WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.540 Read Psalm 65 for us. 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:06.960 Praise is due to you, O God in Zion, 00:00:07.520 --> 00:00:09.880 and to you shall vows be performed. 00:00:11.019 --> 00:00:15.460 O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come. 00:00:16.140 --> 00:00:18.839 When iniquities prevail against me, 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:21.280 you atone for our transgressions. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:26.560 Blessed is the one you choose 00:00:26.560 --> 00:00:29.199 and bring near to dwell in your courts. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:33.539 We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:35.539 the holiness of your temple. 00:00:36.359 --> 00:00:39.280 By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, 00:00:39.879 --> 00:00:41.399 O God of our salvation, 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:44.179 the hope of all the ends of the earth 00:00:44.179 --> 00:00:46.399 and of the farther seas, 00:00:46.980 --> 00:00:50.840 the one who is by his strength established the mountains, 00:00:51.379 --> 00:00:52.840 being girded with might, 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:55.539 who stills the roaring of the seas, 00:00:55.899 --> 00:00:57.420 the roaring of their waves, 00:00:57.420 --> 00:00:59.240 the tumult of the peoples, 00:00:59.760 --> 00:01:02.480 so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth 00:01:02.480 --> 00:01:04.299 are in awe at your signs. 00:01:04.760 --> 00:01:06.659 You make the going out of the morning 00:01:06.659 --> 00:01:09.019 and the evening to shout for joy. 00:01:09.620 --> 00:01:11.719 You visit the earth and water it. 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:13.460 You greatly enrich it. 00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:16.000 The river of God is full of water. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:17.980 You provide their grain, 00:01:18.540 --> 00:01:21.060 for so you have prepared it. 00:01:21.540 --> 00:01:23.439 You water its furrows abundantly, 00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:25.180 settling its ridges, 00:01:25.500 --> 00:01:26.939 softening it with showers, 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:28.819 and blessing its growth. 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:31.420 You crown the year with your bounty. 00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:34.519 Your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:37.079 The pastures of the wilderness overflow. 00:01:37.659 --> 00:01:39.560 The hills gird themselves with joy. 00:01:39.900 --> 00:01:42.240 The meadows clothe themselves with flocks. 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:44.640 The valleys deck themselves with grain. 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:48.060 They shout and sing together for joy. 00:01:48.060 --> 00:01:48.120 Okay. 00:01:50.340 --> 00:01:54.439 So as I came to read the psalm, 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:58.100 I was a bit vexed as I went to look at it, 00:01:58.439 --> 00:02:02.219 trying to pick up some sort of unifying theme, 00:02:03.520 --> 00:02:08.259 or what was the big picture kind of thing 00:02:08.259 --> 00:02:09.280 as I was looking at it. 00:02:10.539 --> 00:02:13.439 And so I just kind of went through 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:14.620 to see what was here. 00:02:14.620 --> 00:02:17.400 And so I have a list of things 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:19.900 that are found here in this psalm 00:02:19.900 --> 00:02:21.520 of a mere 13 verses. 00:02:22.439 --> 00:02:24.700 This is not a holistic list. 00:02:24.900 --> 00:02:26.480 There are things I kind of skipped over, 00:02:26.920 --> 00:02:29.219 ideas that I put together. 00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:32.840 But here is the list of things 00:02:32.840 --> 00:02:35.939 that are found here in these 13 verses. 00:02:36.939 --> 00:02:38.540 There's praise due to God. 00:02:39.480 --> 00:02:41.319 We're to perform vows to God. 00:02:41.319 --> 00:02:43.859 You learn that God hears prayers. 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:47.340 When we sin, God atones for our sin. 00:02:48.340 --> 00:02:49.979 You know, it's blessed are those 00:02:49.979 --> 00:02:51.079 who are in God's presence. 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:54.239 We're encouraged to be satisfied 00:02:54.239 --> 00:02:55.719 with God's presence. 00:02:56.519 --> 00:02:58.620 The psalmist declares that God is righteous. 00:02:59.359 --> 00:03:01.019 God performs awesome deeds. 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:02.620 God is salvation. 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:05.680 God is hope to the ends of the earth. 00:03:06.259 --> 00:03:07.599 God established mountains. 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:11.460 God stills the roaring seas. 00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:14.379 God stills the waves of the seas. 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:18.060 All people marvel at God's power. 00:03:19.139 --> 00:03:21.120 God controls the arrival of morning. 00:03:21.879 --> 00:03:23.840 God controls the arrival of dawn. 00:03:25.060 --> 00:03:26.180 God waters the earth. 00:03:27.139 --> 00:03:28.199 God enriches the earth. 00:03:29.019 --> 00:03:30.000 God provides grain. 00:03:30.859 --> 00:03:32.199 God waters the earth abundantly. 00:03:32.620 --> 00:03:34.919 God softens the ground and brings growth. 00:03:34.919 --> 00:03:37.759 God brings forth bounty from the land. 00:03:38.559 --> 00:03:40.579 God brings forth enough bounty 00:03:40.579 --> 00:03:43.799 to bring in excessive abundance. 00:03:45.299 --> 00:03:47.859 You see that even the untended lands 00:03:47.859 --> 00:03:48.719 produce abundantly. 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:50.759 The hills produce abundantly. 00:03:51.399 --> 00:03:53.539 The meadows produce flocks abundantly. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:56.339 The valleys produce grain abundantly. 00:03:57.339 --> 00:04:01.099 And there is a shout and singing for joy. 00:04:01.099 --> 00:04:07.379 I thought, that's a lot in 13 verses. 00:04:08.419 --> 00:04:13.039 And it seems that the psalmist has a bit of a free-flowing thought. 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:18.600 And the psalmist is following one idea to the next, to the next, and to the next. 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:26.240 And so two things came to mind as I was looking at this psalm. 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:31.900 And one of the things that came to mind as we go to understand it 00:04:31.900 --> 00:04:37.879 is I felt like it was valuable to take a holistic approach. 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:41.699 And by that I mean to process the psalm as a whole. 00:04:41.699 --> 00:04:48.519 Not to process the psalm as a collection of verses or a collection of ideas. 00:04:48.920 --> 00:04:56.240 Instead to try to experience the psalm as one entity. 00:04:56.719 --> 00:05:03.519 Not try to follow verse by verse to piece out where the psalmist is trying to take us 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:04.939 in a step-by-step process. 00:05:04.939 --> 00:05:10.800 As an analogy to kind of understand this holistic approach, 00:05:11.339 --> 00:05:13.600 I thought of eating a chocolate chip cookie. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:15.800 And I like chocolate chip cookies. 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:16.939 And it's good. 00:05:17.300 --> 00:05:21.220 And when I eat a chocolate chip cookie, I just eat the cookie and I experience it. 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:22.480 And I say, that's good. 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:24.899 And I enjoy it as a cookie. 00:05:24.899 --> 00:05:32.039 I don't try and pull it apart and enjoy it as a mixture of its elements. 00:05:32.139 --> 00:05:36.779 I don't try to pull it apart and enjoy the flour, enjoy the butter, enjoy the chocolate chips, 00:05:37.379 --> 00:05:40.879 enjoy the baking soda or the sugar and the eggs and the vanilla. 00:05:41.179 --> 00:05:42.779 I don't try to enjoy the pieces of it. 00:05:43.599 --> 00:05:45.759 I enjoy it when it's all put together. 00:05:46.799 --> 00:05:48.359 And in the same way in the psalm, I thought, 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:52.419 it's kind of just one of those things that you enjoy when it's all together. 00:05:52.420 --> 00:05:58.060 And it's a bit of an experience of what the psalmist heart, 00:05:58.660 --> 00:06:03.740 as he's coming before God, in this idea of just amazement before God, 00:06:04.180 --> 00:06:08.220 and this tracking of what God can do and who God is, 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:12.480 and how God has control and power over all these things. 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:24.819 The second idea that came to mind was the use of creation and the discussion of creation 00:06:24.819 --> 00:06:31.759 as a way of understanding God's power and of understanding God's character. 00:06:32.520 --> 00:06:37.160 And through the course of the scriptures, this is constantly brought up 00:06:37.160 --> 00:06:42.160 as we look upon the created element, that which God has created, 00:06:42.280 --> 00:06:45.939 and says, look, that creation tells us something about God. 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:50.700 In fact, the Bible very much just begins at that point where God says, 00:06:50.920 --> 00:06:51.760 look at what I've created. 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:56.220 I thought also of the end of the story of Job, 00:06:56.600 --> 00:07:02.340 where the last four or so chapters of Job have this great declaration of who God is. 00:07:02.339 --> 00:07:06.519 And it's done through looking at the world that God has created. 00:07:07.599 --> 00:07:14.219 So in the same way, this psalmist really reflects upon that idea of looking at the created world 00:07:14.219 --> 00:07:22.879 and through that being able to discern the might and the power and the amazement of our God. 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:27.860 And one of the things that amazed me as I think of this idea of creation 00:07:27.860 --> 00:07:31.259 and how the Bible uses that to discuss God 00:07:31.259 --> 00:07:36.779 is that that's one of those things that whatever time we're in, 00:07:37.300 --> 00:07:38.879 whatever culture we're in, 00:07:39.620 --> 00:07:44.540 whether it's 2,000 years ago when Jesus was alive, 00:07:44.980 --> 00:07:48.219 or maybe 3,000 years ago when this passage was written, 00:07:48.220 --> 00:07:53.320 or we could probably even look into the future and say 2,000 and 3,000 years from now, 00:07:53.800 --> 00:07:56.420 people look at creation and they're like, 00:07:56.600 --> 00:08:00.420 there's a certain awe factor that comes. 00:08:00.860 --> 00:08:04.460 And often I think when we think of creation in this awe factor, 00:08:04.780 --> 00:08:10.680 we think of going to this great vista and seeing some picturesque scene. 00:08:11.980 --> 00:08:15.120 But, you know, and while that is certainly a beauty to that, 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:19.220 there's beauty in the created element here even in our city 00:08:19.220 --> 00:08:25.040 as we look and just look into the sky and see that wonderful blue sky. 00:08:25.740 --> 00:08:31.319 And I think of even as we have in our age, this age of great advance, 00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:35.620 which is a little bit funny to me because I think pretty much all ages 00:08:35.620 --> 00:08:39.860 in a pretty extensive amount of time have thought they were in this age 00:08:39.860 --> 00:08:41.519 of great intellectual advancement. 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:46.639 But we look at ourselves now in this age of great intellectual advancement, 00:08:47.139 --> 00:08:49.039 at least by those who came before us, 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:51.559 and the great technology that we have. 00:08:52.039 --> 00:08:54.100 And of all the effort that goes into that, 00:08:54.659 --> 00:08:56.919 we still can't predict the weather. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:00.439 As you go to look at this upcoming snowstorm, 00:09:00.579 --> 00:09:02.899 I thought the prediction is three to six inches. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:08.220 I'm like, that's a pretty significant variation that we're going on. 00:09:08.220 --> 00:09:11.500 And, you know, that's kind of a rough prediction. 00:09:12.180 --> 00:09:14.340 And I thought, huh, with all that we have going, 00:09:14.920 --> 00:09:17.160 we still can't accurately predict the weather. 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:19.759 I mean, if we can't accurately predict the weather, 00:09:20.460 --> 00:09:23.840 I mean, think of how far we are from being able to control the weather. 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:26.360 That's one of the things this psalmist even talks about, 00:09:26.420 --> 00:09:30.240 that's God's ability to control creation. 00:09:30.700 --> 00:09:34.100 But with this idea of trying to experience this psalm as a whole, 00:09:34.100 --> 00:09:37.000 I think it's helpful if we hear it again. 00:09:37.659 --> 00:09:40.860 And so I'm going to read the psalm for us again. 00:09:41.700 --> 00:09:44.500 And it's one of those, if you want to follow along while I'm reading, 00:09:44.580 --> 00:09:45.220 you certainly can. 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:49.320 If you want to just listen and experience it that way. 00:09:49.820 --> 00:09:55.840 But try, as we come, to put ourselves before God 00:09:55.840 --> 00:10:00.320 and see this image that is being presented here. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:03.820 Because what is very much being presented in this psalm is this image of God 00:10:03.820 --> 00:10:06.900 and of who God is and how God has the ability 00:10:06.900 --> 00:10:09.580 and the power to control all things. 00:10:10.820 --> 00:10:12.000 Let me read it for us. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:17.539 Praise is due to you, O God in Zion, 00:10:17.980 --> 00:10:20.720 and to you shall vows be performed. 00:10:21.720 --> 00:10:25.980 O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come. 00:10:26.740 --> 00:10:31.620 When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions. 00:10:32.379 --> 00:10:37.460 Blessed is the one you choose and bring near to dwell in your courts. 00:10:37.460 --> 00:10:42.259 We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, 00:10:42.600 --> 00:10:44.900 the holiness of your temple. 00:10:46.040 --> 00:10:49.480 By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness. 00:10:49.980 --> 00:10:51.680 O God of our salvation, 00:10:52.060 --> 00:10:55.160 the hope of all the ends of the earth 00:10:55.160 --> 00:10:57.300 and of the farthest seas, 00:10:57.980 --> 00:11:02.100 the one who by his strength established the mountains, 00:11:02.560 --> 00:11:03.879 being girded with might, 00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:06.980 who stills the roaring of the seas, 00:11:07.460 --> 00:11:09.420 the roaring of their waves, 00:11:09.680 --> 00:11:11.540 the torment of the peoples, 00:11:12.160 --> 00:11:15.000 so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:17.759 are in awe at your signs. 00:11:18.259 --> 00:11:20.540 You make the going out of the morning 00:11:20.540 --> 00:11:23.280 and the evening to shout for joy. 00:11:23.940 --> 00:11:26.259 You visit the earth and water it. 00:11:26.740 --> 00:11:28.340 You greatly enrich it. 00:11:28.740 --> 00:11:31.540 The river of God is full of water. 00:11:31.540 --> 00:11:34.000 You provide their grain, 00:11:34.360 --> 00:11:37.200 for so you have prepared it. 00:11:37.460 --> 00:11:40.060 You water its furrows abundantly, 00:11:40.440 --> 00:11:42.300 setting its ridges, 00:11:42.840 --> 00:11:44.420 softening it with showers, 00:11:44.800 --> 00:11:46.420 and blessing its growth. 00:11:46.920 --> 00:11:49.500 You crown the year with your bounty. 00:11:49.940 --> 00:11:52.700 Your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. 00:11:53.139 --> 00:11:55.740 The pastures of the wilderness overflow. 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:58.800 The hills gird themselves with joy. 00:11:58.800 --> 00:12:01.860 The meadows clothe themselves with flocks. 00:12:01.860 --> 00:12:04.560 The valleys deck themselves with grain. 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:08.820 They shout and sing together for joy. 00:12:08.820 --> 00:12:10.720 Those beginning with Marcir nicely, 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:12.460 blondado, 00:12:12.460 --> 00:12:14.580 Coastal, 00:12:15.060 --> 00:12:15.460 the grated German sinking for theurfing bar 00:12:15.460 --> 00:12:16.220 of the earth. 00:12:19.900 --> 00:12:22.020 The fundament did your lossiße, 00:12:22.020 --> 00:12:22.580 Amen. 00:12:26.780 --> 00:12:28.680 Come on, 00:12:28.780 --> 00:12:29.600 you McMahon 00:12:30.379 --> 00:12:32.840 we have a better job.