Psalm 85: He will speak peace to His people

This Psalm concerns a restoration of the people and of the land as well. We are not sure

if this refers to the return from the Babylonian Captivity or some other time period. It

seems that the people have returned but yet are still in trouble. This reminds us of the

era of Ezra and Nehemiah. In those days there was joy at the return of the people from

Babylon and there much progress made in the building of the City and the Temple;

however, there were many adversaries and much opposition. The Psalm is confident

that as people turn to God He will bless them in the land.

(1) To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. LORD, You have

been favorable to Your land: You have brought back the captivity of Jacob.

(2) You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people, You have covered all

their sin. Selah.

 The Lord is described here as being favorable to His land. The Land of Israel was

viewed as sacred. Moses said that if the people defiled the land through their

wickedness, the Lord would expel them and make the land a barren waste like

Sodom and Gomorrah.

 If, however, the people returned in their hearts to the Lord, he said He would

bless them and bless the land:

And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing

and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind

among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, and shalt
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return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I

command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all

thy soul; that then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have

compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations,

whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out

unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather

thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: and the LORD thy God will bring thee

into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will

do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers…. And the LORD thy God will

make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in

the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will

again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: if thou shalt

hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his

statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the

LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. (See Deut. 30:1-10)

 This is an event that Scripture shows us would happen twice. The First

Restoration happened in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. Today we live at the

end of the age, in the time of the Second Restoration. We see the people being

restored and we also see the land being restored to its Biblical fruitfulness.

Numerous Scriptures demonstrate that the rebirth of Israel in 1948 was a

miracle God had promised to do, even before the destruction of the nation –

which Jesus had foretold and which occurred in the year 70 A. D.

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Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say,

The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of

Egypt; but, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the

house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had

driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land. (Jer. 23:7-8)

After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into

the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many

people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is

brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. (Ezek.

38:8)

For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations,

like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth….

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the

breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days

of old… Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall

overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the

mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring

again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities,

and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof;

they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them

upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I

have given them, saith the LORD thy God. (See Amos 9:9-15)

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And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into

all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times

of the Gentiles be fulfilled. (Luke 21:24)

 The reference to the captivity of Jacob means of course that He not only restored

the land, but He also restored the people into the land.

 Their iniquity was forgiven and their sin covered. The idea of atonement is in

Hebrew the idea of “covering.” If our sins are covered over by something else,

God cannot see them. We know this is not literally the case but it connects the

idea of shame to sin and needing something to blot it out. This was done by the

sprinkling of blood on the mercy seat (on the Ark of the Covenant) on the Day of

Atonement; it was done completely by the Blood of Jesus.

 A selah follows in which the people were to reflect on God’s graciousness.

(3) You have taken away all Your wrath: You have turned Yourself from the

fierceness of Your anger. (4) Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause

Your anger toward us to cease.

 God’s anger is no more; the idea of verse 4 is that if their hearts are turned

toward Him there would be no more cause for anger. What a great feeling to

know that God’s wrath is taken away! Through Jesus’ blood the wrath of God has

been satisfied.

(5) Will You be angry with us for ever? Will You draw out Your anger to all

generations? (6) Will You not revive us again, so that Your people may

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rejoice in You? (7) Show us Your mercy, O LORD, and grant us Your

salvation. (8) I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for He will speak

peace to His people, and to His saints; but let them not turn again to folly.

 In response to these prayers, God would indeed forgive them but the warning is

strong against returning to those things which had invited His anger.

(9) Surely His salvation is near those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in

our land. (10) Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace

have kissed each other. (11) Truth shall spring out of the earth; and

righteousness shall look down from heaven. (12) Yes, the LORD shall give

that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. (13)

Righteousness shall go before Him; and shall set us in the way of His steps.

 This is a picture of the land, and indeed of our hearts, when God’s salvation is

near to us. The land is blessed and the people walk in the way of His steps – we

live in the footsteps of Jesus!

 In the cross, the wonderful conditions of Kingdom living are met. Mercy and

truth meet together in the cross. Only the cross can reconcile the dilemma

mankind faces because of the poles of God’s character – His love and His

holiness. Only the cross allows Him, as Paul says, to be both just and the justifier

of the one who believes in Jesus. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!