Psalms 85

Psalms 85:1

Psalm 85: Revive Us Again!This prayer for revival is divided into four easily discernible sections: A past instance of revival in Israel (vv. 1-3). A plea for God to do it again (vv. 4-7). A pause to hear how the Lord will answer (vv. 8, 9). A promise of future restoration (vv. 10-13). It is impossible to pinpoint the particular restoration of Israel that is described here. It could not be the restoration after the Babylonian captivity since this is a Psalm of the sons of Korah, and they lived long before that time. But the identification of the event is not important. What really matters is that God had done it. And if He did it once, He can certainly do it again. 85:1-3 The revival is described as a time when the LORD was favorable to the land and when He restored the fortunes of Jacob. Three actions led up to it. The first was confession of sin. Though this is not explicitly stated, confession is an invariable moral necessity before the others can take place. The second was forgiveness of the iniquity of His people and the third an averting of God’s wrath. 85:4 This former demonstration of God’s pardoning mercy is the basis for a plea that He repeat it. Faith is not satisfied with history; it wants to see God in current events. Although the psalmist does not engage in confession, it is implicit in the prayer, “Restore us. . . .” When God restores, He first brings His people to repentance, then He forgives their sins, and then He terminates the punishment that resulted from His indignation. 85:5 Any time spent away from the Lord seems like an eternity of misery. But the poignant plea of verse 5 takes on special meaning in the lips of the nation of Israel with its centuries of persecution and dispersion: “Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?“85:6 Spiritual declension results inevitably in a loss of joy. Broken fellowship means that the believer’s song is gone. Rejoicing cannot co-exist with unconfessed sin. So here the prayer goes winging up to heaven. “Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?” The Spirit’s renewal sets the joy-bells ringing once again. Every great revival has been accompanied by song. 85:7 When God restores His people it is a gracious demonstration of His mercy. But no more than any of His other dealings with us. It is love that chastens us, that disciplines us, that corrects us, and that brings us back at last. And how steadfast is that love that bears with us in all our wanderings, our backslidings, and our disobedience. There is no love like the love of the Lord. And revival is a granting of salvation from the Lordhere not salvation of the soul but deliverance from all the consequences of unfaithfulnessdispersion, captivity, affliction, powerlessness, and unhappiness. 85:8, 9 Having brought His plea for restoration to the throne of grace, the psalmist waits for the answer, confident that it will be an answer of peace, and that it will come quickly. His confidence is based on the fact that the covenant-keeping God always speaks peace to those who turn to Him in their hearts, and delivers those who fear Him, not turning back to folly. And the inevitable result is that glory will dwell in the land. Glory here is used to signify the God of glory, and the thought is that the Lord can be depended on to dwell in the midst of His people when they are in fellowship with Him. 85:10 The answer to the prayer for revival is given in the closing verses. They describe the idyllic conditions which will prevail when the Lord Jesus reigns over restored Israel in the coming age of glory. But in a broader poetic sense they tell what it is always like when revival fires are burning. Mercy and truth have met together. In human affairs strict adherence to the claims of truth usually prevent the display of love and mercy. But God can shower His steadfast love on His people because all the claims of truth were fully met by the Lord Jesus on the cross. In the same sense, righteousness and peace have kissed. Believers enjoy peace with God because all the claims of divine justice were met by the substitutionary work of the Savior. Our sins were placed on Jesus’ head. ‘Twas in His blood our debt was paid. Stern justice can demand no more, And mercy can dispense her store. Albert Midlane85:11-13 Truth, or faithfulness, shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from the sky. As the believer is true to His Eternal Lover, the heavens respond righteously with multiplied blessing. The LORD, ever faithful to His Word, gives what is good. He withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly (Psa_84:11). Drought and famine conditions cease and the land produces a bumper crop. As the Lord visits His land, His route takes Him among a people whose righteous lives are morally prepared for His presence.