Psalm 85(1-7) 8-13; key verse v.7— Show us Your unfailing love, O Lord, and grant us Your salvation. This is how God chooses to act on behalf of His people. He has every right to punish, condemn and destroy. In love, He will offer forgiveness, life, and salvation. How could He? The cross of Calvary shows us how deep and profound the Father’s love is for His people.
PSALM 85 – PRAYING FOR REVIVAL AND RESTORATION
This psalm is titled To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. These sons of Korah were Levites, from the family of Kohath. By David’s time it seems they served in the musical aspect of the temple worship (2 Chronicles 20:19).
Like several psalms, Psalm 85 (in some ways) seems to fit the period of Israel’s return from exile; in other ways it does not. Alexander Maclaren noted, “The book of Nehemiah supplies precisely such a background as fits the psalm. A part of the nation had returned indeed, but to a ruined city, a fallen Temple, and a mourning land, where they were surrounded by jealous and powerful enemies.”
Even if this psalm belongs to an earlier period (such as the end of Saul’s reign), God’s people find themselves in this place from time to time, and this beautiful psalm is appropriate." 1
Collect for Psalm 85: God of love and faithfulness, you so loved the world that you gave your only Son to be our Savior. Help us to receive him as both Lord and brother and freely celebrate him as our gracious Redeemer now and forever. Amen 2
Sources:
The Beheading of John the Baptist, Schnorr von Carolsfeld woodcut copyright © WELS used with permission
1. https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-85/
2. Collect for Psalm 85, For All the Saints, A Prayer Book For and By the Church Vol. IV, The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau © 1996, Delhi, NY
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