“You crown the year with Your goodness.” As we come to the end of another year, this statement of God’s grace is a common and very apt expression. As with any frequently-quoted verse, it is nice to look at the context, too. Psalm 65 is a psalm and song of David. He praises the God who hears our prayers and covers our transgressions (Ps. 65:2–3). Even though the temple was not yet built in David’s lifetime, he anticipates the blessings that will satisfy all those who see God’s goodness there (v. 4).

Then David reviews God’s wonderful works of righteousness: establishing the mountains in strength, overruling in the strife among nations, and watering the earth so that crops and pasturelands are abundantly fruitful (vv. 5–13). The psalm’s praise originates in Zion but concludes with joy among all the works of the Lord. We can say the psalm looks ahead to kingdom days, when the whole earth will be at peace, yet it is fitting to make an application to ourselves. As verse 11 says, we look back at God’s goodness and see the abundance of His pathways.

The reference to His paths is quite vivid. Bible dictionaries say the word refers to a roadway of sorts, a track or trench which a farmer’s wagon wheels might follow when taking produce to market. One lexicon says the verse pictures a “richly-laden cart dropping its contents in its track.” One translation puts it this way: “Your wagon tracks overflow with abundance” (v. 11 esv).

At the end of another year, can we look back and see the wagon tracks of the Lord? They are well-worn paths because He has persistently been faithful; and they are overflowing because the riches of His grace drop blessings for us all along the way.