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"A Prayer
for the Nation's Welfare"
Psalm 85:8-13
Good News Translation (GNT)
"HEBREW TITLE:
"A psalm by the clan of Korah."
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8 I am listening to what the Lord God is saying;
he promises peace to us, his own people,
if we do not go back to our foolish ways.
9 Surely he is ready to save those who honour
him,and his saving presence will remain in
our land.
10 Love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness
and peace will embrace.
11 Human loyalty will reach up from the earth,
and God's righteousness will look down from
heaven.
12 The Lord will make us prosperous, and our
land will produce rich harvests.
13 Righteousness will go before the Lord
and prepare the path for him.
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Commentary taken from 'word-on-the-web'
supplied by Scripture Union
'Counting our blessings'
Here is a song for anyone who's experienced loss,
whether of home or heart.
Thought possibly to have been written on the return from exile
in Babylon, there is certainly a sense of the hardships
that God's people have experienced.
Verse 12 may even refer to the drought predicted in Haggai 1:5-11.
(Haggai 1v10)
10 Therefore, because of you the heavens
have withheld their dew and the earth
its crops.
11 I called for a drought on the fields and
the mountains, ...)
This psalm illustrates the tension that believers
have experienced throughout the ages
between an assured faith in what God has done
and the reality of the present
in which he has become distant
and what was promised seems endlessly delayed.
The opening verses celebrate the divine forgiveness
and mercy which form the very basis of Israel's existence.
These are historical facts
and nothing can change the record of God's mighty deeds
in the salvation of his people.
Although judgement has come,
the first we hear from God is a word of peace (v8)
This comes to those who fear (in awe of ) him (v 9),
but not in the sense of earning God's approval;
rather, these are the ones who are ready
to receive what he longs to give.
His salvation is 'near' (v 9a),
anticipating Jesus' own preaching
about God's kingdom, his just and righteous rule.
This psalmist was straight with God,
and what a difference it made!
The final section, verses 8-13, have a much more contented tone.
Because he's been honest with God
about his struggles he's able to embrace God's promises.
An individual voice breaks in,
possibly someone in the Temple with a prophetic gift who,
hearing the corporate lament,
announces:
'I will listen to what God the Lord says' (v 8).
He reports that the divine response is one
of reassurance and verses 9-13 overflow
with words of comfort:
God is near those who fear him;
and allow his ways to be their ways (vs 10-12).
The experience described here is familiar to
Christians who struggle with the apparent gap
between the promise of the gospel
and the reality of a world
(and, alas, a church) which seems to change very little.
We need both the honesty and integrity of the prayer
of this psalm and the gift of prophets who can speak God's word
of hope and promise as a response to our anguished cries.
Other versions are available here
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