Embrace the Word for Friday, July 3, 2026

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Psalm 85 is a prayer for restoration. The superscription does not specify the historical context: “To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.” Psalm 85 is the second of four Psalms by the sons of Korah in Book 3 of the Psalter. And while the superscription does not hint at the historical context, the content of the Psalm itself, as well as where it is located in the Psalter, suggests that it is a prayer offered up in the midst of divine chastisement. The emphasis of Book 3 on the devastation to Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple offers ample insight into the background of Psalm 85. Psalm 85 shares some links in common with Psalm 84. The term “good” is found in each Psalm (84:11; 85:12), as well as “favor” (84:11; 85:9). Both Psalm 84 and Psalm 85 express a longing for God and a restoration of relationship with Him. While Psalm 84 expresses this desire from more of an individual level, Psalm 85 expresses it from a corporate level. Psalm 85 begins with a reflection on the LORD’s past favor that resulted in restoring His people to Himself (85:1-4), which immediately turns into a plea for the LORD to restore His people to Himself (85:5-7), before concluding with a confidence in and celebration of the LORD’s favor to restore His people to Himself (85:8-13).

Psalm 85 makes a plea for restoration: “Restore us again, O God of our salvation” (85:4a). The term “restore,” which is used at least five times throughout this Psalm conveys a collection of ideas such as “restore” (85:1,4), “turn” (85:3,8), and even “revive” (85:6). Sometimes God is the subject of the turning and at other times it is His people who must turn. In the context of this prayer, some of the instances are requests that the LORD turn in relationship to His people, while in other instances, the requests are for the LORD to turn His people to Him. The request in verse 4 is for the LORD to turn His people back to Him; however, even this request supposes that the LORD has turned from His posture of anger against His people and toward favor. The sons of Korah offer a preface before they made their plea: “LORD, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin. Selah You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger” (85:1-3). As a lead up to the present request in verse 4, the sons of Korah reflect on the past favor that the LORD had shown to His people. The sons of Korah rehearse what the LORD had done previously, most likely in regards to the Exodus, the wilderness journey, and on into the Promised Land. The LORD had been “favorable” through how He “restored the fortunes,” “forgave the iniquity,” “covered all their sin,” “withdrew your wrath,” and “turned from your hot anger.”

What the LORD had done in the past informed their present plea for restoration in the context of the LORD removing His wrath: “and put away your indignation toward us! Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations?” (85:4b-5). The LORD had chosen to withdraw His wrath and turn from His hot anger in the past. The sons of Korah are pleading with the LORD in accordance with His very character as revealed through His Word. The LORD chose to love Israel covenantally: “The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers” (See Deuteronomy 7:6b-8a). The LORD had promised His people that they would not ever be wiped out totally: “For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free…For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess” (See Deuteronomy 32:36,47). In fact, the sons of Korah invoke covenant language into their present prayer for restoration by appealing to the LORD’s steadfast love and salvation: “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation” (85:6-7). And when the LORD restores His people to Himself, His people will rejoice in Him.

Starting in verse 8, the sons of Korah shift from addressing the LORD directly through the use of the second person, to speaking of the LORD through the use of the third person. The sons of Korah, on the heels of their plea to the LORD, anticipate the LORD’s reply: “Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly” (85:8). There is confidence that when the LORD speaks to the sons of Korah, He will have turned away from His anger and speak peace to them. The notion of peace is first of all a covenantal blessing: “I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land” (See Leviticus 26:6). But the notion of peace also conveys more than the absence of strife and hostility and includes their physical and spiritual well-being. The surety of such blessing of peace is tied to the covenant for they acknowledge that they are “his saints,” that is, the ones whom the LORD loves with a steadfast love. Literally, they are the ones marked by the LORD’s steadfast love. And yet, they acknowledge that such a status and blessing requires that they not turn from the LORD toward foolishness. The sons of Korah continue confessing their confidence: “Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land” (85:9). The salvation that the LORD provides to His people stirs a proper fear into the hearts of His people, which in turn, results in the land being filled with the beauty of God’s presence. The sons of Korah are confessing that the outcome of the covenant blessings of salvation will be a people who fear the LORD and thus, display His glory.

The sons of Korah answer how it is that the LORD can turn from His anger and bless His people. The unified character of the LORD is displayed through the multifaceted concerns of the LORD: “Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky. Yes, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps a way” (85:10-13). All of the terms that the sons of Korah invoke are covenantal terms: steadfast love, faithfulness, righteousness, peace, and good. For God to pardon His people and restore them to Himself showing Himself to be full of steadfast love and faithfulness, but also righteous in how He grants peace and gives what is good, shows the influence of Moses: “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (See Exodus 34:6-7). There is no conflict between the LORD’s traits; they operate in perfect union with each other. The LORD lovingly and faithfully rescues His people, but He does so in perfect harmony with His justice and righteousness. The whole range of God’s attributes are not expressed independently from each other; they operate in a glad alliance and in joyful cooperation. The LORD will turn back toward His people and turn His people back toward Him, as everything that He does is always fully loving and righteous.

As we reflect on Psalm 85 we can consider how it is through the work of Christ that the truth expressed through the statements, “steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other,” are fulfilled. It is at the Cross that God shows His commitment and full intent to bless His people with peace; but it is also at the Cross that God shows His commitment and full His intent to display that He is righteous. Peace is not simply a withdrawal of hostilities, but the whole-hearted commitment to bless the recipients of His peace with both spiritual and physical well-being. Righteousness means to do what is right and doing what it right includes upholding justice in regard to the wicked by holding the wicked guilty and properly punishing them because of their guilt. Peace and righteousness seem to be in tension with each other, but this tension is resolved through how Christ saves His people. A key to showing how there is a harmony between righteousness and peace is to understand that the nature of Jesus’ work on the Cross is that of a substitutionary work. Jesus substitutes Himself on behalf of His people by taking their sin upon Himself and bearing up under the justice of God’s wrath. The Cross doesn’t dismiss God’s righteousness, it absorbs it—all of it. And with God’s righteousness satisfied through the sacrifice of Jesus, God can justly bless His people with peace for His people now possess the righteousness of Christ. This in turn qualifies them to justly receive God’s good blessings. The Cross shows that God is righteous in punishing sin, and that He is good in how He richly blesses His people. Righteousness and peace kiss each other at the Cross.

That’s all for Embrace the Word for Friday, July 3, 2026. I look forward to being back with you for the Monday, July 6, 2026 episode of Embrace the Word as we take a look at Psalm 86.