Psalm 65 is a song of thanksgiving. It opens by giving thanks to God for answered prayer and forgiveness of sins. Then it’s theme becomes one of hope, flowing out of God’s great act of creation and continued care for the earth.
O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
By your strength you established the mountains …
You silence the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.
You make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.
You visit the earth and water it …
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.
You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
You crown the year with your bounty …
The pastures of the wilderness overflow;
the hills gird themselves with joy …
the valleys deck themselves with grain;
they shout and sing together for joy.
“You visit the earth … you greatly enrich it.”
The psalmist paints a picture of a God who watches over the earth with care. Even as the harvest season gives way to frost, even as God’s creation is torn apart by human imperfection leading to environmental issues, poverty, violence, oppression, and injustice, this verse reminds us that God has not abandoned creation. The fields that now are hidden under frost will not always be that way. There is hope.
Psalm 65 invites us to see God’s bounty even in barrenness. The earth that rests is not forgotten; it is being renewed. So it is with our souls. God visits us in fruitful seasons and in frost-covered ones. Both are part of being human and provide opportunities for growth.
Today’s stillness may be tomorrow’s abundance. Today’s sorrow may be tomorrow’s joy. Today’s pain may lead to tomorrow’s hope.
Prayer: Lord of the harvest, thank you for the ways you visit and enrich the earth you created. Visit and enrich my heart in the same way. Help me to see your hand in all things, in both growth and rest, in both summer and winter. Crown this year with your grace, and let my life overflow with quiet gratitude and hope. Amen.
