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Psalms 85

¹To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.

²Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.

³Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.

⁴Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.

⁵Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?

⁶Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?

⁷Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation.

⁸I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.

⁹Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.

¹⁰Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

¹¹Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

¹²Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.

¹³Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

on Psalms 85

Psalm 85

This psalm was probably written after the Jewish people returned to their land following their seventy years of captivity in Babylon (Jer. 29). Note the emphasis on the land (vv. 1, 9, 12) and on God’s anger against His people (vv. 3–5). God gave them favor with their captors, raised up leaders like Zerubbabel the governor, Joshua the high priest, and Ezra the scribe, and protected the Jewish remnant as they traveled to their war-ravaged land. When you read Ezra 6 and the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, you learn that life was very difficult for them in the land. They did not always obey the Lord or show kindness to each other, but they did make a new start. The Scottish preacher George H. Morrison said, “The victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings,” and he is right. It is a sin to disobey God and fall, but it is also a sin to stay fallen. We must always make a new beginning, and this psalm gives us some instructions that we can follow after times of failure and chastening.

Give Thanks to the Lord

It should have been no surprise to the people of Judah that the Babylonians would invade their land, destroy their city and temple, and take them captive. After all, they knew the terms of the covenant (Lev. 26; Deut. 28—30), and time after time, the Lord had sent His prophets to warn them, but they would not listen (2 Chron. 36:15–21). Jeremiah had told the people that their captivity would last seventy years and then the Lord would restore a remnant to the land (Jer. 29). God protected the people as they made the long journey home. He forgave their sins and gave them a new beginning, and for this they thanked the Lord (Isa. 40:1–2). The Hebrew word shuv basically means “to turn or return,” and it is used in verse 1 (“brought back”), verses 3, 4, and 8 (“turn”), and verse 6 (“again”). When we turn back to God, repent, and confess our sins, He turns back to us and restores us.

Ask Him for Renewed Life

It is one thing for the nation collectively to have a new birth of freedom, but there must also be changes in individuals. The praise begun in verses 1–3 (possibly by a choir) now becomes prayer from the hearts of the people. Note that the word us is used six times, for it is the people who are praying, not the choir or worship leader. “Turn (restore) us” is the burden of their prayer. It has well been said that a change in geography will never overcome a flaw in character. The return of the people to the land was no guarantee that all of them had returned to the Lord. Not only were they concerned that God’s chastening would end in their own lives, but they did not want it to be passed on to their children and grandchildren. The word revive simply means “to live again, to be renewed in life.” (We must not confuse this with the modern meaning—“special meetings for winning the lost.”) Establishing the nation, rebuilding the temple, and restoring the liturgy would not guarantee God’s blessing on His people. They desperately needed His life at work within them. While in Babylon, had they heard or read Ezekiel’s message about the dry bones (Ezek. 37), and did they long for the wind of the Spirit to blow upon their own lives and homes? New life is not something that we manufacture ourselves; new life can come only from the Holy Spirit of God. God gave a special message about this to Haggai (Hag. 2:1–9) and also to Zechariah (Zech. 4:6).

Listen for God’s Message to You

“I will hear” suggests that the worship leader or a prophet stepped forward and said, in effect, “Now it is time to be silent before God and listen for His message to us for this hour.” God and His people were now reconciled, and He was speaking peace to them (Jer. 29:11). “Saints” means “people who are set apart for God.” Alas, Israel had a long record of “turning to folly”! According to the book of Judges, seven different nations were sent by God to chastise Israel; they repented, but they always lapsed back into idolatry again. After Solomon died, his son Rehoboam was a fool not to listen to the wise men of the land, and this led to a division of the kingdom. Jeroboam, ruler of the northern kingdom, manufactured his own religion and led the nation astray. How foolish! The task of God’s people is to fear God and glorify Him (v. 9). The word dwell is the Hebrew word shechinah, and we speak of God’s glory dwelling in the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34) and the temple (2 Chron. 7:1–3). Before the temple was destroyed, Ezekiel saw God’s glory leave the structure (Ezek. 9:3; 10:1–4, 18–19; 11:22–23). When the Jewish remnant rebuilt the temple, the prophet Haggai promised that God’s glory would return in an even greater way (Hag. 2:6–9).

In verses 10–13, the Lord announced future blessings that He would send if His people continued to walk with Him. Righteousness and peace—attributes of God—are personified and would “kiss” each other, for the warfare would be over. (See Isa. 32:17; Rom. 3:21–31; 5:1–3.) Surely there is a glimpse here of the person and work of Jesus Christ, for only in Him can mercy and truth become friends, for if you tell the truth, you may not receive mercy! But the blessing changes the people, for truth springs up from the earth! God’s people are faithful and walk in the truth. The psalmist described a world of holiness and harmony, a picture of the coming kingdom over which Christ shall reign. And what a harvest there will be, not only of food necessary for survival (Hag. 1:3–11) but of heaven-sent blessings that will bring joy to the land. As people walk through the land, God’s righteousness will go before them and their way will be prepared. God’s will shall be done on earth just as it is now done in heaven.

“Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).