Introduction
So, we’ve reached Psalm 65 which is a psalm of thanksgiving to the Lord. The psalm can be divided into three parts: verses 1 to 4; verses 5 to 8; and verses 9 to 13. In the first part, David praises the Lord who forgives sins. In the second part, he praises the Lord who made all things and who rules over all things. In the third part, he praises the Lord who sustains all things.
Verses 1 to 4
David begins by saying that praise awaits God in Zion. When he mentions Zion, he’s referring to Jerusalem and to how the people would gather there to offer sacrifices to the Lord and to give thanks to him for his kindness to them. In the second line he mentions vows, because when the people were in trouble or in need, they would make a vow to the Lord to offer him a sacrifice if he delivered them from their trouble. And by saying that their vows will be fulfilled, David is saying that the Lord has helped his people; he has answered their prayers and he has delivered them from their troubles; and therefore they are ready to fulfil their vows to him by coming to Jerusalem to offer him the promised sacrifices and to give thanks to him for his faithfulness to them.
In verse 2 he refers to the Lord as ‘you who hear prayer’. So, if we were to describe the Lord, if we were to list his attributes, then we could say about him that he is the God who hears prayer. And that’s an encouragement for us as we meet together on a Wednesday evening to pray to the Lord. Other people may think we’re foolish to meet like this, because — they say — prayer is a waste of time. But we know it’s not a waste of time, because when we pray, we’re praying to the God who hears prayer. Our prayers are not wasted words, because the Lord our God hears them: he hears us when we praise him in prayer and when we give thanks to him; he hears us when we confess our sins and ask for his forgiveness; he hears us when we seek his help and cry out to him in our distress. He is the God who hears prayer.
And David adds that all men will come to him. We can imagine David, standing in Jerusalem, and watching the people who gathered there to pray to the Lord and to seek his help. In days to come, after David’s death, his son Solomon would build the temple. And so, people would go up to Jerusalem to stand before the Lord in his temple and pray to him. All the men of Israel — and the women and children too — would come to the Lord to pray to him. But David’s words also anticipate the extension of Christ’s kingdom throughout the world and how men and women and boys and girls in every nation will hear the good news of the gospel and will come to God in repentance and faith through Christ the only Saviour of the world.
And then David mentions sins and transgressions. These are the things that keep us from the presence of the Lord, because the Lord is holy, and we are not. However, though we are overwhelmed by sin, which is like a force which dominates us and makes us do what is evil, the Lord forgives us for our sins and transgressions. In the NIV there’s a footnote beside the word ‘forgave’ which indicates that the word should be translated ‘made atonement for’. You might recall that the word ‘atonement’ has two meanings: it can mean pay a ransom and it can mean to wipe clean. So, the sinner offered the Lord a sacrifice to pay for his sins, so that his life was spared even though he deserved to die because of his sins. And by the blood of the sacrifice, the guilt of the sinner was washed away and he was cleansed. And the Lord is the one who provided the means for atonement: he explained to his people what sacrifices they were to offer to receive his pardon. And those Old Testament sacrifices were for the time being only and they were to make do until the coming of the Lord Jesus, who gave up his life on the cross to pay for our sins in full and who shed his blood to cleanse us from all our guilt.
And just as the Lord chose the people of Israel from among all the nations of the world and promised to pardon their sins and to bring them near to his courts, so the Lord has graciously chosen us in Christ Jesus; and he enabled us to turn from our sins in repentance and to trust in the Saviour for forgiveness so that we’re able to come before God in this place to worship him and to give thanks to him. And we can look forward to the day, when we will come into the courts of the Lord in the new Jerusalem, the holy city, in the new heavens and earth where we will be with the Lord forever.
‘We are filled with the good things of your house’, David says in verse 4. When the people offered fellowship offering to the Lord, part of the offering was burned and offered to the Lord, and part was given to the priests for food; but part was kept by the worshippers and they used it for a thanksgiving meal before the Lord. And David might be referring to that practice in verse 4. And that fellowship meal which the people enjoyed in Old Testament times anticipated the heavenly banquet which all of God’s pardoned people will enjoy in the world to come, when all the members of the church triumphant will sit down to enjoy a heavenly fellowship meal with our Saviour. And the book of Revelation pictures this meal as a time of joy and gladness and a time of blessing for all who are invited to take part in it.
And so, in the first part of this psalm, David praises the Lord and gives thanks to him because he pardons his people and enables them to come into his presence.
Verses 5 to 8
In the second part of the psalm, David praises the Lord who made all things and who rules over all things.
He’s already referred to the Lord as ‘you who hear prayer’; and he says in verse 5 that the Lord answers our prayers with awesome deeds of righteousness. Awesome deeds are deeds which fill us with awe when we see them and cause us to fear the Lord and to regard him with reverence. So, think of how the Lord rescued his people from Egypt and brought them through the Red Sea, destroying the Egyptians who chased after them. And those who heard of it were filled with awe, because of the power of God.
And God’s deeds are deeds of righteousness because everything he does is right. In particular, he does what is right under the terms of the covenant with his people, in which he promised to be their God and to take care of them. And so, when the people prayed for help and deliverance, God heard and answered them.
David refers to God as our Saviour, because he’s the one who saves his people and delivers them from trouble. But he’s also the hope of the ends of the earth, which again anticipates the extension of Christ’s kingdom throughout the world and how people from every nation will come to know him and to trust in him.
But then David says that God our Saviour is the one who established the mountains by his power and who stilled the roaring of the seas and the waves as well as the turmoil of the nations. So, he made the mountains by his great power and he made everything else. And by his mighty power, he governs the world and controls and directs all things including the waves of the sea, which rise and fall continually, but they are under his power and authority. And he controls the turmoil of the nations. Nations rise and nations fall like waves of the sea. Kingdoms come and kingdoms go. One nation is exalted and another is brought down. People rise up in uproar and we wonder what is going on and what will happen to us. But the good news is that our God is in control of all things and he sustains and directs all of his creatures and all of their actions. We need not be afraid of anything, because in all our distress we’re able to turn to our God in prayer and seek his help, knowing that he hears our prayer and has pardoned our sins; and so, there’s nothing standing in our way and which prevents us from coming to him for help. And his power and authority extends throughout the world, from the place where the sun rises at dawn to the place where the sun sets in the evening. He reveals his great power and might to all the world and those who know him sing songs of joy before him.
And so, in the second part of the psalm David praises the Lord who made all things and who rules over all things.
Verses 9 to 13
And in the third part of the psalm, David praises the Lord who sustains all things. He cares for the land and waters it by causing the rain to fall on the land which then makes the crops grow in abundance. The streams of God are filled with water; and they provide the people with corn. ‘For so you have ordained it’, David says. These things do not happen by chance, but by God’s fatherly hand. And just as you might water your potted plants, so the Lord waters the whole of the earth, drenching the furrows in the fields and softening the ground with showers of rain so that the crops grow. At the end of the year, there’s an abundant harvest, a bounty of good things to eat and to enjoy. And you can imagine David looking at the carts, which are just loaded with food. In fact, they’re overloaded so that what’s inside overflows and falls over the side. What was once a desert overflows with grassland and the hills are glad because of what is growing on them. And not only are there crops growing in the fields, but there are flocks of sheep and goats as well, And so, David personifies the meadows and valleys and pictures them singing for joy to the Lord who has blessed them.
And so, in the third part of the psalm David praises the Lord who sustains all things.
Conclusion
So, in this three-part psalm, David praises the Lord who forgives sins. And he’s able to forgive our sins because of Christ the Saviour who gave up his life to pay for our sins and who shed his blood to cleanse us. And the Saviour died to bring us to God.
And David praises the Lord who made all things and who rules over all things. His power and authority extends over all the earth, so we needn’t ever be afraid, even if the nations are in turmoil, because God our Saviour made all things and he controls and directs all things.
And David praises the Lord who sustains all things, because he causes the rain to fall and the crops to grow so that we have plenty of good things to eat and to enjoy.
This is our God. And so, we ought to give thanks to him and praise his name for his abundant kindness to us. And when we gather together for worship, we’re able to ask him to fulfil what this psalm anticipates which is that more and more men and women and children will come to him in repentance and faith; and that people at the ends of the earth will put their hope in him and in his Son Jesus Christ; and that more and more people will realise that every good thing they enjoy here on earth has come down to them from above.
And so, we should pray for that; and we should pray that more and more people will shout for joy to the Lord and will sing praise to God our Saviour.
Sermons and Stuff 