Commentary - Psalm 85:4-7

Bird's-eye view

Psalm 85 is a prayer of a people who have known God's favor in the past and are pleading for it in the present. The psalm begins with a remembrance of God's past deliverance (vv. 1-3), but then pivots to a petition for present restoration (vv. 4-7). The people are experiencing God's displeasure, His vexation, and they understand that their only hope is for God Himself to act. This is not a vague wish for better circumstances; it is a specific, theological request for God to turn them, to cease His anger, to revive them, and to show them His covenant loyalty, His lovingkindness. The psalm is a beautiful portrait of corporate repentance. The people are not pointing fingers at one another; they are together, as "us," pleading for God's salvation. This sets the stage for the glorious resolution later in the psalm, where mercy and truth meet, and righteousness and peace kiss (v. 10). But before that kiss, there must be this turning.

The heart of this section is a series of questions directed at God, questions that are full of faith. They are not the questions of a skeptic, but of a child who knows his father's character. "Will you be angry forever?" is not an accusation, but rather an appeal to the God who has revealed Himself as merciful and gracious, slow to anger. The request for revival is tied directly to the gladness of God's people. True joy is found not in our circumstances, but in God Himself. The final plea brings it all together: show us Your lovingkindness, and grant us Your salvation. The two are inextricably linked. God's salvation flows from His covenant love, His hesed. This is a profoundly gospel-centered prayer, recognizing that restoration and revival are gifts of grace from start to finish.

Outline

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 4 Turn us back, O God of our salvation, And cause Your vexation toward us to cease.

The prayer begins where all true revival must begin: with a plea for God to do the turning. The psalmist does not say, "God, wait here while we turn ourselves back to you." He knows better. The verb here is active on God's part. It is a recognition that our hearts are like a rusty hinge; we cannot move on our own. This is the doctrine of regeneration in embryonic form. We are dead in our trespasses, and the dead do not revive themselves. So the first cry of a people who want to be right with God is, "Turn us!" This is the same prayer as in Lamentations 5:21, "Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored!"

He addresses God as the "God of our salvation." This is key. They are not appealing to a generic deity, but to the God who has a track record of saving them. They are appealing to His character, to His covenant name. They are saying, "You have saved us before, do it again. This is who You are." And what do they want? They want His vexation to cease. They are under His fatherly displeasure. This is not the wrath of condemnation that falls on the reprobate, but the chastening hand of a father on his wayward son. They feel the sting of it, and they know it is just. But they also know that the purpose of discipline is restoration, not destruction. So they ask for it to stop, not because they are innocent, but because He is the God of their salvation.

v. 5 Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger from generation to generation?

Here we have two rhetorical questions that are really arguments in prayer. The psalmist is reasoning with God on the basis of God's own self-revelation. God had declared Himself to be merciful and gracious, slow to anger (Exodus 34:6). He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in steadfast love (Micah 7:18). The psalmist is taking God at His word and throwing it back at Him, which is precisely what faith does. This is not impertinent; it is the prayer of a covenant child who knows his Father's heart.

The plea "forever" and "from generation to generation" shows the corporate and historical nature of their thinking. They are not just concerned about their own personal discomfort. They are concerned for the covenant line. If God's anger continues, what will happen to their children? What will become of the promises made to Abraham? This is a prayer for the future of God's people. It is a recognition that sin has generational consequences, and so the plea for mercy must also be generational. They are asking God to remember His covenant not just for their sake, but for the sake of their children and their children's children.

v. 6 Will You not Yourself return to revive us, That Your people may be glad in You?

This is the central petition. The word "revive" means to bring back to life. They feel spiritually dead, listless, joyless. And again, they know that revival is not something they can work up. God Himself must do it. "Will You not Yourself...revive us." The emphasis is on God as the sole agent of revival. Man can arrange the meetings, print the bulletins, and preach the sermons, but only God can make dead bones live. Revival is a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit, from beginning to end.

And what is the purpose of this revival? "That Your people may be glad in You." This is crucial. The goal of revival is not simply emotional experiences, or a better society, or fuller churches. The ultimate goal is the glory of God expressed through the joy of His people in Him. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. The psalmist understands that their current state of joylessness is a poor witness to the goodness of their God. A revived people is a glad people, and a glad people is a people whose gladness is located squarely in God Himself, not in His gifts. They want to rejoice in the Giver, not just the gifts.

v. 7 Show us, O Yahweh, Your lovingkindness, And give us Your salvation.

The prayer concludes by getting to the very heart of God's character. "Show us...Your lovingkindness." The Hebrew word is hesed. This is one of the most important words in the Old Testament. It is covenant love, steadfast loyalty, unfailing mercy. It is grace, but it is a rugged, unbreakable grace. The psalmist is asking for a tangible demonstration of this covenant love. Don't just tell us about it, Lord. Show us. Let us see it, feel it, experience it in our current predicament.

And this showing of lovingkindness is directly connected to the granting of salvation. "And give us Your salvation." Salvation here is a broad concept. It means deliverance, rescue, restoration to wholeness. It is the result of God showing His hesed. God's lovingkindness is the fountain, and salvation is the stream that flows from it. This is the gospel. God does not save us because we are worthy. He saves us because He is loyal to His own name and to the covenant He made in His great love. The final plea is a humble, dependent request for a gift. Salvation is not earned; it is given. And it is given because of who God is, the God of steadfast love.

Application

This prayer is a model for the church in any age, and particularly in our own. We live in a time of great spiritual lethargy in the West. We are, in many quarters, joyless, listless, and more concerned with managing our decline than with pleading for a mighty work of God. This psalm teaches us how to pray in such a time.

First, we must own our need for God to do the turning. We cannot reform ourselves. Our strategies and programs will not produce life. We must begin on our knees, confessing our helplessness and asking God to do what only He can do: "Turn us back, O God." This requires humility, a corporate humility that confesses our shared sin and need.

Second, we must learn to argue with God in prayer, using His own character and promises as our basis. We should plead with Him that it is not His nature to be angry forever. We should remind Him of His covenant promises. This is not twisting God's arm; it is aligning our prayers with His revealed will, which is the very definition of praying in faith.

Third, our desire for revival must be rightly ordered. We should want revival not for the thrill of it, or for the sake of our brand, but so that the people of God might once again find their deepest joy and gladness in God Himself. A joyless church has lost its testimony. When God revives us, He restores our joy in Him, and that joy becomes a powerful witness to a world that is dying for want of gladness.

Finally, everything comes down to God's hesed, His covenant love. Our only hope, our only plea, is for God to show us His lovingkindness and grant us His salvation. This is all of grace. Our confidence is not in our repentance, but in His character. We must therefore ask Him to act for His own name's sake, to display His glory by reviving His people, so that we might be glad in Him once more.