You attend to the earth and water it; with abundance You enrich it. The streams of God are full of water, for You prepare our grain by providing for the earth. You attend to the earthThe phrase "You attend to the earth" highlights God's active involvement in the world He created. The Hebrew root for "attend" is "paqad," which implies a careful and purposeful oversight. This suggests that God is not a distant deity but one who is intimately involved in the care and maintenance of His creation. Historically, this reflects the agrarian society of ancient Israel, where the fertility of the land was crucial for survival. God's attention to the earth is a reminder of His providence and the sustaining power He exercises over all creation. and water it
The act of watering the earth is a vivid image of God's provision. In the arid climate of the ancient Near East, water was a precious resource, essential for life and agriculture. The Hebrew word "shaqah" conveys the idea of quenching thirst, indicating that God satisfies the needs of the earth. This phrase underscores the dependence of creation on the Creator, and it serves as a metaphor for spiritual nourishment, where God provides for the spiritual needs of His people just as He provides for the physical needs of the earth. with abundance You enrich it
The word "abundance" comes from the Hebrew "ravah," meaning to saturate or fill to overflowing. This speaks to the generosity of God, who not only meets the needs of the earth but does so lavishly. The enrichment of the earth is a testament to God's grace and bounty. In a spiritual sense, this abundance can be seen as a reflection of the spiritual blessings God bestows upon His people, enriching their lives with His presence and favor. The streams of God are full of water
This phrase paints a picture of divine provision. The "streams of God" symbolize the channels through which God's blessings flow. The fullness of these streams indicates that God's resources are inexhaustible. In the historical context, water was a symbol of life and prosperity. Spiritually, this can be seen as an assurance that God's grace and mercy are always available to His people, providing refreshment and renewal. for You prepare our grain
The preparation of grain is a direct reference to God's role in ensuring the harvest. The Hebrew word "kun" means to establish or make ready, suggesting that God orchestrates the conditions necessary for growth and sustenance. This reflects the agricultural cycle of ancient Israel, where the success of the harvest was seen as a direct blessing from God. Spiritually, it can be interpreted as God's preparation of spiritual nourishment for His people, ensuring that they have what they need to grow in faith and righteousness. by providing for the earth
The phrase "by providing for the earth" emphasizes God's provision and care. The Hebrew root "kun" is again used here, reinforcing the idea of God establishing and sustaining the earth. This provision is not just for the physical needs of the earth but also for the spiritual needs of humanity. It is a reminder of God's faithfulness and His commitment to His creation. In a broader sense, it speaks to the divine order and purpose that God has established, ensuring that all of creation functions according to His will. Persons / Places / Events 1. GodThe primary actor in this verse, God is depicted as the caretaker and provider for the earth, ensuring its fertility and abundance. 2. EarthThe recipient of God's care and provision, representing the physical world and its ecosystems. 3. Streams of GodSymbolic of divine provision and abundance, these streams are full of water, signifying God's overflowing blessings. 4. GrainRepresents sustenance and provision for humanity, prepared by God through His care for the earth. Teaching Points God's Sovereignty in ProvisionRecognize that God is the ultimate provider of all resources and sustenance. His sovereignty ensures that the earth is cared for and that our needs are met. Dependence on Divine AbundanceTrust in God's abundant provision, knowing that He enriches the earth and prepares our sustenance. This trust should lead to a life of gratitude and reliance on Him. Stewardship of CreationAs recipients of God's provision, we are called to be good stewards of the earth. This involves caring for the environment and using resources wisely. Faith in God's TimingUnderstand that God's preparation and provision occur in His perfect timing. Patience and faith are required as we wait for His blessings to manifest. Gratitude for Daily BreadCultivate a heart of thankfulness for the daily provisions God grants us, recognizing them as gifts from His hand. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Psalm 65:9 enhance your understanding of God's role as a provider in your life? 2. In what ways can you see God's abundant provision in the natural world around you? 3. How can the concept of "streams of God" being full of water encourage you in times of need or scarcity? 4. What practical steps can you take to be a better steward of the earth, in light of God's care for creation? 5. How do the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 6:26-30 complement the message of Psalm 65:9 regarding God's provision? Connections to Other Scriptures Genesis 1:11-12This passage describes God's creation of vegetation and plants, highlighting His role as the provider of all life. Isaiah 55:10-11These verses compare God's word to rain and snow that water the earth, emphasizing the effectiveness and purposefulness of God's provision. Matthew 6:26-30Jesus speaks about God's provision for the birds and the lilies, reminding us of His care for all creation and His promise to provide for our needs. People David, PsalmistPlaces JerusalemTopics Abundantly, Blessing, Cause, Corn, Enrich, Enrichest, Enriching, Fertile, Filled, Full, Grain, Greatly, Hast, Inspected, Makest, Making, Ordained, Overflow, Prepare, Prepared, Preparest, Provide, Provided, Providest, Ready, Remembered, Rich, River, Rivulet, Stream, Streams, Thus, Visit, Visited, Visitest, Watered, Waterest, WateringDictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 65:9 4065 orderliness
4406 agriculture
4428 corn
5802 care Psalm 65:9-10 4430 crops
4816 drought, physical
5704 inheritance, material Psalm 65:9-13 1330 God, the provider
1335 blessing
4208 land, divine responsibility
4978 year
8261 generosity, God's
8472 respect, for environment
8609 prayer, as praise and thanksgiving 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 65:9 NIVPsalm 65:9 NLTPsalm 65:9 ESVPsalm 65:9 NASBPsalm 65:9 KJV
Psalm 65:9 Commentaries
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