Charles H. Spurgeon on Psalms 65:1

From Psalm 65 onwards we find ourselves in the midst of a series of Psalms which, with a varying arrangement of the words, are inscribed both kwmzm and wyv (65-68.) The two words signify a Psalm song. This series, as is universally the case, is arranged according to the community of prominent watch words. In Ps 65:2 we read: To thee is the vow paid; and in Ps 66:13: I will pay thee my vows; in Ps 66:20: Blessed be Elohim; and in Ps 67:8: Elohim shall bless us. Besides Psalm 66 and 67 have this feature in common, that tugml, which occurs fifty-five times in the Psalter, is accompanied by the name of the poet in every instance, with the exception of these two anonymous Psalms. The frequently occurring Sela of both Psalms also indicates that they were intended to have a musical accompaniment. Franz Delitzsch.

Title. A Psalm of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The Psalm is assigned to them, not as being its authors, but because it is supposed that it was often rehearsed by them at the beginning of the return from captivity, to teach us that those things ought especially to be sung concerning that happy restoration which these prophets were wont to sing about. But this inscription is not in the Hebrew text, nor in some translations, but only in certain versions. Jeremiah was not carried away to Babylon; see Jer 39:11, etc. Moreover, both he and Ezekiel died before the return. Poole's Synopsis.

Whole Psalm. The author of the Psalm is mentioned, but not the date of its composition; but from an examination of its contents, it would seem to have been intended as a song for the "day of atonement, " and for the "feast of tabernacles, "which followed immediately after. Nu 29:7,12. The sins of the year were then "covered over, "and a thorough purification of the sanctuary was made by a special service of expiation. The labours of the year were all by that time concluded, and its fruits secured; and Israel could look on the goodness of God towards them, through its entire extent; and this Psalm was penned to serve as a fitting expression of their feelings. It opens with a reference to the "silence" that reigned in the sanctuary; to the profound, unbroken, solemn stillness that reigned within it; while, in deep abasement, the people without waited in hushed expectation the return of their high priest from the immediate presence of God, Le 16:17. It goes on to a statement of the blessedness of those who are accepted of God, and admitted to fellowship with One so unspeakably great; and concludes with a description of the various processes by which the Almighty had fitted the earth to yield a year's supplies for his people. Dalman Hapstone, in "The Ancient Psalms in appropriate Meters... with Notes." 1867.

Whole Psalm. We have here a psalm of thanksgiving to be sung in the Temple during a public festivity, at which the sacrifices were to be offered which had been vowed during a long and protracted drought (Ps 65:1-2). To the thanksgiving, however, for a gracious rain, and the hope of an abundant harvest (Ps 65:9-14), is added gratitude for a signal deliverance during a time of distress and commotion affecting all the nations around (Ps 65:7-8). Thus the Psalm becomes a song of praise to Jehovah as the God of history and the God of nature, alike. From the "Psalms Chronologically Arranged. By Four Friends." 1867.

Whole Psalm. This is a charming psalm. Coming after the previous sad ones, it seems like the morning after the darkness of night. There is a dewy freshness about it, and from the ninth verse to the end there is a sweet succession of landscape pictures that remind one of the loveliness of spring; and truly it is a description, in natural figures, of that happy state of men's minds which will be the result of the "Day spring's visiting us from on high." Lu 1:7-8. O. Prescott Hiller.

Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion. The believer sometimes seems to want words to exalt God, and stops, as it were, in the middle; his thoughts want words. Thus praise waits, or is silent for God; it is silent to other things, and it waits to be employed about him. The soul is often put to a nonplus in crying up the grace of God, and wants words to express its greatness; yea, to answer the elevation of the thoughts; the heart indites a song of praise, but it cannot tune it. The psalmist is stopped, as it were, through admiration (which is silentium intellectus), for when the mind can rise no higher, it falls admiringly; hence some say, God is most exalted with fewest words. Alexander Carmichael.