Psalm 65 (NLT): What
mighty praise, O God, belongs to you in Zion. We will fulfill our vows to you, for
you answer our prayers. All of us must
come to you. Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all. What
joy for those you choose to bring near, those who live in your holy courts. What
festivities await us inside your holy Temple. You faithfully answer our prayers
with awesome deeds, O God our savior. You are the hope of everyone on earth, even
those who sail on distant seas. You formed the mountains by your power and
armed yourself with mighty strength. You quieted the raging oceans with their
pounding waves and silenced the shouting of the nations. Those who live at the
ends of the earth stand in awe of your wonders.
From where the sun rises to where it sets, you inspire shouts of joy. You
take care of the earth and water it, making it rich and fertile. The river of God has plenty of water; it provides
a bountiful harvest of grain, for you have ordered it so. You drench the plowed ground with rain, melting
the clods and leveling the ridges. You soften the earth with showers and bless
its abundant crops. You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard
pathways overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the wilderness become a
lush pasture, and the hillsides blossom with joy. The meadows are clothed with
flocks of sheep, and the valleys are carpeted with grain. They all shout and
sing for joy!
So I
celebrated my birthday this last week and one of my friends and former Bible
college instructors, Dan Hammer, sent me a Scripture reference as a birthday blessing.
This Scripture was Psalm 65:11(NASB): You
have crowned the year with Your bounty, and Your paths drip with fatness. I
read this and was encouraged by it and thanked Pastor Dan, but then like we do
so often it slid from memory. Then at church Friday night Amanda R. brought it
up saying how it encouraged her, so I looked it up again this time in my Bible
and not online. (Disclaimer: while I love online bible resources,
biblegateway.com being a well-used one, when you look up a single reference you
can miss a lot in the context.) So I
looked it up in my Bible and started looking at some of the contextual
scripture and was even more encouraged.
As I sat down this morning to continue my journey through the Book of
Acts, I felt the Lord prompt me to go back to Psalm 65. I did my usual, “are You sure, because it has
been several months and I have only gotten through Chapter 9?” like somehow He
doesn’t know, but I had to be sure. So
here are the highlights of what I was getting as I read. I also want to throw
out another disclaimer or whatever you want to call it; I used the NLT above
because I like how it read, if you notice that any other references I am using
after this point don’t exactly match to what is above that is because they will
probably be out of the NASB of the NKJV, my preferred versions.
So to me
this whole chapter, song, or poem (whatever you want to call it) is very
encouraging. It is a declaration of God’s greatness, love and ability as a
provider. It also outlines the gospel
message, starting with us being aware of our sin and Him providing us with
forgiveness, which then allows us to come to Him and then He protects us,
provides for us and we rejoice. Verse 4
actually says that when He chooses us He causes us to come to Him in His holy
temple. How awesome is that? Not only does He cause us to come into His house
but He provides for us.
One of the
things about being in His holy temple that stood out to me is that there are
many that call themselves Christians that still have the viewpoint of
themselves that they are lowly sinners, worms even and they aren’t worthy. Their taking this stance denies that work
that Christ provided for their lives; even here in the Psalm it says that He
forgave our sins so that we could enter the Holy Temple, He made it possible to
enter into His presence. 1
Corinthians 6:19 (NASB) Or do you
not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you
have from God, and that you are not your own? For them to say they are still unworthy is a
contradiction to the Scripture and if they indeed are still lowly sinners then
the Holy Spirit would not be able to dwell within them. Isaiah 59:2 (NASB): But
your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins
have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. It makes me sad
that they limit themselves from receiving the fullness of all that Jesus has
provided for them.
This
Scripture also speaks of God’s control in tumultuous situations; it says that
He can still the noise of the seas and the waves and the tumult of the people.
It says in Psalm 107:28-30(NASB)
Then they cried to the LORD in their
trouble, and He brought them out of their distresses. He caused the storm to be
still, So that the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad because
they were quiet, So He guided them to their desired haven. In Matthew 8:26
Jesus rebukes the storm and brought a great calm, and Philippians 4:7 He gives
peace that surpasses understanding.
Most of the
rest talks of His provision. He provides water and grain, and the hills are
covered with flocks. The waters flow
from the mountain tops. The abundance is
found on the hills, in the pastures and in the valleys. It is funny that we tend to strive for the
mountain top experiences, but the life and sustenance is on the hills and in
the valleys, that is where He provides.