Psalm 65 contains awesome and glorious praise for G-d, as well as supplications and prayers about our sins. It explains the impossible to tell G-d’s greatness, for who can tell His mighty deeds? Hence silence is His praise. Silence also occurs in other situations. Often it has to do with pain and sadness and silence appears to be the only correct response in the presence of G-d.
- Text Psalm 65
- Hebrew text of Psalm 65 – תהילים סה
- Listen to Psalm 65
- Explanation of Psalm 65 by Rabbi Yitzchok Rubin
- Commentary by Rashi on Psalm 65
- Further explanation of the above Jewish comments
- Psalm 1 to 92
Text Psalm 65
A psalm of David, a song for the chief singer. Silence is praise to Thee, O G‑d in Zion, and to Thee is a vow paid. You hear the prayer; to You shall all flesh come. Words of iniquity have overcome me; as for our transgressions, You will make atonement for them. Praiseworthy is he who chooses You and draws near to dwell in Your courts; let us be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, the holiness of Your Temple.
….Thou crownest the year of Thy goodness; and Your footsteps drip with abundance. They nourish the meadows of the steppe; and the hills are clothed with grain. The fields are clothed with flocks, and the valleys are covered with corn; they cheer, they also sing.
Hebrew text of Psalm 65 – תהילים סה
A to win a psalm to David a song. In your likeness is the glory of God in Zion, and to you will be fulfilled a vow. 3 Hear the prayer of your witnesses, all flesh shall come. D words of iniquity have increased from me, our crime you will pay. O Asheri, you will choose and come near, let him dwell in your courts, who swear by the goodness of your house, your holy court. And fear in righteousness, our God, our God, will be our refuge from the ends of the earth and distant seas. 7 He prepares mountains by his strength, he looks after him with might. 8 Mishbih Shaon Yamim Shaon Galiam and a multitude of nations. 9 And the dwellers of the ends shall fear thy signs that come forth morning and evening. You command the earth and make it abundantly abundant. You will fill it with God, full of water and grain, because you will prepare it. O Ptolemaea, see that her army rests in multitudes, that she will be blessed. 12 You are the crown of the year of your favors and your circles will grow fertile. 13 They will be terrified of the wilderness and the hills of Tiharna. Put a hand on the crests of the sheep and the valleys will be wrapped around them.
Listen to Psalm 65
Listen to Psalm 65 in Hebrew.
Explanation of Psalm 65 by Rabbi Yitzchok Rubin
Major Disasters
Rabbi Rubin explains that Psalm 65 was written at a time when Israel was experiencing major disasters: a devastating drought and invasion by a foreign army. With this psalm, King David tries to focus people’s hearts on where good comes from and what the purpose in life is.
Silent prayer
In times of crisis, silent prayer is the best prayer because words cannot properly express what we actually want to express. Being silent allows us to express our feelings better. HaShem knows what we cannot express. Without the will of H aShem, material foolishness disappears. HaShem is the Truth. David says that the happy one follows the way of HaShem.
The darkness is an empty facade Rabbi Rubin often discusses worldly matters with young people who enter the Torah world from the secular world . They despair because of the sheer hollowness of a materialistic lifestyle. That hinders their desire to grow and find inspiration. The darkness is an empty facade. By creating Kidusha HaShem, the darkness disappears. G-d gives us the answers to all our questions.
Creation is in G-d’s hands From the roaring seas to the rain on the mountains, it all belongs to HaShem. We must recognize and glorify His greatness. This is how redemption comes about and Mashiach will come.
Commentary by Rashi on Psalm 65
Per verse the commentary of Rashi, the Jewish Bible commentator who lived from 1040-1105. Rashi is considered the teacher of teachers. All traditional Jews regard Rashi as an authority on the Jewish Bible and Talmud. Hence it is important to record his commentary on the Psalms. Rashi uses new Hebrew supplemented with Old French words. His language is sometimes somewhat oracularly short. For further explanation it is wise to consult an orthodox Jewish rabbi.
Verse 2
Silence is praise to You, O G-d in Zion, and to You a vow is paid.
Silence is praise to You : Silence is praise to You; for there is no end to Your praise, the more one praises, the more he detracts.
O G‑d in Zion : G‑d Who dwells in Zion. I found the following:
glorious His praise : no effusion, but silence is praise. It seems that דמיה means ,praise G-d with awe,, with the phrase ,praise Ya-h., The two-letter name is translated (Exodus 15:2) as, the fear of G‑d, for ,My strength and my praise is G‑d (י-ה). Also (Exodus 17:16): , One hand is on the throne of G‑d (י-ה).” And the expression (above 2:11): ,and rejoice with trembling, is similar to this. Shem Ephraim notes: It seems to me that Rashi should read as follows:
Make glorious, etc. : But silence before G‑d is praise, and its interpretation is: praise Him with awe, etc. ,The word דמיה is meant to be divided into two words. For it was difficult for him to understand why it would should seem to recite every praise of the Holy One, blessed be He. Therefore he says: ,Make His praise,, but not exaggerated, for that is to distract. Therefore he says: ,To You is silence (דום), , meaning that silence is appropriate, but י-ה is praise, i.e. with the name consisting of two letters. His statement that the expression ,rejoices with trembling, resembles this one should read: ,Worship the Lord with awe and rejoice with trembling., His meaning is that both verses mean that one may worship the Lord with awe; that is, one may worship the Holy One, blessed be he, with the name י-ה. Otherwise, worship with love is superior. It is also possible that it says, ,and it seems that, etc., is a copyist’s error. Instead it should read, ,But hold your peace and praise Him by the name י-ה, in the expression Hallelujah . But this needs study. Later I found (under 68:5) that Rashi writes something similar. That the expression ,and rejoice with trembling, is like this and more appropriate, because there it says, ,and rejoice before Him., Therefore, it seems to me that this entire statement has been mistakenly copied here.) The gloss belongs under 66:2. Another explanation:
Silence is praise to You, O G-d, in Zion : That You are silent and still speak of the deeds of Your enemies in Zion is praise to You, for You are able to take vengeance, yet You are You sluggish in anger.
Verse 4
Words of iniquity have overcome me; as for our transgressions, You will make atonement for them.
Words of iniquities have overcome me : and we cannot settle them all for you, because they are many. However, we offer a general prayer for You that You would make atonement for our transgressions.
Verse 5
Praiseworthy is he who chooses You and draws near to dwell in Your courts; let us be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, the holiness of Your Temple.
Praiseworthy is he whom You choose and draw near, who will dwell in Your courts.
let us be satisfied with goodness : that is in Your house and from the holiness of Your Temple, wherein Your Shechinah dwells.
Verse 6
With mighty deeds, by [your] charity you will answer us, O G‑d of our salvation, the trust of all the far ends of the earth and the sea.
With great deeds, by [your] charity you will answer us : by your charity, you will answer us by doing great deeds on the Gentiles.
the trust : You are [the trust] and the refuge of all the inhabitants of the ends of the earth, from one end of the earth to the other.
far away … and the sea : even to the distant people in the sea you are the confidence, for your dominion is everywhere.
Verse 7
Who establishes the mountains with his strength, Who is girded with power.
Who establishes mountains with His power : with His power He makes the mountain to rule, and He prepares food through them and prepares rain, as it is written (under 147:8): ,who prepares rain for the earth, who makes the mountains grow grass.”
Who is girded with power : Wanting to mention the mighty deeds of the rains, he says, “Who is girded with power.”
Verse 8
Who humbles the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the multitude of kingdoms.
He who humiliates : Hebrew משביח, he humiliates. Likewise (Proverbs 29:11), ,but afterward a wise man will calm it (ישבחנה); (below 89:10), ,When it lifts up its waves, You lower them (תשבחם).,
Verse 9
And the inhabitants of the ends fear Your signs; with the rising of the morning and the evening, You make them sing praises:
with the rising of the morning and the evening, You make [them] sing praises : [You cause] the creatures that are at the dwell in the ends to sing praises. In the morning they say, “Blessed is He who formed the stars,” and in the evening, “Blessed is He who brings about the evening.”
Verse 10
You care for the land and water it; enrich it greatly with the stream of God that is full of water; You till the land for the grain, so You till it.
You take care of the land : when You want to do good, You take care of the land and irrigate it.
You enrich it enormously : You enrich it greatly from Your stream, which is full of water, and You cultivate with it the grain of the inhabitants of ‘the ends’, and You cultivate it with it.
Verse 11
You water the furrows and level the clods; soaks them with rain and blesses the young greenery.
its furrows : Hebrew תלמיה. They are the rows of the ploughshare.
To imbue : Hebrew רוה, as לרוה.
and smoothes the clods : Hebrew נחתגדודה, as לְנַחֵתגְדוּדֶהָ, to give her clods rest. To give pleasure to his creatures, You solve it with showers of rain.
You solve it : Hebrew תמגגנה, an expression of melting.
Verse 12
You crown the year with Your goodness and Your paths drop with abundance.
You crown the year with Your goodness. Through the rains You crown with total goodness the year You wish to benefit.
and Your paths : they are the heavens, which are the dust of Your feet.
Verse 13
They drip on the fields of the steppe and the hills are girded with joy.
They are dripping : the sky [is dripping] on the fields of the steppe.
Verse 14
Meadows are clothed with flocks, and valleys are clothed with grain; they shout for joy, yes, they sing.
Meadows are clothed with flocks : the Sharon and the Araba are clothed with the flocks that come to graze on the grass that the rain causes to grow.
and valleys are clothed with grain : by the rain the valleys shall be clothed with grain. Then the creatures will shout for joy and sing because of the abundant blessing.
Further explanation of the above Jewish comments
Psalm 65 talks about silently praising G-d because we cannot find words for G-d’s greatness. The Radak also reports that G-d was praised especially in Zion (Jerusalem) with music and song. But actually, only sacrifices can praise G-d well.
Silence also occurs in other situations such as crises and is experienced as very important within Judaism . The information below can be related to Psalm 65, as Rabbi Rubin does above, but not necessarily. In any case, it is about the sound of silence.
When to use silence between people?
“All my days I grew up among the wise, and found nothing better for the body than silence” Ethics of the Fathers 1:17.
Silence can happen in two ways. One is simply absence of words and the other is a prerequisite and basis for effective speech. The first is negative that comes from being unable or unwilling to communicate. It leads to bad mutual relationships. The second is positive, where silence is used to avoid reacting impulsively and to let the other person finish talking. When silence is applied at the right moments, it is the language of connection.
Silent prayer – Amida Many prayers in Judaism are recited in a loud voice. This does not apply to the Amida (the Eighteen Prayer). How did that happen? One answer is that the lead-up prayers are about ourselves, we have to judge ourselves. At this level we work on ourselves, our appreciation, our emotions, our consciousness. We need a voice for that, we need to resonate, we need to feel the prayer. However, the Amida is about listening to G-d. It is a selfless prayer. We enter the realm of divinity where we can actually create a new will within G-d himself, to heal the sick, feed the hungry, save broken relationships. Jews learned the silent prayer from Chana, see further in the text.
Silence during funeral visits During funeral visits, it is wise not to talk all the time. Sometimes silence is better because the grieving person does not need a conversation, for example. The grieving person will indicate what they need at that moment. Silence makes the mourner feel respected.
Silent moments in the Jewish Bible regarding pain There are several passages in the Jewish Bible that show that silence is important at certain moments when there is pain or crisis.
The Biblical Chana invested her heart and soul in a tearful silent prayer to be blessed with a child. Her prayer was answered and she gave birth to Samuel who later became a prophet and anointed Saul and David as kings of Israel. David is the ancestor of the Mashiach. When it comes we will see all our prayers answered in a world where all barriers of communication are broken, a world awash in silent waves of knowledge, a world immersed in the knowledge of G-d as waters cover the sea.
Aharon, Moses’ brother, responded with silence when his two sons were killed after offering incense on the altar and thus doing more than G-d had asked. Aaron knew that this was a punishment from G-d and remained silent.
Moses also found himself in a situation where G-d told him to remain silent. G-d showed Moses the future Jewish generations and Jewish leaders. Moses was impressed by Rabbi Akiva, but was incensed that he would be tortured to death by the Romans for his Torah knowledge. G-d gave no explanation, but commanded Moses to remain silent.
Through our power of silence, we too, like Aaron, will earn Divine revelation. G-d will bring the Messiah, rebuild the Temple and bring lasting peace to the world.
Psalm 1 to 92
Would you like to read more Psalms with a Jewish interpretation? Go to: Psalms 1 through 92.