Psalm 65 · a question people ask
"You atoned for our transgressions" (65:3). In Leviticus the priest makes atonement with an offering. How does God atone here?
The psalm doesn't say how. It says who: you (tap atoned). That verse names no priest and no offering, though the psalm speaks of vows (65:1) and of God's house and courts (65:4). The Hebrew verb, kafar, is used both ways in the Bible. In Leviticus it is the priest's work: "the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven" (Leviticus 4:20). In other places God is the one who does it: "But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn’t destroy them" (Psalm 78:38); "Deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name’s sake" (Psalm 79:9); and in the song Moses spoke to the people (Deuteronomy 32:44), "and will make atonement for his land and for his people" (Deuteronomy 32:43). Brown-Driver-Briggs lists both among the verb's uses: "atone for sin, without sacrifice", and "atone for sin and persons by legal rites". Psalm 65 doesn't say which it means, and these notes don't either.
The verses
“For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. A song. Praise waits for you, God, in Zion. Vows shall be performed to you.”
“Sins overwhelmed me, but you atoned for our transgressions. Blessed is the one whom you choose and cause to come near, that he may live in your courts. We will be filled with the goodness of your house, your holy temple.”
“He shall do this with the bull; as he did with the bull of the sin offering, so he shall do with this; and the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.”
“But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn’t destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, and didn’t stir up all his wrath.”