MAIN POINT: There are things only God can do. Jesus did these things. Jesus is God.
Psalm 65 recognises the power of God and sets the stage for Jesus to demonstrate He is that God.
Jesus can calm the storms.
'You quieted the raging oceans with their pounding waves and silenced the shouting of the nations. ' Psalms 65:7
“Jesus responded, "Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!" Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. The disciples were amazed. "Who is this man?" they asked. "Even the winds and waves obey him!" Matthew 8:26-27
Yesterday as I walked to work there was a quick short hard rain shower. Both of my weather forecast sources (Alexa and Lyssa) had assured me that it would not rain on me on my way to work. No matter how much information, computer programs and learned scientists with masses of data from observations, we cannot accurately predict the weather and humans can definitely not control it. Tornados, typhoons, thunderstorms, floods, droughts, snow storms and hurricanes are all powerful forces far beyond the control of mere humans. But not God. God can control the weather. Jesus controlled the weather. Jesus is God.
Jesus can forgive sins
“Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all.” Psalm 65:3
“But the Pharisees and teachers of religious law said to themselves, "Who does he think he is? That's blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!" ... “So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins." Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, "Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!" Luke 5:21, 24
Jesus can answer prayers and that gives joy.
“you answer our prayers.” v.2
“What joy for those you choose to bring near” v.4
“You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds, O God our savior.” v.5
“you inspire shouts of joy.” v.8
“You haven't done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.” John 16:24 (John 16:22-30, a wonderful and encouraging passage you must read)
Jesus provides abundance
At first you might find this a bigger step, but what is all this abundance of grain for in verses 9-13 if it isn’t for food. The harvest and crops are for feeding people. Okay are you ready to see how this is fulfilled by Jesus? Actually in a few ways.
“a bountiful harvest of grain” v.9
“bless its abundant crops.” v.10
“a bountiful harvest;” and “overflow with abundance” v.11
“lush pasture” v.12
“clothed with flocks of sheep, and the valleys are carpeted with grain” v.13
“About 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children!” Matthew 14:21
Here is a challenge for you. How many new testament references can you find where Jesus is shown or said to provide abundance? (Now I will know if you read this far.)
I’ve been excited to bring you and me on this journey so far to discover where we will see Jesus in the Psalms. In ten days we will be half way through this leg of the adventure. I am thinking of the things that Jesus showed Cleopas and his friend in Luke 24 as they walked back on resurrection Sunday from Jerusalem to Emmaus. And there with no big show of lights and power but with a simple Bible lesson, Jesus the anonymous bible teacher enlightens the foolish minds and hearts of His two disciples. I wonder who Cleopas’ friend was. But whoever he was, his heart burned within him as he heard Jesus pointing out all the places the old testament pointed to Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I hope your heart is burning inside you like it is in me as I read Psalm 65 today and say duh, of course this is about Jesus. Of course Jesus knew what He was doing when He was proving to everyone that He was the messiah, the son of God, very God himself. Today we say little phrases and they have huge implications, like "walk on water”, “feed 5,000”, “turn water to wine”, and “calm the storms”. What you may have missed is that God has been setting the stage since the beginning and He has been pointing to Jesus. But maybe we missed our cues and didn’t read the script and so we don’t even know the plot of the school play. So today we let David tell us again about the God who does amazing things. No wonder he rejoices with shouts of joy and singing.
Conclusion: Psalm 65 rejoices in a God who can do what humans cannot do, and Jesus showed us clearly He is the God of Psalm 65.
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| Handwritten Psalm 65 |
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