Psalms 85:1-13 - Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Bible Study & Commentary

Verses 1-13

LXXXV. Prayer for the Completion of Israel’ s Restoration.— The Ps. falls clearly into two halves. Psalms 85:1-Judges : is a prayer to God. It begins ( Psalms 85:1-Leviticus :) by commemorating God’ s mercy. He had restored His people (see on Psalms 14:7) and forgiven their sin, but the expectation of Jewish saints remained unfulfilled ( Psalms 85:4-Judges :). The reference may be to the hopes raised by the “ Second Isaiah” (Isaiah 40-55). Israel did return under Cyrus (pp. 77f.), but the hopes of coming glory were disappointed.

The second half, on the contrary ( Psalms 85:8-1 Chronicles :), is not a prayer to God but a revelation from God, uttered perhaps by a prophet. The long-looked-for glory will surely come.

Psalms 85:8 b. unto: read, “ concerning.”— saints: see Psalms 4:3 *.

Psalms 85:8 c. Read, “ and concerning those who turn to Him with their heart” (LXX).

Psalms 85:9 . his salvation: i.e. the Messianic age.— glory: the light in which God lives (set Isaiah 24:23). It was present in Solomon’ s Temple and in the Tabernacle but not in the second Temple, but it was to return. Observe that the religious blessing, the glory of God, comes first; then the moral virtues, mercy, truth, righteousness, peace; lastly the material blessing of abundant harvests.

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

Be the first to react on this!

Arthur Peake

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

Arthur Samuel Peake (1865-1929) was an English biblical scholar, born at Leek, Staffordshire, and educated at St John's College, Oxford. He was the first holder of the Rylands Chair of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis in the University of Manchester, from its establishment as an independent institution in 1904. He was thus the first non-Anglican to become a professor of divinity in an English university.In 1890-92 he was a lecturer at Mansfield College, Oxford, and from 1890 to 1897 held a fellowship at Merton College.In 1892, however, he was invited to become tutor at the Primitive Methodist Theological Institute in Manchester, which was renamed Hartley College in 1906. He was largely responsible for broadening the curriculum which intending Primitive Methodist ministers were required to follow, and for raising the standards of the training.In 1895-1912 he served as lecturer in the Lancashire Independent College, from 1904 to 1912 also in the United Methodist College at Manchester. In 1904 he was appointed Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis in the (Victoria) University of Manchester. (This chair was in the Faculty of Theology established in that year; it was renamed "Rylands Professor, etc." in 1909.)Peake was also active as a layman in wider Methodist circles, and did a great deal to further the reunion of Methodism which took effect in 1932, three years after his death. In the wider ecumenical sphere Peake worked for the National Council of Evangelical Free Churches, serving as president in 1928, and was a member of the World Conference on Faith and Order held in Lausanne in 1927. He published and lectured extensively, but is best remembered for his one-volume commentary on the Bible (1919), which, in its revised form, is still in use.The University of Aberdeen made him an honorary D. D. in 1907. He was a governor of the John Rylands Library.... Show more

First published in 1919, Peake's commentary of the bible was a one-volume commentary that gave special attention to Biblical archaeology and the then-recent discoveries of biblical manuscripts. Biblical quotations in this edition were from the Revised Version of the Bible.... Show more

Scroll to Top

Group of Brands