Psalms 85:1-3

The writer began by thanking God for delivering His people. The reference to restoration from captivity (Psalms 85:1) suggests that this psalm may date to the return from Babylonian exile. However, the psalmist may have been referring to a more modest captivity, perhaps at the hand of a neighbor nation. In any case, he viewed Israel’s former enslavement to be the result of her sin and thanked God for pardoning that.

"In Psalms 85:3 a sin is conceived as a burden of the conscience; in Psalms 85:3 b as a blood-stain." [Note: Delitzsch, 3:10.]