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Psalm 65 · a question people ask

"Praise waits for you, God, in Zion" (65:1). What does it mean for praise to wait?

In the text

The psalm doesn't explain its first line, and the WEB's waits stands for one Hebrew word, dumiyyah (tap waits). Brown-Driver-Briggs gives it as "silence, still waiting, repose", and Strong's as "stillness; adverbially, silently". The Hebrew Bible has the word four times, all in the Psalms, and the chapter on Psalm 39 sets them side by side; one of them is "My soul rests in God alone" (Psalm 62:1). What 65:1 does say is who the praise is for, you, God, and where, in Zion, and then, "Vows shall be performed to you" (65:1). And the psalm itself moves from that stillness at its start to shouting and singing at its end (65:13). These notes don't say more than that about what the waiting is.

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.”
Psalm 65:1 · World English Bible
“The pastures are covered with flocks. The valleys also are clothed with grain. They shout for joy! They also sing.”
Psalm 65:13 · World English Bible
“I was mute with silence. I held my peace, even from good. My sorrow was stirred.”
Psalm 39:2 · World English Bible
“For the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm by David. My soul rests in God alone. My salvation is from him.”
Psalm 62:1 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 65

Psalm 65: Praise waits for you

Psalm 65 begins with praise that "waits" (65:1), a Hebrew word for stillness, and ends, "They shout for joy! They also sing" (65:13). And one Hebrew verb, kun, has God forming the mountains (65:6) and providing the grain (65:9).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions