(To the chief Musician. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm.) Thou hast been favourable, Jehovah, unto thy land; thou hast turned the captivity of Jacob
Psalm 85 opens by looking back at mercy already received — favour to the land, Jacob's fortunes restored, sin forgiven. From verse 4 it turns into a plea for more, which raises a question every believer meets: if God has forgiven, what is left to ask for?
This psalm belongs to the sons of Korah, and its horizon is earthly. Notice the order it follows.
The psalm looks at the blessing of the land and people rather than at the religious centre of Jehovah's name or the way there. Rescue from outside enemies proves that the people are forgiven. It leads them to seek every favour in that place of blessing — above all, to hear what the God Jehovah may speak.
The psalm could have said Israel. It says Jacob — the name that carries the memory of a man and a nation who could not be relied on.
Jehovah is praised, then, for showing favour to the land, and bringing back the captivity of Jacob. The name used (Jacob) may indeed remind us of the grace of God. But it may speak just as much of the people's untrustworthiness. But now their iniquity is put all away, their sin all covered. The blessing is in the changed relation of Jehovah Himself, whose anger has passed away. That is a blessing indeed, for in His favour is life — eternal life.
Verses 1 to 3 do not describe where the psalm starts; they describe where it lands. The rest of the psalm then works backwards to show the road.
In the opening verses the godly look ahead to the restoration of Israel. They see the nation brought back from captivity into the favour of Jehovah, their sins forgiven, and God's wrath taken away. These verses present the final blessing of the nation. The rest of the psalm shows how that blessing is reached.
To "cover" sin sounds like hiding it. One writer insists the word means something far more costly, and ties it to the death of the Messiah the nation once refused.
In the coming day Israel's hearts will overflow with thankful appreciation — thankful for God's favour to His land, and for His bringing back the captivity of Jacob after centuries of trouble and sorrow. His pure mercy will have forgiven all their iniquities and covered all their sin. This does not mean a mere "covering up." It means a covering provided by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus at Calvary. They will have realised that He is indeed their true Messiah, and that His death many years earlier is the only possible means of a righteous forgiveness.
One writer applies this to believers now. Pardon settles the past. By itself it does not bring nearness to God.
Forgiveness applies to everything we have done as part of the old nature and its deeds… We have full forgiveness. Wrath is gone as to it. All our sin is covered; but the distance from God and from the enjoyment of communion with Him is not removed. Fear of judgment and of the Judge is gone. But we do not enter into the enjoyment of present blessing with God — His favour resting on those with whom there is no question.
The tension between "you have taken away all your wrath" and the later cry for anger to cease has puzzled readers. Darby admitted he was never fully settled on how the psalm's two halves fit together, leaning at last to the view that verse 1 states "the great public truth" of deliverance, while verse 4 asks for the inward reality. Another writer sets aside that reading and offers a different key.
I believe the true explanation is this: he is pleading that the blessing which has in fact come may be lasting. He remembers the former seasons of refreshment and deliverance, which had again and again passed away in returning gloom and distress… Now, he asks, let this go on no more: let the anger vanish forever, and let the goodness shown remain at last.
- Favour first. The psalm opens with what God has done: favour to His land, and Jacob's fortunes restored. Only then does it ask for anything.
- Favour named. The name Jacob recalls both God's grace and the people's unreliability. What changed is Jehovah's relation to them, not their record.
- Favour proved. Rescue from enemies shows publicly that God has forgiven and covered their sin. Writers trace that covering to the sacrifice of Christ.
- Favour not yet enjoyed. Forgiveness removes wrath. But distance from God can remain, and so a forgiven people still pray for more.
- Favour made permanent. The prayer of the psalm is that this blessing will not fade as earlier deliverances did, but stay.
Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people; thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.
Psalm 85 looks back at what God has already done for His people: He brought them back from captivity and dealt with their guilt. Verse 2 states it in two words — iniquity forgiven, sin covered — yet the psalm keeps asking for more.
The second half of the verse uses a Hebrew word for covering. That word runs straight through the sacrificial system:
The Hebrew word used is Kaphar, which means to cover. It is only by the death of Christ, by His atoning blood, that sin is covered and its consequences turned aside. So we read, "Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered" (Hebrew, Kasah) (Ps. 32:1). "You forgave the iniquity of Your people; You covered all their sin" (Hebrew, Kasah) (Ps. 85:2). Kaphar and Kasah both mean to cover. "It is the blood that makes atonement [Hebrew, Kaphar] by the life" (Lev. 17:11). How beautifully the New Testament answers to all this: "the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). Our first parents were covered by coats of skins, obtained by the death of innocent victims, by the shedding of blood — a picture of redemption... God can be, and is, righteous in blessing the believing sinner.
Covering sin can mean hiding it. Looking ahead to the day when Israel receives mercy, one writer says the word means the opposite here:
His pure mercy will have forgiven all their iniquities, covering all their sin. This does not mean a mere "covering up." It is a covering provided by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus at Calvary. They will have realised that He is indeed their true Messiah. His death, many years earlier, is the only possible means of a righteous forgiveness.
The verse speaks in the past tense, as of something settled. Yet the psalm goes on to plead for restoration:
In the opening verses the godly look forward to the restoration of Israel. They see the nation brought back from captivity into the favour of Jehovah, their sins forgiven, and God's wrath taken away. These verses present the final blessing of the nation. The rest of the psalm shows how that blessing is reached.
The psalm puts pardon before any change in the people. One writer treats that order as a fixed rule:
This seems to be a prayer for the positive blessings that follow once God's pardon is theirs and He declares His favour to the land and people. They own this, acknowledge that their blessing rests under it, and so look for it. Conversion to blessing comes after pardon and forgiveness — always in that order, never the reverse. The first two verses state the basis of the prayer.
Verse 2 is not the last word of the psalm. What is left to want once sin is covered?
So with us, forgiveness applies to all that we have done, looked at as belonging to the old man and his deeds. We are brought back, and all the fruit of the old man is put away for ever by the sacrifice of Christ. We have full forgiveness. Wrath is gone as to it. All our sin is covered, but the distance from God, and from the enjoyment of communion with Him, remains. Fear of judgment and of the Judge is gone, but we have not yet entered into the enjoyment of present blessing with God... Though forgiven, we still sense this distance, this lack of enjoyment of God in the new and divine nature, and by its nature it feels like anger.
This verse is one of many Old Testament witnesses to God's pardon. But the ground believers stand on now is different:
Under the law there was a provision by which a sinner of Israel might have the forgiveness of sins. But every fresh sin had to be met with fresh sacrifice and fresh forgiveness. Even on the great Day of Atonement, the yearly ritual brought sins to mind again. The prophets bore witness to the forgiveness of God, as Peter can say: David in Psalm 32, Psalm 85:2 and Psalm 103, Isaiah in many passages, Jeremiah in connection with the new covenant. But it was not the revealed ground on which they of old stood. That could not be until the cross declared God's righteousness in judging sin. Theirs was not the forgiveness of accomplished redemption, not the "no more conscience of sins" that marks the Christian position.
- Covered. The word behind "covered" is the language of the altar. Only the blood of Christ covers sin — hiding it never does.
- Ground. Not a cover-up, but a covering bought by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. Under the law, every fresh sin needed a fresh sacrifice.
- Order. Pardon comes first; the change of heart follows — always in that order, never the reverse.
- Reach. The verse states the nation's final blessing as done. The rest of the psalm shows how that blessing is reached.
- Result. Forgiveness settles the question of wrath. Yet the soul still longs for nearness to God — which is why the psalm keeps praying.
Thou hast withdrawn all thy wrath; thou hast turned from the fierceness of thine anger.
Psalm 85 opens with three things already done: favour shown to the land, guilt forgiven, and now the anger itself withdrawn. That raises a hard question: how can God stop being angry, and can a wrath that was real be gone for good?
Commentators read the psalm's opening as a look ahead. These first verses state the finished blessing. The rest of the psalm then shows how it comes.
(vv. 1-3) In the opening verses the godly look forward to the restoration of Israel. The nation is seen as brought back from captivity into the favour of Jehovah, their sins forgiven, and God's wrath taken away. These verses present the final blessing of the nation; the rest of the psalm shows how that blessing comes.
The verse does not say the trouble stopped or the enemies left. It says something changed on God's side. That change is the real gift.
Jehovah is praised, then, for showing favour to the land, and bringing back the captivity of Jacob. The name used (Jacob) may indeed remind us of the grace of God, but it may speak no less of the untrustworthiness of the people. But now all their iniquity is put away, all their sin covered. The blessing lies in the changed relation of Jehovah Himself, whose anger has passed away; a blessing indeed, for in His favour is life — eternal life.
The order matters. Forgiveness is not the reward for a people who have already turned back. It is what makes turning back possible.
This seems to be a prayer for the positive blessings that come from God's pardon being theirs, and from His favour to the land and people being declared… Turning to blessing follows pardon and forgiveness — always that way, never the other way round.
Wrath withdrawn is not wrath ignored. One commentator reads the covering of sin in the previous verse as a real covering, bought by a sacrifice. That is why the anger here can go without injustice.
His pure mercy will have forgiven all their iniquities, covering all their sin. This does not mean a mere "covering up." It means a covering provided by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus at Calvary. For they will have realised that He is indeed their true Messiah. His death, many years before, is the only possible means of a righteous forgiveness. Because of true faith in the One they had rejected before, God will take away all His wrath and all the fierceness of His anger. For they will see Christ then as the One Mediator between God and men.
Read on, and the psalm asks God to put His anger away — right after saying He already has. Commentators differ on how to resolve this. One takes the prayer as asking that God would never take the mercy back.
The connection of the first section with that which follows it has been a difficulty to many. How can the psalmist say, "You withdrew all your wrath," and then almost at once cry out, "put away your indignation toward us"?… I believe the true explanation is this: he is pleading that the blessing which has in fact come may last. In the past, seasons of refreshment and deliverance had again and again passed away into returning gloom and distress — returning displeasure for repeated departure from God. Now, he asks, let this go on no more: let the anger vanish forever, and the goodness shown remain at last.
Another reads the same prayer as distrust of self, not doubt about God — and says believers have no need to speak that way.
But does it not rather show that Israel can no longer trust herself? She is pleading that God will go on keeping them from the folly of their past years… We may be sure that God wants us to be so certain of His salvation that we would have no reason to speak like that.
- Withdrawn — the verse reports wrath already gone. It stands at the head of the psalm as the settled end, and the rest of the psalm shows the road to it.
- Person — the change is in God's own relation to His people, not just in their circumstances. That changed relation is the blessing.
- Order — pardon comes first, recovery follows, never the reverse. People are not forgiven because they returned; they return because they were forgiven.
- Ground — covered sin and removed anger rest on a sacrifice. That is why this forgiveness is righteous and not soft.
- Permanence — the prayer that follows asks that this mercy never run out again. Commentators differ on why: some hear a longing for lasting blessing, others distrust of self. Neither reads it as doubt about the pardon given.