Psalms 85
Chuck Smith on Psalms 85
Verse by verse, taught on Sunday nights: the C2000 series, 1979 to 1985, and the C3000 series, 1985 to 1999. Permission granted by The Word For Today.
Sunday Nights, 1979 to 1985 (C2000)
Chapter introduction
Psalm 85:
Verses 1–2
LORD, you have been favourable unto the land: you have brought back the captivity of Jacob. You have forgiven the iniquity of your people; you have covered all of their sins (85:1-2).
So the declaration of God. The favor of God to the land and to the people, bringing them back from captivity. And then the goodness of God and the forgiveness of their sins.
Verses 3–4
Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: you have turned yourself from the fierceness of your anger. Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause your anger toward us to cease (85:3-4).
And now he's speaking unto God.
Verses 5–13
Will you always be angry with us for ever? will you draw out your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again: that your people may rejoice in thee? Show us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation. I will hear what the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly. Surely his salvation is near them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us up in the way of his steps (85:5-13).
So the psalm begins with the declaration that God has brought us back. But yet, there hasn't been a full spiritual restoration. It would seem that God isn't really moving yet among His people. So the prayer, "Lord, are You going to be angry forever throughout all generations? Won't You return, you know, revive us again? And that we might have again the rejoicing of the Lord within our hearts. Let us experience, Lord, Your mercies." And then he makes in the end of the psalm the affirmation of his faith in the faithfulness of God. "Surely God's salvation is near. And mercy and truth have met. And righteousness and peace have kissed. For God will give that which is good and the land will yield her increase."
Sunday Nights, 1985 to 1999 (C3000)
Chapter introduction
Psalm eighty-five was probably written after the return from the Babylonian captivity. It is to the chief musician and it is inscribed as a psalm for the sons of Korah. The psalm begins with thanksgiving to God for bringing them back from their captivity.
Verse 1
LORD, thou hast been favorable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob (85:1).
The acknowledgement that God has favored them in freeing them from that long period of captivity.
Verse 2
Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sins (85:2).
It was quite obvious the reason why the nation of Israel went into captivity was because of their iniquity and because of their sin. The prophets were constantly warning them that unless they repented and turned from their iniquities that they would be led captive into the nations. They did not repent and thus they did go into captivity. Now the acknowledgement that God is forgiven and that God has covered their sins.
Verse 3
Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger (85:3).
It’s interesting that he makes this statement and yet the next few verses are really sort of a cry unto God because there still seems to be a residue of anger or there seems not to be that complete restoration. After they came back from the captivity in Babylon through the decree of the Persian king Cyrus that they had begun the building of the temple under Ezra, Zerubbabel and Joshua. It was not easy living.
A lot of times when we go back to that special place of our childhood we find that it isn’t anything like we remembered it. There are those things that are in our minds that are sort of dreams of "“hose were the days my friend, we thought they’d never end” and we go back and the house we used to live in looks like a shack now. Things are so different. We’ve developed in our minds sort of a scheme. We remember some important thoughts but we make up the rest and we fantasize about the rest and we build it up as a glorious home, it was big. You go back and realize it isn’t all that you have conjured up to be in the years of intervening.
So when they go back to Jerusalem things were really a mess. They didn’t expect that it would be as bad as it really was. It was hard, it was tough and it was not an easy life. Thus they became demoralized and discouraged. Later on, when Nehemiah was the cupbearer to Artaxerxes and some fellows had come back from Jerusalem they said, “How are things in Jerusalem?” It was a dream of all kids. He’d never seen it but he had heard about if from all of the ancients and they said, “It is a mess. It’s really bad. The people are discouraged and demoralized”. It wasn’t all glory days when they returned from captivity. It was tough.
The judgement of God for their sin has been accomplished and fulfilled. The fierceness of the anger of god against the people that brought their captivity is over. Yet they have not come into a full position of blessing, of that they once knew.
Verses 4–5
Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? (85:4-5).
Lord, are we going to have to endure this kind of hardship from now on? So the plea is for God to turn again in blessing upon his people.
Verse 6
Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? (85:6).
God bring new life. That “revive” is always the sense of bringing new life to your people.
Verses 7–8
Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation. I will hear what God the LORD will speak: (85:7-8).
When Habakkuk was complaining to God before their captivity because of the corrupted conditions of the nation. The Lord informed Habakkuk that he was aware of what was going on, he was ready to take care of it, he was going to use the Babylonian army as his instrument of justice and judgement and that they were going to destroy Jerusalem. Habakkuk said, “I don’t understand that. Why should you use a more evil nation to destroy your people?” Then he said, “I will go into the tower and I will wait to see"”
Here the psalmist offers his prayer to God that God will again send his salvation. That God will revive them that they might again have that rejoicing in the land. God would show his mercy.
Verse 8
I will hear (85:8).
I’m going to listen. I think that there is an important part of prayer that we often times miss. That is, that waiting upon God to listen to his voice. So many times when we pray we bring so many issues before the Lord. We ask the Lord to show us, we ask the Lord to guide us, we ask the Lord to help us and then we never wait around to hear the answer. I think that many times God would answer if we would just wait awhile. We say, “Lord I don’t understand this” and then we get up and we leave and we are out the door. God hasn’t had a chance to respond. I think that there is an important time of having presented my complaint as the psalmist did and making my plea as the psalmist did. As the psalmist did, I wait to see what God’s going to say. I wait for a response. I wait for an answer.
I have discovered something rather interesting in prayer. That is, when I asked God direct questions, if I wait, God quite often will give me a direct answer to the direct question. I have learned to ask the question and then wait upon God for an answer.
I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: (85:8).
God’s word to us are always words of peace. God wants peace with you. God has provided a basis for peace with you and the basis for peace is through the work of Jesus Christ.
For he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to his folly (85:8).
It was their folly that brought them into captivity. It was their folly that brought them the judgement of God upon the nation. So God will speak peace but let them not turn again to the folly that brought them to that place of judgement.
Verse 9
Surely his salvation is nigh [near] them that fear him; (85:9).
In Romans chapter ten verses nine and ten Paul, speaking about salvation, said to not think it’s unattainable or that you can’t reach it. It’s somewhere way off in the heavens so someone has to ascend to bring it down to us. He said, “Salvation is very close to you” even if you might be one of the rankest sinners in the world. I mean if you look at your past and say, “I am a mess”. It doesn’t matter how deep you’ve gone into the pit of sin, you are still very near to salvation.
“Salvation is very close to you. It’s really as close as your mouth for if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved”.
That’s how close you are to knowing the power of God and the deliverance of God in your life. Just a breath away. Confession to God that I’m a sinner and I believe in Jesus Christ. He is your son, you’ve raised him from the dead. That’s just how close salvation is.
Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land (85:9).
Then this beautiful scripture.
Verse 10
Mercy and truth are met together: righteousness and peace have kissed each other (85:10).
Where did mercy and truth meet? It met in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life”. It isn’t really justice to forgive the guilty, that is a miscarriage of justice. We often cry out today against the judicial system that releases guilty people into our society because of some technicality. You know they are guilty, they even confess to their guilt but they weren’t told of their rights prior to their confession. So then they are released by the court of their judicial system. We cry out, “That’s not justice. That’s not truth. That’s not fair”. Justice demands the penalty be exacted for the crime.
Mercy is the forgiveness of the wrong. You cannot be merciful without there being a violation of justice and truth. Yet God is merciful and yet he forgives the guilty. “Mercy and truth are met together” (85:10). Where did they meet together? In Jesus Christ. For you see, the way that God could be merciful to you a sinner and still be just, which he must be because he is God, is that he takes the guilt of your sin and he puts it over on his son Jesus Christ. He in turn died for your sin, paid the penalty for your guilt so that through Jesus Christ, God could have mercy upon you and you don’t have to pay the penalty for your own sin. Justice has been served because the penalty was paid through Jesus Christ. So “Mercy and truth have met together” (85:10).
“Righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (85:10). God is still righteous in his mercy and the righteousness and peace. I can have peace with God. I can be righteous before God through Jesus Christ. It’s sort of a prophecy here. The fulfillment happened in the person of Christ where mercy and truth did meet and righteousness peace kissed each other.
Verses 11–12
Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase (85:11-12).
Remember back a little ways in verse five when the psalmist was saying, “Lord will you be angry forever? Will your anger continue out to all generations? Will you not revive us again? I will listen to what God is going to say. I know what God says will be peace to his people”. So the confidence with which the psalm ends, “The Lord will give that which is good, our land shall yield her increase. There will be the revival, the restoration.
Verse 13
Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps (85:13).
A glorious psalm.