You attend to the earth and water it; with abundance You enrich it. The streams of God are full of water, for You prepare our grain by providing for the earth.
Parallel translations
- WEB You visit the earth, and water it. You greatly enrich it. The river of God is full of water. You provide them grain, for so you have ordained it.
- KJV Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it.
- NKJV You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepared it.
- NASB ¶You visit the earth and cause it to overflow; You greatly enrich it; The stream of God is full of water; You prepare their grain, for so You prepare the earth.
- NLT You take care of the earth and water it, making it rich and fertile. The river of God has plenty of water; it provides a bountiful harvest of grain, for you have ordered it so.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God visits and waters the earth, enriching it abundantly and providing grain. It praises God as the generous provider for His creation.
Overview
David describes God personally caring for the land, watering it with the river of God so it yields grain. God's providence sustains all life through the ordered abundance of creation. Such provision points to the Lord who gives daily bread and is Himself the bread of life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Ps 46:4There is a river whose streams delight the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
- Rev 22:1Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
- Jer 5:24They have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’
- Ps 104:13–15He waters the mountains from His chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of His works.
- Joel 2:23–26Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.
- Ps 68:9–10You sent abundant rain, O God; You refreshed Your weary inheritance.
- Job 5:10–11He gives rain to the earth and sends water upon the fields.
- Ruth 1:6When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had attended to His people by providing them with food, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to leave the land of Moab.
- Ps 147:8–9who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the hills.
- Deut 11:11–12But the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks in the rain from heaven.
- Gen 26:12Now Isaac sowed seed in the land, and that very year he reaped a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him,
- Jer 14:22Can the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies alone send showers? Is this not by You, O LORD our God? So we put our hope in You, for You have done all these things.
- Acts 14:17Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”
- Lev 26:4I will give you rains in their season, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.
- Ps 147:14He makes peace at your borders; He fills you with the finest wheat.
- Ps 107:37They sow fields and plant vineyards that yield a fruitful harvest.
- Ps 65:11You crown the year with Your bounty, and Your paths overflow with plenty.
- 1 Tim 6:17–18Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.
- Ps 63:1A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.
- Job 37:6–13For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the gentle rain, ‘Pour out a mighty downpour.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 65:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.