Psalm 85

God Will Restore Us Again

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.
1 Yahweh, you have been favorable to your land.
You have restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You have forgiven the iniquity of your people.
You have covered all their sin.

Selah.

3 You have taken away all your wrath.
You have turned from the fierceness of your anger.
4 Turn us, God of our salvation,
and cause your indignation toward us to cease.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you draw out your anger to all generations?
6 Won’t you revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your loving kindness, Yahweh.
Grant us your salvation.
8 I will hear what God, Yahweh, will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people, his saints;
but let them not turn again to folly.
9 Surely his salvation is near those who fear him,
that glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth meet together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 Truth springs out of the earth.
Righteousness has looked down from heaven.
12 Yes, Yahweh will give that which is good.
Our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness goes before him,
And prepares the way for his steps.

World English Bible

When does faith become over-confident? Can you give examples?

What God did once, he will do again. Is this type of faith confidence or presumption? Certainly, this question did not prevent the choir to chant Psalm 85 in the Temple. While this psalm lamented the status of the nation under the various empires that controlled Judea after the return from Babylon, the bold introduction of 85:2-4 and the confidence of faithfulness in 85:9-14 made this prayer stand out.

The psalm envisioned God’s return in specific ways. Once he favored the land; when he favored the people again, the land would regain fertility (85:10,13). Indeed, the psalm saw truth and justice in the agricultural terms of rain and plant growth. Restoration and return were synonymous; as the people returned to God, surely God would restore the people’s fortunes. Both God’s favor and his restoration were based on the fatherly love he showered on the people in his covenants. The psalm seemed to remind God of his covenant promises.

85:9-14 painted the results of the faithful relationship. If the believer truly hears the word of God, he will see the revelation of God. 85:10-13 formed an “A-B-A” structure where ‘A’ was prosperity of the land, but ‘B’ spoke to the core of revelation. Truth, covenant love, just living and shalom would be present; these attributes described a life of holiness, the presence of the Kingdom. In the time of the Temple, a Jew could not separate the presence of God’s rule from the blessing of the land.

Faith confidently proclaims the phrase: what God did once, he will do again. Like Psalm 80, we wait for God to act, to bless his people and fulfill his promises. But we must remember we live on God’s time, not our own. We must reflect on the almost infinite ways God can keep his promises. God has a way of surprising us.

How has God restored you? How has he surprised you in his return?