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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Psalms 85

Psalm 85: past favour recalled, present anger questioned, and peace heard for the land

General context

The speakers tell the Lord he has been favourable to his land, brought back the captivity of Jacob, forgiven the iniquity of his people and covered all their sin; a Selah follows. He has taken away all his wrath and turned from the fierceness of his anger. Then the prayer turns to the present: Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. They ask whether he will be angry for ever and draw out his anger to all generations, whether he will not revive them again so that his people may rejoice, and they ask to be shown his mercy and granted his salvation. A single voice then says, I will hear what God the Lord will speak, expecting that he will speak peace to his people and his saints, with the caution that they not turn again to folly. His salvation is near those who fear him, so that glory may dwell in our land. The closing lines describe mercy and truth meeting, righteousness and peace kissing, truth springing out of the earth and righteousness looking down from heaven; the Lord gives what is good, the land yields her increase, and righteousness goes before him and sets the people in the way of his steps.

Cited passages: Psalms 85:1, Psalms 85:2, Psalms 85:3, Psalms 85:4, Psalms 85:5, Psalms 85:6, Psalms 85:7, Psalms 85:8, Psalms 85:9, Psalms 85:10, Psalms 85:11, Psalms 85:12, Psalms 85:13

Psalms 85 (KJV)

1Lord, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.

2Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.

3Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.

4Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.

5Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?

6Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?

7Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.

8I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.

9Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.

10Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

11Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

12Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.

13Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

This source prints no superscription; the psalm begins with Lord, thou hast been favourable unto thy land. Verses 1 to 3 speak of thy land and thy people, verses 4 to 7 use us and our, and verse 8 shifts to a single I will hear. The past favour is described as bringing back the captivity of Jacob and forgiving the people's sin, but the text does not say which captivity or when; the present trouble is described only as God's anger, with no enemy, drought or event named. The tension in the text is explicit: verse 3 says all thy wrath has been taken away, and verse 5 asks whether God will be angry for ever. The one Selah stands after verse 2. What God will speak is anticipated, not quoted; verse 8 says he will speak peace, and the verses that follow describe the results in the land rather than reporting a speech. The land is called thy land and our land, without a name.

Cited passages: Psalms 85:1, Psalms 85:8, Psalms 85:3, Psalms 85:5, Psalms 85:2, Psalms 85:9, Psalms 85:12

Literary context

The psalm moves in three steps: what God has done, stated six times with thou hast; what the people now ask, in a run of questions and imperatives; and what the single listener expects God to say. The verb turn links the parts, God has turned from his anger, the people ask him to turn them, and the saints are warned not to turn again to folly. The closing verses personify four qualities, mercy, truth, righteousness and peace, and give them bodies that meet and kiss; truth springs from the ground and righteousness looks down from heaven, so the earth and the sky each contribute. Righteousness then walks ahead of God like a herald and sets the people's feet in his steps. The psalm ends without narrating any change; it describes what peace would look like in a land that yields her increase.

Cited passages: Psalms 85:1, Psalms 85:3, Psalms 85:4, Psalms 85:8, Psalms 85:10, Psalms 85:11, Psalms 85:13

Key moments

  1. Captivity brought back (Psalms 85:1). The speakers recall the Lord's past favour to his land and to Jacob.
  2. Turn us again (Psalms 85:4). The prayer shifts from past favour to a request that God's anger cease.
  3. Angry for ever? (Psalms 85:5). The people ask whether the anger will be drawn out to all generations.
  4. I will hear what God will speak (Psalms 85:8). A single voice waits for God to speak peace to his people.
  5. Righteousness and peace kiss (Psalms 85:10). Mercy, truth, righteousness and peace are pictured meeting each other.
  6. The land yields her increase (Psalms 85:12). The psalm ends with the Lord giving good and the land producing.

For reflection

The people say God has taken away all his wrath and then ask whether he will be angry for ever. What kind of memory lets a prayer hold both sentences a few lines apart?

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