Chapter 65
David.
1st stanza, Praise.
2021 - This 1st stanza verse:
3 When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions. [Psa 65:3 ESV]
This is a "principle" that we readily embrace, but is it correct? Do the bad things that happen in our lives somehow atone for the sins that we have committed? Is this how God works or is this how the mind of man works? Don't we always try to keep score? Well, yes, I did party big time last Saturday night and I missed church, but on Monday I got fired, so now God and I are even. The bad thing has atoned for the sin that came before it. If it is a principle, does it apply to the saved, the lost, or both? If we say the lost, then there is a way for them to atone for their sins, exclusive of Jesus blood. So I don't think this principle would apply to the lost. To the saved? Jesus has atoned already for ALL the sins of the saved. So what is left for "bad luck" to atone for? No, that's not what this verse is about. It may be about how we think of things, but it isn't how God works. Here is the verse in NASB:
3 Iniquities prevail against me; As for our transgressions, You forgive them. [Psa 65:3 NASB95]. The first part of the verse is disconnected from the last part. As if they do not go together as part of the same thought. If that's the case, then what does the first part mean? That David is "losing" against his enemies?
MSB says the word translated "atone" in ESV and "forgive" in NASB is only used three times in Psalms. It means to cover sin and its effects - which in the OT was found in ritualized animal sacrifices, but ultimately will be found in Christ's atoning death. So maybe the point of the verse is that these prevailing iniquities are completely unrelated to personal sins. Sometimes bad things happen to us, but since it is God that forgives/atones for our sins, we should not see the success of our enemies against us as a consequence of our sins, but as the will of God in our lives for His own purposes. Yes. That way, it all goes together, and it all makes sense, and it all means the cause and effect that we apply to the bad parts of our lives is not correct at all. It does not work that way.
Possible FB post, but it will need some major improvement in coherence, as it is very rambling as it is.
Also, MSB says this Psalm is all about praise with no complaints or misgivings.
2nd, Power of God, things only God can do.
2024 - This:
7 who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples, [Psa 65:7 ESV]
I didn't put the other verses in, but is a description of God's power over nature. Now think about this verse in light of Jesus calming the Sea of Galilee with the 12 in the boat with him. Maybe they weren't real familiar with this verse, like the rest of us, and so did not connect what had just happened with the bigger picture. It is interesting that their question was "27 And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?" [Mat 8:27 ESV]." God had already given them the answer, and I would bet they made the connection later. So one application is that we should look to the Bible for answers to the really big questions, for the answers we cannot find on our own. Then, if you believe those first two phrases, also believe the third. He also stills the rivalries, the wars, the hatred even, of whole nations toward each other. Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Hamas/Hezbollah/Iran. We can ask him to still these conflicts, knowing he has already told us he can do it. And he can also still the tumult - the division, hatred even - within our own nation. We can ask Him to do that also, knowing that since he proved he could still the seas, we can believe he can do the rest.
Good FB post here.
3rd, God provides the rain that provides the grain.
2021-This last stanza is about the glory of God as revealed in nature. The language is so picturesque. Some examples:
8 ...You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy. [Psa 65:3, 8 NASB95]
13 the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy. [Psa 65:13 ESV]