PSALM Eighty Five

For the director of music.  

Of the Sons of Korah. 

A psalm.

1 

You, Lord, showed favour to your land;

    you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

2 

You forgave the iniquity of your people

    and covered all their sins.

3 

You set aside all your wrath

    and turned from your fierce anger.

4 

Restore us again, God our Saviour,

    and put away your displeasure towards us.

5 

Will you be angry with us for ever?

    Will you prolong your anger through all generations?

6 

Will you not revive us again,

    that your people may rejoice in you?

7 

Show us your unfailing love, Lord,

    and grant us your salvation.

8 

I will listen to what God the Lord says;

    he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants –

    but let them not turn to folly.

9 

Surely his salvation is near those who fear him,

    that his glory may dwell in our land.

10 

Love and faithfulness meet together;

    righteousness and peace kiss each other.

11 

Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,

    and righteousness looks down from heaven.

12 

The Lord will indeed give what is good,

    and our land will yield its harvest.

13 

Righteousness goes before him

    and prepares the way for his steps.

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Word by Word Meditations 

by Fred Ursell

Psalm 85: “revive?” (v.6)

Are you feeling jaded, that everything is a drag? You must be the only person in the whole world who is floundering emotionally! No! Of course not! It’s very human, even as one of Jesus’ followers, to be down in the dumps rather than jumping for joy. 

This Psalm starts as a wrestling sort of prayer, with a transition from “restore us again” (v.4) to a high point of expectation, “will you not revive us again?” (v.6). 

It’s a negative question that expresses a positive hope. For God to “restore” is good (it means he puts us back where we were); to “revive” us means to put new life into us. That’s better still!

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READINGS

PSALM 85

Read by Sir David Suchet

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OVERVIEW 

Psalms 

 - Overview -

The Bible Project 

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STUDY - LINKS

Psalms

David Pawson

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SONGS

Restore Us O God

Restore Us Again (Healing Balm)

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PSALM Eighty Four

For the director of music. 

According to gittith. 

Of the Sons of Korah. 

A psalm.

1 

How lovely is your dwelling-place,

    Lord Almighty!

2 

My soul yearns, even faints,

    for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh cry out

    for the living God.

3 

Even the sparrow has found a home,

    and the swallow a nest for herself,

    where she may have her young –

a place near your altar,

    Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

4 

Blessed are those who dwell in your house;

    they are ever praising you.

5 

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

6 

As they pass through the Valley of Baka,

    they make it a place of springs;

    the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

7 

They go from strength to strength,

    till each appears before God in Zion.

8 

Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;

    listen to me, God of Jacob.

9 

Look on our shield, O God;

    look with favour on your anointed one.

10 

Better is one day in your courts

    than a thousand elsewhere;

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

    than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

11 

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

    the Lord bestows favour and honour;

no good thing does he withhold

    from those whose way of life is blameless.

12 

Lord Almighty,

    blessed is the one who trusts in you.

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Word by Word Meditations 

by Fred Ursell

Psalm 84: “doorkeeper” (v.10)

Do you have a position in your church? Do you even have somewhere you think of as ‘your church’?    

Not all church fellowships could be described as “lovely” (v.1); we’re not talking about the building, but the people who meet there. However, if our focus is on the folk, we’re off track; what matters most is “my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (v.2). 

When you relish his blessing you’ll feel, “better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked” (v.10).  

That’s how to enjoy church!

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READINGS

PSALM 84

Read by Sir David Suchet

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OVERVIEW 

Psalms 

 - Overview -

The Bible Project 

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STUDY - LINKS

Psalms

David Pawson

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Psalm 84: Valley of Baca (Weeping) 

- Derek Prince -

Pain Into Pilgrimage: Psalm 84

Michael Lloyd, Principal of Wycliffe Hall, 

University of Oxford - Gordon College Chapel

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SONGS

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PSALM Eighty Three

 A song. A psalm of Asaph.

1 

O God, do not remain silent;

    do not turn a deaf ear,

    do not stand aloof, O God.

2 

See how your enemies growl,

    how your foes rear their heads.

3 

With cunning they conspire against your people;

    they plot against those you cherish.

4 

‘Come,’ they say, ‘let us destroy them as a nation,

    so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.’

5 

With one mind they plot together;

    they form an alliance against you –

6 

the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,

    of Moab and the Hagrites,

7 

Byblos, Ammon and Amalek,

    Philistia, with the people of Tyre.

8 

Even Assyria has joined them

    to reinforce Lot’s descendants.

9 

Do to them as you did to Midian,

    as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon,

10 

who perished at Endor

    and became like dung on the ground.

11 

Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,

    all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,

12 

who said, ‘Let us take possession

    of the pasture-lands of God.’

13 

Make them like tumble-weed, my God,

    like chaff before the wind.

14 

As fire consumes the forest

    or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,

15 

so pursue them with your tempest

    and terrify them with your storm.

16 

Cover their faces with shame, Lord,

    so that they will seek your name.

17 

May they ever be ashamed and dismayed;

    may they perish in disgrace.

18 

Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord –

    that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.

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Word by Word Meditations  

by Fred Ursell

Psalm 83: “tumbleweed” (v.13)

This is the final Psalm in the group of 11 written by Asaph. His cry, which epitomises our own in many a difficult predicament, is for God to intervene, “do not keep silent, be not quiet … be not still” (v.1).  

We’ve all been there, and it’s not easy to feel positive. We just want something to happen that will remove the problem we’re facing. Asaph wants it all to ‘blow away’: “make them like tumbleweed … like chaff before the wind” (v.13). 

It reminds me of desolate landscapes in Westerns, or of the classic Humphrey Bogart film ‘Treasure of the Sierra Madre.’  

Is it too farfetched?  Can God act in such a way?

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READINGS

PSALM 83

Read by Sir David Suchet

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OVERVIEW 

Psalms 

 - Overview -

The Bible Project 

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STUDY - LINKS

Psalms

David Pawson

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SONGS

O GOD, Do Not Be Silent (Psalm 83)

Wendell Kimbrough

Psalm 83

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PSALM EIGHTY Two

A psalm of Asaph.

1 

God presides in the great assembly;

    he renders judgment among the ‘gods’:

2 

‘How long will you defend the unjust

    and show partiality to the wicked?

3 

Defend the weak and the fatherless;

    uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.

4 

Rescue the weak and the needy;

    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

5 

‘The “gods” know nothing, they understand nothing.

    They walk about in darkness;

    all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

6 

‘I said, “You are ‘gods’;

    you are all sons of the Most High.”

7 

But you will die like mere mortals;

    you will fall like every other ruler.’

8 

Rise up, O God, judge the earth,

    for all the nations are your inheritance.

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Word by Word Meditations 

by Fred Ursell

Psalm 82: “presides” (v.1)

Asaph writes about “gods” (vv.1 & 6), not because he shares any pagan beliefs in such false religious notions and practices, stating (v.1), “God” [capital ‘G’} presides in the great assembly; He gives judgement among the ‘gods’ [little ‘g’]. Anyone who “presides” (v.1) a meeting is in charge. 

The USA has a President (and so do many other countries too); he’s the top man. Again he affirms “you are ‘gods’ (v.6), which Jesus explains in John 10 vv.34-35 as simply that “the word of God came” to them.  We understand God is singular, sublime and supreme.

 Have you ‘elected’ Him your own President?

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READINGS

PSALM 82

Read by Sir David Suchet

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OVERVIEW 

Psalms 

 - Overview -

The Bible Project 

-=-=-=-=-=-

STUDY - LINKS

Psalms

David Pawson

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SONGS

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