Psalm 65:4
Blessed is the one You choose and bring near to dwell in Your courts! We are filled with the goodness of Your house, the holiness of Your temple.
Sermons
Delight in the Presence of GodPsalm 65:4
The Blessedness of Approaching to GodS. Lavington.Psalm 65:4
The Blessedness of Approaching to GodJohn Ramsay, M. A.Psalm 65:4
The Happiness of SaintsT. Laurie, D. D.Psalm 65:4
WorshipAnon.Psalm 65:4
A Harvest HymnJ. Stalker, D. D.Psalm 65:1-13
God as He Appears in Human HistoryHomilistPsalm 65:1-13
Harvest ThanksgivingW. Forsyth Psalm 65:1-13
Praises and Vows Accepted in ZionPsalm 65:1-13
Reasons for Praising GodC. Short Psalm 65:1-13
Zion's Praise Ready for Her LordPsalm 65:1-13














I. Here is A CONFESSION DEFEAT. When we look within we find that, instead of all being right, all is wrong. This alarms us. We rouse ourselves to action. We resolve to live a new life of love and holiness. But the more we try the less we succeed. Our strength is weakness. Our purposes are broken off. Our best endeavours end in defeat. Instead of overcoming evil, we are overcome of evil. Instead of gaining purity and freedom, our case grows worse, and we groan in misery as the bond slaves of sin. Confused and confounded, our cry is, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me?"

II. THANKSGIVING FOR VICTORY. Though we despair of ourselves, we must not despair of God. We know what God is, and what he has done for us, and therefore we turn to him with hope. Casting ourselves simply upon his mercy in Christ, we are able to grasp the gracious promise, "Sin shall not have dominion over you." God's love to us is a personal love. God's work in us is designed to make us pure from sin, and he will perfect it in the day of Christ. While we say, therefore, with grief and pain, "Iniquities prevail against me," let us with renewed hope proclaim, "As for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away. - W.F.

Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest, and causest to approach unto Thee, that he may dwell in Thy courts.
This psalm includes a thanksgiving for God's bounties in Providence, for the beauties of spring, and the natural supply of man's wants; but the privileges of the sanctuary are here made a special subject of grateful acknowledgment.

I. THE PSALMIST HERE COMMENDS PUBLIC WORSHIP —

1. As a peculiar privilege. "Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest and causest to approach unto Thee." The opportunity of enjoying such an approach is not given to all, but brings special responsibility to those to whom God grants it.

2. As an approach unto God. God is never far from us, but when we meet in His courts we are able more distinctly to realize His nearness to us. We often have a deep and glad sense of His presence.

3. As the finding a new home. "That he may dwell in Thy courts." There may be a reference here, as in other psalms, to the Levites who literally dwelt there that they might attend to the performances of the services; but the latter part of this verse implies that David claimed for himself a share in the privilege. The thought is — "we, as dwellers in the courts of the Lord, shall be satisfied."

4. As an abundant provision. Here the wants both of the mind and of the heart are met.

5. As a holy service.

II. GENERAL REMARKS ON PUBLIC WORSHIP.

1. It is valuable for testimony. Christians thus witness for Christ, and confess their faith.

2. For its associations. What memories cluster round the sanctuaries where we have worshipped I

3. For communion 'with one another. Thus we are helped by association one with the other in the various acts of worship.

4. For the worship itself in its various parts — prayer, instruction, praise. Then, let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, and let us seek to make the highest use of the ordinances of religion.

(Anon.)

Who is the happiest man? The miser says, Blessed is the man whose corn and wine are increased, The sensualist says, Blessed is he who has no Lord over him, and who walks after the ways of his heart, and the sight of his eyes, without the least control from any laws, human or divine. The ambitious man says, Blessed is he who is highest in favour at court; who is admitted to the confidence of his prince. But, "Blessed is the man," says David (and so says every Christian), "whom Thou choosest, and causest to approach unto Thee."

I. EXPLAIN THE NATURE OF THIS APPROACH TO GOD.

1. Consider what it is not. It is not bowing the knee, and saying a prayer, and putting on an appearance of seriousness at particular times; it is not going often to the house of the Lord, and coming and sitting before Him as His people; the humble, self-condemned publican, that stood afar off, approached nearer to God than the Pharisee, though he confidently pushed forward to the holy of holies. To approach Him is an act of the mind, not of the body. God is a spirit, and they that worship Him acceptably, must do it not merely with a bended knee, and a loud voice, and an uplifted eye, or a head hanging down like a bulrush. These things are comparatively indifferent; if unaccompanied with sincerity, they are worse than indifferent; they are offensive and abominable to God, who will be worshipped in spirit and in truth.

II. IN WHAT DOES THE BLESSEDNESS OF APPROACHING TO GOD CONSIST? In the honour, the pleasure, the profit we enjoy.

III. THE HINDRANCES TO SUCH APPROACH.

1. Sin, this destroys our communion with God until we repent and return to Him.

2. The world.

3. Satan.

(S. Lavington.)

The saints of God are blessed —

I. IN FEELING THE JOYS OF DEVOTION.

II. IN OBTAINING THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN.

III. IN FINDING A RETREAT FROM AFFLICTION.

IV. IN THE ANTICIPATION OF A BETTER WORLD. As the mariner who has been long tossed on a troubled ocean, or detained in a foreign country, is desirous to revisit his native shore, and, when he first discovers the hoary rocks of the green isle rising with rugged grandeur above the waves, his eye beams with joy; so the saint who has been sojourning many a tedious year in a waste howling desert, pants to behold the beauty of paradise, and darts his eye radiant with rapture towards the delightful abode.

(T. Laurie, D. D.)

I. WHAT IS MEANT BY APPROACHING TO GOD. There was a time when the Lord came down and conversed with man, as one friend does with another, when no thunder, and lightning, and tempest accompanied him, and when no conscious guilt inspired the human breast with terror; and a time will come again, dark and disconsolate though our condition now be, when the veil shall be removed, and we shall so behold the glory of the Lord, as to be completely changed into the same image. Now, sin interposes a dark cloud betwixt us and our God, so that we can have but a very imperfect view of His glory and majesty. "We see as through a glass darkly." There are seasons, however, when the Christian is admitted, as it were, within the veil, when he sees the King in His beauty, and enjoys that delightful communion with Him, which is a foretaste of the heavenly bliss.

II. WHEREIN THE HAPPINESS OF APPROACHING TO GOD CONSISTS.

1. It is the highest honour; far superior to every dignity, an honour compared to which all the pomp and splendour of earthly greatness dwindle into insignificance.

2. It is a pleasure. God is the chief good. He is the source of life, and joy, and happiness. To go, therefore, to Him, and draw our enjoyments pure from the fountain from which they flow, must be peculiarly gratifying to every person who can properly distinguish between good and evil.

3. It is highly profitable.

III. OBSTACLES THAT PREVENT OUR APPROACHING TO GOD.

1. The corruption of our own heart. This may be regarded as the first and greatest of all, because while this continues unsubdued, we cannot advance a single step in our journey to heaven; whereas, if this be overcome, none of the rest will be able to obstruct our progress.

2. The world.(1) How many, oppressed with the cares of this life, are wholly unconcerned about the joys of the life that is to come!(2) How many are the slaves of unhallowed lusts! The world holds out to them the intoxicating cup of forbidden pleasures; they drink it, and the luscious draught diffuses its baneful influence over the soul.(3) How many are deterred from the service of God by the fear of suffering! They would willingly serve God if they could do it with safety; but they cannot think of submitting to difficulties and trials in His service.

3. Another obstacle in the way of our approaching to God, is Satan. He is the deceiver and the destroyer.Lessons —

1. They who do not approach to God will perish.

2. The value of the privilege we possess, of approaching to God in the ways of His appointment.

3. It is only through the mediation of Jesus Christ that we can approach to God.

(John Ramsay, M. A.)

A nervous clergyman, who could only compose to advantage when absolutely alone and undisturbed, left his door unlocked, and his little three-year-old child softly opened the door and came in. He was disturbed, and a little impatiently asked, "My child, what do you want?" "Nothing, papa." "Then what do you come in here for?" "Just because I wanted to be with you," was the reply. To come into God's presence and wait before Him, wanting nothing but to be with Him — how such an hour now and again would rest us.

People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Approach, Blessed, Bring, Bringest, Cause, Causest, Choose, Choosest, Courts, Drawest, Dwell, Filled, Full, Goodness, Happiness, Happy, Holy, Inhabiteth, O, Resting-place, Satisfied, Selection, Temple
Outline
1. David praises God for his grace
4. The blessedness of God's chosen by reason of benefits

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 65:4

     1065   God, holiness of
     5270   court
     6622   choice
     6636   drawing near to God
     6640   election, privileges
     8297   love, for God

Psalm 65:1-5

     8609   prayer, as praise and thanksgiving

Library
Sin Overcoming and Overcome
'Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, Thou shalt purge them away.'--PSALM. lxv. 3. There is an intended contrast in these two clauses more pointed and emphatic in the original than in our Bible, between man's impotence and God's power in the face of the fact of sin. The words of the first clause might be translated, with perhaps a little increase of vividness, 'iniquities are too strong for me'; and the 'Thou' of the next clause is emphatically expressed in the original, 'as
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Praises and Vows Accepted in Zion
In fulfillment of this ancient type, we also "have an altar whereof they have no right to eat that serve the tabernacle." Into our spiritual worship, no observers of materialistic ritualism may intrude; they have no right to eat at our spiritual altar, and there is no other at which they can eat and live for ever. There is but one altar Jesus Christ our Lord. All other altars are impostures and idolatrous inventions. Whether of stone, or wood, or brass, they are the toys with which those amuse themselves
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

Daily Bread.
(Harvest Thanksgiving.) PSALM lxv. 9. "Thou preparest them corn." "Come, ye thankful people, come," and let us thank God for another harvest. Once more the Father, the Feeder, has given bread to strengthen man's heart, and we turn from the corn stored in the garner, to God's own garner the Church, where He has stored up food for our souls. And first of all, my brothers, let us be honest with ourselves. Are we quite sure that we are thankful to God for the harvest? We have decorated God's House
H. J. Wilmot-Buxton—The Life of Duty, a Year's Plain Sermons, v. 2

Prayer, Praise and Thanksgiving
"Dr. A. J. Gordon describes the impression made upon his mind by intercourse with Joseph Rabinowitz, whom Dr. Delitzsch considered the most remarkable Jewish convert since Saul of Tarsus: We shall not soon forget the radiance that would come into his face as he expounded the Messianic psalms at our morning or evening worship, and how, as here and there he caught a glimpse of the suffering or glorified Christ, he would suddenly lift his hands and his eyes to heaven in a burst of adoration, exclaiming
Edward M. Bounds—The Essentials of Prayer

Aron, Brother of Moses, 486, 487.
Abba, same as Father, [3]381; St. Paul uses both words, [4]532. Abel, [5]31, [6]252, [7]268, [8]450. Abimelech, [9]72, [10]197. Abraham, seed of, faithful Christians also, [11]148, [12]149, [13]627; servant's hand under his thigh, [14]149, [15]334; poor in midst of riches, [16]410. Absalom, David's son, [17]4, [18]5; type of Judas the traitor, [19]4, [20]20. Absolution granted by the Church, [21]500. Abyss, or deep, of God's judgments, [22]88; of man's heart, [23]136. Accuser, the devil the great,
St. Augustine—Exposition on the Book of Psalms

"O Thou, that Hearest Prayer!" --Ps. Lxv. 2
"O Thou, that hearest Prayer!"--Ps. lxv. 2. Thou, God, art a consuming fire, Yet mortals may find grace, From toil and tumult to retire, And meet Thee face to face. Though "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord!" Seraph to seraph sings, And angel-choirs, with one accord, Worship, with veiling wings;-- Though earth Thy footstool, heaven Thy throne, Thy way amidst the sea, Thy path deep floods, Thy steps unknown, Thy counsels mystery:-- Yet wilt Thou look on him who lies A suppliant at Thy feet; And hearken to
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Question of the Active Life
I. Do all Acts of the Moral Virtues come under the Active Life? II. Does Prudence pertain to the Active Life? III. Does Teaching belong to the Active or to the Contemplative Life? IV. Does the Active Life continue after this Life? I Do all Acts of the Moral Virtues come under the Active Life? S. Isidore says[407]: "In the active life all the vices are first of all to be removed by the practice of good works, so that in the contemplative life a man may, with now purified mental gaze, pass to the
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

But in Order that we Fall not Away from Continence...
10. But in order that we fall not away from Continence, we ought to watch specially against those snares of the suggestions of the devil, that we presume not of our own strength. For, "Cursed is every one that setteth his hope in man." [1838] And who is he, but man? We cannot therefore truly say that he setteth not his hope in man, who setteth it in himself. For this also, to "live after man," what is it but to "live after the flesh?" Whoso therefore is tempted by such a suggestion, let him hear,
St. Augustine—On Continence

If, Therefore, You had not as yet Vowed unto God Widowed Continence...
23. If, therefore, you had not as yet vowed unto God widowed continence, we would assuredly exhort you to vow it; but, in that you have already vowed it, we exhort you to persevere. And yet I see that I must so speak as to lead those also who had as yet thought of marriage to love it and to seize on it. Therefore let us give ear unto the Apostle, "She who is unmarried," saith he, "is careful about the things of the Lord, to be holy both in body and spirit; but she who is married is careful about
St. Augustine—On the Good of Widowhood.

Prayer
But I give myself unto prayer.' Psa 109: 4. I shall not here expatiate upon prayer, as it will be considered more fully in the Lord's prayer. It is one thing to pray, and another thing to be given to prayer: he who prays frequently, is said to be given to prayer; as he who often distributes alms, is said to be given to charity. Prayer is a glorious ordinance, it is the soul's trading with heaven. God comes down to us by his Spirit, and we go up to him by prayer. What is prayer? It is an offering
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Malachy's Pity for his Deceased Sister. He Restores the Monastery of Bangor. His First Miracles.
11. (6). Meanwhile Malachy's sister, whom we mentioned before,[271] died: and we must not pass over the visions which he saw about her. For the saint indeed abhorred her carnal life, and with such intensity that he vowed he would never see her alive in the flesh. But now that her flesh was destroyed his vow was also destroyed, and he began to see in spirit her whom in the body he would not see. One night he heard in a dream the voice of one saying to him that his sister was standing outside in the
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

Religion Pleasant to the Religious.
"O taste and see how gracious the Lord is; blessed is the man that trusteth in Him."--Psalm xxxiv. 8. You see by these words what love Almighty God has towards us, and what claims He has upon our love. He is the Most High, and All-Holy. He inhabiteth eternity: we are but worms compared with Him. He would not be less happy though He had never created us; He would not be less happy though we were all blotted out again from creation. But He is the God of love; He brought us all into existence,
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

The Sovereignty of God in Operation
"For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be the glory for ever. Amen" (Romans 11:36). Has God foreordained everything that comes to pass? Has He decreed that what is, was to have been? In the final analysis this is only another way of asking, Is God now governing the world and everyone and everything in it? If God is governing the world then is He governing it according to a definite purpose, or aimlessly and at random? If He is governing it according to some purpose, then
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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