Psalm 85

Daily Study Bible – Knight, G. A. F.

A Different Kind of Return

Psalm 85:1–13

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

1Lord, thou wast favourable to thy land;

thou didst restore the fortunes of Jacob.

2Thou didst forgive the iniquity of thy people;

thou didst pardon all their sin.

Selah

3Thou didst withdraw all thy wrath;

thou didst turn from thy hot anger.

4Restore us again, O God of our salvation,

and put away thy indignation toward us!

5Wilt thou be angry with us for ever?

Wilt thou prolong thy anger to all generations?

6Wilt thou not revive us again,

that thy people may rejoice in thee?

7Show us thy steadfast love, O Lord,

and grant us thy salvation.

8Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,

for he will speak peace to his people,

to his saints, to those who turn to him in their hearts.

9Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,

that glory may dwell in our land.

10Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;

righteousness and peace will kiss each other.

11Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,

and righteousness will look down from the sky.

12Yea, the Lord will give what is good,

and our land will yield its increase.

13Righteousness will go before him,

and make his footsteps a way.

Verses 1–3. “The long trek home from Babylon to Zion is a very important part of Israel’s (and our) life-long pilgrimage to our home.” We noted at Ps. 84 that God’s forgiveness is offered and received as one of the “festal blessings” at the New Year festival. Here we learn about God’s creative love in that in Ps. 85 God has now restored the fortunes of Jacob, rehabilitated Israel, comforted his people and brought them home from exile, just as the great prophet of Isaiah chs. 40–55 had proclaimed God was about to do. Such an action by God was what we might call “the sacramental sign and seal” of his forgiving thy people all their sin. So then, we learn, God had now turned from his hot anger.

Verses 4–7. One of the expressions used by many returning soldiers at the end of World War I was that they had fought to make their homeland “a land fit for heroes to live in”. But as a fact of history many a man and woman later grew to be deeply disappointed about the prosperity of their country. The “millennium” had not dawned after all, it seemed, and so it was in the case of those exiles who had managed to make their way back home to Judah after the Persian King Cyrus had issued his famous edict in the year 538 b.c. (see Ezra 1:1–4). In it he gave permission for “the Jews”, as he called the Israelite people who were now being named after their homeland, “Judah”, to go home. The last section of the book of Isaiah, chs. 56–66 (“Third” Isaiah, it is sometimes called), offers us examples of the moments of pain and disillusionment, and yet of joy and confidence, that the returnees underwent as they sought to rebuild their ruined city and Temple.

Then why was God still angry with them? they wondered. Was it because there were the same old quarrels, the same old crop failures, the same old selfishnesses as there had been before? Why don’t you show us your steadfast love and put us right with yourself once more?

Verses 8–9. You are looking in the wrong direction, a Temple minister exclaims. You are listening to the wrong voices. Listen to God before you open your silly mouths. Let me hear what God the Lord keeps saying. (I declare) that (ki) he keeps on speaking peace to his people, to his saints, that is, to his forgiven, Covenant people; thus to those who have not only returned from exile, but who have also returned to him in their hearts. It is as if this minister were explaining: You imagine that the Kingdom of God is to be understood in terms of perfect economic and social conditions. No, God’s Kingdom is not of this world. It is marked by shalom, integrity of life, wholesomeness of family and national life, and these transcend all economic conditions. So he continues (verse 9): Not only so, but (akh, a strong expletive) his saving love is actually here now in our midst for those who fear him and so who worship him in awe and love. Yes, his glory has really “taken up its abode” in our land. Only the eye of faith could see that, of course. Israel’s human eye could see only the ruins of their ancient city and Temple. So they must now get down to the task of rebuilding these (see Haggai 1:1–11; Zech. 2:1–5; 8:12).

So God had two words to say to these poor folk in their confused state of mind, now that they had completed a physical return to Jerusalem from Babylon. It was (1) that they had not yet completed their return until (2) they had done so spiritually.

Verses 10–13. Our speaker is truly a minister of the Word. His sermon continues: (a) God’s hesed and (b) God’s emet have now met. Note that in this passage the verbs are not in the future, as the RSV puts them. Our minister is speaking by faith and not by sight. He is saying that (a) God’s steadfast, Covenant love, and (b) God’s utter fidelity to his Covenant have now converged and have met at this point in history. The Return from Exile is thus the proof of the reliability of the Covenant. Then he adds that (c) God’s righteousness, his saving love, and (d) his peace, have kissed, so as to show that his salvation and his peace are united for the same end, viz. the coming of his Kingdom. In other words, “The Kingdom of God is at hand!” An old Jewish mystic has said, “Prayer is the moment when heaven and earth kiss each other.”

What will result then from this remarkable union? God’s fidelity to the Covenant must surely have an effect on the other partner to the Covenant, viz. Israel, God’s people. So he declares that (e) fidelity will spring up also from human hearts, actually, here, from the ground. But that is a way of saying “from human beings who live upon this earth”. Thus God brings forth emet in Israel’s heart by (f) his creative, saving love looking down from the sky; that is to say it will appear as sheer grace.

We see this two-way movement of grace and love described pictorially at Isa. 45:8. Both psalmist and prophet are seeking to express what St. Paul makes clear in the light of Christ. It is that God acts first in grace. He makes us right with himself (the word righteousness here). Paul calls this action of God “justification”. But then as a result of it we who are justified receive power to respond to God, that is, love and faithfulness spring up within us, rendering us able to do to our fellows on earth what God has done for us. That is to say, we are rendered able to recreate other people in love, not as individuals so much as together as limbs in the Body of the Lord. This second step is what Paul calls “sanctification”. It is God’s gift to us, and not of ourselves. This “heavenly” love and compassion and self-forgetfulness is his gift through the Spirit. All other gifts of the Spirit are rendered secondary compared with this greatest gift of all, the gift of the power to love (1 Cor. 12:15; 13:13).

Yea, the Lord gives (g) what is good for us. (See the Introduction to Vol. I for a discussion of this word “good”.) One result of his kindness will affect even inanimate nature; for “our land” (the Holy Land that God gave to us as a gift in the days of Joshua) will yield its increase, despite all appearances to the contrary. It had been ravaged by Nebuchadnezzar’s army, its fruit trees cut down, its wells stopped up, the dikes and levees that held good soil together on the steep slopes of its hills, and which had taken generations to erect (as in South East Asia today), had been bulldozed away (see 2 Kings 3:25).

This grand visionary sermon ends with the same kind of language as Isa. 40:3 which had foretold the return from exile. God’s creative, saving purpose (RSV righteousness) will march ahead him (as it had always done ever since he gave it to Israel in the days of Moses); and he will make his footsteps the way where we are to plant our feet. Thus we are to step in the footsteps he has first made in the mud and dirt of life’s highway leading onwards to what verse 1 has called thy land. What amazing grace!

Psalm 85 -- Revive Us Again

85 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

1 Lord, you were favorable to your land;

you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;

you covered all their sin. Selah

3 You withdrew all your wrath;

you turned from your hot anger.

4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,

and put away your indignation toward us!

5 Will you be angry with us forever?

Will you prolong your anger to all generations?

6 Will you not revive us again,

that your people may rejoice in you?

7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,

and grant us your salvation.

8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,

for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;

but let them not turn back to folly.

9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,

that glory may dwell in our land.

10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;

righteousness and peace kiss each other.

11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,

and righteousness looks down from the sky.

12 Yes, the Lord will give what is good,

and our land will yield its increase.

13 Righteousness will go before him

and make his footsteps a way.

SECTION OUTLINE EIGHTY-FIVE (PSALM 85)

The psalmist seeks God in his need on the basis of God’s past faithfulness to him. He expresses confidence that God will pour out blessings.

I. Acknowledging the Past (85:1–3)

A. God restores his people (85:1) : He blesses them.

B. God forgives his people (85:2–3): He covers their sins and ends his anger.

II. Questioning the Present (85:4–7)

A. “Will you be angry with us always?” (85:4–6): They ask God to put aside his wrath against them and future generations.

B. “Show us your unfailing love, O Lord” (85:7) : They ask God to grant them salvation.

III. Anticipating the Future (85:8–13)

A. The glorious message (85:8–9): God promises peace and salvation to people who honor him.

B. The glorious meetings (85:10–13)

1. Unfailing love and truth meet (85:10) .

2. Righteousness and peace kiss (85:10–13).

Psalm 85. A Cry for Pardon.

     Though basically a national lament, this psalm has a strong prophetic element as well. The first section (vv. 1-3) appears to refer to the return from captivity, but these verses are idealized beyond the known situation of those days. The psalmist uses this ideal picture to show the sharp contrast with the present and the assurance for the future.

     1-3. The Ideal of Forgiveness. Lord, thou hast been favorable. The pictures of God’s favor, restoration, forgiveness, and cessation from wrath set forth the ideal of a perfect relation to God. The verbs in these verses, although translated as past tenses, are probably prophetic perfects, indicating that the psalmist views the events they forecast as certain of fulfillment.

     4-7. The Reality of the Present. Turn us ... cause thine anger toward us to cease. The present situation stands in bold relief when viewed in relation to the prophetic ideal. God’s anger is still evident and appears to be unending. The psalmist appeals to God to restore, revive, show loving-kindness, and grant deliverance.

     8-13. The Answer of Hope. I will hear what God the Lord will speak. In prophetic fashion the psalmist pauses to hear God’s message in answer to the prayer of the people. He is certain that it will be a message of peace. By means of vivid personifications, he describes how real is God’s salvation. The union of God’s mercy or covenant love and our truth or faithfulness, of His righteousness and our peace of heart, of earth and heaven are certain when God and men meet. As a result of this encounter, God will provide for men’s needs and lead them in right paths. For us today, the meeting-place can only be at the foot of the cross.