The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 64
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
Psalm 65 in the KJV and most English Bibles
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Praise becomes thee, O God, in Zion; And to thee shall the vow be performed.
Σοὶ πρέπει ὕμνος, ὁ Θεὸς ἐν Σιὼν, καὶ σοὶ ἀποδοθήσεται εὐχή.
"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…
Hear my prayer; To thee all flesh shall come.
Εἰσάκουσον προσευχῆς μου, πρὸς σὲ πᾶσα σὰρξ ἥξει.
"Hearken," he says, "to my prayer, unto You every flesh shall come". 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."…
The words of transgressors have overpowered us; But do thou pardon our sins.
Λόγοι ἀνόμων ὑπερδυνάμωσαν ἡμᾶς, καὶ τὰς ἀσεβείας ἡμῶν σὺ ἱλάσῃ.
"The discourses of unjust men have prevailed over us, and our iniquities Thou shalt propitiate". ...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. What should a boy do, born among Heathens, to avoid worshipping…
Blessed is he whom thou hast chosen and adopted; He shall dwell in thy courts; We shall be filled with the good things of thy house; Thy temple is holy.
Μακάριος, ὃν ἐξελέξω καὶ προσελάβου, κατασκηνώσει ἐν ταῖς αὐλαῖς σου· πλησθησόμεθα ἐν τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς τοῦ οἴκου σου, ἅγιος ὁ ναός σου,
"Blessed is he whom Thou hast chosen, and hast taken to Thee". 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? ...Or hath not rather Christ Himself taken to Him some blessed one, and the same…
Thou art wonderful in righteousness. Hearken to us, O God our Savior; The hope of all the ends of the earth, And of them that are on the sea afar off:
θαυμαστὸς ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ. ἐπάκουσον ἡμῶν ὁ Θεὸς ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν, ἡ ἐλπὶς πάντων τῶν περάτων τῆς γῆς, καὶ τῶν ἐν θαλάσσῃ μακράν·
"Hearken to us, O God, our Saviour". 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. In the person of…
Who dost establish the mountains in thy strength, Being girded about with power;
ἑτοιμάζων ὄρη ἐν τῇ ἰσχύϊ σου, περιεζωσμένος ἐν δυναστείᾳ·
"Preparing mountains in His strength". 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? "We ourselves in our own selves have had the answer of death, in…
Who troublest the depth of the sea, The sounds of its waves.
Ὁ συνταράσσων τὸ κῦτος τῆς θαλάσσης, ἤχους κυμάτων αὐτῆς. Ταραχθήσονται τὰ ἔθνη,
"That troublest the bottom of the sea". 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. "Girded about in power: that…
The nations shall be troubled, and they that inhabit the ends of the earth shall be afraid of thy signs; Thou wilt cause the outgoings of morning and evening to rejoice.
καὶ φοβηθήσονται οἱ κατοικοῦντες τὰ πέρατα ἀπὸ τῶν σημείων σου· ἐξόδους πρωΐας καὶ ἑσπέρας τέρψεις.
"The nations shall be troubled". 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. "The nations shall be troubled, and all men shall fear." Behold now…
Thou hast visited the earth, and saturated it; Thou hast abundantly enriched it. The river of God is filled with water; Thou hast prepared their food, for thus is the preparation of it.
Ἐπεσκέψω τὴν γῆν καὶ ἐμέθυσας αὐτὴν, ἐπλήθυνας τοῦ πλουτίσαι αὐτήν· ὁ ποταμὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπληρώθη ὑδάτων· ἡτοίμασας τὴν τροφὴν αὐτῶν, ὅτι οὕτως ἡ ἑτοιμασία.
"Thou hast visited the earth, and hast inebriated it". 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…
Saturate her furrows, Multiply her fruits; The crop springing up shall rejoice in its drops.
Τοὺς αὔλακας αὐτῆς μέθυσον, πλήθυνον τὰ γεννήματα αὐτῆς, ἐν ταῖς σταγόσιν αὐτῆς εὐφρανθήσεται ἀνατέλλουσα.
"The furrows thereof inebriate You". 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…
"Thou shalt bless the crown of the year of Thy goodness". 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. For those are properly…
"The ends of the desert shall grow fat, and the hills shall be encircled with exultation". 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…
"Clothed have been the rams of the sheep": "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. For hills they are because of more eminent grace; rams, because they are leaders of the flocks...."They…
Every note is a real passage, quoted word for word from a published English translation, with its source. Nothing here is summarised or written by us. Some verses have many notes and some have none, because the Fathers wrote more on some passages than others.
All of these translations are in the public domain. The passages were matched to their verses by the Historical Christian Commentaries project, which also hosts the full texts we link to. The Fathers are a treasury of the Church's mind, and they are best read alongside the life of the Church: if a passage raises a question, bring it to your priest.