Praise belongs to You, O Indwelling Beloved,
and to You we commit our lives, to You who hear our prayers!
To You we come when we go astray;
When our transgressions fill us with guilt, You do forgive us.
Blessed are those who draw near to You, those who dwell in your Heart!
Awaken us to your kindness, enter into the Sacred Chapel of our heart!
Through pain and suffering, your Presence sustains us,
O Merciful One, our Comforter,
You, the hope of all the earth to the distant shore that brings us Home.
By your Light the foundations were created being guided by Love;
you still the roaring of the seas, the pounding of waves, the tumult of the peoples,
So that those who dwell even at earth’s outer bounds recognize and reverence You.
At the rise of each morning, and as the sun sets at night,
the people bow their heads in reverent gratitude.
You visited the earth and slaked our thirst, offering Living Streams of water;
You fed the hungry, and taught of Love’s way.
You watered hardened souls, filled with stone and weeds,
softening them with kindness, and blessing their growth.
You crowned your years with abandonment, inviting all to Eternal Life.
In the desert flowers come forth, the pastures flourish with fruit and grain;
Creation’s diversity is glorious!
May all people honor these gifts with joyful song while walking the path of Love.
Nan C. Merrill Psalms for Praying
Reflection:
Psalm 65 opens with praise for a God who listens to prayer and forgives sin. This is a God who knows people intimately, cares for them deeply and is attentive to both the great and the small. God blesses the people, tends the earth, and sustains the cosmos in love.
In this psalm, God’s work is expressed through both masculine and feminine imagery. If you are looking for a King—Almighty, Father, Protector—you can find him here. If you are seeking a Gardener—Caretaker, Mother, Nurturer—you can find her here as well. Often, we find what we are looking for. My hope is that we seek (and discover) the Beloved who dwells with us, whose love knows no bounds.
I have spent my life in mainline churches, mostly within the PCUSA. It is easy to encounter the King-God imagery in hymnals and liturgical resources, but with a little attention, one also finds beautiful feminine images of God. The prayer I’ve chosen to accompany Psalm 65 reflects this: it includes feminine imagery, care for both people and creation, and a phrase I especially love, “Yours is the love that cannot be contained.” It reminds me that all of creation is held together by an abundant, overflowing, uncontainable love.
Christen Cleveland shares a similar thought about Mary, calling her the “container for the uncontainable” in her book,”God is a Black Woman.” I read the book a few years ago, but that image has remained with me.
Prayer:
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’ve adapted this prayer from the PCUSA book of Common Worship that was published in 2018 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. 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 Psalm’s 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.
Check out other psalm reflections in the links below or find more of my writing published in Presbyterian Outlook or listen to my experiments in podcasting on the Period Pastor Podcast. Follow me @periodpastor
Past reflection links:
Psalm 65 Year C (2024-2025)
Psalm 65 Year A (2022-2023)
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. Many churches use the Revised Common Lectionary (RLC) that rotates scripture on a three-year cycle (A, B, and C). Starting in Advent 2019, the 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. When we returned to in person worship, we took the psalm reflections out of the order of worship. I continued to write them for the blog. Advent of 2022 year A. I left church work in July of 2023 but continued the practice of writing psalm reflections. Advent of 2023 year B. Advent of 2024 year C. I finished year C early, so I began work on psalms I missed: Psalm 119, Year D and others not in the lectionary. By the end of 2025, I have written a reflection for each psalm.
Advent of 2025 year A.
I use the Vanderbilt Divinity Library’s resource for lectionary readings and the PCUSA planning calendar to make text selections.
Year A Psalms
1st Sunday in Advent Psalm 122, 2nd Sunday in Advent Psalm 72, 3rd Sunday in Advent Psalm 146, 4th Sunday in Advent Psalm 80, Christmas Psalm 96, Psalm 97, Psalm 98, 1st Sunday after Christmas Psalm 148, 2nd Sunday after Christmas Psalm 147, 1st Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 29, 2nd Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 40, 3rd Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 27, 4th Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 15, 5th Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 112, Transfiguration Sunday Psalm 2 or Psalm 99.
1st Sunday in Lent Psalm 32, 2nd Sunday in Lent Psalm 121, 3rdSunday in Lent Psalm 95, 4th Sunday in Lent Psalm 23, 5th Sunday in Lent Psalm 130, 6th Sunday in Lent Psalm 118 or Psalm 31.
Easter Psalm 118 or Psalm 114, 2nd Sunday of Easter Psalm 16 or Psalm 111, 3rd Sunday of Easter Psalm 116 or Psalm 34, 4th Sunday of Easter Psalm 23 or Psalm 100, 5th Sunday of Easter Psalm 31 or Psalm 119: 9-32, 6th Sunday of Easter Psalm 66 or Psalm 115, 7th Sunday of Easter Psalm 68 or Psalm 21, Pentecost Psalm 104.
1st Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 8, 2nd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 33 or Psalm 50, 3rd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 116 or Psalm 100, 4th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 86 or Psalm 69, 5th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 13 or Psalm 89, 6th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 45 or Psalm 145, 7th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 119 or Psalm 65, 8th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 139 or Psalm 86, 9th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 105 or Psalm 119, 10th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 17 or Psalm 145, 11th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 105 or Psalm 85, 12th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 133 or Psalm 67, 13th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 124 or Psalm 138, 14th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 105 or Psalm 26, 15thSunday after Pentecost Psalm 149 or Psalm 119, 16th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 114 or Psalm 103, 17th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 105 or Psalm 145, 18th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 78 or Psalm 25, 19th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 19 or Psalm 80, 20th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 106 or Psalm 23, 21st Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 99 or Psalm 96, 22nd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 90 or Psalm 1, 23rd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 107 or Psalm 43, 24th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 78 or Psalm 70, 25th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 123 or Psalm 90, 26th 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
“Verses 1-4 are an act of praise. …. The problem is sins or transgressions. The resolution which is celebrated is “You have covered (forgiven) them.” The term rendered “forgive” is a priestly term, not meaning “pardon” in a juridical sense, but a priestly act of covering over the guilt to rob it of its power. So we have a public celebration of God’s forgiveness.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 135
“Let us not miss the dramatic claim. The whole people (together with the king, presumably) concedes its guilt and celebrates its forgiveness. Such a scene is nearly unthinkable in our public life. Of course, our society is not a theocracy. Religious pluralism makes it problematic, but the main problem is not pluralism, for we have sufficient resources in common religion for that. The problem is that public imagination is so filled with pride, self-serving complacency, and moral numbness that we could hardly imagine an act of public repentance or acknowledgement of forgiveness, for to ask for and receive forgiveness is to be vulnerable. If we were to use this psalm, we might reflect on the dimensions of guilt which vex public life, e.g., colonialism exploitative economics, or misuse of the ecosystem of creation. Our public life is not lacking material for such a liturgical act.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 135
Verse 5 “The psalm is the speech of a liberated people. We are not told what the disorientation was; perhaps it was drought or war. But what emerges now is a people prepared to get on with its public business, because Yahweh has acted.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 136
“The remainder of the psalm (vv. 5b-13) is a hymnic form that articulates God’s powerful work in the arena of creation. This is the God who establishes, who stills, who makes, who visits, who enriches, who provides, who waters, who crowns. …. The God of this psalm not only intervenes in the historical process of oppression, but also governs the reliability of creation, which gives life.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 136
Alter, 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, 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, Joan. (2011). Songs of the heart: reflections on the psalms. John Garratt Publishing.
Cudjoe-Wilkes and Wilkes 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, 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, James Luther. 1994. Psalms. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press.
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, 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, Matthew Richard. 2018. 70 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know. Nashville, TN: Abington Press.
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.
Period Pastor Pad 