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Psalm Eighty-five
New King James Version (NKJV)
YLT
To
the Overseer. -- By sons of Korah. A Psalm.
INTRODUCTION TO Psalm 85
To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. This psalm is
generally thought to have been composed after the return of the Jews from their
captivity in Babylon; and yet when they were in some distress from their
neighbours, either in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah, or in the times of
Antiochus; but then this deliverance from captivity must be considered as
typical of redemption by Christ; for as the title of the Syriac version is,
"it
is a prophecy concerning Christ;'
it
speaks of his dwelling in the land, of his salvation being near, and of the
glory of the divine perfections as displayed in it; and perhaps some parts of
it may respect the conversion of the Jews in the latter day; and Aben Ezra and
Kimchi say, it is concerning the captivity of Babylon, yet also of their
present captivity.
Psalm 85:1 Lord, You have been
favorable to Your land; You have brought back the captivity of Jacob.
YLT
1Thou hast accepted, O
Jehovah, Thy land, Thou hast turned [to] the captivity of Jacob.
Lord, thou hast been favourable unto thy land,.... The land
of Canaan, which the Lord chose for the people of Israel, and put them into the
possession of it; and where he himself chose to dwell, and had a sanctuary
built for him; and therefore though the whole earth is his, yet this was his
land and inheritance in a peculiar manner, as it is called, Jeremiah 16:18, the inhabitants of it are
meant, to whom the Lord was favourable, or whom he graciously accepted, and was
well pleased with and delighted in, as appears by his choosing them above all
people to be his people; by bringing them out of Egyptian bondage, by leading
them through the Red sea and wilderness, by feeding and protecting them there;
and by bringing them into the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and
honey, and settling them in it; and by many temporal blessings, and also
spiritual ones, as his word and ordinances; but especially by sending his own
Son, the Messiah and Saviour, unto them; and which perhaps is what is here
principally intended:
thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob; or, "the
captives"F13שבות "captivam
turbam", Junius & Tremellius; i. e. "captivos", Gejerus,
Michaelis. of Jacob; in a temporal sense, both out of Egypt, and out of
Babylon; and in a spiritual sense from sin, Satan, and the law; the special
people of God often go by the name of Jacob, and these are captives to the
above mentioned; and redemption by Christ is a deliverance of them from their
captivity, or a bringing of it back, for he has led captivity captive; and in
consequence of this they are put into a state of freedom, liberty is proclaimed
to these captives, and they are delivered, and all as the fruit and effect of
divine favour.
Psalm 85:2 2 You have forgiven the
iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin. Selah
YLT
2Thou hast borne away the
iniquity of Thy people, Thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.
Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people,.... Took it
from them, and laid it on Christ, who has bore it, and took it away, so as it
shall never return more to their destruction; and by the application of his
blood it is taken away from their own consciences; for this denotes the
manifestation and discovery of forgiveness to themselves; it is a branch of
redemption, and is in consequence of it; and is a fruit of the free favour and
good will of God through Christ; and it only belongs to the Lord's special
people, the people he has taken into covenant with him, and for whose iniquity
Christ was stricken:
thou hast covered all their sin; this is but another
phrase for forgiveness, see Psalm 32:1, and this is done by the blood
and righteousness, and propitiatory sacrifice of Christ, the antitypical mercy
seat, the covering of the law and its transgressions, and the people of God
from its curse and condemnation; whose sins are so covered by Christ, as not to
be seen by the eye of avenging justice, even all of them, not one remains
uncovered.
Selah. See Gill on Psalm 3:2.
Psalm 85:3 3 You have taken away all
Your wrath; You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger.
YLT
3Thou hast gathered up all
Thy wrath, Thou hast turned back from the fierceness of Thine anger.
Thou hast taken away all thy wrath,.... Or
"gathered"F14אספת
"collegisti", Montanus, Gejerus, Michaelis. it; sin occasions wrath,
and the people of God are as deserving of it as others; but the Lord has
gathered it up, and poured it forth upon his Son, and their surety; hence
nothing of this kind shall ever fall upon them, either here or hereafter; and
it is taken away from them, so as to have no sense, apprehension, or conscience
of it, which before the law had wrought in them, when pardon is applied unto
them, which is what is here meant; see Isaiah 12:1,
thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger; the anger of
God is very fierce against sin and sinners; it is poured forth like fire, and
there is no abiding it; but, with respect to the Lord's people, it is pacified
by the death of his Son; or he is pacified towards them for all that they have
done, for the sake of his righteousness and sacrifice; and which appears to
them when he manifests his love and pardoning grace to their souls; see Ezekiel 16:63.
Psalm 85:4 4 Restore us, O God of our
salvation, And cause Your anger toward us to cease.
YLT
4Turn back [to] us, O God of
our salvation, And make void Thine anger with us.
Turn us, O God of our salvation,.... Who appointed it in
his purposes, contrived it in council, secured it in covenant, and sent his Son
to effect it; the prayer to him is for converting grace, either at first, for
first conversion is his work, and his only; or after backslidings, for he it is
that restores the souls of his people; and perhaps it is a prayer of the Jews,
for their conversion in the latter day; when sensible of sin, and seeking after
the Messiah they have rejected, when the Lord will turn them to himself, and
turn away iniquity from them, and they shall be saved, Hosea 3:5,
and cause thine anger towards us to cease: the manifest
tokens of which are now upon them, being scattered up and down in the world,
and made a proverb, a taunt, and a jeer; but will be removed, and cease, when
they shall be converted.
Psalm 85:5 5 Will You be angry with us
forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
YLT
5To the age art Thou angry
against us? Dost Thou draw out Thine anger To generation and generation?
Wilt thou be angry with us for ever?.... God is angry with
the wicked every day, their life being a continued series of sin, without
repentance for it, or confession of it; and he will be so for ever, of which
they will have a constant sense and feeling; and is the worm that never dies,
and the fire that is inextinguishable; but he does not retain his anger for
ever with his own people; though he is displeased with them, and chastises them
for their sins, his anger endures but for a moment; he is pacified towards them
and turns away his anger from them, by discovering his pardoning love, and
withdrawing his afflicting hand:
wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? out of his
heart, where it is supposed to be conceived; and out of his treasury, where it
is thought to be laid up: this has been drawn out to a great length of time
upon the Jewish nation; it has been upon them for almost twenty centuries, or
ages, and still remains, and will until the fulness of the Gentiles is brought
in; but it will not be drawn out to "all" ages or generations; for
they shall return to the Lord, and seek him; and he will come to them, and turn
away iniquity from them, and so all Israel shall be saved.
Psalm 85:6 6 Will You not revive us
again, That Your people may rejoice in You?
YLT
6Dost Thou not turn back?
Thou revivest us, And Thy people do rejoice in Thee.
Wilt thou not revive us again,.... Their return from
the Babylonish captivity was a reviving of them in their bondage, Ezra 9:8 and the conversion of them in the
latter day will be a reviving them again, be as life from the dead; they are
like the dry bones in Ezekiel's vision, or like the dead in the graves; and
their being turned to the Lord will be a resurrection, or quickening of them,
as every instance of conversion is; see Romans 11:15, men are dead in trespasses
and sins, and they are quickened by the Spirit and grace of God, so that they
revive, and live a life of sanctification; they are dead in law, and find
themselves to be so, when spiritually enlightened; when the Spirit of God works
faith in them, to look to and live upon the righteousness of Christ for
justification; and who, after spiritual decays, declensions, and deadness, are
revived again, and are made cheerful and comfortable by the same Spirit; all
which may be here intended:
that thy people may rejoice in thee; it was a time of
rejoicing in the Lord, when the Jews were returned from their captivity in
Babylon; but their future conversion will be matter of greater joy, both to
themselves and to the Gentiles; everlasting joy will be upon their heads, and
in their hearts, when they shall return to Zion, Psalm 14:7 and so is the conversion of
every sinner joyful to himself and to others; such rejoice in Christ, in his person,
blood, and righteousness; and every view of him afterwards, as it is a reviving
time, it fills with joy unspeakable, and full of glory: the Targum is,
"and
thy people shall rejoice in thy Word;'
Christ,
the essential Word.
Psalm 85:7 7 Show us Your mercy, Lord, And grant us
Your salvation.
YLT
7Show us, O Jehovah, thy
kindness, And Thy salvation Thou dost give to us.
Show us thy mercy, O Lord,.... Or, "thy
grace"F15חסדך "bonitatem
tuam", Tigurine version, Musculus; "benignitatem tuam", Junius
& Tremellius, Piscator; "gratiam tuam", Cocceius, Gejerus. and
goodness, the riches of which are shown forth in Christ; the mercy promised to
Abraham and others, long expected, wished, and prayed for; his pardoning mercy,
justification, salvation, and eternal life, by his free grace:
and grant us thy salvation; Jesus, the Saviour, and
salvation by him, an interest in it, and the joys of it; which is all a free
gift, a grant of divine favour, and not according to the merits and works of
men.
Psalm 85:8 8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak, For
He will speak peace To His people and to His saints; But let them not turn back
to folly.
YLT
8I hear what God Jehovah
speaketh, For He speaketh peace unto His people, And unto His saints, and they
turn not back to folly.
I will hear what God the Lord will speak,.... This the
psalmist says in the name of the people of the Jews, whom he represents, in all
the foregoing expostulations and petitions, refusing to be still and quiet, and
wait and listen for an answer to the above request from the Lord, who speaks by
his providences, word, and Spirit; see Habakkuk 2:1,
for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints; as he does in
his word, which is the Gospel of peace; and by his ministers, who bring the
good tidings of it, and publish it; and by the blood and righteousness of his
Son, which both procure, call for, and produce it; and by his Spirit, the fruit
of which is peace: it is an answer of peace, or of good and comfortable words,
that the Lord returns to his people sooner or later; and it is only to his own
people he speaks peace, to his covenant ones, with whom the covenant of peace
is made; and to his saints, his Holy Ones, whom he has set apart for himself,
and sanctified by his Spirit: as for the wicked, there is no peace unto them,
nor any spoken to them by him: Kimchi understands by the "saints" the
godly among the Gentiles, as distinct from the Lord's "people", the
Jews:
but let them not turn again to folly; to doubt of
and question the providence of God; so Arama; or to idolatry, which there was
danger of, upon the Jews' return from Babylon; and it is observable, that they
afterwards never did return to it, to which they were so much addicted before;
or to a vicious course of life, to sin and iniquity, which is the greatest
folly, after mercy has been shown; or to self-righteousness, and a dependence
on it, to the neglect of Christ and his righteousness, which is the great folly
of the Jews to this day; and when the Lord shall quicken them, and convert
them, show them his mercy and salvation, speak peace and pardon to them, it
would be very ungrateful in them to turn again to this folly.
Psalm 85:9 9 Surely His salvation is
near to those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land.
YLT
9Only, near to those fearing
Him [is] His salvation, That honour may dwell in our land.
Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him,.... That have
a true sense of sin and folly, are humbled for it, hate it, and depart from it,
and do not return unto it; have a reverential affection for God, a sense of his
goodness, particularly his pardoning grace and mercy, and fear him on account
of it, and to offend him; and that serve him with reverence and godly fear: to
these his salvation is nigh; temporal salvation, for that is his, it is of him,
and from him; and he is a present help in time of trouble: spiritual and
eternal salvation is his; it is of his contriving, settling, appointing, and
giving; and was now near being accomplished by Christ; who also may be meant by
God's salvation, being the Saviour of his providing, choosing, and sending,
who, in a short time, would appear, and suddenly come to his temple, as Haggai
and Malachi foretold, and as was fixed by Daniel's weeks, Haggai 2:6, and therefore the psalmist
speaks of it with the utmost certainty; "surely": verily of a truth
it is so; there can be no dispute about it; for this psalm, as is generally
thought, was written after the return of the Jews from the Babylonish
captivity; so that the coming of the Saviour was at hand, and the impetration
of salvation not afar off; and the revelation of it in the Gospel was just
ready to be made, or in a little time; see Isaiah 56:1 and this may be said to be nigh
to sensible sinners, when it is brought unto them by the Gospel, and applied to
their hearts by the Spirit of God, and they see their interest in it, the full
possession of which in heaven is still nearer than when they believed; but then
it is only so to them that fear the Lord; not to the wicked, from whom it is
afar off, Psalm 119:155, this character seems to
design converted persons among the Gentiles, as well as among the Jews; see Acts 13:26.
that glory may dwell in our land; Christ, who is the
brightness of his Father's glory, having the same nature, names, worship, and
honour; whose glory is the glory of the only begotten of the Father, and who
also is the glory of his people Israel; who, when he was incarnate, dwelt among
men, particularly in the land of Judea, where the writer of this psalm dwelt,
and therefore calls it "our land"; and though his appearance was then
but mean, in the form of a servant, yet he had a glory, which was manifest in
his doctrine and miracles; and he was the Lord of glory, even when he was
crucified; see Hebrews 1:3, Luke 2:32, or else the Gospel may be meant,
which has a glory in it excelling that of the law; it containing glorious
truths, and glorious promises; and which is the glory of a land where it is,
and, when it departs, an "Ichabod" may be written on it: this came in
consequence of Christ, the Saviour, and salvation by him, which it is a
revelation of; and dwelt and abode in the land of Judea, till it was utterly
despised and rejected: the whole of Gospel worship and ordinances may be
intended also, together with a holy life and conversation becoming it.
Psalm 85:10 10 Mercy and truth have met
together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.
YLT
10Kindness and truth have
met, Righteousness and peace have kissed,
Mercy and truth are met together,.... Or "grace and
truth"F16חסד ואמת
"gratia et veritas", Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis. , which are in
Christ, and come by him; and so may be said to meet in him, the glorious
Person, the Author of salvation, before mentioned, John 1:14, these may be considered as
perfections in God, displayed in salvation by Christ: "mercy" is the
original of it; it is owing to that that the dayspring from on high visited us,
or glory dwelt in our land, or Christ was sent and came to work salvation for
us; it was pity to the lost human race which moved God to send him, and him to
come, who is the merciful as well as faithful High Priest, and who in his love
and pity redeemed us; and though there was no mercy shown to him, he not being
spared in the least, yet there was to us; and which appears in the whole of our
salvation, and in every part of it, in our regeneration, pardon, and eternal
life; see Luke 1:72, 1 Peter 1:3 or "grace", the
exceeding riches of which are shown forth in the kindness of God to us, through
Christ; and to which our salvation, in whole and in part, is to be attributed, Ephesians 2:7, "truth" may
signify the veracity and faithfulness of God, in his promises and threatenings:
his promises have their true and full accomplishment in Christ, Luke 1:72 so have his threatenings of death
to sinful men, he being the surety for them, Genesis 2:17 and so mercy is shown to man,
and God is true to his word:
righteousness and peace have kissed each other; as friends at
meeting used to do: "righteousness" may intend the essential justice
of God, which will not admit of the pardon and justification of a sinner,
without a satisfaction; wherefore Christ was set forth to be the propitiation
for sin, to declare and manifest the righteousness of God, his strict justice;
that he might be just, and appear to be so, when he is the justifier of him that
believes in Jesus; and Christ's blood being shed, and his sacrifice offered up,
he is just and faithful to forgive sin, and cleanse from all unrighteousness, Exodus 34:6, Romans 3:25 and thus the law being
magnified, and made honourable by the obedience and sufferings of Christ, an
everlasting righteousness being brought in, and justice entirely satisfied,
there is "peace" on earth, and good will to men: peace with God is
made by Christ the peacemaker, and so the glory of divine justice is secured
and peace with God for men obtained, in a way consistent with it, Luke 2:14 and Christ's righteousness being
imputed and applied to men, and received by faith, produces a conscience peace,
an inward peace of mind, which passeth all understanding, Romans 5:1.
Psalm 85:11 11 Truth shall spring out of
the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
YLT
11Truth from the earth
springeth up, And righteousness from heaven looketh out,
Truth shall spring out of the earth,.... Either the Gospel,
the word of truth, which sprung up at once in the land of Judea, as if it came
out of the earth; and from Zion and Jerusalem it came forth into the Gentile
world: or else the truth of grace God desires in the inward parts, and which
springs up in such who are like cultivated earth, or good ground, being made so
by the Spirit and grace of God, particularly the grace of "faith"; by
which some render the wordF17אמת fides.
Tigurine version, Musculus, Junius & Tremellius. here, which springs up in
the heart, and, with it, man believes to righteousness: or rather Christ
himself, "who is the way, the truth, and the life"; who, though he is
the Lord from heaven, yet may be said, with respect to his incarnation, to
spring out of the earth, he taking flesh of the virgin: hence his human nature
is said to be "curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth";
and "that new thing created in the earth", Psalm 139:15.
and righteousness shall look down from heaven: the justice
of God, or the righteous God, shall look down from heaven on Christ, the truth,
in our nature on earth, with pleasure beholding his obedience, sufferings and
death, sacrifice and righteousness; being well pleased with him, and with all
he did and suffered, and with all his people, considered in him: these upright
and righteous ones his countenance beholds with delight, as they are clothed
with Christ's righteousness, washed in his blood, and their sins expiated by
his sacrifice, and as they are hoping in his mercy, and trusting in his Son.
Psalm 85:12 12 Yes, the Lord will give what
is good; And our land will yield its increase.
YLT
12Jehovah also giveth that
which is good, And our land doth give its increase.
Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good,.... Meaning
not merely temporal good, as rain in particular, as some think, because of the
following clause; but that which is spiritually good, his good Spirit and his
grace, grace and glory: nor will he withhold any good thing from his people;
every good and perfect gift comes from him:
and our land shall yield her increase; such who are
like to the earth, which receives blessing of God, and oft drinks in the rain
that comes upon it, and brings forth herbs to the dresser of it, Hebrews 6:2, these increase with the
increase of God, bring forth fruits of righteousness, and grow in grace and in
the knowledge of Christ; though the whole may be interpreted of the incarnation
of Christ, which agrees with what goes before and follows after; see Psalm 67:6.
Psalm 85:13 13 Righteousness will go
before Him, And shall make His footsteps our pathway.
YLT
13Righteousness before Him
goeth, And maketh His footsteps for a way!
Righteousness shall go before him,.... The incarnate
Saviour, the increase of our land, and fruit of the virgin's womb; and
righteousness may be put for a righteous person, as Aben Ezra interprets it;
and may design John the Baptist, a holy and just man, Mark 6:20, who was the forerunner and
harbinger of Christ, went before him, and prepared the way for him, Luke 1:76.
and shall set us in the way of his steps; the business
of John the Baptist being not only to prepare the way of Christ by his doctrine
and baptism, but to guide the feet of his people into the way of peace; or to
direct them to believe in Christ, and to be followers of him, the Lamb of God,
whithersoever he went; who has left an example of grace and duty, that we
should tread in his steps, Luke 1:79, the Targum renders it, "in
the good way"; and such a way John taught men to walk in.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》