Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 65

Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion - That is, all the arrangements are made; the people are assembled; their hearts are prepared to praise you. The fact that Zion is mentioned here as the seat of praise would seem to imply that this psalm was composed before the building of the temple, contrary to the opinion of DeWette and others, as noticed in the Introduction to the psalm. For after the building of the temple, the seat of worship was transferred from Mount Zion, where David had placed the ark and prepared a tent for it (1 Chronicles 15:1; 1 Chronicles 16:1; 2 Chronicles 1:4), to Mount Moriah.

It is true that the general name Zion was familiarly given to Jerusalem as a city, but it is also true that the particular place for the worship of God in the time of David was Mount Zion strictly so called. See the notes at Psalms 2:6.

The margin in this place is, “Praise is silent.” The Hebrew is, “To you is silence-praise.” This is a kind of compound phrase, not meaning “silent praise,” but referring to a condition where everything is ready. The preparations have been entirely made, the noise usually attendant on preparation has ceased, and all is in readiness, as if waiting for that for which the arrangements had been carried forward. The noise of building—of preparation—was now hushed, and all was calm.

This language would also denote the state of feeling in an individual or an assembly: when the heart was prepared for praise; when it was filled with a deep sense of the majesty and goodness of God; when all feelings of anxiety were calmed down or were in a state of rest; when the soul was ready to burst forth in expressions of thanksgiving, and nothing would meet its needs but praise.

And unto thee shall the vow be performed - See Psalms 22:25, note; Psalms 50:14, note; Psalms 56:12, note. The reference here is to the vows or promises which the people had made in view of the manifested judgments of God and the proofs of his goodness. Those vows they were now ready to carry out in expressions of praise.

O thou that hearest prayer - Who have revealed Yourself as a God hearing prayer—one of the leading characteristics of whose nature it is that You hear prayer. Literally, “Hearer of prayer, to You shall all flesh come.”

Nothing as applied even to God is more sublime and beautiful than the appellative “Hearer of prayer.” Nothing in His attributes is of more interest and importance to humankind. Nothing more indicates His condescension and goodness; nothing so much encourages us in the endeavor to overcome our sins, to do good, to save our souls, and to save the souls of others.

Dark and dismal would this world be if God did not hear prayer. The prospects of humankind would be gloomy, inexpressibly gloomy, if we did not have the assurance that God is a prayer-hearing God—if we could not come to God at all times with the assurance that it is His very nature to hear prayer, and that His ear is ever open to the cries of the guilty, the suffering, the sad, the troubled, and the dying.

Unto thee shall all flesh come - This means all people, as the word is evidently used here to denote humankind. The idea is that there is no other resource for us, no other help, no other refuge, but the God who hears prayer. No other being can meet our actual needs, and those needs are to be met only in connection with prayer.

All people are permitted to come to God in this way; all need His favor. All must perish unless, in answer to prayer, He interposes and saves the soul.

It is also true that the period will arrive on earth when all flesh—all people—will come to God and worship Him; when, instead of the scattered few who now approach Him, all nations, all the dwellers on continents and islands, will worship Him, will look to Him in trouble, will acknowledge Him as God, and will supplicate His favor.

Iniquities prevail against me - Margin, as in Hebrew, “Words,” or “matters of iniquities.” The literal meaning is “words”; and the idea may be that words spoken in iniquity, or slanderous words spoken by others, prevailed against him. The phrase, however, is susceptible of the interpretation that refers it to iniquity itself—meaning the matter of iniquity, the thing, iniquity itself—as if that overcame him or got the mastery of him. The psalmist here, in his own name, seems to represent the people who thus approached God, for the psalm refers to the worship of an assembly or a congregation.

The idea is that when they thus came before God, when they had prepared all things for his praise (Psalms 65:1), when they approached him in an attitude of prayer, they were so bowed down under a load of transgression—a weight of sin—as to hinder their easy access to his throne. They were so conscious of unworthiness; their sin had such an effect on their minds; it rendered them so dull, cold, and stupid, that they could not find access to the throne of God. How often do the people of God find this to be the case!

As for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away - That is, in reference to these very transgressions or iniquities that now press us down, you will remove them. The language expresses the rising confidence and hope of the worshippers that God would not allow those transgressions so to prevail as to prevent their worshipping God acceptably. Heavy as was the burden of sin, and much as the consciousness of guilt tended to impede their worship, yet they felt assured that God would so remove their transgressions that they might have access to his mercy-seat. The word rendered “purge away”—כפר kâphar—is the word that is commonly rendered “to atone for,” or that is used to represent the idea of atonement. (See the notes at Isaiah 43:3).

The word here has the sense of cleansing or purifying, but it always carries with it, in the Scriptures, a reference to that through which the heart is cleansed—the atonement, or the expiatory offering made for sin. The language here expresses the feeling which all may have, and should have, and which very many do have, when they approach God: that, although they are deeply conscious of sin, God will so graciously remove the guilt of sin and lift off the burden, cleansing the soul by his grace, as to make it not improper that we should approach him, and that he will enable us to do it with peace, joy, and hope. .

Blessed is the man whom you choose—That is, happy is the man; or, “Oh, the happiness of the man whom you thus permit to approach you.” The construction here in the Hebrew is the same as in Psalms 1:1 (see the notes at that passage). The word “choosest” refers to the fact that true piety regards all such blessings as the result of the divine favor, the fruit of His electing grace and love (compare the notes at Ephesians 1:3-4; 1 Peter 1:2–3). We approach God with confidence, with the spirit of true worshippers, with the spirit of His children, only as He inclines us to Him and calls us to partake of His favor .

And cause to approach you—That is, that he may worship you. The idea is recognized here in the word “causest,” that it is only by a divine influence that people are led to worship God. The cause—the efficient reason—why any person worships his Maker at all is to be found in God Himself. This idea is fairly implied in the form of the word as it is used in the Hebrew.

That he may dwell in your courts—That is, either temporarily for the purpose of worship, or permanently, that he may serve you in the sanctuary (see the notes at Psalms 23:6 and Psalms 27:4). The word “courts” refers properly to the area around the tabernacle or the temple, and not to the tabernacle or temple itself. The worship of the people was offered in those courts, and not in the tabernacle or temple (see the notes at Matthew 21:12).

We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house—Our souls will thus find what they need, what they long for (see the notes at Psalms 36:8). It is the nature of religion to satisfy the mind; that is, the soul finds in religion what meets its needs, for religion leaves no necessity of its nature unsupplied. It may be added that nothing else but religion will do this.

The word “house” here denotes a place where God dwells. It might be applied to the temple, as it often is in the Scriptures (Isaiah 56:7; Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:443; John 2:16; and others), or to the tabernacle, before the temple was built (Psalms 42:4; Matthew 12:4; Judges 18:31; Judges 20:18, 20:26, 20:31). The reference here is to the tabernacle or tent which David built on Mount Zion, where the worship of God was celebrated before the temple was constructed.

Even of your holy temple. The word “temple” is most commonly applied in the Scriptures to the structure Solomon built for the worship of God. It is on the ground that the word is usually so applied that DeWette and others have argued that this psalm could not have been written by David, but was composed after the temple was built.

However, the word rendered “temple”—היכל (hêykâl)—is a word of such a general character that it may be applied to any house erected for the worship of God. It is often applied to the tabernacle (see the notes at Psalms 5:7). This psalm, therefore, may have been composed while the tabernacle was standing and before the temple was built, and therefore may have been composed by David, as the title intimates.

By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us - That is, by things suited to inspire us and all people with awe, or with a deep sense of your majesty, your power, and your glory.

The answer to their prayers would be in such a manner as to deeply impress their minds and hearts. God’s judgments on his foes, and the manner of his manifesting his favor to his people, would be such as to impress the mind with a deep sense of his own greatness.

Yet all this would be in righteousness: in the infliction of a just sentence on the wicked, and in direct interposition in favor of the righteous. The judgments of God on guilty people have always been such as to keep the world in awe, such as were adapted deeply to impress mankind with a sense of his own majesty and glory.

O God of our salvation - The God on whom our salvation, or our safety, depends.

Who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth - Of all parts of the earth, the word “ends” is used on the supposition that the earth is a plain having appropriate limits.

This allusion is often found in the Scriptures, as the sacred writers speak, as all people do, of things as they appear to be. Thus, all philosophers, as well as other people, speak of the sun as rising and setting, which is, in itself, no more strictly accurate than it is to speak of the earth as if it had limits or boundaries.

The word “confidence” as used here means that God is the source of trust, or that all proper reliance by all people, in all parts of the earth and on the sea, must be in him; that is, there is no other on whom people can properly rely. It does not mean that all people actually repose such confidence in him, which would not be true—but that he is the only true source of confidence.

And of them that are afar off upon the sea - That is, of all people on sea and land. The seaman has no other source of security amidst the dangers of the deep than God. Compare Psalms 107:23-30. The language does not mean that all mariners actually do put their trust in God, but that they cannot confide in the winds and the waves—in the strength of their vessel or their own power or skill in managing it—but that the true and only ground of trust is God.