Psalm 85 takes place when the Israelites were returning from the Babylonian exile. Remember that it was their continued rebellion against the God of the Bible and His instructions, corrections and warnings by way of the prophets that caused them to be removed from the land in the first place. This Psalm is a prayer for restoration. Verse 4 says:
4 Restore us, O God of our salvation, and cause Your anger toward us to cease [forever].
"Salvation" is the Hebrew word, "yesha", which means: rescue, deliverance, safety, welfare, prosperity, victory. The prayer was that they would be restored to a place of protection, provision and safety in their God. THAT was always provided for them IF they would listen and obey! They wanted His anger to cease, but the choice had always been theirs. It will always be ours, too, even in the new and better Covenant that we have! Verses 8-10:
8 I will listen [with expectancy] to what God the Lord will say, for He will speak peace to His people, to His saints (those who are in right standing with Him) -- but let them not turn again to [self-confident] folly. 9 Surely His salvation is near to those reverently and worshipfully fear Him, [and is ready to be appropriated] that [the manifest presence of God, His] glory may tabernacle and abide in our land. 10 Mercy and loving-kindness and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Can you think of where God's mercy, loving-kindness, Truth, righteousness and peace are met together - intimately? In Jesus of Nazareth! He IS all we will ever need! AMEN!
Romans 13:10 says:
10 Love does no wrong to one's neighbor [it never hurts anybody]. Therefore love meets all the requirements and is the fulfilling of the Law.
Jesus didn't say that the commandments were no longer valid, but that as long as we walked in the love of God that has been shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5), we will automatically fulfill the Law! In order to walk in the God kind of Love, we need to know the God of the Love! Spend time in His presence and you will begin to think more like Him, speak more like Him, act more like Him. Then it will be said of you that one who resembles Jesus is among us! AMEN! Verse 11 tells us why it is more important NOW than ever before:
11 Besides this you know what [a critical] hour this is, how it is high time now for you to wake up out of your sleep (rouse to reality). For salvation (final deliverance) is nearer to us now than when we first believed (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Christ, the Messiah).
People are watching and waiting to see Jesus in YOU! What are you waiting for?
In Numbers 13-14 we see the incident involving the 12 spies sent out to walk through the land that God had already said HE would deliver into their hands. They were to report how rich and wonderful the land was and to tell of the people that GOD would deliver into their hands! Instead, only 2 were WORD men and came back with a GOOD, faith-filled report! The other 10 were AGAIN distracted from the Truth of God's Word by what things looked like to the natural eye. Hadn't the God of the Bible proved Himself already, over and over and over and over again? Now think about YOUR life and what the Word of God has said about YOUR situation. Hasn't He proved Himself to YOU, over and over and over and over again? AMEN! Now rise up as the faith-filled person of God that you are and TAKE THE LAND!
Here is a picture depicting the size of the grapes that they found in the land:
And here is a song by Chris Tomlin called: God Of This City". Remember that OUR God IS God!
Shalom in Him!
