I. (85:1–3) Lord, Once You Showed Us Favor and Forgave Us. The verbs in this section are all past tense, looking back to what God has previously done for the people: (1) He was “favorable to [the] land,” that is, he made it produce abundant crops to sustain his people. (2) He “restored the fortunes of Jacob” after he had disciplined his people for their unfaithfulness. (3) He “forgave [their] iniquity,” “covered all their sin,” “withdrew all [his] wrath,” and “turned from [his] hot anger.” As mentioned in the Section Overview, “forgave iniquity” evokes Exodus 34:7 (cf. Ps. 32:1 for “covered sin”). The expression “turned from [his] hot anger” (cf. Ex. 32:12, part of the same context as Ex. 34:6; Josh. 7:26) implies that God forgave his people after they repented of serious unfaithfulness and apostasy. God has done this in the past for his people because he is boundlessly kind.

When the psalms use Exodus 34:6–7, sometimes they address God’s grace and forgiveness that preserves the whole people (Psalm 106) and sometimes they stress the way in which particular persons receive that grace and forgiveness (Psalm 32). Sometimes the dividing line between these is quite blurred (Psalm 103). The focus of these verses, in keeping with the whole of Psalm 85, is corporate.

II. (85:4–7) Restore and Forgive Us Again. The next section appeals to the benevolence God has claimed and shown; picking up the word “restored” in the opening stanza (v. 1), this one asks God to “restore us again” (v. 4), that is, to “put away your indignation toward us.” This makes it clear that the psalm is especially suited for a crisis stemming from God’s disciplinary measures toward his people when their corporate life is dominated by unfaithfulness. The wording of the psalm is general enough that it can apply to a wide range of unfaithfulness.

The worshipers ask whether God will “be angry with us forever” (v. 5), and they are expected to realize that this would be contrary to the very divine character the psalm assumes (Ex. 34:6–7). In the same way, they should see that the question “Will you prolong your anger to all generations?” cannot have but one answer; God’s plan is to bless the world through the people of Israel. Therefore the people pray (vv. 6–7), “Revive us again” (i.e., “renew our hold on the covenant so that we can enjoy life in your favor and a fruitful land, rather than this discipline”), “Show us your steadfast love” (cf. Ex. 34:6), and “Grant us your salvation.” The specific “salvation” (cf. comment on 3:1–2) is for God to turn away his anger, to forgive his people corporately.

III. (85:8–9) I Will Listen to Hear His Word of Peace. Now the members of the congregation declare their patience for watching God act on their prayer. The song has shifted from the plural “we” to the singular “I”: “let me hear.” Each member is thus making this pledge.558

The psalm gives confidence that God “will speak peace to his people,” agreeing to the reconciliation they have asked for in verses 4–7. At the same time, the psalm says, “Let them not turn back to folly”—the people who are appealing to God’s benevolence should make sure that their repentance is genuine, that they really do aim for faithfulness, and that they really intend not to repeat the folly (moral stupidity) that provoked God’s anger.

The word “saints” in verse 8 (Hb. khasid) reinforces this, as it refers to members of the covenant people who take the covenant to heart and walk in obedience before God. Therefore the force of this is that “he will speak to his people, especially to the genuinely faithful among them.” Likewise God’s “salvation”—which they had requested in verse 7—is “near to those who fear him” (v. 9), again referring to those who lay hold of the promises of God’s covenant by genuine faith and obedience. The people should never presume upon God’s gracious response to their prayers, as if it came “automatically.” Thus as the worshipers wait for God to speak they can reflect on their own sincerity.

The goal that the psalm attributes to God is that “glory may dwell in our land” (v. 9). This “glory” is God’s special presence with his people (cf. comments on 57:1–5 [at v. 5]; 63:1–2), which is to “dwell” among his people in the sanctuary (Ex. 24:16; Ps. 26:8). The noun shekinah (“act of dwelling,” “that which dwells”) came to be a term in postbiblical Hebrew for this “glory”; it derives from our word “dwell” (shakan). This dwelling of the glory is a gift to God’s people, and through its presence in the land the people’s piety could flourish and the Gentiles be brought into the light (Isa. 2:2–5). John 1:14 confesses that, in the person of Jesus, this glory dwelt among man.

IV. (85:10–13) The Lord Will Give What Is Good. The psalm closes by taking further the confident expectation that God will hear their prayer and give what they ask.

Psalm 85:10 speaks of “steadfast love and faithfulness” (paired in Ex. 34:6) and says that they “meet”—that is, in God they work together harmoniously. God’s “righteousness” is here his character of reliably keeping his promises (esp. to his people), and therefore it guarantees the “peace” they await (cf. Ps. 85:8). These “kiss each other” like the affectionate greeting of relatives (Gen. 29:13; 45:15).

Psalm 85:11 keeps the image of greeting, with its picture of “faithfulness” springing up and “righteousness” looking down. Because God has this character, the worshipers can be sure that he will honor his promises. Therefore “the Lord will give what is good” (i.e., “our land will yield its increase” of abundant crops). The spiritual renewal of God’s people will lead to the fruitfulness of the land, since the land’s function is to display the blessedness of the garden of Eden as a testimony to the rest of the world.559

Such confidence is based on God’s own “righteousness” (v. 13): the God of Israel keeps his promises to his people, and he forgives and renews them when they seek him.