It's All About...

"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.
You withdrew all Your wrath;
You turned from Your hot anger."

At first glance it is clear that Psalm 85 is a prayer to God concerning Israel. It speaks of "Your land," "Jacob," and "Your people." How then are we to apply this song in the 21st century? It begins with understanding that this is not spoken directly to us, but to a specific group of people. Following that, we understand from the layout of the text that the psalmists are stating what God has done for His people. To say it simply, this is praise. The writers of this prayer are beginning with statements of praise to God for what He has done.

What is it that He has done? What does the text say?
1. God was favorable.
2. God restored fortunes.
3. God forgave iniquity (sin).
4. God withdrew His wrath.
5. God turned from His anger.

These are all items that the writers placed in song for the nation of Israel to sing as reminders of what God had done for them. Indeed, couldn't we say some (or perhaps all) of these things? The first portion of this song is about the greatness of our God. We can see from this that He does not change (Malachi 3.6)--He still judges sin as well as forgives sin; He is favorable to His people. Christ became the propitiation (the satisfaction of God's righteous anger against sin) for us and God's wrath has been withdrawn from those who come by faith to Him.

While this Psalm is directed to Israel, when we begin to understand what is happening in the song it does not seem so far away. In fact, in many ways we could write similar things. The first paragraph of this particular song details praise to God for His wondrous works. We could do the same (even using the exact same words and phrasing)--no, we should and must do the same. Let's take time to do that today, learning from Psalm 85.