7 Who stilleth the raging of the seas, the raging of their waves, and the tumult of the peoples.
Ha! a tumult of many peoples! they make a noise as the noise of the seas; -- and the rushing of nations! they rush as the rushing of mighty waters. The nations rush as the rushing of many waters; but he will rebuke them, and they shall flee far away, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a whirling [of dust] before the whirlwind:
The floods lifted up, O Jehovah, the floods lifted up their voice; the floods lifted up their roaring waves. Jehovah on high is mightier than the voices of many waters, than the mighty breakers of the sea.
And who shut up the sea with doors, when it burst forth, issuing out of the womb? When I made the cloud its garment, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it; When I cut out for it my boundary, and set bars and doors, And said, Hitherto shalt thou come and no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
Why are the nations in tumultuous agitation, and [why] do the peoples meditate a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the princes plot together, against Jehovah and against his anointed: Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their cords from us! He that dwelleth in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision.
Thou hadst covered it with the deep, as with a vesture; the waters stood above the mountains: At thy rebuke they fled, at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away; -- The mountains rose, the valleys sank, unto the place which thou hadst founded for them; -- Thou hast set a bound which they may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover the earth.
And he says to them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then, having arisen, he rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. But the men were astonished, saying, What sort [of man] is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 65
Commentary on Psalms 65 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 65
Ps 65:1-13. This is a song of praise for God's spiritual blessings to His people and His kind providence over all the earth.
1. Praise waiteth for thee—literally, "To Thee silence praise," or (compare Ps 62:1), To Thee silence is praise—that is, Praise is waiting as a servant; it is due to Thee. So the last clause expresses the duty of paying vows. These two parts of acceptable worship, mentioned in Ps 50:14, are rendered in Zion, where God chiefly displays His mercy and receives homage.
2. All are encouraged to pray by God's readiness to hear.
3. God's mercy alone delivers us from the burden of iniquities, by purging or expiating by an atonement the transgressions with which we are charged, and which are denoted by—
Iniquities—or, literally, "Words of iniquities."
4. dwell in thy courts; … [and] satisfied with the goodness … temple—denote communion with God (Ps 15:1; 23:6; compare Ps 5:7). This is a blessing for all God's people, as denoted by the change of number.
5. terrible things—that is, by the manifestation of justice and wrath to enemies, accompanying that of mercy to His people (Ps 63:9-11; 64:7-9).
the confidence—object of it.
of all … earth—the whole world; that is, deservedly such, whether men think so or not.
6-13. God's great power and goodness are the grounds of this confidence. These are illustrated in His control of the mightiest agencies of nature and nations affecting men with awe and dread (Ps 26:7; 98:1, &c.), and in His fertilizing showers, causing the earth to produce abundantly for man and beast.
8. outgoings of … rejoice—all people from east to west.
9. visitest—in mercy (compare Ps 8:4).
river of God—His exhaustless resources.
11. thy paths—ways of providence (Ps 25:4, 10).
12. wilderness—places, though not inhabited by men, fit for pasture (Le 16:21, 22; Job 24:5).
pastures—is literally, "folds," or "enclosures for flocks"; and in Ps 65:13 it may be "lambs," the same word used and so translated in Ps 37:20; so that "the flocks are clothed with lambs" (a figure for abundant increase) would be the form of expression.