, produces corn in great plenty for the inhabitants of the earth; which may spiritually design either the fruitfulness of the saints, whose hearts are disposed and prepared by the grace of God to receive the seed of the word, which brings forth fruit in them; or the bread corn, that wheat of the Gospel, and Christ the sum and substance of it, which is of God’s preparing for his people, and by which they are nourished and made comfortable; see Zec 9:17.
o “quia sic parasti eam”, Pagninus; so Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The praise of God on account of the present year’s rich blessing, which He has bestowed upon the land of His people. In Psa 65:10, Psa 65:11 God is thanked for having sent down the rain required for the ploughing (vid., Commentary on Isaiah, ii. 522) and for the increase of the seed sown, so that, as vv. 12-14 affirm, there is the prospect of a rich harvest. The harvest itself, as follows from v. 14 b, is not yet housed. The whole of Psa 65:10, Psa 65:11 is a retrospect; in vv. 12-14 the whole is a description of the blessing standing before their eyes, which God has put upon the year now drawing to a close. Certainly, if the forms and were supplicatory imperatives, then the prayer for the early or seed-time rain would attach itself to the retrospect in Psa 65:11, and the standpoint would be not about the time of the Passover and Pentecost, both festivals belonging to the beginning of the harvest, but about the time of the feast of Tabernacles, the festival of thanksgiving for the harvest, and vv. 12-14 would be a glance into the future (Hitzig). But there is nothing to indicate that in Psa 65:11 the retrospect changes into a looking forward. The poet goes on with the same theme, and also arranges the words accordingly, for which reason and are not to be understood in any other way. beside (to enrich) signifies to cause to run over, overflow, i.e., to put anything in a state of plenty or abundance, from ( Hiph. Joe 2:24, to yield in abundance), Arab, saq , to push, impel, to cause to go on in succession and to follow in succession. (for which we find in Psa 62:3) is an adverb, copiously, richly (Psa 120:6; Psa 123:4; Psa 129:1), like , a hundred times (Ecc 8:12). is Hiph. with the middle syllable shortened, Ges. 53, 3, rem. 4. The fountain ( ) of God is the name given here to His inexhaustible stores of blessing, and more particularly the fulness of the waters of the heavens from which He showers down fertilizing rain. , “thus thoroughly,” forms an alliteration with , to prepare, and thereby receives a peculiar twofold colouring. The meaning is: God, by raising and tending, prepared the produce of the field which the inhabitants of the land needed; for He thus thoroughly prepared the land in conformity with the fulness of His fountain, viz., by copiously watering ( infin. absol. instead of , as in 1Sa 3:12; 2Ch 24:10; Exo 22:22; Jer 14:19; Hos 6:9) the furrows of the land and pressing down, i.e., softening by means of rain, its ridges ( , defective plural, as e.g., in Rth 2:13), which the ploughshare has made. (related by root with Arab. tll , tell, a hill, prop. that which is thrown out to a place, that which is thrown up, a mound) signifies a furrow as being formed by casting up or (if from Arab. tlm , ebrecher , to make a fracture, rent, or notch in anything) by tearing into, breaking up the ground; (related by root with uchdud and chatt , the usual Arabic words for a furrow
(Note: Frst erroneously explains as a bed or strip of ground between two deep furrows, in distinction from or (vid., on Psa 129:3), a furrow. Beds such as we have in our potato fields are unknown to Syrian agriculture. There is a mode which may be approximately compared with it called ketif ( ), another far wider called meskeba ( ). The Arabic tilm ( , Hebrew = talm ), according to the Kams (as actually in Magrebinish Arabic) talam ( ), corresponds exact to our furrow, i.e., (as the Turkish Kams explains) a ditch-like fissure which the iron of the plough cuts into the field. Neshwn (i. 491) says: “The verb talam , fut. jatlum and jatlim , signifies in Jemen and in the Ghr (the land on the shore of the Red Sea) the crevices (Arab. ‘l – suquq ) which the ploughman forms, and tilm , collective plural tilam , is, in the countries mentioned, a furrow of the corn-field. Some persons pronounce the word even thilm , collective plural thilam .” Thus it is at the present day universally in Hauran ; in Edreat I heard the water-furrow of a corn-field called thilm el – kanah (Arab. tlm ‘l – qnat ). But this pronunciation with Arab. t is certainly not the original one, but has arisen through a substitution of the cognate and more familiar verbal stem Arab. tlm , cf. srm , to slit ( shurem , a harelip). In other parts of Syria and Palestine, also where the distinction between the sounds Arab. t and t is carefully observed, I have only heard the pronunciation tilm . – Wetzstein.))
as being formed by cutting into the ground.
In Psa 65:12 the year in itself appears as a year of divine goodness ( , bonitas), and the prospective blessing of harvest as the crown which is set upon it. For Thou hast crowned “the year of Thy goodness” and “with Thy goodness” are different assertions, with which also different (although kindred as to substance) ideas are associated. The futures after depict its results as they now lie out to view. The chariot-tracks (vid., Deu 33:26) drop with exuberant fruitfulness, even the meadows of the uncultivated and, without rain, unproductive pasture land (Job 38:26.). The hills are personified in Psa 65:13 in the manner of which Isaiah in particular is so fond (e.g., Psa 44:23; Psa 49:13), and which we find in the Psalms of his type (Psa 96:11., Psa 98:7., cf. Psa 89:13). Their fresh, verdant appearance is compared to a festive garment, with which those which previously looked bare and dreary gird themselves; and the corn to a mantle in which the valleys completely envelope themselves ( with the accusative, like Arab. tttf with b of the garment: to throw it around one, to put it on one’s self). The closing words, locking themselves as it were with the beginning of the Psalm together, speak of joyous shouting and singing that continues into the present time. The meadows and valleys (Bttcher) are not the subject, of which it cannot be said that they sing; nor can the same be said of the rustling of the waving corn-fields (Kimchi). The expression requires men to be the subject, and refers to men in the widest and most general sense. Everywhere there is shouting coming up from the very depths of the breast ( Hithpal.), everywhere songs of joy; for this is denoted by in distinction from .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
9. Thou hast visited the earth, and watered it This and the verbs which follow denote action continually going forward, and may therefore be rendered in the present tense. The exact meaning of the second verb in the sentence has been disputed. Some derive it from the verb שוק, shuk, signifying to desire; and giving this meaning, that God visits the earth after it has been made dry and thirsty by long drought. (456) Others derive it from the verb שקה, shakah, signifying to give drink. This seems the most natural interpretation — Thou visitest the earth by watering it. It suits the connection better, for it follows, thou plentifully enrichest it, an expression obviously added by way of amplification. Whether the Psalmist speaks of Judea only, or of the world at large, is a point as to which different opinions may be held. I am disposed myself to think, that although what he says applies to the earth generally, he refers more particularly to Judea, as the former part of the psalm has been occupied with recounting the kindness of God to his own Church and people more especially. This view is confirmed by what is added, the stream or river of God is full of water Some take the river of God to mean a great or mighty river, (457) but such a rendering is harsh and overstrained, and on that supposition, rivers, in the plural number, would have been the form of expression used. I consider that he singles out the small rivulet of Siloah, (458) and sets it in opposition to the natural rivers which enrich other countries, intending an allusion to the word of Moses, (Deu 11:10,) that the land which the Lord their God should give unto his people would not be as the land of Egypt, fertilized by the overflowings of the Nile, but a land drinking water of the rain of heaven. Or we may suppose that he calls the rain itself metaphorically the river of God (459) The words must, at any rate, be restricted to Judea, as by the pastures or dwellings of the wilderness, we are also to understand the more dry and uncultivated districts, called in Scripture “the hill country.” But while it is the kindness of God to his own people which is here more particularly celebrated as being better known, we are bound, in whatever part of the world we live, to acknowledge the riches of the Divine goodness seen in the earth’s fertility and increase. It is not of itself that it brings forth such an inexhaustible variety of fruits, but only in so far as it has been fitted by God for producing the food of man. Accordingly, there is a propriety and force in the form of expression used by the Psalmist when he adds, that corn is provided for man, because the earth has been so prepared by God; (460) which means, that the reason of that abundance with which the earth teems, is its having been expressly formed by God in his fatherly care of the great household of mankind, to supply the wants of his children.
(456) This is the sense preferred by Aben Ezra and Kimchi. Thou hast visited in mercy; i. e. , blessed the earth or land, after thou hast made it dry or thirsty; thou hast or dost enrich it greatly; i. e. , thou, the same God, who hast punished and made thirsty dost again return in mercy, enriching the land and restoring plenty to it. Thus it was after the three years’ famine recorded in 2Sa 21:1. But the Septuagint, Arabic, Chaldee, and Syriac versions, interpret the word in the sense of watering.
(457) Some think reference is made to the overflowing of the Jordan after a long drought.
(458) This river ran through Jerusalem, the city of God. Bishop Hare, following Simeon de Muis, is of opinion that this river is meant.
(459) “ The stream of God, i e. , copious rain, according to the Oriental idiom.” — Dr Geddes. See p. 7, note 1, of this volume. And without supposing this Hebraism, the treasures of water which descend from the clouds may, with great poetical beauty, be termed the river of God He collects them there by the wonderful process of evaporation, and he pours them down. They are entirely in his hand, and absolutely beyond the control of man. “The keys of the clouds,” say the Jews, “are peculiarly kept in God’s hand, as the keys of life and resurrection.” He can employ them as the instruments of his mercy, by pouring down from them upon the earth copious and refreshing showers, to promote vegetation and produce fruitful seasons; and he can also make them when he pleases the instruments of judgment, either by bottling them up, or by pouring from them floods of rain, as in the deluge, and when the harvest is made a heap in the day of grief and desperate sorrow, Isa 17:11. Horsley, instead of פלג, peleg, in the singular, proposes to read פלגות, pelagoth, in the plural, and translates, “God is he who filleth the rivulets with water.” “The word פלג,” says he, “as remarked by “Archbishop Secker, is very rarely used as a noun in the singular number. Mr Bates, indeed, takes it to be a noun in Psa 55:9; but his interpretation of that text is very doubtful. In the plural it never signifies large rivers, but small brooks and rivulets. We have the authority of the Syriac for reading it in the plural.”
(460) In the Septuagint the last clause reads, “ Οτι οὕτῶς ἡ ἑτοιμασία,” “For thus is the preparation;” that is, the earth was thus prepared. In the Syriac it is, “When thou didst found or establish it;” and in the Chaldee, “Seeing thou hast so founded it.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) Thou visitest . . .Better, Thou hast visited. Even if there is not reference to some particular season of plenty, yet with a glance back on the memory of such. Instead of earth, perhaps, here, land.
Waterest.Or, floodest. The river of God stands for the rain. There is a Arabic proverb, When the river of God comes, the river Isa (in Bagdad) ceases. The Rabbins say, God has four keys which He never entrusts to any angel, and chief of these is the key of the rain. (Comp. Job. 26:8; Job. 28:26; Job. 38:28.) The expression river for rain is very appropriate of the downpour of a country that has its rainy season. (Comp. the rushing of the river rain, Tennysons Vivien.)
Thou preparest . . .The Authorised Version misses the sense, which is, thou preparest their corn when thou hast prepared it (the land) soi.e., in the manner now to be described. Thus LXX. and Vulgate.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. The psalmist having finished his contemplation of God’s work among the nations, (Psa 65:5-8,) now turns to his providence in nature, in adapting its forces and the order of the seasons to the uses and wants of man.
Thou visitest the earth Thou hast visited the earth. The verb is in the preterite a fulfilment of the promise, Deu 11:11-12. But there is a special application of these descriptions to the season then present, as appears from the interchange of the past and future tenses of the verbs. The word visit, here, denotes a special visit, as if God came down in person to attend to the wants of the earth.
Thou waterest it Causest the water to overflow it.
Greatly enrichest it The earth was barren before because of its dryness, but God’s showers have made it rich. Palestine and Arabia would now become fruitful with all the products suited to them, if well watered.
River of God Not any particular “river” or channel of Palestine, but a poetic expression for the fulness of those celestial waters which are sent down to enrich the earth by the wonderful provision of God.
Preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it A beautiful thought beautifully expressed. The verb prepare is repeated, to show that it is God who foresees and tenderly cares for our wants, and that the rain is his pledge of harvest. “Thou writ prepare their corn, because thus (for this end) thou wilt prepare the earth.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3). As Well As Exercising Iron Control The Almighty Creator Also Makes Full Provision For The Needs Of His Creation Making The Fields And Pasturelands Blossom And Flourish ( Psa 65:9-13 ).
As well as exercising iron control, God makes full provision for the needs of His creation. These verses may well have been sung in anticipation of good harvests of both grain and livestock, and in order to encourage God to provide them, but the words are general and suggest universality. God makes provision for His whole creation. We are reminded of the words of Jesus, ‘your Father in Heaven — makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Mat 5:45). Terrible He may reveal Himself to be, but He also reveals Himself as compassionate towards all. The descriptions, however, clearly reflect conditions in Palestine.
Psa 65:9
You visit the earth, and make it plentiful,
You greatly enrich it,
The river of God is full of water,
You provide them grain,
When you have so prepared the earth.’
The Psalmist makes clear the people’s gratitude for the abundance of the early (October/November) rain which had made their fields produce abundantly. This is the rain that helps to prepare the ground for ploughing and sowing, and sustains the early growth. He recognises that it is God Who has visited the earth (or ‘land’) and made it plentiful, Who has greatly enriched it so that it will produce abundant crops. And He has done it from His ‘river’ which is ‘full of water’. ‘The river of God’ refers to the source from which God provides the rains. It is not to be taken literally as though there was a river in Heaven. The point is that God has a plentiful supply of water which He pours out on behalf of His people. There are no droughts as far as He is concerned unless He chooses for there to be so. As a consequence it is He Who has provided their grain by pouring out fruitful water on their land.
Psa 65:10
‘You water its furrows abundantly,
You settle its ridges,
You make it soft with showers,
You bless its springing.’
The celebration continues. They praise God for watering the furrows of the land abundantly, and ‘settling its ridges’ (judicious watering holds the soil together on the terraces and makes it firm so that it does not slide down onto the ground below. Many grain crops were sowed on hillsides where terracing was a necessity). He is making the soil soft with showers so that it breaks up easily under the plough rather than being unhelpfully resistant. ‘You bless its springing growth.’ The grain comes forth from the ground and flourishes because God blesses the process. It is a description of ideal conditions for harvest. Note how God is seen as personally involved in ensuing the fruitfulness of the harvest
Psa 65:11-12
‘You crown the year with your goodness,
And your paths drop fatness,
They drop on the pastures of the wilderness,
And the hills are girded with joy.’
. Not only are the fields fruitful but the pastureland is clothed in plenty. God is not lacking in any provision. Having made the fields fruitful He crowns it by making the pasture abundant. He personally acts to make it more fruitful, adding that something extra to the year’s growth, and making it a perfect year. The reference here is probably to abundant ‘late rain’, something always hoped for to crown the year, but not always forthcoming. Note that He is seen as personally overseeing the growth, walking on invisible paths above the pastureland and dropping fatness (a plentiful supply of fruit producing rain) on it. The hills are girded with joy because God has crowned them with plenty and they are covered with vegetation. Thus His people rejoice (Psa 65:8), and the hills rejoice, at what God does.
Psa 65:13
‘The pastures are clothed with flocks,
The valleys also are covered over with grain,
They shout for joy,
They also sing.’
As a consequence of the fruitfulness of the pastures they are covered with sheep and goats which are like garments spread over them. And the valleys, the indentations between the hills, are covered with grain. Like the worshippers in the Temple the pastures and valleys shout for joy and sing at the goodness of the Lord. As a consequence of that goodness all creation praises God.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psa 65:9-13. Thou visitest the earth, &c. A complete comment upon this sacred hymn, says Dr. Delaney, is not the work either of my province or genius; and therefore I shall only observe, that the last five verses of it are the most rapturous, truly poetic, and natural image of joy, that imagination can form or comprehend. The reader of taste will see this in the simplest translation, Psa 65:9, &c. Thou hast visited the earth; thou madest it to covet, and hast enriched it. The river of God is full of water. Thou shalt provide them corn, because thou hast prepared for it. Saturate [in the Hebrew make drunk] the furrows thereof; make them sink with showers: melt itbless its springing budsThou hast crowned the year with thy goodness, and thy orbs shall drop down fatness; the pastures of the wilderness shall drop: the hills shall exult, and be girded with gladnessThe fields have clothed themselves with cattle; the vallies have covered themselves with corn. They shall shout; yea, they shall sing. The reader will easily observe, that when the divine poet had seen the showers falling from heaven, and the Jordan overflowing his banks, all the consequent blessings were that moment present to his quick poetic sight, and he paints them accordingly. I would just remark, that the river of God is supposed by many commentators to mean the clouds, which, like a vast river, are never exhausted. Mudge renders the 11th verse, Thou encirclest the years with thy richness, and the tracks of thy wheels drop fatness; God is considered, says he, as in his chariot, driving round the earth; and from that chariot, i.e. the clouds, every where distilling fatness, fertility, and increase. Thy paths is rendered very properly in the liturgy version, Thy clouds. Nothing can be more elegant and poetical, than the personifying of the hills, the pastures, and vallies, in the 12th and 13th verses. But undoubtedly these words may be delightfully spiritualized by the devout soul.
REFLECTIONS.The Psalmist here, as the mouth of the congregation, addresses his prayer to God.
1. He ascribes glory to him. Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion; thy people there, expecting thy mercies, are ready to meet them with songs of thanksgiving: or, to thee belong silence and praise; silent expectation under every difficulty and trial, and entire acquiescence in thy holy will; and praise, the tribute due for deliverance: unto thee shall the vow be performed, which was made in their distress, and, on the gracious answer given to their prayer, should be with delight rendered to God. Note; Patient expectation shall be succeeded by joyful praise.
2. He adores him as the prayer-hearing God. O thou that hearest prayer, ever ready to answer, yea, more ready to hear than we to pray, unto thee shall all flesh come, engaged by the fame of thy grace, encouraged by the promises of thy word, and the experience of thy people.
3. He expresses his confidence in God’s pardoning and sanctifying grace. Iniquities prevail against me; the words of iniquity, the malicious aspersions of his enemies, or the indwelling corruptions of his own heart; but as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away, how great soever they have been; whether his own or those of God’s faithful people, he knew the atoning blood would purge their consciences, and wipe away the guilt, the power, and the nature of all their sins.
4. He declares the blessedness of the people of God, who were admitted into his courts, and favoured with a sense of his love. There the truest satisfaction was to be found; the goodness of his house, and the comforts of his worship, would abundantly refresh their souls. Note; (1.) Communion with God is man’s greatest happiness. (2.) They who would enjoy God’s presence, must draw near to him in the ordinances of his worship, and be among the constant attendants at his temple. (3.) Though nothing on earth beside can satisfy an immortal soul, God is the sufficient portion of his people.
5. He expects to see the destruction of all their enemies. By terrible things in righteousness, wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; by just judgments indited on our foes, and merciful interpositions manifested in our behalf, wherein thy hand will be seen as the God of our salvation; and this will engage the trust of all thy people, wherever dispersed, or however distressed: who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea: the Israel of God, true believers, whether on sea, or land, or driven to the most distant corner, make him their confidence, and find him a sure refuge. Note; (1.) The enemies of God’s people are regarded as rebels against himself, and will be made to tremble under his terrible arm. (2.) None who truly trusted in God, or cried to him in faith, could ever complain of disappointment.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 604
GODS WORKS OF PROVIDENCE AND GRACE
Psa 65:9-13. 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. Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers; thou blessest the springing thereof. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness: they drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and 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.
ON what occasion this psalm was written is not certainly known: but it is probable that the inspired penman wrote it on the removal of the famine which God sent to punish the cruelty of Saul and of his bloody house towards the Gibeonites, whom he was bound by covenant to protect. This famine lasted three years: but at last, David having inquired of the Lord on what account this heavy judgment had been sent, and how the removal of it might be obtained, he was informed, that it was sent as a punishment of Sauls treachery, in which the people, no doubt, had too willingly concurred; and that he must execute on Sauls posterity such a judgment as the Gibeonites themselves should award to them. The Gibeonites demanded that seven of Sauls sons should be put to death. Seven of his sons were accordingly delivered into their hands, and were hanged up by them, as an atonement for their fathers sin [Note: 2Sa 21:1-9.]. The Gibeonites being now satisfied with this act of retributive justice, the favour of God was restored to the land, and the whole nation was gladdened with the return of plenty. Under this great calamity, David and all the pious of the land had humbled themselves before God; and in this psalm they acknowledge God as the merciful Answerer of prayer to his penitent people, whilst he was the just Punisher of sin to those who continued impenitent. He had lately answered them by terrible things in righteousness for their transgressions: and now he had mercifully heard their prayer, and purged away their transgressions.
The words before us give a lively and beautiful description of the change wrought upon the earth through the rich showers with which God, in his mercy, had watered it. Of course our attention therefore must, in the first place, be fixed on those blessings of providence with which we also are favoured: yet, as throughout all the inspired writings there will be found a reference to spiritual blessings, under those terms which at first sight appear to have only a literal and carnal import, it will be proper to notice, also, what we conceive to be mystically contained in this passage. Agreeably to this view, we shall consider the text,
I.
As literally fulfilled in the blessings of Gods Providence
God is, in reality, the giver of every good and perfect gift
[Because God, in the first creation of the world, assigned to every thing its proper place and office, we are apt to overlook his agency in the things of daily occurrence, and to ascribe them to what are called the laws of nature. But the hand of God is as necessary to uphold the universe, as ever it was to create it at first. The heavenly bodies, it is true, have had their motions given them from the beginning; and have, for the most part, continued to obey the laws of their creation, But they have occasionally had those laws suspended; as when the sun stood still upon Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon, for the space of a whole day: and from hence it appears, that they move in subserviency to the will of their Creator, and execute his righteous purposes of vengeance or of love, according to his command. The same may be said respecting the elements of this terraqueous globe. Fire and water have their properties; according to which, for the most part, they act: but at Gods command the waters stood like a wall, to form a passage and a rampart for his chosen people; and the fire lost its power even to singe the clothes of his faithful servants, who were cast into it for their fidelity to him. In like manner, the earth produces fruits of different kinds; and the rains at certain seasons descend to call forth into activity its vegetative powers. But the agency both of the heavens and the earth depends altogether upon God, who, when he sees fit, makes the heavens as brass, and the earth as iron. In a climate like ours, where the rains are frequent and occasional, Gods agency is but little seen: but in countries where the rains are periodical, the want of them is so severely felt, that the goodness of God in sending them is more sensibly perceived, and more readily acknowledged. But in one place as well as in another, the influences both of heaven and earth are alike dependent upon him, and must be referred to Him as their true, and only, and continual source.]
His bounty and goodness should be gratefully acknowledged by us at this time
[Extremely beautiful is the description here given of the progress of vegetation, in consequence of a seasonable supply of rain [Note: Here repeat the text.] To attempt an illustration of these words would weaken their force, and reduce their sublimity. But, if a poetical taste alone can qualify us to appreciate their beauty, and to enter into them with a becoming zest, a spiritual taste also is necessary, to lead us to a due improvement of them, and to enable us to realize their full import. However, whether gifted with a poetical imagination or not, let me entreat all to survey the face of the earth; to see the change that has been wrought on every thing around him: methinks, without any poetic fancy, he may see the smiles of universal nature, and hear the songs and shoutings of a grateful world. And let our hearts respond to the voice of nature, and ascend up in praises and thanksgivings to our bounteous God.]
But let us further view the text,
II.
As emblematically describing the yet richer blessings of his grace
Besides the primary sense of Scripture, there is frequently a secondary and subordinate meaning, which ought not to be overlooked. In relation to this matter, the New Testament affords us the fullest information, in that it cites many passages in which we should have had no conception of any thing beyond the literal meaning, if a further sense had not been unfolded to us by Him whose wisdom cannot err, and whose authority cannot be questioned. The whole 104th Psalm, in appearance, relates to the works of creation and providence; but towards the close of it we are led, though but cursorily and obscurely, to the contemplation of Gods spiritualgovernment; in which view, the psalm is appointed by our Church to be read on the day whereon the out-pouring of the Spirit is more especially commemorated. The psalm before us may with equal propriety be viewed in the same light; and the rather, because the images used in our text are frequently applied to that very subject, to represent the influence of Gods Spirit on the soul; His doctrine dropping as the rain, and distilling as the dew; as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass [Note: Deu 32:2.].
Let us notice, then, the influence of the Gospel,
1.
Upon the world at large
[Verily, the whole world is one great wilderness; some few spots only giving any just evidence of cultivation. It is not above one-sixth part of mankind that has even so much as heard of the name of Jesus: and where his Gospel is not preached, sin reigns without control: even religion itself is nothing but a blind and bloody superstition, involving its votaries in every thing that is cruel and detestable. But see where the Gospel has gained an ascendant: look at Britain, for instance, and compare its state at this time with its state previous to the introduction of Christianity: once it was a dreary desert; but now it blossoms as the rose, and is as the garden of Eden. True it is that the name of Christianity effects but little: it civilizes, indeed, and raises the standard of morals; but it produces nothing corresponding with the description before us. But when the word comes, not in word only, but in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance, then a great and mighty change is effected: the Spirit being poured out from on high, the wilderness becomes a fruitful field; and the fruitful field is so abundant, that it is even counted for a forest [Note: Isa 32:15.]. Could we but inspect the various settlements where zealous ministers have established churches amongst the savages of different climes, and see the difference between them and their yet uninstructed countrymen, we should have a far juster notion of the power of the Gospel than we can acquire in the midst of civilized society, where little remains to be added to the external deportment, and where the change effected by the Gospel is chiefly of a spiritual and internal nature. But the whole subject will be more fully open to us, if we view the Gospel as operating]
2.
Upon the souls of individual believers
[What were any of us in our unconverted state, but, like a barren heath, bringing forth briars and thorns, without any of those fruits of righteousness in which God delights? As for humiliation before God, and a simple life of faith in the Lord Jesus, and a delight in spiritual exercises, and an entire devotedness of soul to God, we were as much strangers to it all as the heathen themselves. But, when the word of the Gospel came with power to our souls, it wrought a change upon our whole man, and made us altogether new creatures: Old things passed away; and, behold, all things became new. The obdurate surface of our hearts was softened; and the unproductive soil put forth a vital energy; by means of which all the fruits of the Spirit sprang up in rich abundance, and gave a hopeful prospect of a luxuriant harvest. Would we see this realized in a way that cannot be misunderstood, let us look at the converts on the day of Pentecost. It is not possible to conceive persons more destitute of all good, or more filled with every hateful quality, than were the crucifiers and murderers of the Lord of Glory: yet in one hour how changed! so that they remain to this day the most exalted patterns of piety to the whole world. Thus it is at this day, also, amongst ourselves: the work, indeed, is not so sudden, nor so general; but, where the grace of the Gospel is received in truth, it operates precisely in the same way: instead of the brier, there grows up the fir-tree; and instead of the thorn, there grows up the myrtle-tree; and even the tenderest plants rise in stately magnificence into trees of righteousness, whereby the Lord is glorified.]
Application
Let me now call you,
1.
To adore your God for the blessings you have already received
[I would not that you should overlook the blessings of Providence. Even in this country we have often known the sad effects of scarcity: and we may well, therefore, bless our God for the prospects of abundance. To every one of you I would say, with David, Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God; who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry [Note: Psa 147:7-9.].
And will you not much more adore him for the blessings of his grace? Surely, if you do not, the very stones will cry out against you Yet rest not in mere acknowledgments, however grateful they may be: but seek to abound in fruits of righteousness: which, whilst they are the necessary evidences of his work upon your souls, are the only effectual means of bringing honour to his name.]
2.
To look to him continually for fresh and more abundant communications
[The fertilising showers which we have received will be of little avail, if they be not renewed from time to time: and all the grace that any of us have received, will be ineffectual for any permanent good, if we be not favoured with fresh supplies of the Holy Spirit from day to day. The grace which has been imparted to our souls this day, will no more suffice for our spiritual wants to-morrow, than will the light which has been communicated to our bodies. We must receive out of Christs fulness from day to day, as the branch of the vine receives from its stem and root. Let your daily prayer, then, be like that of David: O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is [Note: Psa 63:1.]. In reading the word, and in the public ordinances, look up for the blessing of God upon your soul; and plead with him that gracious promise, I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring; and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the watercourses [Note: Isa 44:3-4.]. Yes, Beloved, look unto God with increasing earnestness and confidence; and he will pour out upon you showers of blessings: and you shall be beauteous as the olive, and fruitful as the vine, and fragrant as the woods of Lebanon [Note: Hos 14:4-7.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
I have not broken the thread of the subject in these verses, because the whole, taken together, forms a most beautiful description of the divine bounty in those several productions of nature. The blessings of the Lord in fruitful gifts and seasons to the earth, and to the inhabitants of it, are delightfully set forth. And as Moses taught Israel to expect the perpetual return of those things, so the continued enjoyment of them should call forth blessings and praises to the almighty Giver. Exo 23:16 . But the subject is heightened to a more sublime degree of enjoyment, if, looking beyond the gifts of God in the natural world, we accept those scriptures as descriptive of his spiritual bounty in the world of grace: and we meet with numberless passages in the word of God, to prove that the Holy Ghost evidently intended that the church should so receive them. The wilderness of our nature is said to blossom as the rose, when the Lord visited our earthly minds with the dew of his blessing; and when Jesus comes down, like rain upon the mown grass, on the dry and thirsty souls of his people. The year is indeed crowned with the Lord’s goodness, when the year of his redeemed is come, and the Lord pours out of the effusion of his Spirit from that river whose streams make glad the city of God. Oh! the blessedness of looking up to a covenant God in Christ, when the clouds drop fatness, to see all our mercies from whence they flow, through whom they come, and in whom they are indeed blessed. Yes, blessed Jesus! men shall be blessed in thee, and all nations shall call thee blessed. Isa 35 throughout; Psa 46:4 ; Psa 46:7 throughout.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 65:9 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.
Ver. 9. Thou visitest the earth, &c. ] i.e. With a gracious rain, and so makest it to become an alma parens to men and beasts.
With the river of God
Thou preparest them corn
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 65:9-13
9You visit the earth and cause it to overflow;
You greatly enrich it;
The stream of God is full of water;
You prepare their grain, for thus You prepare the earth.
10You water its furrows abundantly,
You settle its ridges,
You soften it with showers,
You bless its growth.
11You have crowned the year with Your bounty,
And Your paths drip with fatness.
12The pastures of the wilderness drip,
And the hills gird themselves with rejoicing.
13The meadows are clothed with flocks
And the valleys are covered with grain;
They shout for joy, yes, they sing.
Psa 65:9-13 This is the physical abundance that covenant obedience would bring (cf. Leviticus 26; Deu 11:13-17; chapter 28). Abundance was YHWH’s way to cause the world to come to Him because of His
1. love
2. care
3. provision
for Israel. He chose Israel to choose all! But Israel was not obedient (cf. Eze 36:22-23).
Notice the number of You’s in the English versions of Psa 65:9-11 (i.e., nine). Creation responds to its Creator with bounty!
Psa 65:9 You visit the earth This is an idiom of YHWH’s personal presence. In a sense, He is always in the world. But this imagery speaks of a special coming either for judgment or blessing. Here it is abundant agricultural blessing made possible by abundant water.
overflow This verb (BDB 1003, KB 1448, Polel imperfect) occurs three times, here, where it is often translated be abundant, and Joe 2:24; Joe 3:13, where it is translated overflow.
The stream of God This phrase could mean
1. imagery of a full channel of water
2. rain from heaven (cf. Psa 78:23; Mal 3:10)
3. an eschatological allusion to the river that flows from the throne of God (cf. Psa 46:4; Eze 47:1; Rev 22:1)
Psa 65:11
NASB, NKJVYour paths drip with fatness
NRSVYour wagon tracks overflow with riches
TEVWherever you go there is plenty
NJBrichness seeps from your tracks
JPSOAfatness is distilled in Your path
The MT has and the tracks of Your chariot drip fatness. This is imagery of YHWH riding on the thunder clouds bringing rain (cf. Psa 18:7-15). This is ANE, or especially Canaanite, imagery of Ba’al, the storm god (i.e., fertility).
Psa 65:12-13 The blessed physical locations (i.e., pastures, hills, meadows, valleys) are personified and shout for joy (BDB 929, KB 1206, Hithpoel imperfect) and sing (BDB 1010, KB 1479, Qal imperfect). This praise of inanimate things reminds me of Jesus’ words about the stones in Luk 19:40. One day all creation (animate and inanimate) will cry out in joy to its Creator (cf. Psa 103:20-22; Psa 145:10; Rom 8:18-25)!
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. What is the best guess about the object of the psalmist’s vow in Psa 65:1?
2. How are creation and the ends of the earth linked?
3. Explain the theological significance of Psa 64:3.
4. How do the mountains and the tumult of the peoples parallel?
5. Does Psa 65:9-13 describe a yearly event or an eschatological event?
6. How does one balance Psa 65:2; Psa 65:5; Psa 65:8 with verse Psa 65:4?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
river. Hebrew. peleg. Always plural, except here; and always connected with a garden. See notes on Psa 1:3 and Pro 21:1. Compare Rev 22:1, Rev 22:2.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
visitest: Psa 104:13, Psa 104:14, Deu 11:11, Deu 11:12, Rth 1:6, Job 37:6-13, Jer 14:22, Act 14:17
and waterest it: or, after thou hadst made it to desire rain. Psa 63:1
greatly: Psa 65:11, Psa 68:9, Psa 68:10, Psa 104:13-15, Psa 147:8, Psa 147:9, Job 5:10, Job 5:11, Jer 5:24, Joe 2:23-26
the river: Psa 46:4, Rev 22:1
thou preparest: Psa 104:15, Psa 107:37, Gen 26:12, 1Ti 6:17, 1Ti 6:18
Reciprocal: Gen 2:5 – had not Gen 27:28 – of the dew Lev 26:4 – Then I Deu 8:7 – General Deu 11:14 – General Deu 28:12 – open Deu 33:14 – the precious 1Ki 18:1 – I will send rain Job 36:27 – he Job 36:31 – he giveth Job 37:12 – it Job 38:28 – Hath the Psa 145:9 – good Pro 3:20 – the clouds Ecc 11:3 – the clouds Isa 30:23 – shall he Isa 55:10 – as the rain Hos 6:3 – as the rain Zec 10:1 – and give Luk 7:16 – God 1Co 3:9 – ye are God’s Heb 6:7 – the earth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 65:9-10. Thou visitest In mercy, or with thy favour, the earth, and waterest it The whole earth, which is full of thy bounty. So understood, he continues to speak of the general providence of God over all people. Or, he may mean, Thou visitest the land Namely, the land of Israel; and so he proceeds, from Gods general providence over all places and nations, to his particular and special providence over his people in the land of Canaan, whereof he gives one eminent and considerable instance, namely, his giving them rain and fruitful seasons, and that after a time of drought and scarcity, to which, it is not improbably supposed, this Psalm refers. And this may be the particular occasion, for which the psalmist said, that praise waited for God in Zion. Thou enrichest it with the river of God With rain, which he calls a river for his plenty, and the river of God, because it is of his immediate providing; which is full of water The clouds, like a vast river, are never exhausted, or, if they empty themselves upon the earth, they are soon and easily replenished again. Thou preparest them corn By these means thou causest the earth to bring forth and ripen corn for its inhabitants; when thou hast so provided for it Hebrew, , cheen techineah, hast so ordered, disposed, or prepared it; namely, the earth by thus watering it, which would otherwise be hard and barren. Thou settlest the furrows thereof Which are turned up by the plough or spade. Or, thou bringest them down, as , nachath, rather signifies: for the rain dissolves the high and hard clods of the earth. Thou blessest the springing thereof When all is done, the fruitfulness of the earth must not be ascribed to the rain or sun, or any second causes, but to thy blessing alone.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
65:9 Thou {g} visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the {h} river of God, [which] is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for {i} it.
(g) That is, with rain.
(h) That is, Shiloh or the rain.
(i) You have appointed the earth to bring forth food to man’s use.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. God’s bounty 65:9-13
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
These descriptions view God tending the earth as a farmer would. God is the One responsible for the abundance of crops (cf. 1Co 3:6).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Not only does God hear prayer, He also sends bountiful harvests.