Psalms 65:1-4

Psalm 65

For the music director; a psalm of David, a song.

65:1 Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion.

Vows made to you are fulfilled.

65:2 You hear prayers;

all people approach you.

65:3 Our record of sins overwhelms me,

but you forgive our acts of rebellion.

65:4 How blessed is the one whom you choose,

and allow to live in your palace courts.

May we be satisfied with the good things of your house –

your holy palace.


sn Psalm 65. The psalmist praises God because he forgives sin and blesses his people with an abundant harvest.

tn Heb “for you, silence, praise.” Many prefer to emend the noun דֻּמִיָּה (dumiyyah, “silence”) to a participle דּוֹמִיָּה (domiyyah), from the root דָּמָה (damah, “be silent”), understood here in the sense of “wait.”

tn Heb “O one who hears prayer.”

tn Heb “to you all flesh comes.”

tn Heb “the records of sins are too strong for me.”

tn Or “make atonement for.”

tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

tn Heb “[whom] you bring near [so that] he might live [in] your courts.”

tn Or “temple.”