1 Thine, are silence [and] praise, O God, in Zion,—And, to thee, shall be paid the vow.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "For Thee a hymn is meet, O God, in Sion." That fatherland is Sion: Jerusalem is the very same as Sion; and of this name the interpretation ye ought to know. As Jerusalem is interpreted vision of peace, so Sion Beholding, that is, vision and contemplation. Some great inexplicable sight to us is promised: and this is God Himself that hath builded the city.
2 Thou hearer of prayer! Unto thee, shall all flesh come.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 The soul has to depart from the tortuousness of this life and the defilements of the earthly body. It must hasten to those heavenly gatherings, although it is granted to the saints alone to reach them. There it shall sing praise to God.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Hearken," he says, "to my prayer, unto You every flesh shall come" [Psalm 65:2]. And we have the Lord saying, that there was given to Him "power over every flesh." [John 17:2] That King therefore began even now to appear, when there was being said, "Unto You every flesh shall come." "To You," he says, "every flesh shall come." Wherefore to Him shall "every" flesh come?
3 Iniquitous things, have been too strong for me, As for our transgressions, wilt, thou, by propitiation remove them.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "The discourses of unjust men have prevailed over us, and our iniquities Thou shalt propitiate" [Psalm 65:3]. ...Every man, in whatsoever place he is born, of that same land or region or city learneth the language, is habituated to the manners and life of that place.
4 How happy the man thou shalt choose and bring near! He shall abide in thy courts,—We shall be satisfied with, The blessing of thy house, The holiness of thy temple.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 What indeed is lacking to the one who possesses the good and has virtue always as his companion and ally? In what role of life is he not most powerful? In what poverty is he not rich? In what lowly status is he not noble? In what leisure not industrious? In what weakness not vigorous? In what infirmity not strong? In what quiet of sleep not active?
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Blessed is he whom Thou hast chosen, and hast taken to Thee" [Psalm 65:4]. Who is he that is chosen by Him and taken to Him? Was any one chosen by our Saviour Jesus Christ, or was Himself after the flesh, because He is man, chosen and taken to Him?
5 By things reverend in righteousness, wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation, The confidence of all the ends of the earth, And of the sea far away;
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Hearken to us, O God, our Saviour" [Psalm 65:5]. He has disclosed now Whom he names as God. The "Saviour" specially is the Lord Jesus Christ. It has appeared now more openly of Whom he had said, "Unto You every flesh shall come." That One Man that is taken unto Him into the Temple of God, is both many and is One.
6 Who setteth fast the mountains by his strength, Being girded with might;
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Preparing mountains in His strength" [Psalm 65:6]. Not in their strength. For He has prepared great preachers, and those same He has called mountains; humble in themselves, exalted in Him. "Preparing mountains in His strength." What says one of those same mountains?
7 Who stilleth, The noise of the seas, The noise of their rolling waves, and The tumult of races of men?
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "That troublest the bottom of the sea" [Psalm 65:7]. He has done this: it is seen what He has done. For He has prepared mountains in His strength, has sent them to preach: girded about He is by believers in power: and moved is the sea, moved is the world, and it begins to persecute His saints.
8 Yea the dwellers in the uttermost parts have feared at thy tokens, The goings forth of morning and evening, thou causest to shout for joy.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "The nations shall be troubled" [Psalm 65:8]. At first they shall be troubled: but those mountains prepared in the strength of Christ, are they troubled? Troubled is the sea, against the mountains it dashes: the sea breaks, unshaken the mountains have remained.
9 Thou hast visited the earth, and made it abound, Abundantly, dost thou enrich it—The channel of God, is full of waters, Thou preparest their corn, Yea, thus, dost thou prepare it:
Gregory of Nazianzus · AD 390 Only let us recognize the purpose of the evil. Why have the crops withered, our storehouses been emptied, the pastures of our flocks failed, the fruits of the earth been withheld and the plains been filled with shame instead of such fatness?
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Thou hast visited the earth, and hast inebriated it" [Psalm 65:9]. Whence hast inebriated the earth? "Thy cup inebriating how glorious it is!" "Thou hast visited the earth, and hast inebriated it." Thou hast sent Thy clouds, they have rained down the preaching of the truth, inebriated is the earth. "Thou hast multiplied to enrich it." Whence?
Bonaventure · AD 1257 Again, vegetation is generous. Hence in the Psalm: "You have visited the land and watered it; greatly have you enriched it. God's watercourses are filled; you have prepared the grain," and "the valleys are blanketed with grain." This land is alive and awake, it abounds.
10 The ridges thereof, drenching, Settling the furrows thereof, With myriad drops, dost thou soften it, The sprouting thereof, doth thou bless.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "The furrows thereof inebriate You" [Psalm 65:10]. Let there be made therefore at first furrows to be inebriated: let the hardness of our breast be opened with the share of the word of God, "The furrows thereof inebriate You: multiply the generations thereof." We see, they believe, and by them believing other men believe, and because of those others believe; and it is not suffi…
11 Thou hast set a crown upon thy year of bounty, And, thy tracks, drop fatness;
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Thou shalt bless the crown of the year of Thy goodness" [Psalm 65:11]. Seed is now sowing, that which is sown is growing, there will be the harvest too. And now over the seed the enemy hath sown tares; and there have risen up evil ones among the good, false Christians, having like leaf, but not like fruit.
Cosmas Indicopleustes · AD 550 David moved by the Holy Spirit thus in a psalm addresses God: Bless thou the crown of the year of thy goodness; thus in a remarkable way styling the cycle of the twelve months of the year a crown of goodness, as crowning the surface of the earth with beauty, and fostering the growth and maturity of its monthly fruits through the tempering of the elements which the invisible pow…
Bede · AD 735 For the fact that each of the four rows worn on the chest contains three stones corresponds to the sequence of the yearly cycle, which is divided into four seasons of three months each. Now in the Scriptures the entire year is designated as the time of our salvation, in which we strive for an eternal reward.
12 Fruitful are the pastures of the wilderness, And, with exultation, the hills do gird themselves.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "The ends of the desert shall grow fat, and the hills shall be encircled with exultation" [Psalm 65:12]. Plains, hills, ends of the desert, the same are also men. Plains, because of the equality: because of equality, I say, from thence just peoples have been called plains. Hills, because of lifting up: because God doth lift up in Himself those that humble themselves.
13 Clothed are the pastures with flocks, The valleys also, cover themselves with corn, They shout for joy, yea they sing.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Clothed have been the rams of the sheep" [Psalm 65:13]: "with exultation" must be understood. For with what exultation the hills are encircled, with the same are clothed the rams of the sheep. Rams are the very same as hills.