Psalm 85 - A Prayer for Deliverance
1) Lord, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. 2) You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin. 3)You withdrew your wrath; you turned from your hot anger. 4)Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation towards us. 5) Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? 6) Will you not revive us again, so that your people may rejoice in you?
7)Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. 8) Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. 9) Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. 10) Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. 11) Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky. 12) The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. 13) Righteousness will go before him and will make a path for his steps.
Background to The Book of Psalms: The book of Psalms is the prayer book and hymnal of the Bible. In it the authors share every raw human emotion possible. The words can take us from feelings of fierce vengeance, to euphoric praise, to stately thanksgiving, to abject despair, to quaking fear and lament, to calm delight, to steadfast hope and trust, sometimes in the space of a comma. We are reminded in the psalms that all of human life is lived in the presence of and in awareness of God. The psalmists assume and assure us that all of human life is attended to by God and that all of human life is the appropriate subject of prayer. God does not want from us, in the intimacy of prayer, just the parts of life that feel good, or look good, or feel faithful or look faithful. Every breath is a breath of the Spirit, and no circumstance is too petty to bring before God. No feeling, even about God, no doubt, no anger, no disappointment with God, is off limits when life is lived in God’s presence. What a comfort it is to know that we do not have to censor our prayers, as if we could if we wanted to. The book of Psalms is a compilation of several collections of psalms; many used liturgically in worship. Perhaps some were written for private devotion and, because they express themes that are universal, later became a part of the worship language of God’s people. Traditionally it was thought that all of the psalms were written by King David. Many probably were, but we now know that others had hands in these beautiful poem/prayer/songs. Whoever the writer/composer may have been, in these texts we are given permission to be real, before God and with each other. The psalms as poetry and song, have many layers of meaning which unfold within us in our daily experience.
Psalm 85: This beautiful psalm prayer is offered in three parts. Verses 1-3 tell the story of how God has been faithful to forgive and deliver God’s people in the past. The poet probably has in mind the exodus from slavery in Egypt, but the people often rehearsed in worship many different times where God intervened to deliver them from harm or hardship. Verses 4-7 give us the context of the community’s current troubles. Scholars do not agree on exactly what was going on, or even when the poem was written. As for me, I believe that it was written after the end of the exile of the people to Babylon. They have returned to a land that was ravished in many ways and no longer had the institutions and structures that they saw as foundational in place. This psalmist, as would have been natural in his day, believed that if things were a mess, and people were hurting and struggling, that it must be due to God’s anger with people’s sin. That belief underlies the words in this center section’s lament. It is as if he is saying, “We know we have screwed up. We can’t fix this mess without your forgiveness and power. Please don’t hold our stupidity against us forever.” The final section, verses 8-13, offer a prophetic voice speaking for God and giving the divine answer to the prayer.
Word Study
V. 1 – restored – This word translates the literal phrase ‘turned the turning.’ It means to put things right again.
Fortunes – This word usually refers to some kind of captivity, misery, or affliction. It refers to one’s current circumstances, whether good or ill. Here the psalmist is remembering a time when everything turned from oppression to well-being.
Jacob – Jacob’s name in the Hebrew Scriptures is often used as a term of endearment for the chosen people.
Vs. 2 – forgave – this word literally means to lift up or to carry away. This sense of forgiveness is so tender! It means that the thing is out of sight, no longer a part of one’s lived reality.
Iniquity – this word refers to depraved actions and the heavy burden of guilt they carry in the heart, mind and soul.
Pardoned – This is another beautiful image for how God’s forgiveness works. It means to be covered up by something else and rendered null and void.
Sin – There are at least 8 different Hebrew words that we translate as sin. This one is rarely used, only 3 times. It means to have missed the road and therefore gotten spectacularly lost and off course. It is most used with regard to actions humans take against other humans.
Vs. 3 – withdrew – literally ‘gathered in.’
Wrath – this word refers to an overflowing rage, usually in response to humans trying to thwart God’s purposes.
Hot anger – This is the word for nostrils and refers to the flaring of one’s nostrils when angry. It is used to convey the deep emotional aspect of anger.
Vs. 4 – restore us again – Literally ‘to turn back to favor.’ Things have apparently deteriorated in their national and worship life to the extent that people can no longer feel God’s presence, deliverance or glory with them. They are praying for that experience to return.
Salvation – This does not refer to eternal salvation in the way we often think of it. That concept was not firmly established at this time. It means to deliver, to mend, to give freedom, to ensure welfare.
Put away – The people feel that their hardship is due to God’s indignation with them and are asking that God put that away.
Vs. 5 – angry – This is a different word from the one in verse 3. Amar. It means to speak out loud, to admonish.
Forever – this means an unbearably long time. It does not refer to eternity. It can also be translated ‘from generation to generation.’
Prolong – literally ‘to draw out’ something.
Vs. 6 – you – This word is in the emphatic form. Something like “you, yes I mean you, nobody else but you.”
Revive – This word is in the intensive form. It means to return or restore one. In the OT, misfortune or trouble was seen as a kind of death. Thus to revive in this context is to bring the people back from the metaphorical dead.
Vs. 7 – Show us – very strong language here. Literally ‘cause us, or make us, to see.’
Steadfast love – hesed God’s unshakable devotion, love, kindness and loyalty to the people.
Salvation – This word means liberty, deliverance, help, freedom, welfare and prosperity.
Vs. 8 – hear – shema- this word means to hear with attention and obedience.
For he will speak peace – shalom - wholeness in every possible way. Life as it should be, and is willed to be, with harmony and well-being in all aspects.
To his people, to his faithful – literally ‘his saints.’
Those who fear him – This word can be used to describe anxiety or being timid. In most cases, and surely here and in the next verse, it is used, as is most often the case, to designate those who worship God and submit to the covenant.
Glory – surrounding majesty. It is a bit like the Hebrew concept of shekinah that refers to God’s comforting surrounding presence with and for the people.
Vs. 9 – Glory – kabod – from the root for weight as in something that is weighty or significant. It implies majesty, esteem, abundance and wealth.
Vs. 10. – steadfast love – hesed – This word is repeated from verse 7. It is one of the foundational words in the Hebrew scriptures and in OT theology. It refers to God’s love that the people cannot outrun. It is sometimes translated as loyalty or faithfulness. It is God’s unmerited, undaunted love, unstoppable love and favor that changes everything.
Faithfulness – This word is from roots for stability and firmness. It is usually used of fidelity to God in all circumstances.
Righteousness – This word usually refers to observance of moral law.
Peace – see verse 7.
Vs. 11 – Faithfulness – see verse 10.
Ground…sky – earth and the heavens. What the poet is saying is that right relationship with God produces harmony between human beings and all of creation.
Vs. 12 – good – tob – good, beneficial, pleasant, lovely, cheerful, comfortable, and right. It is goodness in its broadest sense.
Vs. 13 – righteousness – here the poet seems to personify righteousness (observing the moral law) as a guide to lead through tough times.
Path – derek – This word refers to a way, path, a walk of life that is observable.
His – here refers to God’s steps. The image is of embodied righteousness not only blazing a trail for human life and community to walk, but also creating a clear path for God to walk among us (again)bringing shalom and all its benefits.
Questions for Personal Reflection
1. Psalm 85 lists a number of personal qualities of God: steadfast love, righteousness, goodness, peace, and faithfulness. Think of each of those qualities for a moment. How have you experienced them? How do you yourself embody them?
2. The poem suggests that righteousness is the guide to create our path of life, a path we share with God. How do you see righteousness as a guiding principle in your life, church and in our world? Where do you see the opposite leading us away from the good path for which we were created?
3. The psalm expresses two fundamental qualities of God that shape human life if we will let them: hesed (unstoppable love and grace) and shalom (wholeness, peace and everything in right order in all arenas of life.) How have you experienced this? What circumstances make it most difficult for you to see them?