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PSALM 85

STROPHE DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

NASB NKJV NRSV TEV NJB
Prayer for God's Mercy Upon the Nation
   MT Intro
For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah		 Prayer That The Lord Will Restore Favor to The Land Prayer For Deliverance From National Adversary A Prayer For the Nation's Welfare Prayer For Peace and Justice
85:1-3 85:1-3 85:1-3 85:1-3 85:1-2
        85:3
85:4-7 85:4-7 85:4-7 85:4-7 85:4-5
        85:6-7
85:8-13 85:8-9 85:8-9 85:8-9 85:8-9
  85:10-13 85:10-13 85:10-13 85:10-11
        85:12-13

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects (reading cycle #3). Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

  1. Notice that
    1. Ps. 85:1-3 has all PERFECTS (i.e., completed action, usually past, although JPSOA thinks they all refer to future action)
    2. while Ps. 85:4-7 has all IMPERFECTS (i.e., ongoing action, the current state of YHWH's anger toward Israel)
    3. Ps. 85:5-6 contain a series of three questions

  2. Several major theological terms are personified in Ps. 85:10-13 (cf. positive in Isa. 58:8; negative in Isa. 59:14-15).
    1. lovingkindness, Ps. 85:10 ‒ SPECIAL TOPIC: LOVINGKINDNESS (hesed)
    2. truth/faithfulness, Ps. 85:10,11 ‒ SPECIAL TOPIC: BELIEVE, TRUST, FAITH AND FAITHFULNESS IN THE OT
    3. righteousness, Ps. 85:10,11,13 ‒ SPECIAL TOPIC: RIGHTEOUSNESS
    4. peace, Ps. 85:10 (cf. Ps. 85:8) ‒ SPECIAL TOPIC: PEACE (OT)

  3. The land is affected in both positive and negative ways by how God's people live (cf. Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 27-30). Human choices have consequences, both in time and in eternity, but so do YHWH's grace and mercy!

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 85:1-3
 1O Lord, You showed favor to Your land;
 You restored the captivity of Jacob.
 2You forgave the iniquity of Your people;
 You covered all their sin.  Selah.
 3You withdrew all Your fury;
 You turned away from Your burning anger.

85:1-3 Notice the powerful parallelism which denotes the character and redemptive actions of YHWH.

  1. You showed favor ‒ BDB 953, KB 1280, Qal PERFECT
  2. You restored the fortunes ‒ BDB 996, KB 1427, Qal PERFECT, cf. Ps. 14:7
    1. forgiveness
    2. restoration to Canaan
  3. You forgave the iniquity ‒ BDB 669, KB 724, Qal PERFECT
  4. You covered all their sin ‒ BDB 491, KB 487, Piel PERFECT
  5. You withdrew all Your fury ‒ BDB 62, KB 74, Qal PERFECT
  6. You turned away Your burning anger ‒ BDB 996, KB 1427, Hiphil PERFECT; notice
    1. this same VERB in #2
    2. the IMPERATIVE form in Ps. 85:4
    3. the Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense in Ps. 85:8

YHWH has kept His covenant promises even when His covenant people did not deserve it. Sin has consequences (cf. Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 27-30), but grace also has lasting effects because of the character of God (cf. Exod. 34:6; Num. 14:18; Deut. 4:31; Neh. 9:27; Ps. 86:15; 103:8; 145:8)!

SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT

SPECIAL TOPIC: CHARACTERISTICS OF ISRAEL'S GOD (OT)

85:1 "Your land" Notice the different ways to refer to God's people.

  1. Your land, Ps. 85:1a
  2. Jacob, Ps. 85:1b
  3. Your people, Ps. 85:2a

▣ "restored the captivity of Jacob" This VERB (BDB 996, KB 1427, Qal PERFECT) is used in this context to denote the covenant peoples' return to Canaan (cf. Jer. 30:3,18; Amos 9:14; Zeph. 3:20). The time element is not an aspect of Hebrew VERBS, just completed or uncompleted action. It is possible to see the PERFECT TENSE (vv. 1-3) as

  1. PROPHETIC PERFECT ‒ it has not happened but it is certain it will happen (i.e., YHWH's deliverance and restoration as future)
  2. PERFECT TENSES ‒ completed action as pointing to a return that has occurred (cf. Ps. 14:7; 53:6), but there are problems yet

Notice this VERB is used three times in vv. 1-4, all denoting YHWH's acts of mercy.

  1. restore (lit. "turned a turning" [VERB and NOUN])
  2. turn back (also note v. 8c)
  3. restore

SPECIAL TOPIC: REPENTANCE (OT)

85:2 "You covered all their sin" This VERB (BDB 491, KB 487, Piel PERFECT) is a major term used of forgiveness. It became the name for one of Israel's major annual gatherings (i.e., The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur). The symbolism of "covering" sin comes from the blood sprinkled on the Mercy Seat by the High Priest, which obscured YHWH's eyes from the Ten Commandments in the ark.

85:2-3 "all" The use of "all" (BDB 481) is significant. All their sin is covered and all God's fury is withdrawn. What inclusive good news!

▣ "Selah" See note at Psalm 3:2 or Introduction to the Psalms, VII. B. #1.

85:3 "Your fury" Notice the different words that refer to YHWH's reaction to human disobedience (cf. Ps. 78:49).

  1. fury, Ps. 85:3a ‒ BDB 720
  2. burning anger, Ps. 85:3b ‒ BDB 354 CONSTRUCT BDB 60 I
  3. indignation, Ps. 85:4b ‒ BDB 495
  4. angry, Ps. 85:5a ‒ BDB 60, VERB
  5. anger, Ps. 85:5b ‒ BDB 60, NOUN

How different these expression of God's character are with Ps. 85:1-2

SPECIAL TOPIC: ANTHROPOMORPHIC LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE GOD

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 85:4-7
 4Restore us, O God of our salvation,
 And cause Your indignation toward us to cease.
 5Will You be angry with us forever?
 Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
 6Will You not Yourself revive us again,
 That Your people may rejoice in You?
 7Show us Your lovingkindness, O Lord,
 And grant us Your salvation.

85:4-7 This strophe

  1. starts out with two prayer requests
    1. "restore" ‒ BDB 996, KB 1427, Qal IMPERATIVE
    2. "put away" ‒ BDB 830, KB 974, Hiphil IMPERATIVE
  2. ends with a prayer request ‒ "show," BDB 906, KB 1157, Hiphil IMPERATIVE

It then follows with a series of questions related to the prayer for restoration.

  1. Will You be angry with us forever? cf. Ps. 74:1; 79:5; 80:4
  2. Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
  3. Will You not Yourself revive us again? cf. Ps. 71:20; 80:18

Israel could not understand how YHWH allowed them to be invaded and exiled (cf. Habakkuk 1)! They were His people and His witness in this world. The problem was covenant disobedience. The wrong message was being communicated to the nations (cf. Ezek. 36:22-36).

SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT

SPECIAL TOPIC: KEEP

85:5 "forever" This word must be interpreted in a specific context. It has a wide semantic field.

SPECIAL TOPIC: FOREVER ('olam)

85:7 "lovingkindness" See note at Contextual Insights, B.

This special covenant NOUN denotes YHWH's loyalty to HIs covenant responsibilities.

SPECIAL TOPIC: HITTITE (Suzerain) TREATIES

▣ "Your salvation" In Ps. 85:4 the psalmist calls YHWH "O God (Eloah) of our salvation" (BDB 447).

SPECIAL TOPIC: SALVATION (OT)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 85:8-13
 8I will hear what God the Lord will say;
 For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones;
 But let them not turn back to folly.
 9Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
 That glory may dwell in our land.
 10Lovingkindness and truth have met together;
 Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
 11Truth springs from the earth,
 And righteousness looks down from heaven.
 12Indeed, the Lord will give what is good,
 And our land will yield its produce.
 13Righteousness will go before Him
 And will make His footsteps into a way.

85:8-12 This strophe is the answer to the psalmist's prayers. He wants God to speak to him ("Let me hear," BDB 1033, KB 1570, Qal COHORTATIVE). He will pass on the message/vision to the people at a feast day at the temple.

  1. peace to
    1. His people
    2. His godly ones (BDB 339; see SPECIAL TOPIC: GODLY ONES, HOLY ONES)
  2. His salvation is near
  3. glory will dwell in their land (i.e., YHWH's personal presence, like the Shekinah cloud, but here in the temple, cf. Ps. 63:2; 102:15-16; SPECIAL TOPIC: SHEKINAH)
  4. lovingkindness and faithfulness have met together
  5. righteousness and peace have kissed each other
  6. faithfulness springs from the earth
  7. righteousness looks down from heaven
  8. YHWH will give what is good
  9. righteousness will go before

But notice the conditions.

  1. let them not turn back to folly (BDB 493) ‒ BDB 996, KB 1427, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense; this would involve
    1. covenant obedience
    2. no idolatry
  2. to those who fear/revere Him

It is even possible the "to His godly ones" of Ps. 85:8b is also a condition for peace. There is no peace apart from a right relationship with God and then others.

Also Ps. 85:11 speaks of faithfulness as a condition for God's righteousness (i.e., God Himself) to look from heaven.

Psalm 85:10-11 is such powerful imagery of God's person. These attributes are personified as coming together to accomplish His purposes.

  1. restoration from exile
  2. breaking a drought
  3. eschatological culmination (SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH'S ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN)

85:8 "God the Lord" This is El plus YHWH. Usually it is YHWH Elohim, as in Gen. 2:4. The NJB sees these two names for God as introducing parallel lines.

"What is God's message?"

"Yahweh's message is peace."

This same approach is followed by AB (p. 285).

SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY, A., D.

▣ "peace" See SPECIAL TOPIC: PEACE (OT, shalom)

▣ "to His people, to His godly ones" See SPECIAL TOPIC: GODLY ONES, HOLY ONES

▣
NASB, NKJV  "let them not turn back to folly"
NRSV, LXX  "to those who turn to him in their hearts"
REB  "let them not go back to foolish ways"
NJB  "if only they renounce their folly"
JPSOA  "may they not turn to folly"
Peshitta  "they may not turn again to folly"

The MT is reflected in the NASB. The UBS Text Project, p. 345, gives three possible ways to understand the Hebrew text.

  1. "and may they not turn back to folly"
  2. "and to those coming back to hope"
  3. "and to those turning towards him (their) hearts"

85:9 "no salvation" See SPECIAL TOPIC: SALVATION (OT)

▣ "those who fear Him" See SPECIAL TOPIC: FEAR (OT)

▣ "glory" See SPECIAL TOPIC: GLORY (OT, kabod)

85:10 "Lovingkindness" See SPECIAL TOPIC: LOVINGKINDNESS (hesed)

▣ "Truth" The term here can have several connotations. It is also personified in v. 11. See SPECIAL TOPIC: BELIEVE, TRUST, FAITH AND FAITHFULNESS (OT)

▣ "Righteousness" Notice the multiple uses in the personification, vv. 10, 11, 13. See SPECIAL TOPIC: RIGHTEOUSNESS

▣ "peace" See SPECIAL TOPIC: PEACE (OT, shalom)

▣ "have kissed each other" This VERB (BDB 676, KB 730, Qal PERFECT) is a powerful personification of YHWH's character.

SPECIAL TOPIC: CHARACTERISTICS OF ISRAEL'S GOD (OT)

85:11 This personification imagery from v. 10 is repeated. Notice the comprehensive imagery of

  1. "from the earth"
  2. "from heaven"

"Heaven" here denotes the atmosphere above the planet.

SPECIAL TOPIC: HEAVEN

85:12 The promise of agricultural abundance was tied to covenant obedience (i.e., Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 27-30). AB sees the Psalm as a pre-exilic call for rain amidst a drought. The Jewish Study Bible (p. 1377) sees the Psalm as a plea for restoration of God's people to Canaan. This is based on

  1. "land" in Ps. 85:1, 9-12
  2. "restore the fortunes," as used in Jer. 30:3,18; Amos 9:14
  3. Ps. 85:7, referring to a restored temple

▣ "good" To what does this refer?

  1. deliverance ‒ Exod. 18:9
  2. blessings ‒ Ps. 34:10
  3. Canaan ‒ Exod. 3:8; Deut. 1:35; 3:25; 4:21-22; 8:7,10; Josh. 23:13
  4. unspecified goodness from YHWH to those who obey His covenant ‒ Ps. 84:11

Maybe it is purposeful ambiguity that means God's provision in every needed area. Here, agricultural abundance (cf. Ps. 67:6).

85:13 The OT often uses the imagery of a "way," "road," "highway" to denote the actions of God and humans (i.e., Ps. 25:4,8,9,10,12,15). The spiritual life was characterized as "a way"!

Righteousness is again personified (cf. Ps. 85:10-11) as a herald (cf. Ps. 85:8) who goes before Israel shouting the good news of YHWH's love, care, protection, and presence with His people after exile or drought. The Jerome Bible Commentary (p. 591) sees it as possibly an eschatological reference.

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE PATH, THE WAY

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

  1. Is it possible to detect the historical setting? If so, list the three options.
  2. How do the VERBS of Ps. 85:1-2 relate to the VERBS of Ps. 85:3?
  3. Does Ps. 85:8 refer to the psalmist or a prophet?
  4. Why is Ps. 85:10-11 such powerful, moving, encouraging imagery?
  5. How does Ps. 85:11 deal with both divine sovereignty and human free will?
  6. Define "good" in Ps. 85:12.
  7. Explain the imagery of a "path" or "way."

 

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