Psalms 85

Psalms 851. To the Chief Musician. To (or by) the Sons of Korah. A Psalm. On the ground of former benefits, the Church prays for deliverance from present evils, Psalms 85:1-7), and joyfully anticipates a favourable answer, Psalms 85:8-13. There is nothing in the title, or the psalm itself, to determine its date or confine its application to any particular historical occasion. It seems to be appropriate to every case in which the fulfilment of the promise (Leviticus 26:3-13) was suspended or withheld.

2. (Psalms 85:1) Thou wast gracious, 0 Jehovah, to thy land; thou didst return (to) the captivity of Jacob. Some interpreters refer these words to favours recently experienced; thou hast (now) been gracious, etc. But it is clear from Psalms 85:4-7, that the people were actually suffering, and that the acknowledgments in Psalms 85:1-3 must relate to former instances of God’s compassion. The idea, that the benefit acknowledged was deliverance from the Babylonish exile, has arisen from a false interpretation of the last clause, for the true sense of which see above, on Psalms 14:7. Captivity is a common figure for distress, and God’s revisiting the captives for relief from it. It is also worthy of remark, that the favour shewn was to the land, i.e. to the people while in possession and actual occupation of it.

3. (Psalms 85:2) Thou didst take away the guilt of thy people; thou didst cover all their sin. Selah. The same form of expression occurs above, in Psalms 32:1; Psalms 32:5. Both verbs suggest the idea of atonement as well as pardon. Thou didst withdraw all thy wrath; thou didst turn from the heat of thine anger. There is probably an allusion here to the prayer of Moses in Exodus 32:12. The Hebrew verb of the second clause corresponds strictly to the English verb in its transitive or causative sense. It is used, however, in the same way by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 18:30; Ezekiel 18:32), who, in one place (Ezekiel 14:6), has the phrase to turn away the face, of which the other may be an abbreviation.

4. (Psalms 85:4) Return to us, 0 God of our salvation, and cease thine anger towards us. The recollection of former mercies is here followed by a prayer for their renewal. “As thou hast had pity on thy people heretofore, so have pity on them now.” Return to us, revisit us again in mercy. See above, on Psalms 85:1, and on Psalms 14:7. The verb in the last clause means to annul or nullify, put an end to, cause to cease. It occurs above, Psalms 33:10. The word translated anger is one which properly expresses a mixed feeling of grief and indignation. See above, on Psalms 6:6.

5. (Psalms 85:5) For ever wilt thou be angry at us? Wilt thou draw out thine anger to generation and generation! The first Hebrew word strictly means to ages or eternities. The verb to draw out, protract, continue, is used in a favourable sense, Psalms 36:10. The idea here expressed is the opposite of that in Psalms 30:5.

6. (Psalms 85:6) Wilt thou not return (and) quicken us, (and) shall (not) thy people rejoice in thee? With the first clause compare Psalms 71:20; Psalms 80:18, Deuteronomy 32:39, Hosea 6:2. With the second compare Psalms 5:11; Psalms 9:2; Psalms 40:16. “Wilt thou not revisit us in mercy, raise us from the dead or dying state in which we now are, and give us, as thy people, fresh occasion to rejoice in our relation to thee, and in our union and communion with thee?” The construction which continues the interrogation through the sentence is much simpler and more natural than that which makes the second clause contingent and dependent on the first, that thy people may rejoice in thee. At the same time, the interrogative form expresses a more confident anticipation than a bare petition.

7. (Psalms 85:7) Let us see, 0 Lord, thy mercy; and thy salvation thou wilt give unto us. The first petition is, that God would cause them to experience his mercy. In the last clause, as in many other places, the form of petition is insensibly exchanged for that of anticipation. As if he had said, “We can confidently ask thee to shew us thy mercy, for we know that thou wilt grant us thy salvation.”

8. (Psalms 85:8) I will hear what the Mighty (God), Jehovah, will speak; for he will speak peace to his people and to his saints; and let them not return to folly. The first clause expresses the people’s willingness to hear and to abide by God’s decision. The second gives the reason of this willingness, to wit, because they know that the response will be auspicious. The third assigns the necessary limitation to this confidence, by stating the condition of God’s favourable answer. The failure to comply with this condition accounts for the partial fulfilment of the promise, both in the case of individuals and of the church at large. See above, on Psalms 80:18, and compare the promise in Leviticus 26:3-13.

His saints, the objects of his mercy and subjects of his grace. See above, on Psalms 4:3. And let them not turn is equivalent to saying, so (or therefore) let them not turn. The real connection of the clauses might be brought out still more clearly in our idiom by the paraphrase, “provided they do not return to folly.”

10. (Psalms 85:9) Only nigh to his fearers (is) his salvation, for glory to dwell in our land. As the limitation of the promise to those fearing God is an essential stroke in this description, there is no need of departing from the strict sense of the particle with which the sentence opens. See above, On Psalms 62:9; Psalms 68:6, and compare Psalms 58:11; Psalms 73:1. The meaning then is, that salvation is provided by God’s mercy for none but those who fear him. The last clause, which is literally rendered above, is equivalent to saying in our idiom, that glory may dwell in our land. Glory has the same sense as in Psalms 84:11. Dwell, reside permanently, long continue.

11. (Psalms 85:10) Mercy and truth have met (together); righteousness and peace have kissed (each other). By truth, we are to understand the truth of God’s promises, the divine veracity. See above, on Psalms 25:5. The same combination with grace or mercy occurs above, in Psalms 25:10; Psalms 40:10; Psalms 47:3; Psalms 61:7, and below, Psalms 89:14. Righteousness, considered as the gift of God, justification, whether judicial or providential. Peace, immunity from all disturbing causes, which implies prosperity of every kind.

See above, on Psalms 72:3. Have met, in a peaceable and friendly manner, an idea still more strongly expressed by the kiss of reconciliation or affection in the last clause. A still more pointed and emphatic meaning may be put upon the sentence by supposing it to mean, that God’s mercy or free favour to the undeserving is now seen to be consistent with his truth, which was pledged for their destruction, and their peace or safety with his righteousness or justice, which might otherwise have seemed to be wholly incompatible.

12. (Psalms 85:11) Truth from the earth is springing, and righteousness from heaven looks down. The truth of God’s promise may be seen, as it were, springing from the earth in its abundant fruits, and its rectitude, or faithfulness to his engagements, looking down from heaven in the rain and sunshine. By this bold and beautiful conception, the certainty of God’s providential care is expressed more strongly than it could be by any mere didactic statement. The beauty of the image in the last clause is heightened by the use of a verb which originally means to lean or bend over, for the purpose of gazing down upon a lower object. See above, on Psalms 14:2, and compare Judges 5:28, 2 Samuel 6:16.

13. (Psalms 85:12). Jehovah also will give the (material or earthly) good, and our land will give its produce (or increase). In other words, the promise shall be verified that stands recorded in the Law (Leviticus 26:4), from which the form of the expression is borrowed, as it is in Psalms 67:6.

14. (Psalms 85:13). Righteousness before him shall march, and set (us) in the way of his steps. The verb in the first clause is a poetical intensive form of one which means to walk or go. The idea here expressed seems to be that of public and solemn manifestation. The last clause is obscure, and of dubious construction. The latest interpreters understand it as meaning, and set its steps for a way, i. e. mark out by its own steps the way in which we are to walk. This yields, in the end, the same sense as the common version above given.