Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

Psalm 85. This is a community lament, at a time when God has shown his displeasure over his people's unfaithfulness, perhaps by withholding fruitfulness from the land (vv. 1, 12). The people singing this are seeking forgiveness for the whole people ("us"), asking God to show the steadfast love and faithfulness he proclaimed in Ex. 34:6; and because God is righteous (Ps. 85:10-11, 13)--that is, reliable about his promises--the psalm closes with confidence. Exodus 34:6-7 provides the background to this psalm, particularly in the terms "steadfast love and faithfulness" (Ps. 85:10; cf. vv. 7, 11) and "forgave iniquity" (v. 2). The Lord explained his "name" to Moses by emphasizing his benevolence, which is where the people's hope lies. Many churches use the psalm at Christmastime, the supreme occasion when God was favorable to his land and spoke peace to his saints.

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 done for the people before: he was favorable to the land, i.e., he made it produce abundant crops to sustain his people; he restored the fortunes of Jacob after he had disciplined his people for their unfaithfulness; he forgave their iniquity, covered all their sin, withdrew all his wrath, and turned from his hot anger. As mentioned in the note on Psalm 85, "forgave iniquity" evokes Ex. 34:7; cf. also 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; cf. also 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.