Psalm 65:9-13

The composer of Psalm 65 has praised and thanked Yahweh for answering the prayers of all human beings (verses 1-4) and for his awesome deeds among humanity (verses 5-8). Now she or he concludes by praising and thanking God for sending rain and causing crops to grow so that life on earth might continue and prosper (verses 9-13):

"You visit the earth and water it,
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.
You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themseles with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy."

1. The Bible affirms that rain is a gift of God (verses 9a, 10a, c), not that it is the result of atmospheric conditions which are a part of the "laws of nature." The Bible declares that the reason the universe and life on earth continue with regularity and predictability is that God is "faithful." For example, Psalm 89:8-12 says:
"O Lord God of hosts,
who is mighty as you, O Lord?
Your FAITHFULNESS surrounds you.
You RULE the raging of the sea;
when its waves rise, you STILL them.
You crushed Rahab [the mythological sea monster] like a carcass;
you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
The heavens are yours, the earth also is yours;
the world and all that is in it--you have founded them.
The north and the south--you created them;
Tabor and Hermon [mountains in Israel] joyously praise your name."
The argument Jesus uses to convince his followers to love their enemies is that God our Father loves his enemies, and he constantly demonstrates this by doing two things: "he MAKES HIS SUN RISE on the evil and on the good, and SENDS RAIN on the righteous and on the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:45 [for the whole paragraph, see 5:43-48]). But if God does not actively make his sun rise and/or send rain, Jesus' argument will not stand up in court. Of course, one cannot PROVE EMPIRICALLY that "in Christ all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17)--nor can one disprove it. Said another way: One cannot PROVE EMPIRICALLY that it is "the laws of nature" that explain why the sun rises predictably each day or why it rains--not can one disprove it. One must accept such affirmations (or reject them) by faith.
2. The Bible affirms that God "PROVIDES the people on earth with grain" (verse 9d) and that he "BLESSES the growth" of plants on earth (verse 10d). Psalm 104:14-15 proclaims:
"You CAUSE THE GRASS TO GROW for the cattle,
and PLANTS for people to use,
to BRING FORTH FOOD from the earth,
and WINE to gladden the human heart,
OIL to make the face shine,
and BREAD to strengthen the human heart."
Again, one must accept or reject these affirmations that God works actively and continually in his world to sustain life BY FAITH. One cannot PROVE or DISPROVE them EMPIRICALLY.
3. For those who accept by faith that God continues to work in the world he created to provide the needs of all his creatures, the only appropriate response is grateful joy and praise (verses 8, 12-13). Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4:3b-5:
"God created [foods] to be received with THANKSGIVING by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected provided it is received with THANKSGIVING; for it is sanctified by God's word and by prayer."
God gives abundantly; we receive. Let us praise him and thank him for his wonderful gifts which sustain us, gifts which it is so easy to expect and take for granted.

John Willis