Psalm 65:(1-8), 9-13

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

Psalm 65 is a community psalm of thanksgiving,1 grammatically indicated by the plural pronouns (“we” and “our”) in verses 1–5. (See the sidebar “Psalms of Thanksgiving” in the unit on Pss. 9–10.) The psalm of thanksgiving includes two essential elements: a report of the crisis that generated the thanksgiving (“we were overwhelmed by sins,” 65:3a) and the acknowledgment of deliverance (“you forgave our transgressions,” 65:3b). The account of an abundant harvest (65:9–13) leads some scholars to connect this psalm to one of the agricultural festivals (Passover / Unleavened Bread—barley harvest; Feast of Weeks—wheat harvest; Feast of Tabernacles [Sukkot]—grape harvest). It certainly sounds like a harvest hymn, whose beauty, says Kidner, “puts every harvest hymn to shame as plodding and contrived.”2 Psalms 65–68 are grouped together by two common words in their titles: “song” (shir) and “psalm” (mizmor).

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