You soak its furrows and level its ridges; You soften it with showers and bless its growth. You soak its furrowsThis phrase highlights God's provision and care for the earth, emphasizing His role in the natural processes that sustain life. In the agricultural context of ancient Israel, furrows were the trenches made in the soil for planting seeds. The soaking of furrows with water is essential for germination and growth, symbolizing God's blessing and sustenance. This imagery can be connected to the broader biblical theme of God as the provider, as seen in Genesis 2:5-6, where God waters the earth before the creation of man. It also reflects the dependence of humanity on divine provision, a theme echoed in the Lord's Prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread" ( Matthew 6:11). and level its ridges;
The leveling of ridges refers to the preparation of the soil for planting, ensuring that it is ready to receive seeds. This process can be seen as a metaphor for God's preparation of the human heart to receive His word, as in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:3-9). The leveling also signifies the removal of obstacles, akin to the spiritual preparation required for repentance and faith. In a broader sense, it reflects God's sovereignty in shaping and preparing the world for His purposes, as seen in Isaiah 40:4, where every valley shall be raised, and every mountain and hill made low. You soften it with showers
The softening of the earth with showers illustrates God's gentle and nurturing care. Rain is often seen as a blessing in the Bible, a sign of God's favor and provision (Deuteronomy 11:14). This phrase can also be seen as a type of the Holy Spirit, who softens hearts and brings spiritual renewal, as described in Ezekiel 36:26-27, where God promises to give a new heart and spirit. The showers symbolize the outpouring of God's grace and mercy, essential for spiritual growth and fruitfulness. and bless its growth.
The blessing of growth signifies the result of God's provision and care. In the agricultural society of ancient Israel, a bountiful harvest was a direct sign of God's blessing and favor. This concept is echoed in the New Testament, where spiritual growth and fruitfulness are seen as evidence of a life rooted in Christ (John 15:5). The blessing of growth also points to the ultimate fulfillment of God's promises, as seen in the prophetic vision of a restored creation in Revelation 22:1-2, where the tree of life bears fruit every month, and the leaves are for the healing of the nations. Persons / Places / Events 1. David- Traditionally attributed as the author of Psalm 65, David was the second king of Israel and a man after God's own heart. He often expressed his deep relationship with God through psalms and prayers. 2. Israel- The nation of Israel is the primary context for this psalm. The agricultural imagery reflects the agrarian society of ancient Israel, where dependence on God's provision for crops was a daily reality. 3. God's Provision- The event or theme here is God's provision and care for the earth, symbolized through the imagery of rain and growth. This reflects God's ongoing sustenance and blessing upon His creation. Teaching Points God's Sovereignty in NatureRecognize that God is in control of the natural world. The rain and growth are not random but are part of His divine plan and provision. Dependence on Divine ProvisionJust as the earth depends on rain, we must depend on God for our spiritual and physical needs. Trust in His timing and provision. Gratitude for God's BlessingsCultivate a heart of gratitude for the ways God blesses and sustains us daily. Acknowledge His hand in both the small and large aspects of life. Spiritual Growth and NourishmentJust as rain nourishes the earth, seek spiritual nourishment through God's Word and prayer, allowing Him to soften and prepare your heart for growth. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the imagery of rain and growth in Psalm 65:10 enhance your understanding of God's provision in your life? 2. In what ways can you cultivate a deeper dependence on God for your daily needs, both physical and spiritual? 3. How does recognizing God's sovereignty in nature influence your perspective on environmental stewardship and care for creation? 4. Reflect on a time when you experienced God's provision in a significant way. How did it impact your faith and trust in Him? 5. How can you apply the principle of gratitude for God's blessings in your daily routine, and what practical steps can you take to express this gratitude? Connections to Other Scriptures Genesis 1:11-12- This passage describes God's creation of vegetation and plants, establishing His role as the provider and sustainer of life from the very beginning. Deuteronomy 11:14- This verse promises rain for the land in its season, a direct blessing from God for obedience, showing the connection between divine provision and human response. Isaiah 55:10-11- This passage uses the imagery of rain and snow to describe God's word, emphasizing its effectiveness and purpose, much like the rain in Psalm 65:10. People David, PsalmistPlaces JerusalemTopics Abundantly, Bless, Blessest, Blessing, Clods, Crop, Crops, Deepened, Drench, Filled, Full, Furrow, Furrows, Growth, Lands, Level, Makest, Ploughed, Ridges, Satiate, Sending, Settle, Settlest, Settling, Showers, Slopes, Smooth, Smoothest, Soft, Soften, Softening, Springing, Thereof, Waterest, WateringDictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 65:9-10 4430 crops
5704 inheritance, material Psalm 65:9-13 1330 God, the provider
4208 land, divine responsibility
4978 year
8261 generosity, God's Library Sin Overcoming and Overcome
'Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, Thou shalt purge them away.'--PSALM. lxv. 3. There is an intended contrast in these two clauses more pointed and emphatic in the original than in our Bible, between man's impotence and God's power in the face of the fact of sin. The words of the first clause might be translated, with perhaps a little increase of vividness, 'iniquities are too strong for me'; and the 'Thou' of the next clause is emphatically expressed in the original, 'as …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScripturePraises and Vows Accepted in Zion
In fulfillment of this ancient type, we also "have an altar whereof they have no right to eat that serve the tabernacle." Into our spiritual worship, no observers of materialistic ritualism may intrude; they have no right to eat at our spiritual altar, and there is no other at which they can eat and live for ever. There is but one altar Jesus Christ our Lord. All other altars are impostures and idolatrous inventions. Whether of stone, or wood, or brass, they are the toys with which those amuse themselves …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871 Daily Bread.
(Harvest Thanksgiving.) PSALM lxv. 9. "Thou preparest them corn." "Come, ye thankful people, come," and let us thank God for another harvest. Once more the Father, the Feeder, has given bread to strengthen man's heart, and we turn from the corn stored in the garner, to God's own garner the Church, where He has stored up food for our souls. And first of all, my brothers, let us be honest with ourselves. Are we quite sure that we are thankful to God for the harvest? We have decorated God's House …
H. J. Wilmot-Buxton—The Life of Duty, a Year's Plain Sermons, v. 2 Prayer, Praise and Thanksgiving
"Dr. A. J. Gordon describes the impression made upon his mind by intercourse with Joseph Rabinowitz, whom Dr. Delitzsch considered the most remarkable Jewish convert since Saul of Tarsus: We shall not soon forget the radiance that would come into his face as he expounded the Messianic psalms at our morning or evening worship, and how, as here and there he caught a glimpse of the suffering or glorified Christ, he would suddenly lift his hands and his eyes to heaven in a burst of adoration, exclaiming …
Edward M. Bounds—The Essentials of Prayer Aron, Brother of Moses, 486, 487.
Abba, same as Father, [3]381; St. Paul uses both words, [4]532. Abel, [5]31, [6]252, [7]268, [8]450. Abimelech, [9]72, [10]197. Abraham, seed of, faithful Christians also, [11]148, [12]149, [13]627; servant's hand under his thigh, [14]149, [15]334; poor in midst of riches, [16]410. Absalom, David's son, [17]4, [18]5; type of Judas the traitor, [19]4, [20]20. Absolution granted by the Church, [21]500. Abyss, or deep, of God's judgments, [22]88; of man's heart, [23]136. Accuser, the devil the great, …
St. Augustine—Exposition on the Book of Psalms "O Thou, that Hearest Prayer!" --Ps. Lxv. 2
"O Thou, that hearest Prayer!"--Ps. lxv. 2. Thou, God, art a consuming fire, Yet mortals may find grace, From toil and tumult to retire, And meet Thee face to face. Though "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord!" Seraph to seraph sings, And angel-choirs, with one accord, Worship, with veiling wings;-- Though earth Thy footstool, heaven Thy throne, Thy way amidst the sea, Thy path deep floods, Thy steps unknown, Thy counsels mystery:-- Yet wilt Thou look on him who lies A suppliant at Thy feet; And hearken to …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns Question of the Active Life
I. Do all Acts of the Moral Virtues come under the Active Life? II. Does Prudence pertain to the Active Life? III. Does Teaching belong to the Active or to the Contemplative Life? IV. Does the Active Life continue after this Life? I Do all Acts of the Moral Virtues come under the Active Life? S. Isidore says[407]: "In the active life all the vices are first of all to be removed by the practice of good works, so that in the contemplative life a man may, with now purified mental gaze, pass to the …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life But in Order that we Fall not Away from Continence...
10. But in order that we fall not away from Continence, we ought to watch specially against those snares of the suggestions of the devil, that we presume not of our own strength. For, "Cursed is every one that setteth his hope in man." [1838] And who is he, but man? We cannot therefore truly say that he setteth not his hope in man, who setteth it in himself. For this also, to "live after man," what is it but to "live after the flesh?" Whoso therefore is tempted by such a suggestion, let him hear, …
St. Augustine—On Continence If, Therefore, You had not as yet Vowed unto God Widowed Continence...
23. If, therefore, you had not as yet vowed unto God widowed continence, we would assuredly exhort you to vow it; but, in that you have already vowed it, we exhort you to persevere. And yet I see that I must so speak as to lead those also who had as yet thought of marriage to love it and to seize on it. Therefore let us give ear unto the Apostle, "She who is unmarried," saith he, "is careful about the things of the Lord, to be holy both in body and spirit; but she who is married is careful about …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Widowhood. Prayer
But I give myself unto prayer.' Psa 109: 4. I shall not here expatiate upon prayer, as it will be considered more fully in the Lord's prayer. It is one thing to pray, and another thing to be given to prayer: he who prays frequently, is said to be given to prayer; as he who often distributes alms, is said to be given to charity. Prayer is a glorious ordinance, it is the soul's trading with heaven. God comes down to us by his Spirit, and we go up to him by prayer. What is prayer? It is an offering …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments Malachy's Pity for his Deceased Sister. He Restores the Monastery of Bangor. His First Miracles.
11. (6). Meanwhile Malachy's sister, whom we mentioned before,[271] died: and we must not pass over the visions which he saw about her. For the saint indeed abhorred her carnal life, and with such intensity that he vowed he would never see her alive in the flesh. But now that her flesh was destroyed his vow was also destroyed, and he began to see in spirit her whom in the body he would not see. One night he heard in a dream the voice of one saying to him that his sister was standing outside in the …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh Religion Pleasant to the Religious.
"O taste and see how gracious the Lord is; blessed is the man that trusteth in Him."--Psalm xxxiv. 8. You see by these words what love Almighty God has towards us, and what claims He has upon our love. He is the Most High, and All-Holy. He inhabiteth eternity: we are but worms compared with Him. He would not be less happy though He had never created us; He would not be less happy though we were all blotted out again from creation. But He is the God of love; He brought us all into existence, …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII The Sovereignty of God in Operation
"For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be the glory for ever. Amen" (Romans 11:36). Has God foreordained everything that comes to pass? Has He decreed that what is, was to have been? In the final analysis this is only another way of asking, Is God now governing the world and everyone and everything in it? If God is governing the world then is He governing it according to a definite purpose, or aimlessly and at random? If He is governing it according to some purpose, then …
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Psalm 65:10 NIVPsalm 65:10 NLTPsalm 65:10 ESVPsalm 65:10 NASBPsalm 65:10 KJV
Psalm 65:10 Commentaries
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