Psalm 85

¹ LORD, you have been favorable to your land. You have restored the fortunes of Jacob.

² You have forgiven the iniquity of your people. You have covered all their sin. Selah.

³ You have taken away all your wrath. You have turned from the fierceness of your anger.

⁴ Turn us, God of our salvation, and cause your indignation toward us to cease.

⁵ Will you be angry with us forever? Will you draw out your anger to all generations?

⁶ Won’t you revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?

⁷ Show us your loving kindness, LORD. Grant us your salvation.

⁸ I will hear what God, the LORD, will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, his saints; but let them not turn again to folly.

⁹ Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.

¹⁰ Mercy and truth meet together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

¹¹ Truth springs out of the earth. Righteousness has looked down from heaven.

¹² Yes, the LORD will give that which is good. Our land will yield its increase.

¹³ Righteousness goes before him, and prepares the way for his steps.

Around Psalm 85

Book context

PsalmsEditorial draft

Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers used in Israel’s worship, written by several people over a long period. Headings name David most often, along with Asaph, the sons of Korah and others. The collection falls into five books, each ending with a short blessing of the LORD (41:13, 72:19, 89:52, 106:48), and it closes with a call for everything that has breath to praise the LORD (150:6). The psalms hold praise, lament, thanksgiving, confession and trust, so readers find words for nearly every season of life.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · broad consensus · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

About Psalms as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

“How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?” A prayer can begin like that, and in the Psalms it does. Four times the poet asks how long, and then, in the same short song, comes the turn: “But I trust in your loving kindness.”

That honesty runs through the whole book. Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers, and it holds praise, thanksgiving, lament, confession, songs for the king, and reflections on wisdom and on God's law. It is arranged in five books and moves, on the whole, from many laments at the start to pure praise at the end.

Joy, fear, anger, guilt and doubt are all spoken to God directly.

Background

The psalms were written and gathered over several centuries. Their headings link about half of them with David and others with Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon and Moses. They were sung in the worship of the temple and later in synagogues and churches.

How Christians read it

Jews and Christians have prayed the Psalms daily for well over two thousand years. The New Testament quotes them more than any other book and reads many as speaking of Christ, among them Psalms 2, 22 and 110. The psalms that call for judgment on enemies are hard to read. Many understand them as handing vengeance over to God instead of taking it oneself.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 19 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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