Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Ps 85:2 and following. Indeed, the subject of this psalm is the forgiveness that God will grant to His people Israel. The faithful do not doubt His goodness, but at the same time they feel the weight of His righteous wrath against His guilty people. Yes, God is good; will he not forgive? But He is also holy, just and true, how would He pass over a single sin? Goodness and truth, justice and peace, these divine characters, irreconcilable from human view, have nevertheless met. At the cross, we see doomed sin, righteousness satisfied, grace giving free rein (Romans 5:15-21). Glorious harmony! How many people who do not know this wonderful meeting point of the cross, have a totally false idea of God! They want to see in Him a severe Judge, making His creature suffer for pleasure. Or they imagine a “good God”, indulgent for “small” sins, easily satisfied with good intentions and efforts to do well. Fatal thoughts! The righteous God condemns sin, all sin, but the God of love forgives the sinner. And it is at the cross where this work was done that we come to know Him.
Indeed, in this psalm, the faithful of the residue according to the election of grace rejoice at the prospect of the blessing that will descend on their country and their nation; they exhale their sighs on the day of their distress, but await with full assurance the response that will be given to them in mercy. They recognize the wonderful result of this mercy: – truth comes from the earth, and justice looks from heaven and confirms it – the Lord giving what is good and the earth returning its fruit. They also understand how the kingdom will be restored. And we know that it is in the same way that we, the poor people of the nations, receive today the blessing (Rom 11:31), knowing through the cross of Christ, where truly “goodness and truth have met, justice and peace have intertwined” (Rom 3:26).
For “the truth” that asked for death (Gen 2:17), and “goodness” that cannot seek anything other than life and blessing, are here together. Death is suffered according to the truth and the guilty person receives life and freedom according to goodness. “Justice” is also linked to “peace”, and “peace” is linked to “justice”: instead of being offended by the presence of each other, they open their arms: justice has had its rights fully claimed by the offering, on the cross, of the One who made peace, and peace is fully satisfied to be able to be announced to sinners on such a solid foundation, know the justice claimed and accomplished. And all these glories will shine in a magnificent harmony, in the kingdom introduced by the wonderful work of the cross. Everything is reconciled where before everything was in conflict. For in today’s economy, instead of truth from the earth and justice looking from heaven, revolt and sin reign here on earth, while grace radiates from above.
Reading Ps 85, one may wonder whether its first part was related to the external deliverance and grace manifested therein, and whether the second part would be intended to bring the people into the enjoyment of this blessing through the restoration of the soul of each of the faithful in particular – or if, as we have seen that this is often the case, we first have the declaration of the great result as the subject of the Psalm and then the description of the sufferings of the residue and the divine operations that led to this result. Indeed, the external deliverance of the people will be followed by a work of restoration in souls. The faithful Israelites seek the enjoyment of divine favor when they are delivered from all their enemies and their deliverance shows them that they are forgiven. Indeed, the first three verses lay this foundation, that God is propitious to his land, and that he has restored Jacob’s captives. That was the great public truth.
But verse 4 shows that the restored people needed another blessing, in the reality of their own relationship with God: “Bring us back, O God from our salvation!” Jehovah was the God of their salvation, but they needed His blessing in the midst of the land, so that His people would rejoice in Him. How often this is true of the soul who knows that it is forgiven! The redeemed expect the goodness and salvation of Jehovah, and thus restored in his favor, they listen to what Elohim Jehovah will say; for they rely on Sa mercy. He will say peace to his people, the public character of the faithful, and to his saints, the residue who must enjoy it. Faith therefore possesses, in any case, the certainty that God’s salvation is near those who fear it, so that the glory of Jehovah may dwell in the land.
The last verses celebrate in remarkable terms the divine principles on which blessings are now established: God’s goodness and truth have now met; His promises, always true, have now been fulfilled by His mercy. It should be noted that in the Psalms mercy always precedes justice and truth.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
The Lord speaks for peace:
· Forgiven sin
2 Sam 12:13 David said to Nathan: I have sinned against the Lord! And Nathan said to David: Jehovah forgive your sin, thou shalt not die. Ps 78:38 However, in his mercy he forgives iniquity and does not destroy; He often holds back his anger and does not indulge in all his fury. Ps 85:3 You have forgiven the iniquity of your people, You have covered up all their sins; Break. Mk 2:5 Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic: My child, your sins are forgiven. Col 2:13 You who were dead by your trespasses and by the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has brought you back to life with Him, giving us grace for all our offenses;
· Atonement for sin
Rom 3:25 It is he whom God intended, by his blood, to be, for those who would believe themselves to be a propitiatory victim, in order to show his righteousness, because he had let unpunished the sins committed before, in the time of his patience, so, I say, 1 Jn 2:2 He himself is an atoning victim for our sins, not only for ours, but also for those around the world. 1 John 4:10 And this love consists not in the fact that we have loved God, but in the fact that He has loved us and sent His Son as an atoning victim for our sins.
· The Duty to Rejoice
Dt 12:7 This is where you will eat before Jehovah, your God, and you and your families will serve to your joy all the goods with which Jehovah, your God, has blessed you. Ps 5:12 Then all those who trust in you will rejoice, They will have joy forever, and you will protect them; You will be a subject of joy for those who love your name. Zep 3:14 Cry out with joy, daughter of Zion! Scream with joy, Israel! Rejoice and triumph with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem! Luke 10:20, however, do not rejoice that the spirits are submitted to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Phil 4:4 Rejoice always in the Lord; I repeat, rejoice.
· Spiritual abundance of God’s gifts
-Abundant joy Ps 36:9 They satiate themselves with the abundance of your house, and you water them in the torrent of your delights.
-Abundant life Jn 10:10 The thief comes only to steal, slaughter and destroy; I have come so that the sheep may have life, and that they may be in abundance.
-Abundant Grace 2 Cor 9:8 And God can fill you with all kinds of graces, that, always possessing in all things enough to satisfy all your needs, you may still have in abundance for every good work,
-Abundant Power Eph 3:20 Or, to him who can do, by the power that acts in us, infinitely beyond all that we ask or think,
-Abundant provisions Phil 4:19 And my God will provide for all your needs according to His wealth, with glory, in Jesus Christ.
Abundant Entry 2 Pet 1:11 In this way, in fact, the entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be fully granted to you.
From all the above, we note that by rejecting the Lord, Israel had lost all right to the promise; it had fallen fully under guilt; it had no justice on which it could rely; it had been closed in disobedience, so that it could also be the object of pure mercy. But through Christ’s work, these promises will now be fulfilled, and goodness and truth will meet. There is even more to it than that. The Lord is, by grace, the righteousness of those who make up the residue; therefore this justice is for them peace, and what in the judgment would have been their ruin, is found in grace, to be their peace: “justice and peace have intertwined”. Combian these great principles are true for any sinner, with regard to much better and heavenly blessings! Here they are applied to earthly blessings: the truth will germinate from the earth, that is, its fruit, the full effect of God’s truth and faithfulness, will be manifested on earth into perfect blessings. But these blessings will not be the result of righteousness, accomplished here on earth by man in a lawful manner. For justice will look from heaven: it is the righteousness of God, – Jehovah their righteousness! It is therefore stable; Jehovah gives what is good, and the land is blessed. Justice is paving the way for Jehovah himself, in the land – his country, no doubt, – for blessing. His reign will be characterized as follows: “A king will reign in justice”. There will be no more oppression, justice will no longer stand far, nor will truth stumble in the public square, as Isaiah 59:14 says. The judgment has returned to earth and the government has this character: “the work of justice will be peace and the work of justice, rest and security forever.” This last trait is practical, but it is the result of the fact that righteousness has looked from heaven; much more, that it is established on earth, where we find the description of this blessed state. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to react to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow ” the brevity of human life: prayer of Moses, man of God.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.