Psalms 65:11 - Homiletics

The lessons of harvest.

"Thou crownest the year," etc. Men see what they have eyes to see. The farmer looks on the field of golden grain, ripe for the sickle, and sees the reward of his toil and return for his capitol. The painter sees a glorious subject for a picture. The economist thinks of prices, averages, national prosperity. The devout Christian sees God's hand opening to answer the prayer for daily bread. Now, it is one leading characteristic of the Scripture writers that they see God in everything. In this light let us try to read the lessons of harvest.

I. THANKFULNESS . Literal rendering in margin, "Thou crownest the year of thy goodness," which some take to refer to some special year of remarkably bountiful harvest. Perhaps rather the thought is that God's unceasing goodness runs through the whole circle of the seasons, though the harvest is the crowning manifestation ( Matthew 5:45 ; Acts 14:17 ; 2 Corinthians 9:10 ). Grace at meals should be no dead form, but the welling-up and outpouring of new thankfulness for fresh goodness. God's hand spreads the daily table for all creatures. As the secret spring of life is in him, so all that nourishes and maintains life is from him. Hence our Saviour makes the gift of daily bread the image of himself—"the Bread of Life" ( John 6:33 , John 6:35 , John 6:48-51 ).

II. OBEDIENCE TO LAW . God works according to those unchanging laws which he has ordained—unchanging as long as the present order of the world continues ( Genesis 8:22 ). Human labour is profitable only as it conforms to those laws. He who would reap in harvest-time must sow in seed-time. The natural is the image of the spiritual order ( Galatians 6:7-9 ).

III. PATIENCE . ( James 5:7 .) Here also our Lord bids us see the spiritual order ( Mark 4:26-29 ). Do not expect ripe ears in January. Be patient with your children, your scholars, your hearers; yea, let the Christian even be patient with himself.

IV. COOPERATION . The ploughman, sower, reaper, must join their toil; and the ploughman did not make his plough, the sower his basket, the reaper his sickle. Other hands built the garner. Who can reckon how many hands have combined their labour to place on our table a single loaf (Rein. Psalms 14:7 )?

V. HOPE . Under dark wintry skies, beneath frost and snow, the grain is growing, which summer suns shall ripen. The worst harvest that was ever reaped kept Alive the germs of all the harvests that have since grown or ever will ( 1 Corinthians 15:58 ). And note, that as long as the grain is stored, it preserves life (even for centuries), but produces none. It must be flung away and buried, and, as grain, must perish, for the hidden life to burst forth. Hence our Lord makes it the image of his life-giving death ( John 12:24 ), and St. Paul of resurrection ( 1 Corinthians 15:35-38 ).