Psalm 85
1 Lord, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.
2 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.
3 Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.
4 Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.
5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?
6 Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?
7 Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.
8 I 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.
9 Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.
13 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.
Psalm 85 Commentary
Chapter Overview
Psalm 85 is a communal prayer for renewed restoration. The sons of Korah begin by remembering a time when God favored the land, restored Jacob, forgave sin, and turned away his anger. Yet the people still need help. Past mercy has not removed every present consequence, so they ask, “Turn us, O God of our salvation.”
The chapter moves in three stages. Verses 1–3 remember what God has done. Verses 4–7 ask him to revive his people again. Verses 8–13 listen for his answer and picture a restored world in which mercy, truth, righteousness, peace, fruitfulness, and God’s glory belong together.
The historical setting is not named. A return from exile is possible, though “brought back the captivity” can also mean reversing distress more generally. The main point is that outward restoration may need to be followed by deeper spiritual renewal.
Key Themes
“Thou hast been favourable unto thy land” begins with grace. Israel’s land was not merely property; it belonged to the covenant story. God’s favor toward the land meant renewed kindness toward the people whose sin had damaged their life within it.
“Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob” may describe a literal return of captives or a broader reversal of distress. “Jacob” recalls the whole covenant people, including their weakness and dependence. Restoration is credited to God rather than to political skill or national strength.
Verse 2 moves beneath outward circumstances to forgiveness. God has “forgiven the iniquity” and “covered all their sin.” Covering does not mean pretending evil never happened; it describes guilt no longer exposed for condemnation. “Selah” invites worshipers to pause over remembered grace before asking for more.
Verse 3 says God gathered up his wrath and turned from fierce anger. Divine anger in Scripture is not uncontrolled temper. It is God’s holy opposition to sin. Its removal is therefore not sentimental indulgence but covenant mercy toward a people he has disciplined.
The sudden prayer in verse 4 creates the psalm’s tension. If God has already restored and forgiven them, why must they ask him to turn them again? Because restoration can be real without being complete. A community may survive judgment, return home, rebuild outward structures, and still need its heart renewed.
“Turn us” asks for restoration and implies repentance. They need more than changed circumstances; they need renewed direction and fellowship. Calling him “God of our salvation” grounds the request in the character of the Deliverer they already know.
Verses 5–6 use questions to express distress: Will anger continue forever? Will it extend through every generation? The questions do not accuse God of injustice. They plead that discipline would reach its intended end rather than define the people’s future indefinitely.
“Wilt thou not revive us again?” is the central petition. Revival is not manufactured excitement but God giving renewed life to a discouraged people. Its purpose is “that thy people may rejoice in thee”: renewed life is measured by renewed delight in God.
Verse 7 joins mercy and salvation. “Shew us thy mercy” asks God to make his steadfast covenant love visible in their condition. “Grant us thy salvation” recognizes deliverance as a gift, not an achievement owed to them.
Verse 8 marks a decisive change from pleading to listening: “I will hear what God the Lord will speak.” Faith does not only present requests; it becomes attentive to God’s answer. The speaker expects the Lord’s word, not human optimism, to interpret the future.
God “will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints.” Biblical peace includes restored relationship, moral order, safety, and wholeness. Yet the promise carries a warning: “let them not turn again to folly.” Folly is moral resistance to God, and restored people must not misuse mercy by rebuilding the patterns from which they were rescued.
Verse 9 says salvation is near those who fear God. The fear of the Lord is reverent loyalty, not terror that drives people away. Those who honor him are ready to receive the peace he speaks rather than return carelessly to sin.
“That glory may dwell in our land” recalls God’s manifest presence among his people. The prayer seeks more than economic recovery. The deepest restoration is that the weight and beauty of God’s presence would again mark the community.
Verse 10 personifies four covenant qualities: “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” The poetry pictures qualities that human sin often tears apart now existing in complete harmony under God’s saving rule.
“Mercy” is steadfast love, while “truth” includes reliability and faithfulness. God’s love is never separated from truth. Likewise, righteousness and peace belong together: biblical peace is not gained by ignoring injustice. Their poetic kiss pictures complete agreement under God’s restoring rule.
Christians have often seen verse 10 beautifully illustrated in the saving work of Christ, where God remains just while showing mercy to sinners. That connection fits the larger biblical message, but the verse first describes the complete harmony of God’s covenant restoration rather than giving a direct prediction of the cross by itself.
Verse 11 continues the picture: “Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.” Faithfulness rises within restored human life while God’s righteousness watches and blesses from above. Heaven and earth are no longer portrayed as estranged.
The language also connects moral renewal with agricultural fruitfulness. A truthful people and fruitful land belong to one covenant vision, without reducing prosperity to a mechanical reward.
“The Lord shall give that which is good” keeps the source of blessing clear. “Our land shall yield her increase” belongs to Israel’s covenant life and should not become a universal prosperity promise. It points more broadly to God’s power to make restoration fruitful.
Verse 13 pictures righteousness going before God. The final clause is difficult and is translated in more than one way. It likely means that righteousness prepares a path for God’s steps or makes his way the path his people should follow.
The chapter ends with movement: God comes in righteousness, and restored people follow the path shaped by his steps. Peace is a way of obedient following.
Important Verses and Questions
Has God’s forgiveness failed if problems remain? No. Forgiveness restores relationship with God, but consequences, weakness, damaged institutions, and needed discipline may remain. Psalm 85 remembers real forgiveness while still asking for fuller renewal.
What does “revive us again” mean? It asks God to renew the spiritual and communal life of his people. Revival includes repentance, restored joy, attentive hearing, and obedience—not merely intense feelings or large gatherings.
Does God promise peace unconditionally in verse 8? He promises peace to his people, but the warning against returning to folly shows that peace cannot be separated from faithful response. Grace restores people so they may walk differently.
What does it mean that mercy and truth meet? God’s steadfast love never requires falsehood, and truth never cancels mercy. In his restoration, love, faithfulness, justice, and peace support one another rather than compete.
Is verse 10 specifically about Jesus? The verse is not a direct messianic title or prediction. Christians rightly see its fullest theological harmony in Christ’s saving work, but responsible interpretation begins with the psalm’s vision of God restoring his covenant people.
What are God’s “steps” in verse 13? The wording is difficult, but the image presents righteousness as preparing God’s way and guiding the people into it. Restoration produces followers who walk where God’s righteous rule leads.
Practical Applications
Remembered grace should strengthen present prayer. Believers should not use past blessings as proof that no further renewal is needed, nor should present trouble make them forget everything God has already done.
Psalm 85 gives a better prayer for revival than a desire for religious excitement. Ask God to turn hearts, restore joy in him, make mercy visible, create attentiveness to his word, and prevent a return to old folly.
Believers should listen after praying, allowing Scripture to correct their expectations. Christian communities must also hold mercy and truth together: neither hiding destructive sin nor treating restoration as impossible.
Righteousness and peace belong together in homes, churches, and public life. Avoiding conflict at any cost is not biblical peace. Durable peace grows where wrong is addressed truthfully, the vulnerable are protected, forgiveness is practiced, and relationships are reordered toward what is right.
The warning against returning to folly calls for concrete change after deliverance. A person rescued from debt, addiction, conflict, deception, or another destructive pattern should not celebrate help while rebuilding the same habits that produced the crisis.
Connections to Other Scripture
Psalm 80 repeatedly asks God to turn and restore his people. Psalm 85 continues that prayer but adds a vision of peace, righteousness, and fruitfulness. Psalm 86 will return to personal petition and ask God for an undivided heart.
Second Chronicles 7 joins forgiveness, healing, humility, prayer, and turning from wicked ways. Isaiah 32 and 60 likewise connect righteousness, peace, glory, and renewed land. Together they show that biblical restoration reaches hearts and communities, not merely political circumstances.
John 1 describes Jesus as full of grace and truth, and Romans 3 explains how God is just while justifying those who trust in Christ. These passages help Christians see the harmony celebrated in Psalm 85 reaching its clearest saving expression in Jesus.
Second Peter 3 looks toward a new creation “wherein dwelleth righteousness.” Psalm 85 contributes to that larger hope, though its first setting remains Israel’s restoration.
Conclusion
Psalm 85 teaches communities to live between remembered mercy and needed renewal. God has forgiven, restored, and restrained his anger; therefore his people may ask him confidently to revive them again. Past grace is not a substitute for present faithfulness but the reason hope remains possible.
The answer is life reordered by God: peace without a return to folly, glory among reverent people, mercy joined to truth, righteousness joined to peace, and earth fruitful under heaven’s blessing. Restoration is not merely getting back to normal; it is walking in God’s righteous way.