Psalms 65:4 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Psalms 65:4
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.
happiness · noun, common masculine plural construct
choosest
תִּֽבְחַ֣רtiv.Char
H977
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
approach
וּתְקָרֵב֮u.te.ka.Rev
H7126
to approach (causatively · conjunction + verb, piel, 2nd person masculine singular
dwell
יִשְׁכֹּ֪ןyish.Kon
H7931
to reside or permanently stay (literally or figurativel… · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
courts
חֲצֵ֫רֶ֥יךָcha.Tze.Rei.kha
H2691
a yard (as inclosed by a fence) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
satisfied
נִ֭שְׂבְּעָהNis.be.'ah
H7646
to sate · verb, qal infinitive construct, 1st person common plural
goodness
בְּט֣וּבbe.Tuv
H2898
good (as a noun) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
house
בֵּיתֶ֑ךָbei.Te.kha
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
holy
קְ֝דֹ֗שׁke.Dosh
H6918
sacred (ceremonially or morally) · adjective, masculine singular construct
temple
הֵיכָלֶֽךָhei.kha.Le.kha
H1964
a large public building · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Psalms 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Psalms 84:4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.
Psalms 106:4-5 Remember me, O LORD, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation;
Psalms 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
Psalms 36:8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
Revelation 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God,…
Psalms 4:3 But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 65:1-5
The psalmist here has no particular concern of his own at the throne of grace, but begins with an address to God, as the master of an assembly and the mouth of a congregation; and observe,
I. How he gives glory to God, Psa 65:1. 1. By humble thankfulness: Praise waiteth for thee, O God! in Zion, waits till it arrives, that it may be received with thankfulness at its first approach. When God is coming towards us with his favours we must go forth to meet him with our praises, and wait till the day dawn. "Praise waits, with an entire satisfaction in thy holy will and dependence on thy mercy." When we stand ready in every thing to give thanks, then praise waits for God. "Praise waits thy accepta…
dwell in thy courts; . . . [and] satisfied with the goodness . . . temple--denote communion with God (Psa 15:1; Psa 23:6; compare Psa 5:7). This is a blessing for all God's people, as denoted by the change of number.
John Gill on Psalms 65:4
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest,.... In eternity; both to grace and glory; for such have true faith in Christ given them, called the faith of God's elect, and shall never perish: they are effectually called by the grace of God, and are justified by the righteousness of Christ, and shall be glorified; or in time, for there is a choice in time, as the fruit, effect, and evidence of the eternal choice, and is no other than effectual calling; see John 15:19, 1 Corinthians 1:26; and happy are those who are both chosen and called; both election and the effectual calling are to grace and glory, and spring from the good will and pleasure of God; and the Targum in the king of Spain's Bible is,…
Psalm 65:4-8
4. Blessed is the man whom thou hast chosen, and hast brought near thee; we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of the sanctuary of thy palace. 5. Terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer to us, O God of our salvation! the hope of all the ends of the earth, and the far of places of the sea. [448] 6. By his strength setting fast the mountains, being girded with power. [449] 7. Stilling the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the nations. 8. They also that dwell in the ends of the earth shall fear at thy signs; thou shalt make the outgoings of the evening and morning to rejoice.
4. Blessed is the man whom thou hast chosen H…
The Church Fathers
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? Even when he is asleep, his own virtue does not forsake him. In what solitude is he not in a crowd? The happy life surrounds him, grace clothes him, the garment of glory makes him radiant. He is no less happy when at leisure than when he works, no less filled with glory when he sleeps than when he is awake, because he is no less safe and sound when sleeping than when he is awake. Now when can he appear to be on holiday? His mind is always at work. When can he appear to be alone? He is always with that good of which the psalmist says, "We shall be filled with the good things of your house." When can he appear to be downcast? "His citizenship is in heaven." When can he appear not to be handsome? He conforms himself to the likeness of the beautiful and only good; although weak in his members, he is strong in his spirit.
"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? ...Or hath not rather Christ Himself taken to Him some blessed one, and the same whom He hath taken to Him is not spoken of in the plural number but in the singular? For one man He hath taken to Him, because unity He hath taken to Him. Schisms He hath not taken to Him, heresies He hath not taken to Him: a multitude they have made of themselves, there is not one to be taken to Him. But they that abide in the bond of Christ and are the members of Him, make in a manner one man, of whom saith the Apostle, "Until we all arrive at the acknowledging of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ." [Ephesians 4:13] Therefore one man is taken to Him, to which the Head is Christ; because "the Head of the man is Christ." [1 Corinthians 11:3] The same is that blessed man that "hath not departed in the counsel of ungodly men," and the like things which there are spoken of: the same is He that is taken to Him. He is not without us, in His own members we are, under one Head we are governed, by one Spirit we all live, one fatherland we all long for. ...And to us He will give what? "He shall inhabit," he saith, "in Thy courts." Jerusalem, that is, to which they sing that begin to go forth from Babylon: "He shall inhabit in Thy courts: we shall be filled with the good things of Thy House." What are the good things of the House of God? Brethren, let us set before ourselves some rich house, with what numerous good things it is crowded, how abundantly it is furnished, how many vessels there are there of gold and also of silver; how great an establishment of servants, how many horses and animals, in a word, how much the house itself delights us with pictures, marble, ceilings, pillars, recesses, chambers:— all such things are indeed objects of desire, but still they are of the confusion of Babylon. Cut off all such longings, O citizen of Jerusalem, cut them off; if thou wilt return, let not captivity delight thee. But hast thou already begun to go forth? Do not look back, do not loiter on the road. Still there are not wanting foes to recommend thee captivity and sojourning: no longer let…
Dictionary and topics
Predestination — This word is properly used only with reference to God’s plan or purpose of salvation. The Greek word rendered “predestinate” is found only in these six passages, Acts 4:28; Rom. 8:29, 30; 1 Cor. 2:7;…
Psalms, Book Of — The present Hebrew name of the book is Tehill’im, “Praises;” but in the actual superscriptions of the psalms the word Tehillah is applied only to one, (Psalms 145:1) ... which is indeed emphatically…
Access To God · Is of God — Is of God
Blessed, The · Whom God chooses — Whom God chooses
Church · General references — General references
Election · Ensures to saints: Blessedness — Ensures to saints: Blessedness
Goodness Of God, The · Declared to be: Satisfying — Declared to be: Satisfying
Predestination · 19:25; — 19:25;
Salvation · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The praise of God on account of the mercy with which He rules out of Zion. The lxx renders σοὶ πρέπει ὕμνος, but דּומיּה, tibi par est, h. e. convenit laus (Ewald), is not a usage of the language (cf. Psa 33:1; Jer 10:7). דּמיּה signifies, according to Psa 22:3, silence, and as an ethical notion, resignation, Psa 62:2. According to the position of the words it looks like the subject, and תּהלּה like the predicate. The accents at least (Illuj, Shalsheleth) assume the relationship of the one word to the other to be that of predicate and subject; consequently it is not: To Thee belongeth resignation, praise (Hengstenberg), but: To Thee is resignation praise, i.e., resignation is (given or p…
those you choose to bring near: This includes people from Israel and from other nations. • Only those whom God sees as blameless live in his holy courts (Pss 15 and 24). • At the Temple, God’s earthly palace, all nations can gather to experience God’s holy presence. No structure can separate humans from God (see Rev 21:22).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 65:4
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee. After cleansing comes benediction, and truly this is a very rich one. It comprehends both election, effectual calling, access, acceptance, and sonship. First, we are chosen of God, according to the good pleasure of his will, and this alone is blessedness. Then, since we cannot and will not come to God of ourselves, he works graciously in us, and attracts us powerfully; he subdues our unwillingness, and removes our inability by the almi…
