This psalm offers blessings of gratitude to Hashem for abundant rains. It was sung in the Beit Hamikdash after especially rainy seasons, which were always viewed as a direct sign of God’s beneficence. The word revivim (רביבים), ‘showers,’ refers to abundant rains, and was used by early Zionists as the name of a new settlement founded in the Negev desert in 1943. As the British were limiting immigration and new settlements on the land, the early Zionists built lookout points which would later become full-fledged settlements. These settlements were the beginning of habitation in the Negev, the desert region in southern Israel, and initiated the settling of the arid desert area of the Land of Israel. The name Revivim was chosen as a sign of their readiness to contend with the most formidable aspect of desert living: scarcity of water. They hearkened back to Tehillim, hoping for Hashem’s bountiful rains to strengthen their presence in the land.
Source: Israel in the News
