Written circa 537 BC, Psalm 85 is a song of gratitude to a loving God who brought His people, the Israelites, back to their Promised Land after 70 years of exile in Babylon. Zerubbabel, with the help of Ezra and Nehemiah, led the people back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, and the city walls, plus revive them religiously. Let’s dig in…
Psalm 85
For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah.
1 Lord, you poured out blessings on your land!
You restored the fortunes of Israel (Jacob).
2 You forgave the guilt of your people—
yes, you covered all their sins. Interlude (Selah, pause and ponder)
3 You held back your fury.
You kept back your blazing anger.4 Now restore us again, O God of our salvation.
Put aside your anger against us once more.
5 Will you be angry with us always?
Will you prolong your wrath to all generations?
6 Won’t you revive us again,
so your people can rejoice in you?
7 Show us your unfailing love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.8 I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying,
for he speaks peace (Shalom) to his faithful people.
But let them not return to their foolish ways.
9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
so our land will be filled with his glory.10 Unfailing love and truth have met together.
Psalm 85 NLT
Righteousness and peace have kissed!
11 Truth springs up from the earth,
and righteousness smiles down from heaven.
12 Yes, the Lord pours down his blessings.
Our land will yield its bountiful harvest.
13 Righteousness goes as a herald before him,
preparing the way for his steps.
Gratitude and Freedom from Exile
The Exile was God’s judgment on the Israelites for disobeying Him. After God explicitly told them NOT to marry the pagan women and worship their false gods and idols, they did anyway. Prophet after prophet brought them God’s warning messages, yet they still turned further away from Him. Sounds a lot like our world today, doesn’t it? We need a revival today! We can pray this psalm to God, for not just Israel, but for our respective countries.
Rebuilding after destruction by war (or natural disaster) is not easy especially when they had opposition — Arab opposition.
19 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab heard of our plan, they scoffed contemptuously. “What are you doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” they asked.
20 I replied, “The God of heaven will help us succeed. We, his servants, will start rebuilding this wall. But you have no share, legal right, or historic claim in Jerusalem.”
Nehemiah 2:19-20 NLT
The Jews finished rebuilding the temple and the city walls holding a sword in one hand and their materials in the other. (Nehemiah 4)
Watch this video from Spoken Gospel…
Where is the Gospel?
Sadly, the psalmist’s prayer and hopes were not met. Once Israel returned from exile, the people did not obey God in a renewed or consistent way, which meant that God did not respond with his love, forgiveness, and favor. As a result Israel was once again invaded and eventually handed over to Rome. The disobedience of God’s people continued to prevent Israel from experiencing the fatherly kiss of God’s love and peace.
But despite Israel’s sins, God’s abounding, slow-to-anger, and faithful love sent his Son Jesus to be born an Israelite and to obey God’s laws on their behalf. In Jesus, God’s people would finally be faithful so that God could approach not in anger, but with loving care and lavish favor. Jesus’ obedience was seen throughout his life, but ultimately it was shown in his death (Philippians 2:8; Romans 5:18). And through his ultimate act of obedience Jesus secures God’s goodness, peace, and love for everyone who is a member of God’s people, despite the debt they owed to God’s justice.
The obedience God demands of his people is finally given in Jesus. In response, God, as a proud father, kisses his son, gives him life from the dead and an eternal life experiencing his love, peace, and goodness forever. And because Jesus did this for his people, God’s blessings towards us are not determined by our behavior, our sins, or our disobedience, but by Jesus’ obedience in our place. If you trust that Jesus is your representative, you can be confident that he has prepared a path for God’s goodness and favor to walk into your life.
Spoken Gospel
Pastor Sandy Adams adds more insight…
The Judge declared the boy guilty – and sentenced him to a fine – far more than He could pay. But when the verdict was rendered and the gavel fell, the judge took off His robe and came down from the bench. He stood by the boy, his son – reached into his wallet and paid the fine. This is what our heavenly Father has done for us. He’s Judge, but He’s also our Dad. He satisfies both law and love at the same time.
Pastor Sandy Adams
For followers of Jesus, His footsteps are our path.
Are YOU following Jesus or a church?
Are YOU following Jesus or today’s culture?
If you’re not sure if you’re saved or not, if you truly want to be born again and have the assurance of salvation, receive the Holy Spirit, feel His Shalom — a peace that surpasses all understanding, and get a 1-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven after you die, or that you won’t be left behind at the Rapture, which can happen at any moment, this is what you have to do…
Believe. Repent. Be Baptized. Receive the Holy Spirit.
- Believe — have Faith — that Jesus is the Christ and He died taking your sins away forever and that He rose from the dead 3 days later.
- Repent of your sins — stop sinning! Do a complete 180-degree turn in your life and surrender your life to Him. When you ask Jesus to forgive you He will. ALL your sins will be wiped clean — past, present, and future! And All means ALL!
- Be Baptized by water baptism — show the world and yourself that you have died to your old life and are born again in Christ.
- Receive the gift of Holy Spirit in your heart.
