Psalms 85:1

PSALM 85

A CRY FOR SALVATION

This psalm was evidently written shortly after the miraculous ending of the Babylonian captivity, as affirmed by a number of able scholars.

"It evidently belongs to the time soon after the return from the Babylonian exile - either the days of discouragement before the building of the second temple (Ezra 4:5-24; Haggai 1; Zechariah 1:12-21) or the period of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 1:3).[1] - The situation into which the psalm could fit with more than average propriety is the time shortly after the return from the Babylonian captivity.[2] - The condition of the exiles returned from Babylon best corresponds to the conflicting emotions; the book of Nehemiah supplies precisely such a background as fits this psalm.[3] - There are not allusions in the psalm to tie it down to a particular date; but it would seem to fit best into the times of Zerubbabel (Ezra 3:4), or that of Ezra and Nehemiah (Ezra 9:10; Nehemiah 2-6)."[4]

McCullough did not fully agree with such comments on the date, citing the fact that, "The psalmist's words are rather vague, and that unlike many laments, there is no allusion to the machinations of outside enemies."[5]

Psalms 85:1-3

GOD'S PAST BENEFICENCE TO ISRAEL

"Jehovah, thou hast been favorable to thy land;

Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.

Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people;

Thou hast covered all their sin. (Selah)

Thou hast taken away all thy wrath;

Thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thy anger."

"Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob" (Psalms 85:1). It is true, of course, that these words can mean merely that "God has restored the prosperity of Israel"; but that possibility cannot take away the plain meaning of the passage, namely, that God has returned Israel from their literal captivity. There is just one situation which that fits, the ending of the captivity in Babylon.

"Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people" (Psalms 85:2). When Cyrus not only permitted the return of Israel to Palestine, but also financed the return and ordered the rebuilding of the temple on a scale even larger than that of the temple of Solomon, such unheard-of developments, such a unique example of a defeated and deported nation being repatriated in their own land, fully justified the psalmist's conclusion that God indeed had forgiven the iniquity of the Chosen People which had led to their captivity.

Forgiveness in the ultimate sense, of course, was contingent upon the atonement provided by the Christ on Calvary, but a practical "passing over" of Israel's wickedness on God's part was surely evidenced by the return of the remnant to Palestine.

"Thou hast taken away all thy wrath" (Psalms 85:3). The feeling of security that came to the returnees was the result of the backing and encouragement of Cyrus, head of the most powerful nation on earth; and this might account for the fact that the enemies of Israel received no attention in this psalm. With the cessation of God's wrath, enemies made no difference at all.