THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: God's Nurture Of The Inner Man In The Life Of Faith

LXV: Encouragement To Confess Our Sins For God's Rich Blessings

(Psalm 65:1-13)

I. Introduction

A. 1 John 1:9 teaches God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins when we believers confess them to Him, but this involves facing the fact that we have sinned and then confessing the sins to God, what is uncomfortable!

B. However, Psalm 65:1-13 encourages God's people who face this challenge, so we view it for our edification:

II. Encouragement To Confess Our Sins For God's Rich Blessings, Psalm 65:1-13.

A. The introductory remarks in the English Bible comprise the first verse in the Hebrew text (Kittel, Bib. Heb., p. 1029), so we stay with the verse numbering system of the English Bible for clarity with this lesson.

B. We thus translate Psalm 65:1-13 as follows:

1. "To You belongs praise given in silent awe, O Elohim in Zion; and to You will our vows be fulfilled," v. 1.

2. "O You Who hear prayer, unto You will all flesh come [to worship]," Psalm 65:2.

3. "When the sentence of judgment (dabar, Ibid.; B. D. B., A Heb.-Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 182-184) of my iniquity was stronger than, overwhelmed (gabar, Ibid., p. 149) me (ni, first per. com. sing. pron. suf.), You (emph. pron.) atoned for our (nu, first per. com. pl. pron. suf., Ibid., Kittel) transgressions," Psalm 65:3.

4. "Blessed are those whom You choose, and bring near to live in Your courts. We are filled with the good things of Your house, of Your holy temple," Psalm 65:4.

5. "With awesome deeds of righteousness You answer us, O Elohim, our Savior, the Hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas," Psalm 65:5.

6. "You Who formed the mountains by Your power, having armed Yourself with strength," Psalm 65:6.

7. "Who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the peoples," Psa. 65:7.

8. "Those who live far away fear Your signs; in-the-place-and-issue-of-the-going-forth-of (mosa', Ibid., p. 425) morn and evening [at sunrise and sunset], You give a ringing cry of joy (ranan, Ibid., p. 943)," v. 8.

9. "You care for the land and water it; You enrich it abundantly; the irrigation ditches of Elohim are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so You have ordained it," Psalm 65:9.

10. "You drench its furrows and level its ridges; You soften it with showers and bless its crops," Psa. 65:10.

11. "You crown the year with Your bounty and Your carts overflow with abundance," Psalm 65:11.

12. "The grasslands of the dessert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness," Psalm 65:12.

13. "The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and yes even ('ap, Ibid., Kittel, p. 1030; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 64-65) sing!" (Psalm 65:13)

C. We note significant observations and applications of this psalm (as follows):

1. Since David as the psalm's author lived under the stipulations of the Deuteronomy 28 Mosaic Covenant where obedience brought material blessings and disobedience material loss, it was imperative that sin be appropriately handled that one's material welfare not deteriorate, but be upheld. Thus, the manifold divine material blessings expressed in verses 4-13 all grow out of the forgiveness provided in verse 3, highlighting the great importance of facing and handling sin in order to enjoy God's blessing.

2. Significantly, David realized his sin had overwhelmed him (v. 3a), but that God atoned for the sins of the whole people of Israel (v. 3b), possibly a reference to the Day of Atonement sacrifices, Leviticus 16.

3. Since we believers today find forgiveness from sin and divine discipline through confession of our sins to the Lord (1 John 1:9 with 1 John 5:16), though the degrees of material blessing for us are not as sure as in the case of Old Testament Israel under the Law, there nevertheless IS a higher level of temporal blessings in this life for believers who confess their sins to God than if they failed to do so, cf. 1 Cor. 11:28-31.

4. God's temporal blessings for believers now affect income (James 4:13-17), health (1 Corinthians 11:29-31) and mental and emotional welfare (Philippians 4:6-9), so we believers must be encouraged by Psalm 65 to face and confess our sins to God that we might enjoy relative greater blessings in such realms.

Lesson: David encouraged other believers to face their sin and have it atoned by God for all-round material blessing as promised in the Mosaic Covenant of his dispensation of the Law.

Application: Since a degree of temporal blessings are available for practical uprightness for God's people today, if we sin, may we be encouraged by Psalm 65:1-13 to admit we have sinned and confess it to the Lord for blessing.