Psalms — Chapter 85

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1For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. You showed favor to Your land, O LORD; You restored Jacob from captivity.

2You forgave the iniquity of Your people; You covered all their sin. Selah

3You withheld all Your fury; You turned from Your burning anger.

4Restore us, O God of our salvation, and put away Your displeasure toward us.

5Will You be angry with us forever? Will You draw out Your anger to all generations?

6Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?

7Show us Your loving devotion, O LORD, and grant us Your salvation.

8I will listen to what God the LORD will say; for He will surely speak peace to His people and His saints; He will not let them return to folly.

9Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that His glory may dwell in our land.

10Loving devotion and faithfulness have joined together; righteousness and peace have kissed.

11Faithfulness sprouts from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.

12The LORD will indeed provide what is good, and our land will yield its increase.

13Righteousness will go before Him to prepare the way for His steps.

1LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.

2Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.

3Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.

4Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.

5Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?

6Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?

7Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation.

8I 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.

9Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.

10Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

11Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

12Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.

13Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

1Jehovah, thou hast been favorable unto thy land; Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.

2Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people; Thou hast covered all their sin. Selah

3Thou hast taken away all thy wrath; Thou hast turned [thyself] from the fierceness of thine anger.

4Turn us, O God of our salvation, And cause thine indignation toward us to cease.

5Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?

6Wilt thou not quicken us again, That thy people may rejoice in thee?

7Show us thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, And grant us thy salvation.

8I will hear what God Jehovah will speak; For he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: But let them not turn again to folly.

9Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him, That glory may dwell in our land.

10Mercy and truth are met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

11Truth springeth out of the earth; And righteousness hath looked down from heaven.

12Yea, Jehovah will give that which is good; And our land shall yield its increase.

13Righteousness shall go before him, And shall make his footsteps a way [to walk in]. Psalm 86 A Prayer of David

1For the music director, written by the Korahites, a psalm. O Lord, you showed favor to your land; you restored the well-being of Jacob.

2You pardoned the wrongdoing of your people; you forgave all their sin. (Selah)

3You withdrew all your fury; you turned back from your raging anger.

4Restore us, O God our deliverer. Do not be displeased with us.

5Will you stay mad at us forever? Will you remain angry throughout future generations?

6Will you not revive us once more? Then your people will rejoice in you.

7O Lord, show us your loyal love. Bestow on us your deliverance.

8I will listen to what God the Lord says. For he will make peace with his people, his faithful followers. Yet they must not return to their foolish ways.

9Certainly his loyal followers will soon experience his deliverance; then his splendor will again appear in our land.

10Loyal love and faithfulness meet; deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss.

11Faithfulness grows from the ground, and deliverance looks down from the sky.

12Yes, the Lord will bestow his good blessings, and our land will yield its crops.

13Deliverance goes before him, and prepares a pathway for him.

1Yahweh, you have been favorable to your land. You have restored the fortunes of Jacob.

2You have forgiven the iniquity of your people. You have covered all their sin. Selah.

3You have taken away all your wrath. You have turned from the fierceness of your anger.

4Turn us, God of our salvation, and cause your indignation toward us to cease.

5Will you be angry with us forever? Will you draw out your anger to all generations?

6Won’t you revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?

7Show us your loving kindness, Yahweh. Grant us your salvation.

8I 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.

9Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.

10Mercy and truth meet together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

11Truth springs out of the earth. Righteousness has looked down from heaven.

12Yes, Yahweh will give that which is good. Our land will yield its increase.

13Righteousness goes before him, And prepares the way for his steps.

Summary
Authorship & Background
Commentary
Videos
Articles
Reflection

Summary

A communal prayer for renewed favor, the psalm opens by recalling how God has been gracious to the land before, forgiving his people's iniquity and turning away his anger (vv. 1-3). Building on that memory, the people now ask God to restore them again and to end his displeasure so they can rejoice in him once more (vv. 4-7). The psalmist listens for God's answer, confident that his salvation is near for those who fear him, pictured as mercy and truth meeting together and righteousness and peace embracing (vv. 8-10). It closes with the promise that the LORD will give what is good, the land will yield its harvest, and righteousness will go before him, preparing the way (vv. 11-13).

Authorship & Background

Author: Multiple authors — primarily David (73 psalms attributed), plus Asaph (12), Sons of Korah (11), Solomon (2), Moses (1), Heman (1), Ethan (1), and anonymous. The Psalter was compiled over approximately 1000 years and served as Israel's hymnal and prayer book. The book is divided into five 'books' (1-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, 107-150), paralleling the five books of Moses.
Classification: Community Lament / Prophetic Psalm
Attributed Author: Sons of Korah
Key Themes: Past restoration recalled, present distress, prayer for revival, mercy and truth meeting, righteousness and peace kissing — the cross foreshadowed
Historical Context: This psalm likely dates to the post-exilic period — after the return from Babylon. God had restored them (vv.1-3), but the present reality is disappointing (vv.4-7). The return was real but incomplete — the land was still troubled, the people still struggling. The psalm asks for full revival. Its theological climax (v.10) is one of the most Christological verses in the OT: "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other." In Christ, God's mercy (which wants to forgive) and truth (which demands accountability) meet. His righteousness (which requires judgment) and peace (which desires reconciliation) kiss. The cross is where these attributes perfectly unite.
Thou Hast Been Favourable unto Thy Land (vv.1-3): LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land, thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. The psalm opens in the perfect tense with a restoration already granted, which is why it is usually read after the return from exile. And what is named as the substance of it is not territory but a closed account, thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin.
Turn Us, O God of Our Salvation (vv.4-7): Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. The petition sits awkwardly with the previous section, since the anger was said to be turned away in verse 3, and the awkwardness is the psalm's actual situation: the return happened and the conditions did not improve. Then the question, wilt thou be angry with us for ever. And the request that follows is the one the psalm is remembered for, wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee.
I Will Hear What God the LORD Will Speak (v.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. One verse, and it is the hinge: the psalm stops asking and starts listening. The last clause is a warning attached to the promise rather than a condition on it.
Mercy and Truth Are Met Together (vv.9-13): Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Then the verse this psalm is famous for, and it is four abstractions treated as people meeting, mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other. What the image claims is that qualities which pull against each other in ordinary government are reconciled here. And the next verse gives them a geography, truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven, so one comes up and the other comes down.

Commentary

  • Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Verse-by-verse commentary on this chapter, written for the everyday reader and freely available online.
  • Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
  • Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.

Videos

Psalm 85 | Loving Care and Lavish Favor | Bible Study
Spoken Gospel

Psalm 85 - Praying for Revival and Restoration
David Guzik

Articles

  • GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of Psalms -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.

Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.

Reflection

  • Past Blessing Doesn't Guarantee Present Vibrancy (vv.1-3) — The psalmist recalls a real restoration God performed for the nation in the past, even though the present moment still feels stalled. Have you mistaken a past spiritual high point for permanent spiritual health?
  • Revival Means Rejoicing in God Himself (v.6) — The prayer for revival isn't just for renewed energy or activity but specifically that the people would rejoice in God. Is your spiritual excitement centered on God Himself, or on experiences and results around Him?
  • Choosing to Listen for What God Will Say (v.8) — The psalmist commits to listening for God's word of peace rather than assuming he already knows what God thinks. Are you actually listening for God's voice in Scripture and prayer, or just talking at Him?
  • Mercy and Truth Meet at the Cross (v.10) — The psalm's vision of mercy and truth meeting, righteousness and peace kissing, finds its fulfillment where God's forgiveness and God's justice are both satisfied in Christ. Do you hold onto both the seriousness of your sin and the completeness of your forgiveness, or only one of the two?