Psalm 65

Order of Service

• Scripture Reading & Sermon — Psalm 65

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Sermon Title: The God of All Nature

Scripture: Psalm 65

I. The God of All Nature Is the God of Atonement

(Psalm 65:1–4)

A. The Hebrew word for "atone" (v. 3) appears only three times in the Psalter; its use here likely connects to the Day of Atonement, which preceded the Feast of Tabernacles by five days (Leviticus 23; Numbers 29)

B. The Feast of Tabernacles (Feast of Booths) was Israel's most joyous, eight-day harvest festival; coming on the heels of the Day of Atonement, it celebrates not only material blessing but God's forgiving, atoning grace

C. Atonement literally means "a covering" — the sacrificial blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat (cover of the ark of the covenant), shielding Israel's broken law from the gaze of the holy God

D. Verse 4 — "Blessed is the one you choose and bring near" — points to the appointed high priest alone entering the Holy of Holies

1. In Numbers, God is severe about who may draw near; Korah's rebellion illustrates the gravity of unauthorized approach
2. Christ did not appoint himself but was appointed by the Father as high priest after the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:5)
3. He now ministers in the true heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 8:1–2), having offered his own blood once for all

E. Believers are therefore sealed to the heavenly courts through Christ, who always lives to intercede; material blessings ought to draw us deeper into rejoicing over spiritual, atoning blessings

II. The God of All Nature Is the God of All the Earth

(Psalm 65:5–8)

A. The Lord is called "the hope of all the ends of the earth" (v. 5); "to you shall all flesh come" (v. 2) — the God of Israel is the only God and therefore the hope of all mankind

B. He established the mountains

1. In the ancient Near East, mountains were objects of pagan worship because of their majesty; the psalm declares God is not the mountain but the one who established it
2. This points to his almighty, creator power

C. He stills the roaring of the seas and waves

1. The sea represented chaos and mortal danger; God brings calm to raging waters
2. Illustrated in Jonah — the sailors worship Yahweh when the storm ceases
3. Echoed in the Gospels — when Christ stills the sea, the disciples ask, "Who is this that the winds and sea obey him?" identifying him as Yahweh incarnate

D. He stills the tumult of the peoples — Hebrew parallelism links the stilling of the sea with the stilling of the nations

1. Revelation 21:1–4 — "the sea was no more" parallels the end of all mourning, crying, and pain
2. The God who stills the sea is the God who wipes away all sorrow forever; this hope is manifested in Jesus Christ

III. The God of All Nature Is the God of Grace

(Psalm 65:9–13)

A. Verses 9–13 reflect the joy of the Feast of Tabernacles; the heaped-up language of abundance shows God loves to lavish his people with good things — he is not stingy

B. For an agrarian people in an arid land, rain was literally life or death; Israel's joy at the harvest is directed not at their own labor but at the God who blessed the fruit of that labor

C. Grace operates on both ends — unmerited grace at salvation, and continued grace that incentivizes and rewards faithful work

1. Before the Fall, God told Adam to till the ground — work is the means of unwrapping God's hidden gifts of grace
2. The pattern repeats: Adam awakens to unmerited grace and is immediately sent to work and have dominion
3. Romans 8:32 — "He who did not spare his own Son… how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?"
4. Illustration: a father's allowance is undeserved by the child, yet the gracious reward is incentive to faithful work; grace is not a license to idleness

D. The closing image — meadows, valleys, and hills shouting and singing for joy — is not literal, but rhetorical: inanimate creation strains to praise; how much more should image-bearers of God use their lips and voices to praise him

1. Echoes Christ's words at the triumphal entry: "If these are silent, the very stones will cry out"
2. The ability to sing God's praise is a unique dignity of bearing the image of God
3. Psalm 65 is a call to use our voices to praise God for both material blessings and atoning grace