Today, Saturday June 10
“The River of God Is Full…”
Psalm 65:9-13
9 You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepared it.
10 You water its ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth.
11 You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance.
12 They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, And the little hills rejoice on every side.
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks; The valleys also are covered with grain; They shout for joy, they also sing.
Psalm 65 is placed just after several Psalms that were written by David during some of the most difficult times of his life and he is praying and pleading for God to help and deliver him. We go from pleading to praising with Psalm 65, which is the first of four psalms (Psalms 65-68) that focus on praising the Lord for His manifold blessings in nature and for His gracious dealings with His people.
I don’t know about you, but I need a Psalm of praise every now and then, especially in a time when the world and our country are in so much chaos and confusion. There is strife and division on every hand and there appears to be no hope that it will change for the better. It is very bad and only appears to be getting worse every day with more divisiveness taking place in politics, in culture, in education, in our homes, in our neighborhoods, and generally everywhere!
Psalm 65 is an oasis in the midst of the desert to refresh us with the wonderful goodness of God and His bountiful provisions for us. The Psalm opened in the tiny land of Israel, giving us a picture of God's grace in providing salvation and an atonement for our own sinful hearts and lives. Our God is a “God Who hears prayer” and everyone and anyone is invited to come to Him (v. 2). This is because through “Zion”, the nation of Israel, God has provided a Savior, Jesus Christ, and also given us His Word, the Bible!
In Psalm 65:5-8, the psalmist moves from Israel to the nations of the earth where we see God's government. He is the “confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of the far-off seas” (v. 5). God has revealed his power and His strength in “awesome deeds of righteousness” and in His “signs” (v. 8). The whole world experiences Him in every sunrise and sunset with “rejoicing” (v. 8). Only God can “still the noise of the seas and their waves and also the tumult of the peoples” (v. 7). We can always put our trust in Him!
Now in verses 9-13, the entire universe comes into the picture, for the Creator of the universe provides the sunshine and rain in their times and seasons so that people can plow the earth, plant seeds, and eventually harvest food. (See Gen. 1, 8:20-9:17.) The emphasis is on God's goodness and generosity to His people. The rains come in abundance; the rivers and streams overflow; the harvest is plenteous; the grain wagons are full; and the grain spills into the wagon ruts. Why? Because God covenanted to care for the land of Israel and visit it with His blessing, if His people honored and obeyed Him (Deut. 11:8-15; Lev. 26:3-5).
This blessing was promised all during the year and year after year, even during the Sabbatical years when the people didn't cultivate the land (Lev. 25:1-22). According to verses 12-13, the "pastures of the wilderness”, the uncultivated land, would produce vegetation and the hills would be clothed with beauty. The meadows would feed the flocks and herds, and the valleys would produce the grain. All of them would unite as one voiceless choir shouting for joy to the God of the universe, the Creator of every good and perfect gift.
God’s River (v. 9) never runs dry and is always full of water! We can live without food for weeks at a time, but we only survive without water for a few days. Every city of the world is built near a water source! Water is the great necessity of life in so many ways. This is a reminder that God is the source of all life. We are promised in prophecy that God’s River will flow in His millennium reign (Zechariah 14:8-9), and in His eternal city (Revelation 22:1-2).
By the way, God’s River is found in the Person of Jesus Christ! He is the “Living Water of Life” (John 4:10-14).
We can't read these verses without expressing appreciation and adoration to our God for His goodness and vowing not to waste food (John 6:12), or waste the precious land and resources He has given us. One day God will destroy them that destroy the earth (Rev. 11:18), those who fail to see that we are stewards of His precious gifts. Today, praise His wonderful Name for all His provisions!
God bless!