Psalm 85

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 85

Interpreters are generally of the opinion that this psalm was penned after the return of the Jews out of their captivity in Babylon, when they still remained under some tokens of God's displeasure, which they here pray for the removal of. And nothing appears to the contrary, but that it might be penned then, as well as Ps. 137:1-9 They are the public interests that lie near the psalmist's heart here, and the psalm is penned for the great congregation. The church was here in a deluge; above... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 85:1-7

The church, in affliction and distress, is here, by direction from God, making her application to God. So ready is God to hear and answer the prayers of his people that by his Spirit in the word, and in the heart, he indites their petitions and puts words into their mouths. The people of God, in a very low and weak condition, are here taught how to address themselves to God. I. They are to acknowledge with thankfulness the great things God had done for them (Ps. 85:1-3): ?Thou has done so and... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 85:8-13

We have here an answer to the prayers and expostulations in the Ps. 85:1-7. I. In general, it is an answer of peace. This the psalmist is soon aware of (Ps. 85:8), for he stands upon his watch-tower to hear what God will say unto him, as the prophet, Hab. 2:1, 2. I will hear what God the Lord will speak. This intimates, 1. The stilling of his passions?his grief, his fear?and the tumult of his spirit which they occasioned: ?Compose thyself, O my soul! in a humble silence to attend upon God and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 85

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 85:1

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 85:2

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 85:3

Thou hast taken away all thy wrath ,.... Or "gathered" F14 אספת "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,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 85:4

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 85:5

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;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 85:6

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... read more

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