Reflections on Psalms 85

 Psalms 85(Contemporary English Version)

1. (A psalm by the people of Korah for the music leader.) Our LORD, you have blessed your land and made all go well for Jacob's descendants.
   
2. You have forgiven the sin and taken away the guilt of your people.
   
3. Your fierce anger is no longer aimed at us.
   
4. Our LORD and our God, you save us! Please bring us back home and don't be angry.
   
5. Will you always be angry with us and our families?
   
6. Won't you give us fresh life and let your people be glad because of you?
   
7. Show us your love and save us!
   
8. I will listen to you, LORD God, because you promise peace to those who are faithful and no longer foolish.
   
9. You are ready to rescue everyone who worships you, so that you will live with us in all of your glory.
   
10. Love and loyalty will come together; goodness and peace will unite.
    
11. Loyalty will sprout from the ground; justice will look down from the sky above.
    
12. Our LORD, you will bless us; our land will produce wonderful crops.
    
13. Justice will march in front, making a path for you to follow.

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One of the hardest things we do is wait on the Lord. Doing so with patience is one of the greatest expressions and tests of our faith. The writer of Psalms 85 was experiencing such a period of waiting on the Lord. We are sustained through these periods by holding to God's works on our behalf in the past which is where this psalm begins. The psalmist recalls a past time when the Lord showed favor on His people and restored them. In so doing He took away the guilt of their sin and withdrew His anger from them.

In remembering this past experience of the Lord's forgiveness and mercy, the psalmist was given hope that God would again forgive and withdraw His anger. "Return to us," he says, "and abandon Your displeasure with us." (85:4) Evidently the repercussions of God's displeasure had gone on for quite some time and he asked the Lord, "Will You be angry with us forever?" (85:5)

Having made his plea for God's salvation, the psalmist vowed to listen to what His answer would be. And He anticipated that His answer would be the restoration of peace. In verse 8 the writer seems to be saying that if God declared "peace to His people," it would keep them from going "back to foolish ways." Implying also that if He did not they would give up on Him and return to those foolish ways. But he was confident that God's salvation was "very near" and when it came His glory would dwell in the land.

In conclusion, the psalmist expressed his faith that God would answer his prayer and that "Faithful love and truth will join together; righteousness and peace will embrace." (85:10) And when it did, truth and righteousness would spring forth and the people would again prosper. He was waiting on the Lord which doesn't mean that he was only doing what he was forced to do. If one waits on the Lord, they are doing so in faith, expecting God's favorable answer. The alternative is to turn away from the Lord and seek answers elsewhere, which is futility.