Catholic Commentary on Psalm 65

"You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance." (Psalm 65:11)

Praise Awaits You

Psalm 65 is a hymn of praise for the goodness of God in creation and in the harvest, one of the great nature psalms of the Psalter. It opens with a statement of liturgical praise that is also a theological declaration: Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion; to you our vows will be fulfilled. You who answer prayer, to you all people will come. The praise that awaits God in Zion is owed praise, the response to a character and a history that have earned the gratitude of creation. God answers prayer: this is the ground of coming before him, the confidence that the address reaches its destination.

The middle of the psalm is a meditation on God's power in creation: he stills the roaring of the seas, the turmoil of nations. The dwellers at the farthest ends of the earth are awed by his signs. He tends the earth and waters it, soaking its furrows, levelling its ridges, softening it with showers, blessing its crops. The language is agricultural and intimate: God as the attentive farmer who tends the land he loves.

The Year Is Crowned

You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing. The entire landscape becomes a choir: meadows and valleys joining in the praise of the God whose abundance overflows the carts. This is the ecological vision of the Psalter: creation is not a passive backdrop to human history but an active participant in the praise of the Creator. The Catechism teaches that care for creation is a dimension of our response to the God who made it and tends it with such attentive love (CCC 339).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, step outside today with Psalm 65 in your mind. Look at whatever growing thing is visible: grass, a tree, a crop, the sky. The meadows are shouting for joy. The valleys are singing. Join the creation's choir. Praise awaits God in Zion, and the whole created world is the choir stall.

Prayer

Lord God, praise awaits you in Zion and you answer prayer. You tend the earth and water it. You crown the year with your bounty. Let our whole lives be a shouting for joy like the valleys mantled with grain. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

65
Praise Awaits God in Zion
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A song.
 
1 Praise awaits You, O God, in Zion;
to You our vows will be fulfilled.
2 O You who listen to prayer,
all people will come to You.
3 When iniquities prevail against me,
You atone for our transgressions.
4 Blessed is the one You choose
and bring near to dwell in Your courts!
We are filled with the goodness of Your house,
the holiness of Your temple.
 
5 With awesome deeds of righteousness You answer us,
O God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
6 You formed the mountains by Your power,
having girded Yourself with might.
7 You stilled the roaring of the seas,
the pounding of their waves,
and the tumult of the nations.
8 Those who live far away fear Your wonders;
You make the dawn and sunset shout for joy.* 65:8 Or where morning dawns and evening fades You call forth songs of joy.
 
9 You attend to the earth and water it;† 65:9 Or and make it overflow
with abundance You enrich it.
The streams of God are full of water,
for You prepare our grain
by providing for the earth.‡ 65:9 Or to provide the people with grain, for so You have ordained it
10 You soak its furrows and level its ridges;
You soften it with showers and bless its growth.
11 You crown the year with Your bounty,
and Your paths overflow with plenty.
12 The pastures of the wilderness overflow;
the hills are robed with joy.
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks,
and the valleys are decked with grain.
They shout in triumph;
indeed, they sing.

*65:8 65:8 Or where morning dawns and evening fades You call forth songs of joy.

†65:9 65:9 Or and make it overflow

‡65:9 65:9 Or to provide the people with grain, for so You have ordained it

Public Domain