Psalm 65 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

Psalm 65 Short Summary:

Psalm 65 is pure praise! David gives his readers multiple reasons to worship God. He is worthy of our adoration and our thanksgivings should be directed towards Him. The psalm speaks of God’s kindness, how He cares for His people and nurtures the earth to bring forth an abundant harvest.

Psalm 65 Summary

AUTHOR:

• David wrote Psalm 65.

NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES:

• No Known New Testament References.

THEMES:

• God is worthy of worship.

• His greatness is known to the end of the earth.

• The source of all blessings is God’s kindness.

DEFINITIONS:

• Zion (65:1) - Zion refers to the hill/mountain where David’s palace was built in Jerusalem. This area was on the southeast side of the city. Zion is sometimes used to refer to the city of Jerusalem as a whole.

• Furrows (65:10) – A trench made in the ground by a plow.

OUTLINE:

• PRAISE IS DUE TO GOD (65:1-13):

  • Psalm 65 is a beautiful psalm of worship.

  • David begins the Psalm stating that God deserved praise.

  • He spoke of the blessing that it was for a man to be close to God.

  • God’s deeds were awesome, and they were known throughout all the earth.

  • David mentioned several specific reasons to worship God:

    • (1) He hears prayers (65:2).

    • (2) He forgives transgressions/sins (65:3).

    • (3) He created the mountains (65:6).

    • (4) He stills angry seas and tumultuous people (65:7).

    • (5) He orders the sunrise and sunset each day (65:8).

    • (6) He irrigates the earth with rain and rivers (65:9-10).

    • (7) He causes the earth to produce a bountiful harvest (65:11).

    • (8) He blesses livestock to flourish (65:13).

  • “You crown the year with Your bounty; Your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy” (65:11-13).  

APPLICATION:

• As the psalmist was talking about God causing the animals to flourish, it got me thinking about something I read on the news.

• Last year, in 2023, there were approximately 1,000 new species of animals discovered.

• This fact reminded me of God’s hidden work.

• God created and was maintaining these beautiful and complex creatures for thousands of years without humans knowing anything about them.

• For generations He worked in secret to ensure their survival, and we were blind to all that work. God did not feel the need to share it with us or make us privy to it in any way.

• One thing we know from the words of Jesus is that God cares about us more than He cares about animals.

• This should be reassuring to us and a reminder to us of all the work God does in secret.

• God cares about your future more than He cares about the future of an obscure species of animal. You can be confident He is working on your future.

• He may never reveal that work to you, or maybe He will, either way you should never doubt and never underestimate what God is doing.

• When it looks like God isn’t doing anything, He is probably working on something more beautiful and complex than you can imagine.