Psalm 65(A)

Praise belongs to You, O Indwelling Beloved,
and to You we commit our lives, to You who hear our prayers! 
Psalm 65 Nan C. Merrill

Psalm 65

Reflection:

Psalm 65 begins in silence as God listens to prayer and forgives sin. Then God sets about blessing the people, caring for the earth, and sustaining the cosmos in Love. God’s work is framed in both masculine and feminine ways. If you were looking for a king, God Almighty, Father and protector, you can find him in this psalm. If you are looking for a gardener, care taker, Mother and nurturer, you can find her in this psalm. Usually, you find what you are looking for. Mostly, I seek and find the Beloved who dwells with us.

In the tradition where I live, it is really easy to find the KINGAFAP style God in hymnals and liturgical resources, but if you dig, you are rewarded with beautiful feminine images of God. I’ve adapted the following prayer from the PCUSA book of Common Worship that was published in 2018. I found this prayer way in the back of the book in the special services section for service for the care of creation (pp. 564-565). I’ve removed the trinitarian language from the beginning and end. In it’s original state, it opens with “Holy One, Holy Three, mother of call creation” and it concludes with “through Christ… in the power of the Holy Spirit…”. I’m sure there’s some Christian-ese I’m blind to. I don’t mind trinity and other Christian phrases in Christian settings, but most of what I do is in multi faith spaces, and the Psalms original context is monotheistic so I leave out trinitarian language when praying with the Psalms. For me, using Psalm 65 devotionally means reading it in the NRSVUE and then in Nan C. Merrill’s Psalms for Praying and then reading a concluding prayer, like this one:

Holy God, Mother of all creation:
Yours is the womb of all life.
Yours is the fountain of living water.
Yours is the voice that breaks down walls.
Yours is the love that cannot be contained.

For the thirsty, you give the water of life.
For the hungry, you offer the bread [manna] of heaven.
For the weak, you carry heavy burdens.
For the joyful, you shout in holy laughter.
For the anxious, you summon showers of peace.
For the suffering, you breathe sighs of comfort.

As we pray for the new heaven and new earth, O God,
we give thanks for this earth, our partner in your service.
Move us to hear your voice in the song of the sparrow,
to see your face reflected in the river.
Awaken us to your greatness through the winds of the storm,
and the scent of your grace on the morning dew.
Empower us to hear your prophets in the croaks of the evening frogs,
to read your gospel [word/good news] in the webs of spiders. 

Yours is the womb of all life, O God.
Yours is the fountain of living water.
Yours is the voice that breaks down walls.
Yours is the love that cannot be contained.

In your great mercy you call us to care for your creation,
to uphold one another, and to pray for your world.
Hear our prayers for the healing of the earth…
For clean water, that all may drink…
For the right use of resources
and careful tending oft eland and the seas…
For people and places damaged by war…
For those who suffer, those whose needs are known to us,
and those whose needs are known only to you…

With confidence that you hear our prayers,
we offer ourselves for your good purposes,
watching and waiting for the healing of your creation
as we work toward your coming reign.

Amen.

I began writing Psalm reflections during Lent of 2020 shortly after we decided to close the church building, work from home, and worship via zoom.  It is a practice I have continued since.  Many churches use the Revised Common Lectionary (RLC) that rotates scripture on a three-year cycle (A, B, and C).  Starting in Advent 2019, Third Church decided to worship with the texts from Year D, which is still not circulated as are years A, B, and C.  Year D was created with the goal of including scriptures that were left out or not used as frequently as others.  While we were using Psalms in year D, most other lectionary followers were using Year A.  In Advent of 2020 we rejoined those who use the lectionary in year B.  Advent of 2021 year C.  Advent of 2022 year A.

I use the Vanderbilt Divinity Library’s resource for lectionary readings to make text selections.

Year A Psalms

1^st Sunday in Advent Psalm 122, 2^nd Sunday in Advent Psalm 72, 3^rd Sunday in Advent Psalm 146, 4^th Sunday in Advent Psalm 80, Christmas Psalm 96, Psalm 97, Psalm 98, 1^st Sunday after Christmas Psalm 148, New Year Psalm 8, Epiphany Psalm 72, 1^st Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 29, 2^nd Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 40, 3^rd Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 27, 4^th Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 15, 5^th Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 112, 6^th Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 119, Transfiguration Sunday Psalm 2 or Psalm 99.

Ash Wednesday Psalm 51, 1^st Sunday in Lent Psalm 32, 2^nd Sunday in Lent Psalm 121, 3^rdSunday in Lent Psalm 95, 4^th Sunday in Lent Psalm 23, 5^th Sunday in Lent Psalm 130, 6^th Sunday in Lent Psalm 118 or Psalm 31.

Holy Week: Monday Psalm 36, Tuesday Psalm 71, Wednesday Psalm 70, Thursday Psalm 116, Friday Psalm 22, Saturday Psalm 31.

Easter Psalm 118 or Psalm 114, 2^nd Sunday of Easter Psalm 16, 3^rd Sunday of Easter Psalm 116, 4^th Sunday of Easter Psalm 23, 5^th Sunday of Easter Psalm 31, 6^th Sunday of Easter Psalm 66, Ascension of the Lord Psalm 47 or Psalm 93, 7^th Sunday of Easter Psalm 68, Pentecost Psalm 104.

1^st Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 8, 2^nd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 33 or Psalm 50, 3^rd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 116 or Psalm 100, 4^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 86 or Psalm 69, 5^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 13 or Psalm 89, 6^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 45 or Psalm 145, 7^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 119 or Psalm 65, 8^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 139 or Psalm 86, 9^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 105 or Psalm 119, 10^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 17 or Psalm 145, 11^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 105 or Psalm 85, 12^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 133 or Psalm 67, 13^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 124 or Psalm 138, 14^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 105 or Psalm 26, 15^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 149 or Psalm 119, 16^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 114 or Psalm 103, 17^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 105 or Psalm 145, 18^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 78 or Psalm 25, 19^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 19 or Psalm 80, 20^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 106 or Psalm 23, 21^st Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 99 or Psalm 96, 22^nd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 90 or Psalm 1, 23^rd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 107 or Psalm 43, 24^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 78 or Psalm 70, 25^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 123 or Psalm 90, 26^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 100 or Psalm 95.

Sources and notes:

“Psalm 65 is a song of joyful praise. From beginning to end, it does not cease its grateful recital of God’s works and their benefits. It praises God as God of the temple (vv. 1-4), God of the world (vv. 5-8), and God of the earth (vv. 9-13). Each of these three parts of the psalm is concluded by a description of the effect of God’s works (on the congregation, v. 4; on the world, v. 8; on the earth vv. 12-13). Throughout, God is directly addressed. The congregation stands in the presence of God in gratitude, awe, and joy.” Mays p. 219

“Psalm 65 is often used in services at harvest time and on the American day of Thanksgiving. Read and sung on such occasions, it furnishes the right agenda. The psalm directs attention first of all to God, away from any preoccupation with secular good fortune. It insists that thanksgiving is a theological work whose subject is God, not ourselves. It sets the priorities in the right order and begins with God, who answers our prayers and forgives our sins. It leads the congregation to come to God first of all in its neediness and failure. It is an antidote to self-satisfaction and self-congratulation. The psalm sets thanksgiving in a universal context and breaks open the proclivity to celebrate our national identity. It bind the congregation to people in the most distant places who also rejoice at the signs of the creation’s beauty and goodness. The psalm gives us language to celebrate our dependence on the good earth and its produce in a poetic and personal way. It transcends our growing habit of thinking of productivity in a technological fashion and allows us to speak to the one upon whose gift of a fertile earth all our science and economies depend. That all together is thanksgiving as it should be.” Mays pp. 220-221

“Psalm 65 begins in silence and ends with shouts and singing. As a thanksgiving psalm it contrasts with the string of laments that precedes it. Its multiple metaphors evoke our joyful imagination as the psalmist praises God the redeemer, creator, and sustainer. Building to a crescendo of praise, Psalm 65 unfolds in three sections, each focusing on God’s activity in the temple, cosmos, and earth, and the response to that activity.” W p. 171

“The image of the KINGAFAP God gives way to a delightful metaphor of God as farmer or gardener.” W p. 175 ”… the KINGFAP God found in Christian hymnals, as described by Brain Wren: “King-God-Almighty-Father-Protector,” who is aloof, transcendent, powerful, and in control”. W p. 175

“Psalm 65 “assumes an intricate connection between the activity in the sanctuary, the orderliness of the cosmos and the nations, and the fertility of the Earth” (see Deut. 11:13-17, in which divine forgiveness for sin is prerequisite for winter rains and good harvests). Perhaps Psalm 65 was sung during the feast of Sukkot/Tabernacles in the fall at the end of the summer harvest and beginning of the rainy season.” W p. 175

Altar, Robert.  2007.  The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary New York: W. W. Norton & Company

WBC Allen, Leslie C. 1983. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 101-150. Vol. 21. Waco, TX: Word Books, Publisher.

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. 1974. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible. 8th ed. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Press.

Bourgeault, C. (2006). Chanting the psalms: A practical guide Audio Book. New Seeds.

Brueggemann, Walter. 2007. Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture and the Life of the Spirit. 2nd ed. Eugene, OR: Cascade.

Brueggemann Brueggemann, Walter. 2014. From Whom No Secrets Are Hid: Introducing the Psalms. Edited by Brent A. Strawn. 1st ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

Brueggemann, Walter. Davis Hanskins, Editor. 2022.  Our Hearts Wait: Worshiping Through Praise and Lament in the Psalms Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville KY.

Brueggemann, Walter. (2002). Spirituality of the psalms. Augsburg Pub. House. 

Brueggemann, Walter. (1984). The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg.

Chilson, Richard, ed. You Shall Not Want: A Spiritual Journey Based on the Psalms. Ave Maria Press, 2009.

Chittister Chittister, Joan. (2011). Songs of the heart: reflections on the psalms. John Garratt Publishing. 

Cudjoe-Wilkes, G., Wilkes, A. J., & Moss, O. (2022). Psalms for black lives: Reflections for the work of Liberation. Upper Room Books. 

WBC Craigie, Peter C. 1983. Psalms 1-50–Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 19. Waco, TX: Word Books.

Creach Creach, Jerome Frederick Davis. 1998. Psalms: Interpretation Bible Studies. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

DAFLER, J. (2021). PSOBRIETY: A journey of recovery through the psalms. Louisville, KY: WESTMINSTER JOHN KNOX.

W de Claisse-Walford, Nancy L. WISDOM COMMENTARY: Psalms Bks. 4-5. Edited by Barbara E. Reid. Vol. 22. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2020. 

Green, Barbara. 1997. Like a Tree Planted: An Exploration of Psalms and Parables Through Metaphor. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press. 

W Hopkins, Denise Dombkowski. WISDOM COMMENTARY: Psalms Bks. 2-3. Edited by Barbara E. Reid. Vol. 21. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2016. 

NIB Keck, Leander E. 2015. The New Interpreters Bible Commentary. Vol. 3. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.

Lewis, C. S. (2017). Reflections on the Psalms. Harper One, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers. 

Mays Mays, James Luther. 1994. Psalms. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press.

McCann McCann, J. C. (1993). A theological introduction to the book of Psalms: The Psalms as Torah. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.

McCann, J. C., & Howell, J. C. 2001. Preaching the Psalms. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.

Merrill, N. C. (2020). Psalms for praying an invitation to wholeness (10th Anniversary Edition ed.). London, England: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Miller Miller, Patrick D. 1986. Interpreting the Psalms. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press.

Morgan, Michael. 2010.  The Psalter for Christian Worship Revised Edition. Westminster John Knox Press.

Schlimm Schlimm, Matthew Richard. 2018. 70 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know.Nashville, TN: Abington Press.

Spong Spong, M. (Ed.). (2020). The words of her mouth: Psalms for the struggle. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press.

WBC Tate, Marvin E. 1990. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 51-100. Edited by David Allan. Hubbard and Glenn W. Barker. Vol. 20. Waco, TX: Word.

Weems, Ann. 1995. Psalm of Lament. Westminster John Knox Pres

OTL Weiser, Artur. 1998. Old Testament Library: Psalms. Translated by Herbert Hartwell. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Manchester University Press.