Psalm 85
MAIN POINT: Jesus has come as saviour and will return as saviour, and we are invited to listen to His words of peace and experience and expect His salvation.
Sometimes it isn’t easy to get your bearings in the Bible. One reason is that the Bible speaks about time as things that have happened, are happening and will happen more fluidly than we might be used to. But since God is 100% sure what has happened, what will happen, and what is happening, He can reveal things with confidence. We on the other hand usually can only apply such confidence and interchangeability of time to the immediate or possibly the past.
Another aspect of the Bible that you might find challenging in our individualistic society is the principle of representation. We do get this idea sometimes but we don’t always get it. We often think that all the uses of representation are suspect to a negative prejudice. What I mean is that an individual is painted with the same brush as the whole. All Americans are loud. Even if there is some truth to that statement it isn’t always true. But God does use this principle of representation often, and He knows the truth. God might say that a particular individual, place or group is culpable or even did something particularly noteworthy when it is attributed to the whole by the act of the one. For instance Jesus, as the son of David, elevates the whole of David’s family, and so as each individual is discussed, they stand in the shadow of Jesus' great acts of salvation and kingship. When God uses representation, He is not being prejudiced or negatively stereotyping because He as righteous judge of all things knows the truth and has the prerogative to apply responsibility to anyone He wishes.
I tell you these two things because the descendants of Korah in this Psalm speak of people, times and places as if it had happened and as it needed to happen in the same Psalm. We quickly get bogged down trying to unpick a reality that is above and beyond our understanding and experience.
Let me remind you that the Bible is given first and foremost to reveal God, His character, His purposes and His plans. And that is, as we have seen and as Jesus has taught us, mostly to show us Jesus as the saving Word of God and the eternal King of the universe. Especially here in the Psalms is that true.
So before you get hung up on when, how and where did these things happen to whom, please look at what is clearly revealed about Jesus/God.
I noticed that salvation is mentioned three times in verses 4, 7, 9. I thought it was noteworthy that restore, revive, rejoice and return all set a very positive tone and are expectations of the people expressing their hearts through this Psalm.
I want to invite you to consider with me just for a moment before we continue in the Psalm to think God/Jesus is someone who saves and fills us with hope because He restores, revives, gives reasons to rejoice and returns what has been exiled, lost or taken. And then add to that blessings, forgiveness, covering, holding back and putting aside, and we begin to taste the flavour of the Psalm that reminds us in verses 7 and 10 that God/Jesus has unfailing love.
To me it is then obvious that we have built up to a special revelation of Jesus in verses 10-13.
At least in the New Living Translation of the Bible in verses 10-13 we have personification of attributes that seem special. Unfailing love and Truth have met in verse 10. Truth is springing up and Righteousness is smiling down in verse 11. And then in verse 13 Righteousness is going as a herald before him, preparing the way for his footsteps.
I don’t know about you, but I read verse 13 and I thought I know who prepares the way for Jesus. It is His cousin, John the Baptist. And John was a stickler for Righteousness. He was definitely going before Jesus the Truth, the unfailing love of God, the peace of God, and the righteousness of God. And now that we see where this Psalm is going. We see it is pointing to Jesus. We can go back and see that that is also true of the beginning of the Psalm. In fact I’d suggest that all of this has happened in Christ and still is yet to see its fulfilment in the return of the King Jesus. And that’s why we are possibly a bit confused concerning the when and where. Because God is doing it. God has done it and God will do it. He has saved, He is saving, He will save. He has restored, He is restoring and He will restore. He has forgiven, He is forgiving and He will forgive. He has put aside His anger (for those covered by the blood of the cross) and He is setting aside His anger until the day of the Lord, when for us He shall for all time no longer be angry with us for our sins. It is done, It is being done, It will be done. We are justified, We are being sanctified, We will be (have been) glorified.
So you have been invited to listen. And what will you hear? The Psalm tells us we will hear our saviour speak words of peace.
Verse 8 in Psalm 85 reminds me of John’s admonition to purify ourselves. We won’t go back to sinning because we anticipate the return of Christ our saviour.
“Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.
And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.”
But these wonderful descendants of Korah sharing this Psalm with us most likely in the beginning of the post-exile time of Ezra or Nehemiah were seeing it, but as we see in the Psalm and as we also long for our salvation, are looking forward to it. We sit between the cross and the coming of the King. They too were seeing fulfilment and realising that there was still a greater fulfilment to come.
So brothers and sisters, I invite you to take up these words and to own them. They reflect your life. If you are with me in this journey of seeking Jesus in the Psalms, we have once again not failed to find Him. But we recognise the promise and we are thankful for our salvation but we long for His coming. Join the righteous ones preparing the way for His steps.
“Righteousness goes as a herald before him, preparing the way for his steps.”
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