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65 ‎[1] **For the chief musician, a psalm by David, a song. **This is a psalm of gratitude that depicts a time of spiritual tranquility and bounty.
‎[2] **For You, God of Zion, silence is praise, and a vow to You will be paid. **While this verse can be interpreted in many ways, its central message is that all words in praise of God are insufficient. Words of praise can actually be shamefully inadequate, whereas silence includes all that can and cannot be verbalized. Instead of composing lengthy poems or songs in praise of God, we should praise Him with our deeds, by fulfilling the obligations we have undertaken to serve Him.
‎[3] **You, who hear prayer, all flesh comes to You **to pray for their needs and to give thanks.
‎[4] **Iniquities overwhelm me** and threaten to crush me with their weight,** but **despite the enormity of my sins, I have trust that **You forgive our transgressions. **
‎[5] **Happy is the one You choose to bring near You, to dwell in Your Sanctuary. May we **be among their number, and **be sated by the bounty of Your House, the holiness of Your Temple. **
‎[6] **Answer us justly with awesome deeds, God of our salvation and our shelter to the ends of the earth and the farthest sea. **
‎[7] The following verses provide a fuller description of some of God’s deeds:* *It is He** who sets mountains with His strength, girded with might. **God’s divine might is expressed here by the image of a great mountain being set in place by Him, layer by layer, rock by rock.
‎[8] God’s power can also be portrayed in other ways. It is God** who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the tumult of nations. **God’s power is depicted both with regard to the natural world and vis-à -vis the hubbub of human affairs.
‎[9] Even **those who live at the ends of the earth are in awe of Your signs, **which are everywhere. Through those signs and miracles, **You make the place of dawn and dusk, **a poetic way of saying “east and west,”** sing out. **
‎[10] The psalmist also acknowledges His blessings: **You remember the earth and fulfill its desire, enriching it with abundance. **The earth’s “desire” refers here, as in many other places, to water.** The streams of God are full of water.** Once the earth has been watered, it is ready to be cultivated: **You prepare their grain, **causing it to sprout and grow. **Indeed, You set it firmly in place,**** **allowing it to continue its growth until it ripens.
‎[11] **Saturate its furrows, satisfy its hollows, soften it with showers. Bless its vegetation. **
‎[12] **You crown the year with Your bounty; **may these blessings continue all year round, “crowning” the year with plenty.** And **may **Your paths drip with rich abundance. **The word *ma’agalekha*, translated here as “Your paths,” also refers to a recurring cycle of events.
‎[13] **Oases in the desert overflow. **Ordinarily, oases are barely able to sustain themselves in their endless battle with the surrounding harshness of the desert. But You cause them, through an abundance of rain, to actually flow over to the surrounding arid terrain. **The hills gird themselves with joy. **The normally dry hills become covered with greenery and appear overjoyed by all the growth.
‎[14] **The meadows are covered with flocks of sheep; the valleys,** the most fertile type of terrain,** are wrapped in grain. They shout for joy. **The word *yitro’a’u*, “shout for joy,”** **has a second meaning as well: “They become friends.” When there is widespread abundance, the earth and all that it produces appear to complement each other; they join together in harmony, **and they sing.*** *
Version: The Steinsaltz Tanakh - English
Source: https://korenpub.com/collections/the-steinsaltz-tanakh/products/steinsaltz-tanakh
License: Copyright: Steinsaltz Center